The Middle East is a historical and cultural subregion of Africa-Eurasia traditionally held to be countries or regions in Southwest Asia together with Egypt. In other contexts, the region can include other parts of North Africa and/or Central Asia.

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In the Western world, the Middle East is generally thought of as a predominantly Islamic Arabic community defined by frequent war. However the area encompasses many distinct cultural and ethnic groups, including the Arabs, Armenians, Assyrians, Azeris, Berbers, Chaldeans, Druze, Greeks, Jews, Kurds, Maronites, Persians and Turks. The main language groups include: Arabic, Armenian, Assyrian (also known as Aramaic and Syriac), Hebrew, Persian, Kurdish and Turkish. The corresponding adjective is Middle-Eastern and the derived noun is Middle-Easterner.

Most Western definitions of the "Middle East" — in both established reference books and common usage — define the region as 'nations in Southwest Asia, from Iran (Persia) to Egypt'. Egypt, with its Sinai Peninsula in Asia, is often considered part of the 'Middle East', although most of the country lies geographically in North Africa. North African nations without Asian links, such as Libya, Tunisia and Morocco, are increasingly being called North African — as opposed to Middle Eastern (Iran (Persia) to Egypt-Asia) — by international media outlets.

One widely used definition of "Middle East" is that of the airline industry, maintained by the IATA standards organization. This definition — as of early 2006 — includes Bahrain, Egypt, Iran (Persia), Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestinian Territory, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. ^* This definition is used in world-wide airfare and tax calculations for passengers and cargo.

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RT @MidEastNews [Middle East News] Gideon Levy / Netanyahu should admit Israel doesn't want peace: Tomorrow will mark http://bit.ly/6sBhxM
DonaldPretari (Donald Pretari) Sun, 13 Dec 2009 02:28:47 -0000
RT @MidEastNews [Middle East News] Gideon Levy / Netanyahu should admit Israel doesn't want peace: Tomorrow will mark http://bit.ly/6sBhxM
Guns, Middle East, Torture, Explosions, Jets, The new Medal of Honour is taking on Modern Warfare at its own game.
arconic (Will Maiden) Sun, 13 Dec 2009 02:28:17 -0000
Guns, Middle East, Torture, Explosions, Jets, The new Medal of Honour is taking on Modern Warfare at its own game.
RT @NeilEdwardBrown: check out @johnnymhunt's video travels across the Middle East: http://tinyurl.com/ykel5y4 // hear how God is moving
johnnymhunt (Johnny Hunt) Sun, 13 Dec 2009 02:27:02 -0000
RT @NeilEdwardBrown: check out @johnnymhunt's video travels across the Middle East: http://tinyurl.com/ykel5y4 // hear how God is moving
@carlyoof Flash: Fir tree origin is middle east. New spin on Christmas tree: http://bit.ly/82iOYe
lgailey (Landen Gailey) Sun, 13 Dec 2009 02:17:50 -0000
@carlyoof Flash: Fir tree origin is middle east. New spin on Christmas tree: http://bit.ly/82iOYe
Eating sesame sandwiches and dumplings in our parked car in the middle of the lower east side. I may not love NYC, but I love being married.
krisis (peter m.) Sun, 13 Dec 2009 02:13:20 -0000
Eating sesame sandwiches and dumplings in our parked car in the middle of the lower east side. I may not love NYC, but I love being married.
The Middle East charming the crowd #Meredith http://yfrog.com/3l9y3j
p_perez (Philippe Perez) Sun, 13 Dec 2009 02:12:51 -0000
The Middle East charming the crowd #Meredith http://yfrog.com/3l9y3j

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