The history of the Middle East can be traced back to ancient times. Throughout its history, the Middle East has always been a major center of world affairs. The climate in the Middle East is usually dry and hot, and several major rivers provide irrigation for agriculture in limited areas. Many countries near the Persian Gulf have a lot of crude oil. In modern times, the Middle East remains a strategically, economically, politically, culturally and religiously sensitive region.
origin of a word
The term "Middle East" may have originated from the British office in India in the1850s, [1], and it became more widely known when alfred thayer mahan, an American naval strategist, used this term. [2] During this period, Britain and the Russian Empire were competing for influence in Central Asia, which was later called the "Great Game". Mahan not only realized the strategic importance of the region, but also realized the importance of its central Persian Gulf. [3][4] He labeled the area around the Persian Gulf as the Middle East, saying that it was the most important passage controlled by Britain to stop the Russians from advancing to India after the Suez Canal. [5] Mahan first used this term in his article "Persian Gulf and International Relations", which was published in the September issue of the British magazine National Review 1902.
The Middle East, if I can use a term I have never seen before, will one day need its Malta and its Gibraltar; This does not mean that both will be in the Persian Gulf. Naval forces are mobile, which brings the privilege of temporary absence; However, it needs to find the established modification base, supply base and safety base in case of disaster at every operation site. The British navy should be able to concentrate its forces in Aden, India and the Persian Gulf when necessary. [6]
The Times reprinted alfred thayer mahan Mahan's articles, and then published a series of 20 articles entitled "Middle East Issues" written by Sir ignatius Valentine Chirol in 10. In this series, Chirol expanded the definition of "the Middle East" to include "the Asian region that extends to the border of India or controls the road leading to India" [7] With the series ending with 1903, The New York Times removed the quotation marks when using this term in the future. [8]
Until World War II, it was customary to call the region centered on Turkey and the eastern Mediterranean Sea the Near East, while the Far East centered on China. [9] The Middle East then refers to the region from Mesopotamia to Myanmar, that is, the region between the Near East and the Far East. The feeling described in this paper evolved during the war, perhaps influenced by the ancient concept that the Mediterranean is the "middle sea".
A widely used definition of "Middle East" is the definition of aviation industry, which is maintained by IATA Standards Organization. As of early 2007, this definition includes Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestinian territory, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. [10] This definition is used for the calculation of passenger and cargo air tickets and taxes worldwide.
Criticism and usage
Many people criticize the word Middle East as Eurocentrism, [1 1][ 12], because it was originally used by Europeans (although alfred mahan is an American), which reflects the geographical position of the region from a European perspective. It has also been criticized because the word today is often used to refer to the Arab world, which makes the situation even more confusing.
Today, both Europeans and non-Europeans use this term, unlike the similar term Mashreq, which is only used in Arabic environment. From the perspective of Europe, this area is just to the east. For an Indian, it is located in the west; For Russians, it lies in the south. The middle description also leads to some confusion about the definition of change. Before the First World War, the Near East referred to the Balkans and the Ottoman Empire in English, while the Middle East referred to Persia, Kurdistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia today, Turkey and the Caucasus. On the contrary, the Far East refers to East Asian countries, such as China, Japan, South Korea, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan Province. These critics usually suggest using an alternative term, such as "West Asia". The official name of the United Nations is "Southwest Asia".
With the disappearance of the Ottoman Turkish Empire in 19 18, the Near East largely withdrew from the common use of English, and the Middle East began to be applied to the resurgent countries in the Islamic world. However, the usage of the Near East is reserved by various academic disciplines, including archaeology and ancient history, which describe an area that is the same as the term Middle East, but these disciplines do not use this term (see Ancient Near East). Therefore, in short, the term Middle East appeared when Britain/France used it.
Eisenhower doctrine is a policy of the American government, and the term Middle East was formally used for the first time. [9] US Secretary of State john foster dulles defined the Middle East as "the area between Libya in the west, Pakistan in the east, Turkey in the north and Arabian Peninsula in the south, and Sudan and Ethiopia" [9] In 1958, the State Council explained that the words "near east" and "Middle East" are interchangeable and defined the area as including only Egypt, Syria, Israel, Lebanon and Jordan. [ 13]
The sample of the Associated Press said that the Near East used to refer to western countries farther away, while the Middle East referred to eastern countries, but now they are synonyms. It indicates:
Use the Middle East unless the source in the story uses the Near East. The Middle East is ok, but the Middle East is preferred. [ 14]
translate
There are terms similar to "Near East" and "Middle East" in other European languages, but because they are relative descriptions, their meanings vary from country to country, which is generally different from English terms. In German, the word "Naher Osten" (Near East) is still common (although the word "Mittlerer Osten" is more and more common now), but in Russian, it is блииийвостор. However, some languages do have the equivalent of "Middle East", such as Moyen-Orient in French and Medio Oriente in Italian.
Perhaps due to the influence of western media, the Arabic equivalent of "Middle East" ("ash-sharq al-'awsaT") has become the standard usage of mainstream Arabic newspapers, and its meaning is the same as that of the word "Middle East" in North America and Western Europe. What is the Persian language corresponding to the Middle East? (Khāvarmiyāneh)。
history
Main article: Middle East history
Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
Blue Mosque in Mazar-e-Sharif.
Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque) is one of the most famous architectural heritages of the Ottoman Empire.
