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"In modern times the Middle East remains a strategically, economically, politically, culturally and religiously sensitive region."
If noone objects to this I will remove this part as it is a weasel phrase that conceals a certain bias. First of all, what does 'sensitive' mean? where are the limits for being sensitive. Secondly, to whom? Further on it does neither refer to any source nor does it give an example of this. This phrase is suitable for the article though not in the overview which the introduction is supposed to contain. Hxasmirl ( talk) 08:08, 24 March 2009 (UTC)
Hi My name is Alfred Ftoni and i'm going to show you the four principal rivers. The four principal rivers in the Middle East are the Jordan River thats in Jordan the Nile River which is in Egypt the Tigris River and the Euphrates River. There are 24 countries in the Middle East.
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Hi. Can we get a list of the largest cities in this article? Is Cairo the largest? 83.108.208.23 ( talk) 21:05, 11 April 2009 (UTC)
Some scholars romantically link monotheism with the open and spare desert landscape.
a) Which scholars? b) Even if true, NPOV would require other views (since clearly polytheistic religions existed in these areas before monotheistic ones - notably in ancient Egypt). c) Even if b) is dealt with, does it belong in the intro? Gordonofcartoon ( talk) 17:15, 8 May 2009 (UTC)
This article asserts that jerusalem is the capital of israel and goes on to explain that it's only it's capital under israeli law. I didn't know wikipedia articles were writen from an israeli point of view. the most accurate thing would be to replace jerusalem with tel aviv since, after all that is it's capital and adding a note in the end that under israeli law jerusalem is the capital. That would be the right thing to do. thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.142.61.3 ( talk) 21:50, 24 May 2009 (UTC)
Following earlier discussion on the issue, I have made some adjustments to ensure the article focuses on the epithet "Middle East" rather than building on an arbitrary construct. The related articles concerning geographic regions already contain the data in question. Anyone is free to question these changes, provided sound reason is involved in any objections. Izzedine ( talk) 02:59, 25 May 2009 (UTC)
See [3]. Kindly undo such a massive removal of basic information. Badagnani ( talk) 03:15, 25 May 2009 (UTC)
I've often heard the Middle East referred to as the 'Mid-East' (or Mideast) when I've been in the USA - why is this term not mentioned in the intro? 93.96.236.8 ( talk) 22:30, 29 May 2009 (UTC)
smaller than Greece a bit bigger than Israel. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.7.225.53 ( talk) 12:14, 7 June 2009 (UTC)
Izzedine, thank you for participating in this discussion. You and I are saying roughly the same thing, but you no doubt have a superior command of English, and have managed to bring forth your arguments far more successfully than I could ever have. Again, thank you.
Athenean, I see you once again accused me of something I haven't done. Does it not occur to you that my proposal has an emphasis on West Asia which lumps Turkey with the Asian portion of Arab world (and maybe Iran, unless it's considered South Asian) together? Then again Cyprus and Trancaucasian countries would have to be in the same boat (unfortunately, for you) which you have tried to be exclude in the past based on that they are European. While it's true that they're European as well under many circumstances, it's more so the case for Turkey anyway. So sorry, you can't have it both ways :)
I also see you arguing that religion is the most important part of culture when Izzedine expressed his observation about correlation between Muslim-ness and Middle Eastern-ness. Well, let me ask you one simple question: Concerning culture, which ones of the following ethnic groups would cluster together: Greeks, Albanians, Ethiopian Tigriyans, Somalis? Greeks with Tigrinyans and Albanians with Somalis, right? So according to you, living close to each other, Greeks and Albanians (or the other two) may have some superficial similarities, but in the end, it will always be that Greeks, being Christian, are culturally the same as Tigrinya and Albanians, being Muslim, are culturally the same as Somalis. Wonderful. Splendid. Excellent. I am truly speechless.
Besides, is this correlation mentioned in any part of the article?
And last, but not least, don't we already have an article called "Muslim world" [4]? -- Mttll ( talk) 22:40, 15 June 2009 (UTC)
I am not adding any original thought to the content of the article. I am expressing my opinion on how to organize the article, which is perfectly legitimate. Now, if you tell me yours, we can have a discussion. If you think my concerns are unfounded, see Etymology-Criticism and Usage section in the article. Better yet, just take a look at the word, the Middle East. Middle of what? East of what? It was initially the Middle East as opposed to the Near East. Where did the Near East go? Sure, there are problems about the border between Asia and Europe or where Central Europe becomes Eastern Europe, where Western Asia becomes Southern Asia etc, but this term is simply not in the same league with those. The fact that the UN replaced it with West Asia serves my position. -- Mttll ( talk) 06:44, 16 June 2009 (UTC)
Since Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia are Middle Eastern Countries and also partly in Europe this means that the Middle East is a part of Africa, Asia, and Europe. Eronel189 ( talk) 20:37, 23 June 2009 (UTC)
This controversy has gone on long enough. People keep reverting the article yet nobody is providing any proof, or sources, or even discussing this issue on the talk page. This is not how WIKIPEDIA works!!! You need to have sources to back up what you are saying, and if a topic is controversial like it right now you need to discuss the issue on the talk page, provide reliable sources and reach a consensus. Only then should you revert the article once you discuss it on the talk page, provide reliable sources, and reach a consensus. This is how Wikipedia works!! I hear this back and forth and nobody is discussing anything on the talk page. My main point is that Armenia, Gerogia, and Cyprus are not part of the traditional view of the Middle East, but the Greater Middle East. You must understand that Armenia, Georgia, and Cyprus are related to Europe. All three countries are socio-politically a part of Europe and all of these countries have a Christian majority. In fact Armenia is almost 100 percent Christian. Georgia itself is not only socio-politically apart of Europe, European history and Christianity but large portions of Georgia are also physically in Europe because it is a trans-continental country. This means Georgia not only has great historical ties to European and Christian culture but the majority of it is actually in Europe, and Armenia has been Christian for over 1,700 years. You could argue that these countries even though they are Christian, Associated with Europe and its history, and some even partially in Europe are still close and bordering the Middle Eastern Countries such as Iran, and Turkey. You could argue this, but by this logic you are saying that any country that is around the vicinity of the Middle East is Middle Eastern. By this logic that would mean the Greece is also apart of the Traditional Middle East even though its European and Christian like Georgia. Greece borders Turkey and shares culture with Turkey because Turkey once belonged to Greece. If Armenia, Georgia, and Cyprus are apart of the traditonal Middle East, what would be the argument of not making Greece part of the traditional Middle East . Heck why stop there, Bulgaria is next Greece why not make Bulgaria also apart of the Middle East even though its European and Christian. Bulgaria also borders Turkey a Middle Eastern Country, and why not make Albania part of the Middle East, its next to Greece and unlike Cyprus, Armenia, and Georgia, Albania is actually 80% Muslim and is a predominately Muslim country and also physically close to the Middle East. Armenia, Georgia, and Cyprus are predominately Christian countries and you classify them as being in the traditional Middle East, whereas Albania another European country is also close to the Middle East and it actually is predominately Muslim yet its not part of the Middle East or even the Greater Middle East, why not? But why stop there Romania is near Bulgaria, and Bulgaria is near Moldova borders Ukraine, why not make them all Middle-Eastern because they are close by. Why should European and Christian countries be apart of the Middle East? By this reasoning should the United Kingdom, Scandanavia, and the Baltic States also be in the Middle East? Where will it stop? Please discuss this on the talk page, provide sources, and reach a consensus first before reverting anymore, because this is how Wikipedia works, no source, no good!! Eronel189 ( talk) 21:55, 12 July 2009 (UTC)
Some facts:
1. Christianity has originated in Palestine.
2. Armenians are Oriental Orthodox like Assyrians etc.
3. Israel is mostly non-Muslim, Lebanon is nearly half-half.
4. Armenia or Cyprus has no territory in Europe. Georgia and Azerbaijan may or may not. Turkey definitely does.
5. Tell me a context, for example, a European organization (the EU, Council of Europe etc) that considers Armenia European but not Turkey. Athenean, I'm waiting for this.
6. There aren't any hints in the article which implies that Middle East is a form of synonym of Muslim world. But there are hints that it's a synonym of West Asia. And South Caucasia, which includes entire Armenia, is a part of West Asia. I AGREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Please don't make assumptions and don't attack me personally.-- Mttll ( talk) 21:17, 13 July 2009 (UTC)
Whether or not a country has territory in Europe has no bearing on whether it is in the middle east.
Are you sure you read what Eronel189 has written? His entire argument why Armenia or Georgia isn't Middle Eastern is based on that they are European. If that's so, the same thing goes for Turkey too, more so if anything. Very simple.
Next time you're in a bookstore, go through some atlases and tell me if I'm wrong.
You have a point. I have an old (pre-1990) atlas that show Turkey as Middle East but not Caucasia. I think it's because they used to be part of Soviet Union and it was convenient to lump them as Eastern Europe. But things have changed. Wikipedia is not some rusty book, it's something dynamic, right? Anyhow, that's just one atlas.
(Let me remind again:The United Nations for example has replaced term the Middle East with West Asia and included South Caucasian countries in it)
Let's use your method:
I typed "Middle East" in Google images
Here is a map that includes Turkey, Cyprus and Caucasia [10]
a map that includes Turkey, Cyprus but not Caucasia [11]
a map that includes none of them and is exclusively Asian Arab world + Israel + Iran (h t t p://www.mapsofworld.com/images/middle-east-map.jpg) (this site seems to be blocked for some reason)
a map that includes Caucasia but not Turkey [12]
"the Middle East" is a vague term, you can surely see that! That's why I suggested more emphasis on West Asia, North Africa etc articles.
