The Mediterranean and Middle Eastern regions are geographically close, which has cultivated similarities in their cuisines throughout the. The Mediterranean and Middle Eastern regions are geographically close, which has cultivated similarities in their cuisines over the centuries. Both diets contain a large amount of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and nutritious fats from olive oils, nuts and seeds, as well as less red meat than in many other cultures. However, the two are not interchangeable, although they are often confused with each other and there are several differences that separate them. The term became widespread in Western European nations in the early 20th century as a replacement for the term Near East (both were in contrast to the Far East).
The term Middle East has generated some confusion regarding its changing definitions. Since the late 20th century, it has been criticized for being too Eurocentric. The region includes the vast majority of the territories included in the closely associated definition of Western Asia, but does not include the Southern Caucasus. It also includes all of Egypt (not just the Sinai region) and all of Turkey (including Eastern Thrace).
Most Middle Eastern countries (13 out of 1) are part of the Arab world. The three most populated countries in the region are Egypt, Iran and Turkey, while Saudi Arabia is the largest country in the Middle East by area. The history of the Middle East dates back to ancient times and for a long time it was considered the birthplace of civilization. The geopolitical importance of the region has been recognized and disputed for millennia.
The Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Islam and Judaism) have their origins in the Middle East. Arabs constitute the region's main ethnic group, followed by Turks, Persians, Kurds, Jews and Assyrians. The Middle East generally has a hot and arid climate, especially in the regions of Arabia and Egypt. Several major rivers provide irrigation to support agriculture in limited areas here, such as the Nile Delta in Egypt, the Tigris and Euphrates watersheds of Mesopotamia, and the Jordan River basin that encompasses most of the Levant.
These regions are collectively known as the Fertile Crescent and constitute the core of what historians have long called the cradle of civilization; since then, several regions of the world have been classified as regions that have also developed original and independent civilizations. In contrast, the Levantine coast and most of Turkey have relatively temperate climates typical of the Mediterranean, with dry summers and cool, humid winters. Most of the countries bordering the Persian Gulf have vast oil reserves. The monarchs of the Arabian Peninsula, in particular, have benefited economically from oil exports. Due to the arid climate and its dependence on the fossil fuel industry, the Middle East is a major contributor to climate change and a region that is expected to be severely affected by it.
There are other concepts of the region, such as the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in a broad sense, which includes Maghreb states and Sudan. The term Greater Middle East also includes Afghanistan, Mauritania, and Pakistan, as well as parts of East Africa and sometimes Central Asia and the Southern Caucasus. The term Middle East may have originated in the 1850s in the British India Office. However, it became better known when American naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan used the term in 1902 to designate the area between Arabia and India.
During this time, the British and Russian empires were vying for influence in Central Asia, a rivalry that would come to be known as the Great Game. Mahan realized not only the strategic importance of the region, but also of its center, the Persian Gulf. He described the area surrounding the Persian Gulf as the Middle East. He said that, beyond Egypt's Suez Canal, the Gulf was the most important passage that Britain must control to prevent the Russians from advancing into British India.
Mahan first used the term in his article The Persian Gulf and International Relations, published in September 1902 in the British magazine National Review. The Middle East, if I am allowed to adopt a term that I have not seen, will one day need its Malta and its Gibraltar; it does not follow that it will not be in the Persian Gulf either. The naval force has the quality of mobility that comes with the privilege of temporary absences; but it needs to find established bases for refurbishment, supply and, in the event of a disaster, security in each operating scene. The British Navy should have the necessary capacity to concentrate its forces in Aden, India and the Persian Gulf, if necessary.
The corresponding adjective is Middle Eastern and the derivative noun is Middle Eastern. European languages have adopted terms similar to those of the Middle East and the Middle East. Because they are based on a relative description, the meanings depend on the country and are generally different from English terms. In German, the term Naher Osten (Near East) is still in common use (today, the term Mittlerer Osten is increasingly common in press texts translated from English sources, although with a different meaning).
Traditionally, the Middle East includes Arabia, Asia Minor, Eastern Thrace, Egypt, Iran, the Levant, Mesopotamia, and the Socotra Archipelago. The region includes 17 countries recognized by the UN and a British overseas territory. Several concepts tend to have a parallel with the Middle East, most notably the Near East, the Fertile Crescent and the Levant. These are geographical concepts that refer to large sections of the modern Middle East, with the Near East being the closest to the Middle East in its geographical meaning.
Because it is primarily Arabic-speaking, the Maghreb region of North Africa is sometimes included. Before the formation of civilizations, during the Stone Age, advanced cultures were formed throughout the Middle East. The search for agricultural land by farmers and grazing land by pastoralists meant that there were different migrations within the region and shaped its ethnic and demographic composition. The modern Middle East began after the First World War, when the Ottoman Empire, which was allied with the Central Powers, was defeated by the allies and divided into several independent nations, initially under British and French rule.