The Middle East lies at the junction of Eurasia and Africa, and the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. It is the birthplace and spiritual center of Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Judaism, yazdi and Iranian Mithraism, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism and Baha 'i. Throughout history, the Middle East has always been the main center of world affairs; A strategically, economically, politically, culturally and religiously sensitive region. The earliest civilizations, Mesopotamia and Egypt, originated from the fertile crescent zone in the ancient Near East, as well as the civilizations of the Levant, Persia and Arabia, including the Persian Empire and the Arab Empire.
The modern Middle East began after World War I, when the Ottoman Empire, which was allied with the defeated central powers, was divided into many independent countries. Other decisive events in this transformation include the establishment of Israel in 1948 and the departure of European powers, especially Britain and France. To some extent, they were replaced by the rising influence of the United States.
In the 20th century, the large crude oil reserves in this region gave it new strategic and economic importance. The large-scale production of oil began around 1945, and Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates have a lot of oil. [15] It is estimated that Saudi Arabia and Iran have the highest oil reserves in the world, and the Middle East countries dominate the international oil cartel, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
During the Cold War, the Middle East was the battlefield of ideological struggle between the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, because they competed to influence their regional allies. Under this background, the United States tried to transfer the influence of the Arab world on the Soviet Union. Throughout the 20th century and into the 26th century, the region experienced a period of relative peace and tolerance, as well as a period of conflict and war. Current issues include the Iraq war, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and Iran's nuclear program.
Further information: list of conflicts in the Middle East
geography
Sana 'a, the capital of Yemen, is located in a mountainous area and has been designated as a World Heritage Site for its architecture.
King Faisal Mosque in Islamabad is one of the largest mosques in the world. The Middle East defines a geographical area, but there is no precisely defined boundary. The most common and arbitrary definitions include Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestinian territory, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Many westerners define "Middle East"-in existing reference books and common usage-as "a country in southwest Asia, from Afghanistan, Pakistan to Egypt." The accession of Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkey is sometimes controversial because they are not Arab countries. Egypt, the Sinai Peninsula in Asia, is usually considered as a part of the Middle East, although most of the country is geographically located in North Africa. North African countries that have no connection with Asia, such as Libya, Tunisia and Algeria, are increasingly referred to as North Africa by the international media, not the Middle East (from Pakistan to Egypt-Asia). However, North African countries can also be considered as part of the Middle East. Somalia, an Islamic country in East Africa, like Pakistan, is also considered as a part of the "Greater Middle East". Other countries sometimes included in this definition are the Caucasus (Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia), Cyprus and North Africa (Maghreb). As in the case of Iran, Pakistan and Turkey, the inclusion of these countries is controversial, and often more controversial, because they are far beyond the arbitrary geographical boundaries of the Middle East.
The Middle East is mainly composed of arid and semi-arid areas, including grasslands, pastures and deserts. [16] Water shortage is a problem in many parts of the Middle East. The rapidly growing population has increased the demand for water, while salinization and pollution threaten the water supply. [16] Major rivers, including Nile and Euphrates, provide water sources for agricultural irrigation.
topography
The Middle East mainly includes low-lying areas, while parts of Turkey, Iran and Yemen include mountains. The Anatolian Plateau is sandwiched between the Bendu Mountains and the Torus Mountains in Turkey. The Turkish Ararat Peak is 5 165 meters above sea level, and the highest peak in this area is located in the Elbers Mountains, with an altitude of 56 10 meters. Zagros mountains is located in the border area between Iran and Iraq. Iran's central plateau is divided into two watersheds. The northern basin is Dasht-e Kavir, and the southern basin is Dasht-e-Lut.
In Yemen, the altitude of many areas exceeds 3,700 meters, and the plateau area extends northward along the coast of the Red Sea to Lebanon. There is also a fault zone along the coast of the Red Sea, and the continental rift has formed a trough-shaped terrain, and some areas are far below sea level. The Dead Sea, located at the junction of the West Bank, Israel and Jordan, is 418m (137 1 ft) below sea level, which is the lowest point on the earth's surface. [ 19]
A large lowland lies in the Arabian Peninsula, from central Iraq, through Saudi Arabia, to Oman and the Arabian Sea. The Euphrates and Tigris rivers pass through the lowlands of Iraq and flow into the Persian Gulf. Rubal Khā l is one of the largest deserts in the world, spanning one third of the southern part of Saudi Arabia Peninsula and parts of Oman, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Jebel Akdal is a small mountain range in the northeast of Oman, adjacent to the Gulf of Oman.
geology
Three main tectonic plates converge in the Middle East, including Africa, Eurasia and Arabia. The boundary between tectonic plates constitutes the Azores-Gibraltar Ridge, which extends through North Africa, the Red Sea and into Iran. [20] The Arabian plate moved northward into the Anatolian plate (Turkey) at the Dongan Anatolian fault [2 1], and there was seismic activity at the boundary between the Aegean plate and the Anatolian plate in eastern Turkey. [20]
water resource
Several major aquifers in the desert of Qatar provide water for most parts of the Middle East. In Saudi Arabia, there are two Paleozoic and Triassic large aquifers in Jabal Tuwayq Mountain and the western part of the Red Sea. Aquifers originated in Cretaceous and Eocene are located under most parts of central and eastern Saudi Arabia, including Wasia and Biyadh, which contain a lot of fresh water and salt water. [22] The Nubian aquifer system is located under a large area of North Africa. The large artificial river project in Libya uses a huge pipeline network to transport water from the Nubian aquifer to the population center. The recharge of these deep rock aquifers will take thousands of years, so the aquifers are basically non-renewable resources. [23] Flood irrigation or furrow irrigation and sprinkler irrigation are widely used for irrigation, covering an area of nearly 90,000 kilometers? Agriculture throughout the Middle East