Oh, btw, why don't you guys ever address the case of Azerbaijan? Curious -- Mttll ( talk) 21:51, 13 July 2009 (UTC)
In the greater middle east section, the populations of Mauritania and Western Sahara are by far overrated. Mauritania has about 3,000,000 citizens and Western Sahara about 500,000.
Please correct these numbers!
| Mauritania | align="right" | 446,550 | align="right" | 33,757,175 | align="right" | 70 | Nouakchott | $6.221 billion (2008) | $2,052 (2008) | Ouguiya | Military junta | Arabic |- | Western Sahara | align="right" | 163,610 | align="right" | 10,102,000 | align="right" | 62 | El Aaiun |
the term middle east may have originated in the 1850s in the british india office and become more widely known when american naval strategist alfred thayer mahan used the term during this time the british and russian empires were vying for influence in central asia,a rivalry which would become known as the great game.mahan realized not only the strategic importance of the region,but also of its center,the persian gulf.He labeled the area surrounding the persian gulf and internation relations published in september 1902 in the national review,a british journal. the middle east,if may adopt a term which I have not seen,will some day need its malta,as well as its gibraltar;it does not follow that either will be in the persian gulf.naval force has the quality of mobility which carries with it the privilege of temporary absences;but it needs to find on every scene of operation established bases of refit,of supply,and in case of disaster of security.the british navy should have the facility to force if occasion arise,about aden,india,and the persian gulf. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.190.74.180 ( talk) 22:18, 12 November 2009 (UTC)
Can't edit it as it is semi-protected. there is a typo in the first two lines shown in italics:
The Middle East (or, formerly more common, the Near East[1]) is a region that spans southwestern Asia and northern Africa. Mistakenly and only in the last five to seven years some have added Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India to the list of Middle Eattren countries.
Could someone take care of this? Thanks Gomedog ( talk) 06:14, 11 December 2009 (UTC)
I removed this from the lead paragraph because it is not true. People in Australia and New Zealand and India and South Africa use the term "middle east" accurately (Perth Sunday Times [13], New Zealand Herald [14], Times of India [15] South Africa's Mail and Guardian [16]) as I'm sure do english speakers everywhere else in the world. It is not at all important to point out that it is only technically "to the east but not all the way east" from one perspective in the lead. Something similar might be appropriate in the etymology section. Jieagles ( talk) 18:40, 13 December 2009 (UTC)
So my edit was reverted, then reinstated and the reverted again so instead of continuing the edit war I would like to propose a compromise sentence which hopefully will keep the idea that the term represents a European perspective while not stating that the term should not be used in other regions when clearly it is. I would suggest, "As a geographic term, the name reflects the European perspective of its early users, though it is now used throughout the English-speaking world" I look forward to the discussion. Jieagles ( talk) 00:12, 19 December 2009 (UTC)
The Location of the Middle east is in Central Asia (Kazakastan, Turkministan, Kyrgystan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, some times even Mongolia). You have forgot to mention that Gulf Arab states don't use these terminology to refer to themselves.
Middle East = Central Asia i.e. Middle = Central. The term was first coined by the British Empire to refer to their empire. Parts of China was also considered part of the "Middle East" since it was under the British control. Also India to some degree was also part of their "Middle East" but the information failed to give any information about India. As the information shows you put the terms Middle East to refer it to the "Near East" which doesn't make any sence since Middle and Near are to different words and pysical locations. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.117.201.18 ( talk) 14:17, 7 August 2010 (UTC)
The Terms which are properly used in those regions Countries for that Region are Mesopotamia(Iraq), Levantine Countries(Syria, Lebanon, Palestine/Israel, Jordan), Arabian Peninsula(Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Oman, Yemen) Not this superficial British term called "Middle East" which makes the person in using the words falsly attribute it to the "Middle of the East" Meaning the location wise it would be probably some where in Mongolia or Kazakistan which is where it should be. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.117.201.18 ( talk) 14:22, 7 August 2010 (UTC)
Scythian, unless you are a trained historical linguist like I am, I suggest that you back off your insistence on calling Turkish "Altaic". That is a term for a sprachbund, not a valid linguistic family. Most historical linguists rejected the notion of Altaic 30 or so years ago, even though a few still cling to it. I've been teaching linguistics at the university level for 30 years and know a bit more about the subject that you do. Turkish is "Turkic", not "Altaic". You've asked for a "third opinion", so I've asked two other (real-world) professionals in historical linguistics to weigh in here. ( Taivo ( talk) 20:22, 26 December 2009 (UTC)
Using the phrase "cradle of civilization" is POV. If you want to rephrase to say that it's the "cradle of Western civiliation" (and link to the article on Western World or some such), then that's not POV. But to make the blanket statement that it is the cradle of "all" civilization is POV. ( Taivo ( talk) 00:58, 26 January 2010 (UTC))
{{editsemiprotected}}
Ir reads "Caucacus", should read "Caucasus"
217.216.89.35 ( talk) 11:35, 17 April 2010 (UTC)
Done and thanks! -- JokerXtreme ( talk) 14:09, 17 April 2010 (UTC)
I was wondering that why isn't Ethiopia considered part of the Middle East? It has a long history of association with the Middle East culturally and historically. Its population is Semitic, it has been deeply associated with Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Moreover, it is surrounded on the northern and eastern sides by Middle East. So why not consider as a part of the Middle East? Can anyone help?( QadeemMusalman ( talk) 12:00, 23 May 2010 (UTC))
It is clear that the powers that be want to define the middle east as Muslim countries from looking at the map. Also from llooking at the map, they might as well quit while they are ahead because those are too many pieces of land to call a region. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.127.179.161 ( talk) 04:48, 15 September 2010 (UTC)
Just because these countries have a Muslim population it does not mean they are part of the Middle East. People should stop posting wrong information on wikipedia. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Wikipersian ( talk • contribs) 06:40, 7 June 2010 (UTC)
Afghanistan can be considered the greater Middle east because of historical and geo political reasons. Afghanistan's culture is influenced very much by Arab and Iranian cultures (even their both the main languages in the country are derived from the Middle East), and being a muslim country has nothing to do with Afghanistan being apart of the middle east because Afghanistan was apart of the Persian Empire, so there for if Iran is in the middle east Afghanistan should be there also because of the Iranian plateau. Now Pakistan should not be considered because culturally they are tied to India, which neither Iran or Afghanistan is. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.10.102.231 ( talk) 11:47, 22 June 2010 (UTC)
Afghanistan and Pakistan should be considered part of the Middle East because firstly Afghanistan is historically and geographically part of the Iranian Plateau and it has been part of the Persian, Parthian, Sassanind, Greek Empires and the Arab Ummayad and Abbasid dynasties. Moreover, there is a striking Persian culture in every part of Afghanistan.
As for Pakistan, of its four provinces two lie on the Iranian Plateau i.e. Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtoonwah (formerly NWFP). Half o the provinces of Balochistan is in Iran and half is in Pakistan. Moreover, Pakistan also has been part of the Persian, Parthian, Greek, Ummayad and Abbasid Empires.
The Sindh and Balochistan and South Punjab provinces were part of the Ummayad and Abbasid dynasties. Punjab was the part of the Persian Ghaznavid and Ghorid dynasties. The people of Balochistan and Khyber are Iranian Peoples. As for Islam yes it is not the only factor why Pakistan should be considered part of the Middle East, but undoubtedly Islam is a very significant factor. It is also because of language and culture that Pakistan should be considered part of the area known as the Middle East. Urdu is a blend of Arabic, Persian and Turkish. Urdu is written Nastaliq script which Arabo-Persian. Even Punjabi, is also written in Shahmukhi script again Arabo-Persian.
If you think of Bangldesh, Indonesia and Malaysia. I see those countries cut off from the rest of the Islamic world in culture and languages because Bangladesh, Indonesia and Malaysia are immensely influenced by the Asian Cultures and Bangladesh (esp by Hindu culture). Do not forget that Pakistan and India are staunchest enemies of each other. So, therefore Pakistan can never be tied up with India. Indian TV Channels are banned in Pakistan, there are huge trade restrictions and visa restrictions, citizens of both countries are reluctant to visit each other.
I think and believe that the areas stretching from Morocco and Balkans to Pakistan and from Russian Tatarstan to Sudan should be considered part of the same area. And Pakistan can never be tied up with India!
( QadeemMusalman ( talk) 12:17, 26 June 2010 (UTC))
There are several spelling and grammer mistakes in the Languages section of the article... I feel it is somewhat ironic... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.160.178.203 ( talk) 18:35, 4 October 2010 (UTC)
There was a redirect to Demographics of the Arab League which is a somewhat different subject. So I changed main article hatnote to a see also hatnote to the Demographics article. - KeptSouth ( talk) 10:15, 2 November 2010 (UTC)
In the intro, you are including bahai as a major religion?? is bahai a major religion??? I hope this is fixed soon. -- 216.249.0.227 ( talk) 20:25, 28 November 2010 (UTC)
In the article I could not modify the part of the table, regarding the population of Wester Sahara. It is not 10.000.000 people (lika Tunisia!), but 513,000, as reported in the article regarding Western Sahara. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 151.97.48.100 ( talk) 14:18, 4 December 2010 (UTC)
I don't think Turkey and Cypruce should be presented in the narrowist deffinition of the middle east since thay're commonly considerd part of europe.-- J intela ( talk) 21:01, 6 January 2011 (UTC)
I agree, there is not enough emphasis on the contraversy/difficulty in exactly defining which countries constitutes the 'Middle East', the list of 'Traditional' and 'Greater' Middle East are only sourced by the World bank and the IMF and is only one narrow definition. I would not personally consider Turkey or Cypress as part of the Middle east. I would suggest at least another section explaining these dificulties. Megatonman ( talk) 16:50, 18 April 2011 (UTC)
I've removed "G8 definition" from the reference to the "Greater Middle East" on the map, as there is no reference in either article to it having been used in a G8 meeting, much less endorsed by G8 leaders.