Other decisive events in this transformation were the establishment of Israel in 1948 and the possible departure of European powers, especially Great Britain and France, in the late 1960s. They were supplanted in part by the growing influence of the United States beginning in the 1970s. The economic structure of Middle Eastern nations is different because, while some rely heavily on exporting only oil and petroleum-related products (Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait), others have a very diverse economic base (such as Cyprus, Israel, Turkey and Egypt). Industries in the Middle East region include petroleum and related petroleum products, agriculture, cotton, livestock, dairy products, textiles, leather products, surgical instruments, and defense equipment (weapons, ammunition, tanks, submarines, combat aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, and missiles). Banking is an important sector, especially for the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
Arabs constitute the largest ethnic group in the Middle East, followed by several Iranian peoples and then by Turkic peoples (Turks, Azeris, Turkomans, Syrians, and Iraqis).). The region's native ethnic groups include, in addition to Arabs, Arameans, Assyrians, Baluchis, Berbers, Copts, Druze, Greek Cypriots, Jews, Kurds, Lurs, Mandaeans, Persians, Samaritans, Shabaks, Tats and Zazas. The European ethnic groups that form a diaspora in the region include Albanians, Bosnians, Circassians (including Kabardians), Crimean Tatars, Greeks, Franco-Levantines, Italo-Levantines, and Iraqi Turkomans. Other migrant populations include Chinese, Filipinos, Indians, Indonesians, Pakistanis, Pashtuns, Roma and Afro-Arabs.
Non-Arab countries in the Middle East, such as Turkey, Israel and Iran, are also subject to significant migratory dynamics. The six main languages, in terms of number of speakers, are Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Kurdish, Modern Hebrew and Greek. Around 20 minority languages are also spoken in the Middle East. Arabic, with all its dialects, is the most spoken language in the Middle East, and literary Arabic is official in all North African countries and most Western Asian countries.
Arabic dialects are also spoken in some adjacent areas of neighboring non-Arab countries in the Middle East. It is a member of the Semitic branch of Afro-Asiatic languages. In Yemen and Oman, several modern South Arabian languages are also spoken, such as Mehri and Soqotri. Another Semitic language is Aramaic and its dialects are spoken primarily by Assyrians and Mandaeans, and Western Aramaic is still spoken in two towns near Damascus (Syria).
There is also a Berber-speaking Oasis community in Egypt, where the language also is known as Siwa. It is a non-Semitic Afro-Asian sister language. Greek is one of the two official languages of Cyprus and the country's main language. There are small communities of Greek speakers throughout the Middle East; until the 20th century, it was also widely spoken in Asia Minor (the second most spoken language there, after Turkish) and Egypt.
During ancient times, ancient Greek was the lingua franca in many areas of the Western Middle East and, until the Muslim expansion, it was also widely spoken there. Until the end of the 11th century, it was also the main language spoken in Asia Minor; then it was gradually replaced by the Turkish language as the Anatolian Turks expanded and the local Greeks were assimilated, especially in the interior. The Mediterranean race (also called the Mediterranean race) is an obsolete racial classification of human beings based on the theory of biological race, now refuted. According to writers of the late 19th and mid-20th centuries, it was a sub-race of the Caucasian race.
In various definitions, it was said to be prevalent in the Mediterranean basin and areas close to the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, especially in Southern Europe, Eastern Europe, North Africa, most of Western Asia, the Middle East or the Near East; Western Central Asia, parts of South Asia and parts of the Horn of Africa. To a lesser extent, certain populations of people in Ireland, western parts of Great Britain and southern Germany, despite living far from the Mediterranean, were thought to have some minority Mediterranean elements in their population, such as Bavaria, Wales and Cornwall. Black-haired, dark-skinned Irish people were said to be descendants of Spanish sailors who were shipwrecked during the Spanish Armada of 1588, and they were often referred to as black Irish people, especially in the United States. It usually, but not always, includes Iran, Turkey (Türkiye) and Egypt.
Cyprus, which has a strong historical connection with the eastern coastal areas of the Mediterranean Sea, is sometimes considered part of the Middle East. These dishes, shaped by cultural exchanges, show the flavors that connect Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisines. The cuisines of the Middle East and Mediterranean countries are the most bastard, combined and confusing. The highest Mediterraneans (Atlanto-Mediterranean) were Neolithic sailors who sailed in reed-type ships and colonized the Mediterranean basin from the Near East.
However, a Mediterranean gyroscope is usually filled with tomatoes, red onions, and tzatziki (a sauce made with yogurt and cucumbers); Middle Eastern shawarma, on the other hand, is often topped with tahini (a condiment made from sesame seeds) and a variety of pickled fruits and vegetables. If Portugal considers that the Mediterranean is part of the Iberian Peninsula, Bulgaria would also count as part of the Balkans. A Mediterranean meze can include tzatziki; mozzarella cheese for babies or grilled halloumi; prosciutto or salami; and sauces such as beetroot tzatziki (a yogurt spread with beetroot puree) or skordalia (a mashed potato with lots of garlic). Portugal isn't exactly on the Mediterranean coast anyway, but as part of the Iberian Peninsula, it certainly counts. By the end of the 19th century, Huxley's Xanthochroi group had been redefined as the Nordic race, while their Melanochroi became the Mediterranean race.
In addition, he stated that the Mediterranean constituted the main element of the population in Pakistan and Northern India. Countries commonly associated with Mediterranean cuisine usually include those bordering the Mediterranean Sea, such as Greece, Italy, Morocco and Libya. The 2004 Associated Press style manual says that in the past the Near East referred to more Western countries, while the Middle East referred to Eastern countries, but which are now synonymous. Persian and Afghan restaurants have no reason to call their businesses Mediterranean, it doesn't make sense.
