Middle East

The Middle East is a widely recognised geopolitical region extending across West Asia and North Africa, encompassing territories such as the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. Its definition has changed over time, shaped by historical usage, political developments, and academic debates. Although the term originated in English and became prominent through British and wider Western discourse in the early 20th century, the region itself has a far deeper history, often described as one of the cradles of human civilisation.

Historical Background and Development of the Term

The term Middle East is believed to have first emerged in the British India Office in the mid-19th century, although it gained broader circulation in 1902 when the American naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan used it to describe the zone between Arabia and India. This definition reflected strategic concerns of the era, as the British and Russian Empires competed for influence in Central Asia during the Great Game. Mahan emphasised the centrality of the Persian Gulf for imperial communication and control.
Sir Ignatius Valentine Chirol expanded the terminology shortly afterwards, broadening the Middle East to include regions extending to the borders of India or controlling access to it. By the early 20th century, especially after the British established the Middle East Command in Cairo during the late 1930s, the term became standard in Western political and military vocabulary.
Before the First World War, English usage distinguished between the Near East, referring mainly to the Balkans and the Ottoman Empire, and the Middle East, referring to Persia, the Caucasus, and Arabian territories. The Far East denoted East Asian lands including China, Japan, and Korea. With the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1918, the term Near East gradually fell out of common English usage, though it remains in academic fields such as archaeology and ancient history.
By the mid-20th century, the Middle East had become a standard geopolitical term. Its first official use by the United States Government appeared in the Eisenhower Doctrine of 1957, which defined the region in relation to Cold War strategic priorities. Definitions have varied, but they generally include Egypt, the Levant, the Arabian Peninsula, Turkey, Iran, and Iraq.

Geography and Regional Boundaries

The Middle East covers a diverse set of landscapes extending across West Asia and parts of North Africa. Key cities often associated with the region include Cairo, Tehran, Istanbul, Baghdad, Riyadh, Ankara, Alexandria, Dubai, Jeddah, and Amman. The concept of the Greater Middle East extends this boundary even further, sometimes including Afghanistan, Pakistan, the South Caucasus, Central Asia, and parts of East Africa such as Mauritania.
Although closely aligned with West Asia, the Middle East typically excludes the South Caucasus while incorporating all of Egypt and the entirety of Turkey, including East Thrace. The majority of Middle Eastern states are part of the Arab world, though non-Arab countries such as Turkey, Iran, and Israel form integral parts of the region.
By population, Egypt, Turkey, and Iran are the most populous states, while Saudi Arabia covers the largest land area.

Historical Significance and Civilisational Contributions

The region possesses exceptional historical depth and has long been considered a cradle of civilisation. Ancient Mesopotamia, the Nile Valley, and the Levant formed part of the Fertile Crescent, a zone where early agriculture, urbanisation, writing systems, and state formation first emerged. The Tigris–Euphrates river system, the Nile Delta, and the Jordan Rift Valley created fertile environments that supported some of the earliest known complex societies.
The Middle East also holds central importance in the history of religion, as the birthplace of the three major Abrahamic faiths—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. These religions have shaped political, cultural, and social developments within the region and far beyond it.
Across different periods, the Middle East remained a focal point of trade, empire, and intellectual exchange. Its location at the crossroads of Africa, Asia, and Europe endowed it with enduring geopolitical importance, frequently attracting external interest and competition from regional and global powers.

Population, Ethnic Composition, and Languages

The region is ethnically diverse. Arabs constitute the largest ethnic group, while other key populations include Turks, Persians, Kurds, Azerbaijanis, Copts, Jews, Assyrians, Iraqi Turkmen, Yazidis, and Greek Cypriots. This diversity is reflected in the linguistic landscape, where Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Kurdish, Hebrew, and numerous minority languages are spoken.
Cultural traditions vary widely but often share historical links through trade, religion, and shared cultural practices shaped over centuries of interaction.

Climate, Resources, and Economic Features

Most of the Middle East experiences a hot arid climate, particularly the Arabian Peninsula and Egyptian regions. Desert conditions limit agricultural potential outside areas with access to major rivers or irrigation networks. The Fertile Crescent offers contrasting environments with temperate zones suitable for cultivation, benefiting from seasonal rainfall and ancient irrigation systems.
Many states along the Persian Gulf possess vast petroleum reserves. The export of oil has significantly influenced global energy markets and transformed the economies of the Gulf monarchies. Fossil fuels remain central to the economic structures of numerous countries, producing both wealth and challenges related to diversification and environmental sustainability.
Climate change presents acute concerns for the region, especially regarding water scarcity, rising temperatures, and vulnerability to environmental degradation.

Regional Definitions and Alternative Terminology

The boundaries of the Middle East remain fluid and often depend on the political or academic context. Wider concepts, such as the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), fold in North African states including those of the Maghreb and the Sudan region. The Greater Middle East broadens the definition even further to include additional Asian and African territories.
Some scholars advocate alternatives such as Southwest Asia to avoid Eurocentric implications embedded in the term Middle East. However, such replacements have gained limited traction. The inclusion of Egypt—located entirely in Africa—illustrates the complexity of defining the region solely by geographical principles.
Translations into European languages vary significantly, with some languages using terms corresponding to Near East or Middle East depending on national perspectives and historical tradition. In German, Naher Osten remains prominent, while Mittlerer Osten appears more frequently in texts influenced by English. Slavic languages generally use terms meaning Near East, whereas French, Spanish, Swedish, Greek, and Italian possess equivalents of Middle East shaped by their own linguistic histories.

Contemporary Usage and Criticism

In contemporary scholarship and journalism, the Middle East is widely used but not without criticism. Since the late 20th century, journalists and academics from within the region have argued that the term reflects Eurocentric and colonial linguistic frameworks imposed during imperial eras. Nevertheless, it remains the most common descriptor in international media and political discourse.
Debates over terminology reveal broader issues regarding regional identity and global power dynamics. The persistence of these terms reflects historical legacies as well as the continuing strategic importance of the Middle East in world affairs.
The concept of the Middle East therefore represents both a geographical region and a historically conditioned analytical framework shaped by external and internal influences, cultural diversity, and enduring global significance.