I'm not too happy about the result, however, as it makes it sounds as though "Greater Middle East" is a common term for those countries, whereas it doesn't appear to be a term of any real significance.
Can anyone think of a better description for the term? Aoeuidhtns ( talk) 13:40, 27 January 2011 (UTC)
Hallo there,
The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a
worldwide view of the subject. |
Maurice Carbonaro ( talk) 09:51, 2 February 2011 (UTC)
The English term "Middle East" directly translates to the German words "Mittlerer" and "Osten". But in German language the tem "Mittlerer Osten" is used for the area from Iran eastwards, the term "Naher Osten" (which would directly translate from "Near East") matches the area of the Englisch term "Middle East" (Syria, Israel, Jordan ...). So I will change the link to the German language article to "Naher Osten" as this is the area "Middle East" refers to. -- Orangwiki ( talk) 18:17, 30 January 2011 (UTC)
The Middle East is home to numerous ethnic groups, including Arabs, Maronites Turks, Persians, Jews, Kurds, Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriacs, Armenians, Azeris, Circassians, Greeks and Georgians.
Nassif.seif ( talk) 03:50, 19 February 2011 (UTC)
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It is dubious to have French and Greek listed amongst the "languages" in the middle-east. They have a very brief history in the region and a nominal presence. They lay in the same bracket with native languages like Armaic, Persian, Kurdish and Arabic which is mistake. They should have a category of their own since they obviously are different in status then the rest.
94.254.1.129 ( talk) 23:13, 25 April 2011 (UTC)
This is something that made me laugh when I read it: "In modern times the Middle East remains a strategically, economically, politically, culturally and religiously sensitive region.[clarification needed]" Clarifying that statement in a small amount of time would be quite a task. Just in Israel and Palestine alone, you have continuous conflict for over 3.000 years (though more in the last 2.400 years). Hell, in Jerusalem alone, you've had 118 battles in the last 3.000 years (Source: Jerusalem Besieged by Eric H. Cline). If you're talking about the whole region, how do you condense that idea into the lede so that it doesn't need further clarification? I assume sensitive here means that people fight over it.
Also, hi, I'm Flinders Petrie (not the real one of course, he's quite deceased), and I'll state my biases right now so that they don't get in the way of editing this article. I am an ardent Zionist with a strong pro-Israel view, however I harbour no ill-feelings towards any other other peoples of the Middle East, including the Palestinians. I believe that the article should convey what the reliable sources say, even if we're not happy with what they say.
So I see this article is rated a C-Class. I have two questions, A, can an article on such a contentious topic can ever reach Featured Class? If so, how can we better get it there and avoid the sort of conflict that pervades the subject region? (though thankfully we don't have to be worried about getting shot) Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie Say Shalom! 18:16, 14 May 2011 (UTC)
You should add a map that shows afghanistan as part of the middle east. Most afghans are an iranic/iranian people, and are tied with Iran. Although geographically part of central asia and western asia, Afghanistan shares only a little with it's central asian turkic neighbors( uzbeks and turkmen in the north). Here is a map that you can put up instead of the current map. http://www.globalresearch.ca/coverStoryPictures/13556.jpg (Metalman59 19:08, 24 August 2011 (UTC)) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Metalman59 ( talk • contribs)
I think the Videos right under "Contents" should be moved down, maybe to the end of the article. They are, without any doubt, very nice to watch. But i think their encyclopedic value is not very high. Duff06 ( talk) 15:23, 29 November 2011 (UTC)
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Turkey cannot be categorised in the list of Traditional definition of the Middle East.
Oztgy001 ( talk) 02:14, 1 January 2012 (UTC)
Pakistan is not considered to be in the Middle East by most Pakistanis. Moreover, geographically, it is a part of South Asia, not the Middle East. Pakistan was a part of India until 1947, and up till now, its culture is very similar to Indian culture, and is not like Middle Eastern culture. Although majority of the population is Muslim, no one speaks Arabic, and just the religion doesn't make the country a part of the Middle East. I am a Pakistani National, and I have talked to many (around 50) people (Americans with reputable knowledge on South Asia, and Pakistanis who find it bizarre that anyone should consider Pakistan a part of the Middle East).
Therefore I would highly appreciate if you did more research before listing Pakistan as part of the extended Middle East. Personally I would like Pakistan to be removed from the list. Anyone who reads this article assumes that Pakistani culture is Middle-Eastern, rather than South Asian. Since I have lived in Pakistan all my life, I think our culture is wholly South Asian, and has no Middle-Eastern elements. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.229.180.71 ( talk) 06:59, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
Middle east is more of a political term and therefore, Pakistan IS IN the middle east. — Preceding unsigned comment added by KurdWarrior ( talk • contribs) 13:30, 7 May 2012 (UTC)
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Please change the capital of Israel from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv because the former is not officially recognised as the capital city of Israel (especially as east Jerusalem is recongised as officially belonging to Palestine) whereas the latter is.
163.1.51.13 ( talk) 13:18, 14 January 2012 (UTC)
Egypt is not in the Middle East. Neither is Greece. These are both Mediterranean countries. Russia, Uzbekistan, etc. are certainly not in the Middle East either. How can any of these articles be taken seriously when the most fundamental facts, such as basic geography, are incorrect? There is no edit on the page. Commenting here was the best alternative. Please see this link for a more accurate map of the Middle East.— Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.112.206.112 ( talk • contribs) 21:57, 8 February 2012 (UTC)
And neither is Turkey — Preceding
unsigned comment added by
Bambitree (
talk •
contribs) 09:43, 18 September 2012 (UTC)
Why was Turkey removed by NadirTV on March 29, 2012? -- 24.44.84.169 ( talk) 23:50, 18 May 2012 (UTC)
Now, Istanbul has been removed in this [ ]. What is the problem here? -- 24.44.84.169 ( talk) 01:06, 2 June 2012 (UTC)
Istanbul, which straddles both continents of Europe and Asia and thus in the Balkans region of Europe and the Middle East region of Asia has to to be indicated and categorized as part of these two continents and the two regions of these two continents. But not one or the other and excluded alltogether but always has to be included in all of them. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.224.27.127 ( talk) 12:26, 3 June 2012 (UTC)
User:Justinian-of-Byzantium is edit-warring on this issue without presenting a case. In his mind, the Middle East is defined by continents (not true) and if a city is not wholly in one, it can't be included. I hope for some better oversight on this. 3RR seems to have been violated, in spirit, if not strictly within the 24H time limit. -- SVTCobra ( talk) 22:37, 25 June 2012 (UTC)
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I request that Turkey be removed from the list of middle eastern nations, as it is a Eurasian country not a middle eastern, even though it shares a border with themiddle east, that does not necessarily make it middle eastern. As the Wikipedia page for Turkey states its Eurasian, therefore consistency among Wikipedia pages would be appreciated. In addition the map pictured is incorrect as it also illustrates other countries which are also not middle eastern. Bambitree ( talk) 09:41, 18 September 2012 (UTC)
Bambitree ( talk) 09:41, 18 September 2012 (UTC)
{{
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template. As far as I can tell it's usually considered part of the Middle East.
Jo-Jo Eumerus (
talk) 20:03, 30 September 2012 (UTC)Why is Iran listed on BOTH "Traditional definition of the Middle East" and "Greater Middle East"? These are supposed to be mutually exclusive lists with one INCLUDING the other. Srsrox ( talk) 18:13, 28 December 2012 (UTC)
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Your Middle East independent news from the Middle East Dahe97 ( talk) 23:03, 30 January 2013 (UTC)
MOS:LEADALT says: "Consider footnoting foreign-language and archaic names if they would otherwise clutter the opening sentence." I think that this is currently the case with this article. I would recommend putting all the non-English names for "Middle East" in a footnote. Cf. e.g. Augustus#cite_note-1, Akira_Kurosawa#cite_ref-2, The_Idiot#cite_note-OrigSpell-1. It Is Me Here t / c 13:41, 5 March 2013 (UTC)
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Istanbul is not a Middle Eastern city (city is located in Europe and Anatolia). Also, Turkey's Middle Eastern land ends with Taurus Mountains, that means Turkey is partially Middle Eastern. Can you please correct them. Texan013 ( talk) 19:03, 16 March 2013 (UTC)
Please, could someone tell me if this is a semi-protect article? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 177.81.17.100 ( talk) 17:42, 10 March 2013 (UTC)
The article lists "Asharq Al-Awsṭ" as the transcription of Arabic الشرق الأوسط, "the Middle East."
The second word should be rendered something like "'awsaṭ."
I sometimes hear Arabic students incorrectly say "awsṭ," and I think this is why.
A more appropriate transcription would be "aš-šharq al-'awsaṭ." The (') should hook toward the left. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.2.129.100 ( talk • contribs) 17:06, 9 April 2013 (UTC)
The article currently says:
"the area lying between and including Libya on the west and Pakistan on the east, Syria and Iraq on the North and the Arabian peninsula to the south, plus the Sudan and Ethiopia."[12] In 1958, the State Department explained that the terms "Near East" and "Middle East" were interchangeable, and defined the region as including only Egypt, Syria, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar.[16]"
I checked the sources that these statements are referring to, it should actually read:
"the area lying between and including Libya on the west and Pakistan on the east, Turkey on the North and the Arabian peninsula to the south, plus the Sudan and Ethiopia."[12] In 1958, the State Department explained that the terms "Near East" and "Middle East" were interchangeable, and defined the region as including Egypt, Syria, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf sheikhdoms.[16]"
Can someone please update? Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.175.27.29 ( talk) 17:42, 1 May 2013 (UTC)
When the Near/Middle/Far East system was current in the early 20th century, i. e., before "South Asia" and "Indian subcontinent" became preferred terms instead, which region was British India considered to belong to? The ("old") Middle East? The last paragraph in the section "Etymology" implies so, but the second paragraph in the section "Criticism and usage" omits any mention of any region or country in the subcontinent. -- Florian Blaschke ( talk) 19:17, 24 June 2013 (UTC)
Since "Middle-East" is considered 'eurocentric', what is the better term? "Arab Regions", "Arab World"? I've heard it referred to as the "Islamic World" and "Muslim World" also. But these seem to be a bit -centric as well (what do non-muslims in the region think of those terms?). "Islamic World" and "Muslim World", like "Middle East" and "Near East" are also historically fluidic. And what do non-Arabs think of their country being part of the "Arab Regions" or "Arab World"? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.111.44.124 ( talk) 04:32, 18 July 2013 (UTC)
{{|"Greater Middle East" is an additional Eurocentric concept, introduced in the West in the 1990s, and referring to the mostly-Islamic regions of North Africa, Western Asia and Central Asia; the use of "Greater Middle East" however was marginal and it has recently fell into disuse.}}
The quotation above contains errors in structure, punctuation, and tense. Here is a suggested re-writing:
"Greater Middle East" is a Eurocentric concept introduced in the 1990s to refer to the mostly-Islamic regions of North Africa, Western Asia, and Central Asia. The use of "Greater Middle East" proved marginal, however, and has fallen into disuse."
Mflcs ( talk) 19:39, 11 September 2013 (UTC) -- Mflcs ( talk) 19:39, 11 September 2013 (UTC) Mflcs ( talk) 19:41, 11 September 2013 (UTC) Mflcs ( talk) 19:44, 11 September 2013 (UTC)
While I understand the sentiment, factually speaking, Palestine is currently not a country. This is an encyclopedia, which should contain only facts. If/when Palestine does become a country, it would be correct to include it in such a list of countries in the Middle East. However, until such time, such inclusion is factually incorrect. I urge the administrators to put their personal opinions aside, and present the facts only. Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.132.233.69 ( talk) 08:24, 14 August 2013 (UTC)
I can't believe Turkey is still listed under here. Look at the amount of people complaining here and this still hasn't been changed. Turkey only has one province in the Middle East area, yet it has been put under this category. What, just because you have borders with the Middle East, you become part of it? Using that logic, why isn't Azerbaijan or Armenia on this list? Unbelievable. "Many sources include Anatolia, and even Eastern Thrace, in the Middle East"? "As far as I can tell it's usually considered part of the Middle East"? Are you serious? I haven't heard such ignorance in my life. Even the Turkic countries and the Caucasus belong in other regions. I really can't believe how ridiculous this is getting. At least if Wikipedia was consistent. I looked at some pages and Turkey is listed as Europe, others Asia and now Middle East. I'll say this one last time and everyone should give up on this ignorance and accept fact: Turkey is Asian. It is a civilised, strong country which is nothing like the West describes it, nor is it anything like it was a decade ago. In every way, whether it be historically, culturally or geographically, it has, and always will be Asian, not Middle Eastern. I know the Middle East is not a continent or anything, but having it under that category is insulting to it's people. If it is considered partially European, but not enough to be in the EU, the same should apply for the Middle East, if not even stronger due to it having less land in the Middle East than Europe. Turkey dissing the West doesn't make it lean towards the Arabs or Islam, it makes it lean towards Asia. As if Russia, China and Japan love the West so much. Read some books, research a bit people, it could prove useful to this generation in which I've lost hope. I pray my pleas will not be disregarded, forgotten and left unanswered. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bobman1069 ( talk • contribs) 05:51, 11 October 2013 (UTC)
Someone recently deleted the "Greater Middle East section and replaced it with "Other definitions of the Middle East" and then wrote:
"Greater Middle East is an additional Eurocentric concept, introduced in the West in the 1990s, and referring to the mostly-Islamic regions of North Africa, Western Asia and Central Asia; the use of "Greater Middle East" however was marginal and it has recently fell into disuse."
This is incorrect; the term is still widely used in academic and political discussions. A simple search on "google", "youtube" and the like will confirm this. (Example of current affairs news from a few days ago: http://www.juancole.com/2013/09/clout-middle-east.html)
It is not a Eurocentric concept (The term is used my most world powers) and it was introduced by the Brookings Institute in 2004, not the 1990's. It is very pertinent considering what is currently happening in the "Greater Middle East" region. Can someone please correct this? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.175.27.29 ( talk) 08:51, 12 October 2013 (UTC)
May I suggest that the second sentence of the article be changed? Two alternatives are: "The term is used as a synonym for Near East, in contrast to Far East" or "The term is used as a synonym for Near East, in relation to Far East." The word "opposition" is incorrect as the terms Near East and Far East are not opposite from each other, but describe their geographic relationship. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.212.132.239 ( talk) 14:43, 31 December 2013 (UTC)
Northern Cyprus is not a country and is clearly mentioned in the article of Wikipedia for Norther Cyprus. It is just the occupied part of the Rebublic of Cyprus — Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.7.146.81 ( talk) 18:37, 19 January 2014 (UTC)
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Dear Mr./Mrs. Please add Israel as a state within the middle east. Flag, name etc. Please add also Hebrew as one of the languages spoken.
Thank you, Sincerely, 109.65.63.185 ( talk) 21:06, 18 April 2014 (UTC)
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Please remove one instance of 'Mandeans', they occur twice in the list.
The Middle East is today home to numerous long established ethnic groups, including; Arabs, Turks, Persians, Balochs, Pashtuns, Lurs, Mandeans, Tats, Jews, Kurds, Somalis, Assyrians, Egyptian Copts, Armenians, Azeris, Maltese, Circassians, Greeks, Turcomans, Shabaks, Yazidis, Mandeans, Georgians, Roma, Gagauz, Mhallami and Samaritans. Srforest ( talk) 13:43, 21 June 2014 (UTC)
Possible change:since Palesitne doesnot exist as a country, but only as a reginal indication I remove it fromthe list ofcountry present in the middle east. Otherwise, also Giudea and Samaria should be added. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.64.27.96 ( talk) 15:12, 1 September 2014 (UTC)
French seems irrelevant. It is not an official language in any Middle Eastern country, and probably prevails less than English. So either add English or omit French. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.114.3.241 ( talk) 09:52, 17 September 2014 (UTC)
The result of the move request was: Not moved.( non-admin closure) cyberdog958 Talk 08:26, 21 September 2014 (UTC)
Middle East →
Middle-East –
Right The Wrongs has made
several recent edits fixing "punctuation errors" or "typos", where they inserted a hyphen in Middle East. I'm not sure which is correct, so I'm bringing this to the attention of our punctuation experts. –
Wbm1058 (
talk) 12:20, 11 September 2014 (UTC)
Well perahps you should bring this to the attention of the Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research: http://www.idosi.org/mejsr/mejsr.htm
Widespread grammatical incorrectness does not justify continued error. Oh, and it's "um", not "umm". This is, um, English. ROFL Right The Wrongs ( talk) 05:44, 14 September 2014 (UTC)
Egypt is in Africa, and many other African countries follow said definiton. Yet Egypt is included for no known reason. Egypt has its own culture and hertitage like many other African countries. It makes no sense to clump it with the EuroCentric definiton of The Middle East and should be removed. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.248.235.106 ( talk) 23:39, 22 April 2014 (UTC)
It makes no sense to call the concept "Eurocentric". The word "table" is Eurocentric, I suppose, because it is derived from Latin. The horror. The term "east" is derived from a Germanic root. That's about the extent of its Eurocentricity. If you translate English "Middle East" to Chinese 中東 (literally "Middle East"), hey presto, it ceases to be Eurocentric and becomes Sinocentric!
You could say the usage of "east"-"west" is terra-centric, as it orients itself along the landmass of Eurasia rather than the waters of the Pacific Ocean. So, it is discriminatory towards the perspective of land animals! Unacceptable, have people not heard that the vast majority of organisms are maritime?! And all the land animals originated in the sea, so they are basically all equal and should be considered mere maritime emigrants.
On a more serious note, Egypt is a trans-continental country. It used to be counted as part of Asia, but that was in ancient geography. It has been considered as mostly part of Africa for some time, but that's merely part of the arbitrary definition imposed on landmasses by (gasp) European geographers. Note that "Africa" used to be a name for Tunisia. There was no term for the landmass now known as Africa before the Portuguese bothered to circumnavigate it in the 15th century, for the simple reason that you cannot name a concept before you have the concept. Egypt's eastern portion, the Sinai peninsula, is still considered part of Asia today. -- dab (𒁳) 09:44, 25 May 2014 (UTC)
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Please change "French is taught and used in many government facilities and media in Lebanon. It is taught in some primary and secondary schools of Egypt, Israel and Syria" into " French is taught and used in Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Palestine". Explanation: Governmental language in all middle eastern countries is Arabic only, hence French can't and is not used in Governmental facilities" 176.202.180.93 ( talk) 09:29, 1 November 2014 (UTC) Not done AFAIK Article 11 of the Constitution of Lebanon still states: "Arabic is the official national language. A law determines the cases in which the French language is to be used." - Arjayay ( talk) 16:32, 24 November 2014 (UTC)
{{edit semi-protected}} — Preceding unsigned comment added by Nassif.seif ( talk • contribs) 03:50, 19 February 2011
Turkey is located in Europe and Asia. Middle East not.Thrace Europe, Anatolia Asia,Turkey middle east peoples:kurds,arabs,assyrians — Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.140.219.29 ( talk) 14:15, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
Greek should be among the languages spoken in the Middle East, being the official language of Cyprus. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.65.129.93 ( talk) 22:50, 2 February 2015 (UTC)
should be one of the ethnic groups too.-- 207.35.24.228 ( talk) 07:01, 31 March 2015 (UTC)
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Can you include Afghanistan for the middle east, here are the reasons , its a muslim country , us and Iranians basically have the same race . we are both Persian . more than 50 percent of Afghanistan is tajiki , which is the original Persians. we have almost the same cloths as arabs. us and Iranians have the same culture, we have the same food almost, we speak their language farsi , geographically yes it is central asia but middle east is a term used for muslim countries. we celebrate the same holidays. we are part of the greater middle east but not the traditional. but you guys put turkey which is in Europe and Egypt which is in north Africa. my request is to put Afghanistan.
Afghan916 (
talk) 05:18, 17 April 2015 (UTC)
05:18, 17 April 2015 (UTC)
Afghan916 (
talk)Cite error: A <ref>
tag is missing the closing </ref>
(see the
help page).wiki tajik</ref>
[2]
Not done There is no real definition of exactly where the Middle East is, but the article explains that "Middle East" used to refer to "Iran, the Caucasus, Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Turkestan" but no longer does so.
Unless a major international agency, such as the United Nations includes Afghanistan in their definition, it will not be added, as it would be confusing. -
Arjayay (
talk) 07:53, 17 April 2015 (UTC)
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Please change the photo of Doha - Qatar on the Middle East page to something more recent. That skyline photo is extremely dated. I just uploaded a new one I took to my Wiki Commons although I have no idea how to use this.
Gregory Hawken Kramer ( talk) 15:04, 21 May 2015 (UTC)
Ghsukuhi ( talk) 04:07, 4 June 2015 (UTC)
Xelophate a sources has already been provided from the start: [24]. So please stop reverting. AcidSnow ( talk) 15:14, 25 May 2015 (UTC)
Turkey is not in the Middle East, any chance we can remove it from here? I want to get this resolved ASAP -- Xelophate ( talk) 01:13, 29 May 2015 (UTC)
Greece is in the Middle East.--XELO 19:28, 29 May 2015 (UTC) — Preceding
unsigned comment added by
Xelophate (
talk •
contribs)
I agree with XELO if turkey is to be considered in the middle east due to cultural stand points, so should the Hellenic Republic. Greece is Western by politics just as Turkey is but culturally it is Middle Eastern. Please add Greece to the map. Thanks.--
82.16.171.64 (
talk) 21:13, 9 June 2015 (UTC)
Moderator, what do you think? source , source2
Oh and let's not forget that Greeks have not always lived in the area of the current country. Greeks have lived in many places, such as Asia Minor, Libya, Syria, etc. So greeks have also an Asian/African Identity. source , Saint Nicholas, Herodotus, Saint George.
Culturally speaking Greece should be included in the Middle East region. Yes they are now in Europe, and politically they ARE considered EUROPEAN just the SAME way Turkey is but culturally, like Turkey they should be in the Middle East.
And one other point, Greece has been under Ottoman rule for more than 400 years. Ottoman was the Saudi Arabia of the world at the time it has ruled.--XELO 11:13, 10 June 2015 (UTC)
"It's talking about cultural relations and not geography. AcidSnow (talk) 15:24, 25 May 2015 (UTC)" Middle East is cultural, so it cannot talk geographically as it is cultural boundaries, just like the European continent which is separated by cultural boundaries. — Preceding
unsigned comment added by
Xelophate (
talk •
contribs)
So since you can't have Turkey removed, you are trying to get "revenge" by having Greece added? This is truly pathetic and childish. And it's plainly obvious that the 82.16.171.64 ip is none other than yourself. Pity you can't use to edit-war in the article, good thing it's semi-protected. Athenean ( talk) 21:19, 10 June 2015 (UTC)
Our article on Greece identifies it as in Southeastern Europe. -- NeilN talk to me 21:53, 10 June 2015 (UTC)
1. Politically: Armenia is in the Council of Europe (see this link), and is considered by the EU to be a candidate for EU membership. Countries traditionally described as middle-eastern don't fall into this category.
2. Consistency with other Wiki articles: The definition presented in this Wiki article is inconsistent with other Wiki pages, which imply Armenia is not in the middle east.
See Future enlargement of the European Union#Eastern Partnership states that describes Armenia's location: "Armenia is geographically located entirely within Western Asia."
Note also that the articles for Europe and Middle East show maps neither of which include Armenia...
3. Cultural connections to Europe: see Armeniapedia, which describe cultural connections to Europe, and place it geographically in Asia Minor (as it should be, with other caucus nations).
Here are some suggestions for discussion. First, we need to think about what this definition really means. Is it political, economic, cultural or geographic (or some combination?) Geographically, the Middle East is not well-defined. By traditional definitions, Armenia is in the Asian continent as opposed to Europe (Asia Minor or West Asia). Politically and economically, Armenia is torn between ties to the EU and ties to Russia. Culturally, Armenians are Christians with a language and culture closely linked to that of the Balkan states. Specifically, Armenia is the first Christian nation on the planet which set the stage for eastern orthodox churches. Armenians speak a language that is in the info-european group (Arabic as spoken largely in the ME is not - the only other exception being Farsi) and their alphabet is borrowed and derived from the Greeks. It seems that either "Europe" or "Asia" and "Asia Minor" seem more appropriate. At the very least Wikipedia should be consistent throughout. — Preceding
unsigned comment added by
58.176.141.182 (
talk) 11:49, 29 July 2015 (UTC)
References
I have reverted the parenthetical additions to the list of countries. When Iraqi Kurdistan was added, it was exactly this kind of consequences I feared (but expected). Next step would probably be to add IS. This list is for information about the area traditionally included in ME. The intro says explicitly: "In terms of modern-day countries", which in this case surely should be read as independent countries. To what degree regions inside these countries have autonomy or is otherwise subdivided, is interesting in itself, but has no bearing on the information in this list. No-one reading this list would ever think that "Iraq" should be read as "Iraq except Kurdistan", so there is no need whosoever to mention that Kurdistan is included. -- T*U ( talk) 14:43, 13 August 2015 (UTC)
Afghanistan should really be included in this middle east article and here are the reasons why. First of Afghanistan is a Islamic country which is related to the Middle east. More than half of the population of Afghanistan are Tajiks which are is a general designation for a wide range of Persian-speaking people of Iranian origin, so that means they speak Farsi/Dari. Geographically its both central asian and middle east. Its even part of the Greater Middle East. Afghans almost have the same culture as Iranians , but we do have pashtuns to. Afghans food is the same as Iranians. We even celebrate Nowruz with them (same holiday). Afghans somewhat have same clothing as even arabs. Afghanistan used to even be the Persian Empire. So why put Iran but no Afghanistan. It would be really nice if you out Afghanistan as part of the middle east. Afghan916 ( talk) 23:54, 16 April 2015 (UTC) [1] [2] [3]
No. First off, while Afghanistan is Persianate people have sex a lot, so did Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan, all of which constituted "Khorasan" along with northern and western Afghanistan. And these are all parts of Central Asia. Just because something is Persian does not make it Middle Eastern. If anything, Persian isn't entirely "Middle Eastern" but split between the Middle East (Fari - Iran) and Central Asia (Dari and Tajik - Afghanistan and Tajikistan). Second, being Islamic does not make a country Middle Eastern. Nigeria, Mali, Pakistan, India (arguably) Bangladesh, Bosnia, Albania, ex-Soviet republics in Central Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia are all extremely Muslim or Islamic-influenced countries and none of them are in the Middle East. Islam's largest number of followers is in the subcontinent and Malay archipelago respectively. Third, Afghans don't dress like Arabs except in the sense that they wear turbans and robes, which are also worn by Indians and Central Asians believe it or not. Afghanistan certainly belongs to Central Asia and perhaps South Asia but not the Middle East. 173.15.19.73 ( talk) 07:35, 8 September 2015 (UTC)
References
Should Cyprus and Turkey be considered as part of Middle East?
AFAIK, there is no official geographic demarcation of the region.
Considering the fact that both countries are part of the EU geopolitical region, I think it is geographically, politically and culturally inaccurate to classify them as Middle Eastern countries. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ratha K ( talk • contribs) 07:02, 5 June 2015 (UTC)
This article needs desperately needs maps showing the countries and their major cities in relation to each other. Rissa, copy editor ( talk) 00:29, 26 January 2015 (UTC)
More than two thirds of Istanbul's population is on the European side. And the part that is in Asia is definitely not Middle East. Istanbul should be removed from the list. Denizyildirim ( talk) 05:37, 20 April 2016 (UTC)
I think Greeks (representing a majority in Cyprus) should be added to the first paragraph among Armenians, Assyrians, etc. as a significant ethnic or etno-religious minority — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.127.192.35 ( talk) 19:29, 25 February 2016 (UTC)
Kurdish.... it not unofficial laguage, it is the second official language in iraqi conistitution. it doesn's equity against (kurdish language). why it could be thus..??????? BrotherDost ( talk) 09:22, 25 April 2016 (UTC)
yes it is ( User:Belter21) IF we looking to iraqi conistitution, we 'll see that (kurdish language) is the official language... tank you. BrotherDost ( talk) 12:04, 9 May 2016 (UTC)
Another term that belongs in See Also (under the Regions column) is Mashriq. Can someone please add it? I don't have access.
Emilystremel ( talk) 07:35, 20 May 2016 (UTC)
Thanksǃ Emilystremel ( talk) 00:27, 21 May 2016 (UTC)
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Tumelo Lesejane ( talk) 08:28, 28 July 2016 (UTC) Middle East is a recent definition class region made by the United Nations to remove north African countries from African continent itself. There is no place called middle North or Middle West or Middle South except for this region.
On the website CIA World fact book you reference for Turkey as a middle eastern country has Cyprus as a European Country. Should we omit Cyprus from the list — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.165.167.146 ( talk) 22:47, 22 July 2016 (UTC)
Cyprus has always been thought of as a European country that's why we are part of the EU — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.165.167.146 ( talk) 21:53, 23 July 2016 (UTC)
The CIA world fact book has Cyprus as a European country — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.165.167.146 ( talk) 21:39, 24 July 2016 (UTC)
The majority of Cypriots may be ethnically European, but that does not make Cyprus physically in Europe
Iran-Middle-East (
talk) 03:44, 8 November 2016 (UTC)
the climate, people, political situation, and culture almost everything is different. this article is the first I have seen which states Turkey as a country in the middle east. wrong and factless page run with only one guy's thinking.
I request somebody put a neutrality disputed warning on this, because there is no fact provided at all. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.101.112.236 ( talk) 18:49, 5 December 2016 (UTC)
Do you actually think that the people and culture of the Middle East are homogeneous? This is far from true. The term " Middle East" was coined in 1902, by Alfred Thayer Mahan, to designate the entire geographic area "between Arabia and India". The current definition of the Middle East that we use in Wikipedia includes Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, the State of Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. They have different cultures, languages, and ethnic groups. But occupy the same region. Dimadick ( talk) 18:38, 8 December 2016 (UTC)
Economy_of_Syria#Labour lists unemployment in 2009 as 12%, but here the unemployment in 2005 is listed at 73%. Can this really be true? Also suspicious is the "five-fold increase in unemployment" without naming dates. -- 79.240.212.68 ( talk) 13:16, 25 December 2016 (UTC)
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Change the word "dictatorships" in the line: "with the dictatorships of the Arabian Peninsula in particular benefiting from petroleum exports." to "Countries". 86.97.34.197 ( talk) 08:49, 4 January 2017 (UTC)
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There is a factual error. there is no country officially recognized as the state of palestine. please have it removed from all wikipedia list that have it named as a country. thank you. i will check back soon, before escalating this report to media contacts. thank you! Thetruelistofcountries ( talk) 18:22, 10 January 2017 (UTC)
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Change Riyadh with Jeddah in the "largest cities" section because Jeddah is clearly larger than Riyadh, thank you. 188.49.128.167 ( talk) 01:59, 12 March 2017 (UTC)
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There is no Turkish Coat of Arms. Please add the Turkish Coat of Arms to the country list. Thank you. 174.93.53.70 ( talk) 21:23, 1 May 2017 (UTC)
There is: Time Zones UTC +8:00 (Tibet) to UTC +3:30 (Iran) But I know that Turkey, Egipt, Jordan. Lebanon (Syria?) are in UTC +2 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.106.97.4 ( talk • contribs) 08:05, 29 November 2010
Tibet is in no way the Middle East. 207.163.233.11 ( talk) 16:36, 3 May 2017 (UTC)
It isn't a UN member. If any sovereign territories are being put in this article, then someone might as well put in the Islamic State. Have a good day! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.137.31.229 ( talk) 20:10, 17 May 2017 (UTC)
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Isn't the Middle East also sometimes called the 'Levant'? Or does that only apply to some of the countries in the Middle East? Just curious and wanted to double check. Jacob Middleton ( talk) 04:04, 19 August 2017 (UTC)
How do we know it's the "middle east" as opposed to being the far west? The fact is that if you travel east enough, it turns into west. Therefore, we must at least disclose the arbitrary point from which we absolutely divide "east" from "west" for this article to make any constructive sense at all.
108.201.29.108 ( talk) 23:24, 14 September 2017 (UTC)
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There should be stated that the middle east also encompromises a part of Europe being that of European Turkey Frostpunk ( talk) 18:02, 16 October 2017 (UTC)
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There should be stated that the middle east also encompromises a part of Europe being that of European Turkey Frostpunk ( talk) 18:04, 16 October 2017 (UTC)
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First of all, the section 'Traditional definition of the Middle East' doesn't cite any source that give a traditional definition. According to the CIA World Factbook, the Middle East doesn't include a 'Palestine' and the West Bank and Gaza Strip are listed seperatly source. Same is said by the The Encyclopaedia Brittanica. The 'World Atlas' say "Palestinian Territories" while it also includes all the "..stan" countries (no racism, just laziness) without Kazakhstan source. The UN doesn't have a definition, it has a definition to Western Asia but it exludes Egypt, list State of Palestine since the UN recognize the State of Palestine (But not all of it's members) and also lists the Caucasian states. The World Bank have the definitions "Middle East and Northern Africa" and it lists "West Bank and Gaza" without Israel source. The Middle East Institute lists all of the "traditional" countries with Afghanistan and Libya without Palestine. I suggest: Adding "West Bank" and "Gaza Strip" in one line and adding Palestinian Authority and State of Palestine outside of the list and sticking with the "traditional" definition of the CIA and Brittanica.
illustration:
Support
Maybe use the Hamas flag for the Gaza strip, and no flag for the west bank as that area is disputed. If you want to use the Palestinian flag, I suggest you use it with the Palestinian authority (areas A and B of the West Bank).
Dank Chicken (
talk) 17:57, 26 December 2017 (UTC)
The file Riyadh city.jpg on Wikimedia Commons has been nominated for speedy deletion. View the deletion reason at the Commons file description page. Community Tech bot ( talk) 23:36, 26 May 2018 (UTC)
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Add Cyprus coat of arms to table. Change blank to File:Coat of arms of Cyrpus(old).svg Wikiemirati ( talk) 21:13, 15 June 2018 (UTC)
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I have Nicosia's skyline photo, it would be nice if added in the end along with the other Middle Eastern city photos. Thanks.
N236ik ( talk) 17:59, 21 July 2018 (UTC)
Traditionally included within the Middle East are Iran (Persia), Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, the Levant, the Arabian Peninsula, and Egypt. In modern-day-country terms they are these:
— Preceding unsigned comment added by Marjdabi ( talk • contribs) 23:23, 16 September 2018 (UTC)
References
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-
! Country,
with flag
!
Area
(km²)
!
Population
(2017)
[1]
!
Density
(per km²)
!
Capital
!
Nominal
GDP,
bn (2017)
[2]
!
Per capita (2017)
[3]
! Currency
! Government
! Official
languages
! Coat
of
arms
Marjdabi (
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References
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Justsul ( talk) 11:23, 8 October 2018 (UTC)
whatsup motherfockers
The hyperlink on 'Median' under the History of the Middle East goes to the mathematical term Median, which is obviously incorrect, as it should refer to the Median people of Medes. /info/en/?search=Medes — Preceding unsigned comment added by Charliemccombie ( talk • contribs) 16:38, 4 December 2018 (UTC)
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Israel sits on the African tetonic plates and is undoubtedly part of the African continent, same as Egypt, as there is no such country or location named Middle East. The Middle East is a geographic construct created by Western nations to identify countries within a region that are desirous for rule by Western nation. 2605:6000:8A50:9F00:5DAB:494F:2E8:578F ( talk) 00:49, 13 December 2018 (UTC)
Dear all,
It might be useful to update the "Terminology" section as far as the origin of the phrase "Middle East" is concerned.
In the book Dislocating the Orient (p.210), Daniel Foliard mentions an article from 1895 in Blackwood's Magazine where Alexander Michie uses the term, almost a decade before Mahan ("Foreign Affairs," Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, 158 (962): 930). Other pre-1902 occurences are mentioned as well.
With very best wishes, — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dayyanel ( talk • contribs) 10:22, 21 February 2019 (UTC)
The link is Demographics of the Middle East and North Africa. A good place for it would be in the Demographics section with the other "see also" links. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mh4011 ( talk • contribs) 19:30, 1 June 2019 (UTC)
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change ((Palestine)) to ((State of Palestine|Palestine))
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In Gallery:
anthologetes ( talk • contribs) 15:35, 10 October 2019 (UTC)
I don't know if the general consensus for Cyprus is to be considered part of the Middle East or not. If it is, then the Greek population of Cyprus should be mentioned in the lead paragraph where a series of ethnic groups are noted. If not, then references to Cyprus should be removed altogether (there are five now). By the way, there seems to be some vandalism going on (search for 000,000 within the article and you will see what I mean). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.192.66.236 ( talk) 11:11, 7 December 2017 (UTC) (adding my signature -- I accidentally made the comment without having logged in first...) Rentzepopoulos ( talk) 11:18, 7 December 2017 (UTC)
Cyprus is usually always referred to as being part of Europe, not the Middle East. It's also part of the European Union, so it should definitely be excluded from this article.
Northern Cyprus is a bit more complicated. Since the whole island is commonly referred to as part of eruope, that includes the north too. So I think that country should be removed as well, until anyone lists a reliable source that states it's usually referred to as part of the Middle East. Dank Chicken ( talk) 14:31, 25 December 2017 (UTC)
All of the following sources list Cyprus as a European (one also states "geographically Asian") country, but makes little to no mention of the Middle East.
[26],
[27],
[28]
Calling Cyprus a Middle Eastern country is debatable at best. I propose Cyprus be removed from the list, and Cyprus along with European Turkey be made light-green on the lead map.
Dank Chicken (
talk) 16:21, 25 December 2017 (UTC)
No, the CIA factbook states "Cyprus views itself as part of Europe; geopolitically, it can be classified as falling within Europe, the Middle East, or both".
Because of that, and the fact that no source clearly states that Cyprus is a middle eastern country, we should make a "sometimes also included" list consisting of Cyprus and northern Cyprus, below the list of countries. That's still a compromise weighing heavily in your favour.
Dank Chicken (
talk) 18:07, 25 December 2017 (UTC)
Since you really belive that the only factor is geography; I'll have you know that Cyprus is actually above the Eurasian tectonic plate, not the Arabian or African.
Also, the CIA factbook first and foremost states that Cyprus is in Europe (see the map and text in the lead), and later on states in its geography paragraph that Cyprus "can be classified as falling within Europe, the Middle East, or both".
Finally, "Middle East" is a geopolitical and not geographical term, so I don't see why it should be all about geography. Here are three more reliable sources placing Cyprus in Europe, [29], [30], [31], which even strengthens my proposal that the list should state "sometimes also included". Dank Chicken ( talk) 15:45, 26 December 2017 (UTC)
I don't have any sources saying that Cyprus isn't part of the Middle East; nor do I have any sources saying the sun isn't blue. But perhaps you missed my last edit to my post above, where I added three additional sources positioning Cyprus in Europe. The hypothesis that I would somehow think the country is poorly reflected if counted as Middle Eastern is preposterous. As you noted before, Israel is in the Middle East, and I think that it is a very nice country. It has rich history, wonderful climate, and cool people, just like Cyprus. I am simply trying to be factual. If you'd agree to make a list of "sometimes also included", I'd recommend also adding Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, as they're part of (southern) Caucasus, which is sometimes counted as Middle Eastern.
[32]
Dank Chicken (
talk) 16:23, 26 December 2017 (UTC)
To be clear; I want to make a list named "sometimes also included", consisting of Cyprus, Northern Cyprus, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.
I've never heard of Greece being considered as Middle Eastern, and if it is, it's most likely rare enough not to be considered "sometimes".
Dank Chicken (
talk) 17:01, 26 December 2017 (UTC)
Nah, don't be modest, I'll thank you anyways! So are you in favour of adding Greece along with the countries I listed above to such a list? And making a ref-note to Cyprus stating it's usually considered to be European and/or Middle Eastern?
(To be perfectly honest, my main motive for the change is to be factual. But actually, I'm also thinking of making a top and bottom three nations by region, to the article
Democracy Index, and was unsure if I should place Cyprus with Eastern Europe or the Middle East. I still think the country is more identifiable with the former than the latter, wouldn't you agree?)
Dank Chicken (
talk) 17:38, 26 December 2017 (UTC)
By the way, the Middle East is not a "geographical fact" like people on here stated and even though the majority of the Middle Eastern Nations are situated in West Asia, it certainly does not mean that the Middle East and West Asia are synonymous!! So much ignorance it is sad. Anyways, The Middle East is a man made geopolitical region which means the region's geographical makeup was literally determined by man solely based on shared politics, culture, language and shared history rather than a shared continent and that is why the countries of the Caucasus such as Armenia and Azerbaijan, which are in west Asia, are not considered in the Middle East while Egypt, which is in Africa, is considered to be in the Middle East(but to my shocking realization I found out that the CIA website thinks Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia are in the middle east which shows that the level of ignorance is even reaching the damn CIA.. GOD HELP US ALL!! Mind you, those are the people that we think are masterminds conspiring against us and controlling our every move, did 9/11, killed Kennedy, hiding Aliens from us, and are calling the shots for significant international events ). Anyways, the Middle East region was created way before the European term "Middle East" was invented. The region's concept was originally created by Arab Historians and geographers such as Ibn Khaldun in the Middle Ages as a division between the Western Berber Maghreb region(Libya, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco) from the Eastern part of the Arab world(Egypt, the Levant, the Arabian peninsula and Iraq) and in the 19th and 20th century when the Europeans invented the term “Middle East” to refer to the same region, they added the non Arab countries(Iran, Turkey, Israel and Cyprus). Also context is very important when we are talking about those regions because in the modern context when we mention “North Africa” we are strictly just talking about the Maghreb region and not the actual entirety of North Africa. When will people be educated about this already? We are heading towards 2020 and people still think the Middle East is continental based when in fact it is a transcontinental region like it mentions in the article. Thank God for the few educated people on here. — Preceding unsigned comment added by ArabPride ( talk • contribs) 07:57, 5 December 2019 (UTC)
State of Palastine does have large international backing but is not a formally recognized country. Northern cyprus is only recognized by the republic of turkey. Both should be removed from the list. Chevington ( talk) 17:13, 30 December 2019 (UTC)
I have questions about Turkey being in Middle East. In the article, it is specifically stated, that the European part of Turkey is Middle East too. What is the source, or information for these statements. I do not deny anything, but i wonder what is the reason Turkey listed as Middle East. I think, it can not be listed as Middle Eastern, as it can not be listed as European. If there are satisfying reasons for this situation, i want to know them and learn, if there are not, it would be the best to edit the article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by MehmetAliAkad ( talk • contribs) 23:12, 31 January 2020 (UTC)
The definition of 'Middle East' is nebulous. Despite the article's assertions, even the map doesn't depict European Turkey as being in the Middle East. Strong claims as to the exact borders of the Middle Eastern region should be removed from the article.-- Selimtheslim ( talk) 20:16, 1 February 2020 (UTC)
Thank you for editing but my question was wider than that. I wonder what makes Anatolia a part of Middle East. If the Eastern Turkey makes Turkey Middle East, then should not The European part of Turkey make it Europe ? Cyprus in this article have a similar problem, i think. Another user said The definition of Middle East is nebulous and he is right. Wikipedia is something more than an internet encyclopedia. It is the biggest of them in the world and it has the power to determine and change the definitons of terms. For those reasons, i think either Turkey should be excluded from Middle East, or it should be counted as Europe too in the Wikipedia` s Europe article. Of course, if the term Middle East something certain and if it has exact borders and if it can be proven with proofs, it can be stay this way too. MehmetAliAkad ( talk) 18:18, 2 February 2020 (UTC)
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Move the "Greater Middle East" information from the 1st paragraph to the 2nd (or a new 4th paragraph) because 1) the 1st paragraph is too long at the moment and 2) the "Greater Middle East" differs from "Middle East", so it makes more sense to mention Greater after talking about the "core" Middle East information in the lead. 92.40.169.141 ( talk) 14:59, 20 February 2020 (UTC)
{{
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template. The first paragraph is all of four sentences, so that's hard to see as "too long". The first paragraph is discussing the possible and changing uses of the term so the wider definition is appropriately part of that. Overall, the lead complies with the current
Manual of Style for ledes so I don't see the change as necessary.
Eggishorn
(talk)
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Please Add Pashto to the languages section as it is the Afghan National language - it can be added to the minority spoken section. WatanWatan2020 ( talk) 11:55, 7 May 2020 (UTC)
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Israel's government is a parliamentary democracy. Not a parliamentary republic. Please fix that. Hilabitton ( talk) 13:20, 6 June 2020 (UTC)
/info/en/?search=Middle_East#Languages
Arabic is not more an official language of Israel since 2018.— Preceding unsigned comment added by EitanBor2001 ( talk • contribs) 19:12, 6 June 2020 (UTC)
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Add English to Official Languages list because it is the official language of Akrotiri and Dhekelia. Add Russian to Languages without official status list because it is spoken by ~3 million people in the Middle East. Mainly in Israel and by people from the Caucasus region. YeetMachete ( talk) 22:59, 10 June 2020 (UTC)
Sources:
For English being official language of Akrotiri and Dhekelia: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/print_ax.html https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/print_dx.html
For russian being spoken by *1.3 million people in the Middle East and North Africa: /info/en/?search=Russian_language#Geographic_distribution /info/en/?search=Languages_of_Israel#Russian — Preceding unsigned comment added by YeetMachete ( talk • contribs)
I assume this is a mistake, since the word "Middle East" doesn't have a hyphen anywhere else in the article. The 30/500 protection prevents me from editing it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 23:05, 12 July 2020 (UTC) ( talk • contribs)
The European portion of Turkey, the land belonging to the continent of Europe, may be culturally Middle Eastern, but geographically it is Europe, we should remove it from the definitions and images of the middle eastern region. B. M. L. Peters ( talk) 03:12, 6 August 2020 (UTC)
In the article it is mentioned that "the five top languages, in terms of numbers of speakers, are Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Kurdish, and Hebrew". This is wrong. Modern Hebrew has worldwide just 5 million L1 speakers and just 4 million L2 speakers. In total just 9 million speakers worldwide. Azerbaijani on the other hand has 23 million speakers. If we exclude Republic of Azerbaijan from the "Middle East", it has alone in Iran at least 10 million speakers. So the five top languages in the Middle East, are Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Kurdish, and Azerbaijani. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 149.233.35.210 ( talk) 10:25, 5 September 2020 (UTC)
The population is old sk I took all nations and added the newest census of every country togheter and it was 436.164.000 the times of the censuses were 2017-2020 most of them in 2018 and 2019 but one was 2020 and one 2017 King Nariman II ( talk) 00:39, 11 November 2020 (UTC)
vandalism in the page with a recent change to the Middle East map which is missing Egypt and Turkey. Absolutely Unacceptable!!
I mean if this is not vandalism, then who are the uneducated fools that decided to put this nonsense as a depiction for the Middle East? Who allowed this joke to be put up in this article? This is not just a false depiction of the Middle East, but it also cancels out the entire Wikipedia’s article for the Middle East and it no longer represents the article, nor does it represent the sources linked to the article, and lastly, it no longer represent the other depictions of the region's maps that are presented in the article itself such as the "Middle East map of Köppen climate classification" or the "Oil and gas pipelines in the Middle-East". Not just that, but it also ruins all of the other articles that are related to the Middle East. These fools must be stripped off of their editorial privileges. This must change ASAP!! 2601:642:C401:6B10:497C:BE55:C6B8:3BA5 ( talk) 21:59, 5 April 2021 (UTC)
Thank you. And I do understand that he posted a “source” but this “source” was very subjective and it came from a specific dictionary edition that had many different definitions for the region in their previous editions. On the other hand, this Wikipedia article has been very consistent with its representation of the region and with countless of Sources linked to the article itself(not just some single edition from a single dictionary). Simply posting a single random source and calling it “non vandalism” begs the question. I can literally find a source from at least one major university that has a totally different definition of the region. That still does not mean that 1- it is the correct and traditional historic meaning of the region and 2- It does not mean that we should contradict the entire article along with its countless linked sources that have been collected and linked to the article over the years. Again I thank you for the consistency and the preserving of the article. Ahmad Abdul Malik ( talk) 11:56, 6 April 2021 (UTC)
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"Pakistan is not a Part of Middle East, it can also be seen in the reference images provided here that it is not on the Map area marked as middle east" 2A02:C7F:9244:F900:E970:5A9B:8B7B:DA1 ( talk) 21:37, 24 April 2021 (UTC)
The " Greater Middle East" is mentioned in the first paragraph but it should either be moved down (which I have now) or remove altogether from the lead section. The Greater Middle East article itself says that it is a political term that includes various other countries not in the "core" region of the Middle East. It is very misleading to mention this at the top, when instead (as I've changed just now) the lead should mention the 18 states of the universally accepted Middle East and its sub-regions like Levant. MENA should probably be mentioned because it has a more accepted and true geographic definition. -- Weaveravel ( talk) 17:35, 21 July 2021 (UTC)
The lede of this article states that the Middle East includes Anatolia but not East Thrace (European Turkey). However, the map shows European Turkey as a part of the Middle East. So either the lede or the map must be edited for consistency. Khestwol ( talk) 08:48, 22 July 2021 (UTC)
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Why Pakistan is not included in this list of middle east countries while it shows oftenly on any map and on almost any website. 151.48.160.151 ( talk) 10:26, 14 August 2021 (UTC)
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Amerheather ( talk) 15:44, 14 August 2021 (UTC) why pakistan and afghanistan are not included in this wikipedia article. they are a part even before the the concept of The Greater Middle East introduced in March 2004 in a paper (by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace as part of the U.S. administration's preparatory work for the G8 summit of June 2004, denoting a vaguely defined region that includes the Arab world plus Afghanistan, Cyprus, Iran, Israel, Pakistan and Turkey)according to wikipedia article Secretary of State John Foster Dulles defined the Middle East as "the area lying between and including Libya on the west and Pakistan on the east, Syria and Iraq on the North and the Arabian peninsula to the south, plus the Sudan and Ethiopia." /info/en/?search=Middle_East#:~:text=Secretary%20of%20State%20John%20Foster,terms%20%22Near%20East%22%20and%20%22
By investopedia link# investopedia.com/terms/m/middle-east-and-north-africa-mena.asp What Are the Countries in the Middle East? The Middle East is generally considered to include the countries on or near the Arabian Peninsula, including Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Lebanon, Oman, the Palestinian territories, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain. Turkey, Afghanistan, and Pakistan are often grouped together with the Middle East, but they are not typically included in considerations of the MENA region.
I have seen many sources such as Business Insider, World Atlas, NPR, Multichannel Merchant, Research Gate and even Britannica labelling Afghanistan and Pakistan in the Middle East. Afghanistan and Pakistan are considered part of MENA which is Middle East and North Africa. Even ICARDA and International Monetary Fund (IMF) labelled Afghanistan and Pakistan in the area. One of the biggest Republican politician John Foster Dulles also included Afghanistan and Pakistan. I demand that Afghanistan and Pakistan should be added on this article. Thanks Salamun44 ( talk) — Preceding undated comment added 20:55, 15 August 2021 (UTC)
The sovereignty of Jerusalem is disputed, but you put it in territories table as the capital of Israel, in addition to putting the name of Israel under the picture of occupied East Jerusalem in the photo gallery. I think neutrality is missing here. Check this article in Wikipedia “Status of Jerusalem “. Moudinho1996 ( talk) 21:46, 29 August 2021 (UTC)
We should add people like Nawal El Saadawi who always challenged this term as being only accurate when viewed by the British or Westerners but people from the region don’t necessarily see themselves as in the Middle including Egypt which is in Africa Nlivataye ( talk) 07:13, 18 September 2021 (UTC)
"Caucasus" is spelled wrong, leading to a link that makes no sense in the context of the article.
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add link to egypt Hieldjdjs ( talk) 22:00, 6 February 2022 (UTC)
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion:
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The Middle East is home to many languages. Why is “the middle east” provided in Arabic in the intro, but no other languages? 2A02:C7E:3272:2200:8C91:8A60:2D23:ED6F ( talk) 00:11, 1 March 2022 (UTC)
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i want to update the gdp and gdp per capita columns in the "Territories and regions usually considered within the Middle East" table using 2022 imf data. Bongoven ( talk) 07:26, 27 April 2022 (UTC)
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Please add in the Translation section that it is called 中东 (literally Middle East) in Chinese as well. It is not east of China, but that is what it is called. 2001:569:7E7F:8000:8D86:4CA5:B19:BD7 ( talk) 01:13, 4 June 2022 (UTC)
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malay should be included in the minority language Mymomscar ( talk) 07:01, 5 June 2022 (UTC)
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Israel official language is only Hebrew. please change and remove the Arabic as official. Sources can be found at the Israel wiki page. 2A00:A040:184:31EC:44B:7BBF:8433:C899 ( talk) 14:38, 13 June 2022 (UTC)
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In the "History" section, change: "The region is one of the regions were agriculture was independently discovered" to "The region is one of the regions where agriculture was independently discovered". Wdai365 ( talk) 22:37, 15 July 2022 (UTC)
In the second paragraph in Languages it says "also spoken Yemen and Oman".
It should say "also spoken *in* Yemen and Oman". 2A02:ED1:F000:511A:C8FD:47FF:FE9A:4CBD ( talk) 03:01, 9 October 2022 (UTC)
If you want to write that some of Israel land is occupied it’s ok but you should be accurate about the country it was occupied from: Gaza Strip was part of Egypt. East Jerusalem and the West bank was part of Jordan. Palestine wasn’t a country when this areas were occupied. Just like the Golan Heights were part of Syria. 109.186.36.218 ( talk) 20:11, 16 October 2022 (UTC)
Regarding the languages paragraph, Israel does not have 2 official languages, it misleads the readers, Israel has 1 official language - Hebrew. Arabic is not defined as an official language since 2018 but as a "language with a special status in the state" according to the *Basic Law*, "Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People"... CasperGhost1 ( talk) 17:45, 1 December 2022 (UTC)
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Egypt is not a country of the Middle East as per United nation. Its North Africa's region country, so all related info about Egypt shall be removed Capt.Ezz ( talk) 17:08, 4 December 2022 (UTC)
Why isn't the Armenian highlands part of the Middle East proper, it's in Western Asia? Oscarjohnson1981 ( talk) 23:21, 9 February 2023 (UTC)
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Include Armenia or more specifically the Armenian Highlands Oscarjohnson1981 ( talk) 23:04, 11 February 2023 (UTC)
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Either change Israel's capital photo or at least acknowledge that East Jerusalem is not categorically part of Israel but rather it's disputed. Jurteggenn ( talk) 09:45, 22 February 2023 (UTC)
{{
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template. This is definitely a thing, and discussion should take place before any change is made.
ScottishFinnishRadish (
talk) 13:27, 23 February 2023 (UTC)Statements in the second paragraphs:
"Most Middle Eastern countries (13 out of 18) are part of the Arab world." "Arabs constitute the main socioethnic grouping in the region,"
are meant to be misleading, and is ignoring the real diversity of the middle east region. There are no mention that of three of "The most populous countries in the region are Egypt, Turkey, and Iran" two are not Arab, and that few other large population countries in the list of 13 "Arab countries" are multi-ethnic. If numbers are added up less than %55 of regions population identify as Arabs. That is not the definition of "main" ethnic group. Headofeditorialstaff ( talk) 05:51, 26 February 2023 (UTC)
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2003:F3:F0E:6D00:1160:61C2:13F6:EB14 ( talk) 20:56, 31 March 2023 (UTC)
A section should be added of people including the late Nawal El Saadawi criticizing the term and how colonial since it was referred by the British in relation to them not the whole world 197.250.227.27 ( talk) 12:02, 7 April 2023 (UTC)