West Asia

Page semi-protected
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
West Asian
)
Not to be confused with Middle East.

West Asia
9th)[1][2]
Population density50.1/km2 (130/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)$9.063 trillion (2019)[3]
GDP (nominal)$3.383 trillion (2019)[3]
GDP per capita$10,793 (2019; nominal)[3]
$28,918 (2019; PPP)[3]
HDIIncrease0.699 (medium)
Ethnic groupsSemitic, Turkic, Iranic, Armenian, North Caucasian, Georgians, Hellenic, Indo-Aryan, etc.
ReligionsIslam, Christianity, Judaism, Baháʼí, Druzism, Yarsanism, Yazidism, Zoroastrianism, Mandaeism, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc.
DemonymWest Asian
Western Asian
Countries
3 unrecognized
Dependencies Akrotiri and Dhekelia
Languages
Official languages
Other languages
  • Afroasiatic:
  • Austronesian:
  • Indo-European:
  • NE Caucasian:
  • NW Caucasian:
  • Turkic:
    • Time zones
    5 time zones
  • UTC+03:30:
  • UTC+04:00:
  • UTC+04:30:
    • Daylight: Iran
    • Internet TLD.ae, .am, .az, .bh, .cy, .eg, .ge, .il, .iq, .ir, .jo, .kw, .lb, .om, .ps, .qa, .sa, .sy, .tr, .ye
    Calling codeZone 9 except Armenia, Cyprus (Zone 3) & Sinai (Zone 2)
    Largest cities
    Listb
    urban areas of the world by population

    West Asia, also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost region of

    Turkish Straits and the watershed of the Greater Caucasus. Central Asia lies to its northeast, while South Asia lies to its east. Twelve seas surround the region (clockwise): the Aegean Sea, the Sea of Marmara, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aqaba, the Gulf of Suez, and the Mediterranean Sea. West Asia contains the majority of the similarly defined Middle East,[7] but excludes most of Egypt and the northwestern part of Turkey, and includes the southern part of the Caucasus
    .

    West Asia covers an area of 5,994,935 km2 (2,314,657 sq mi), with a population of about 313 million.[1][2] Of the 20 UN member countries fully or partly within the region, 13 are part of the Arab world. The most populous countries in West Asia are Iran, Turkey, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

    In the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD), West Asia excludes the Arabian Peninsula and includes Afghanistan.[8] The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) excludes Egypt and includes Afghanistan.[9] The United Nations Environment Programme excludes Cyprus, Israel, Turkey, and Iran from West Asia.[10]

    Definition

    The term West Asia is used pragmatically and has no "correct" or generally accepted definition. Its typical definitions overlap substantially, but not entirely, with definitions of the terms

    Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) include only Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Palestine (called West Bank and Gaza in the latter), Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, UAE, and Yemen as West Asian countries.[11][12] By contrast, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in its 2015 yearbook includes Armenia and Azerbaijan, and excludes Israel (as Other) and Turkey (as Europe).[13]

    Unlike the UNIDO, the

    United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation
    (UNESCO).

    National members of West Asian sports governing bodies are limited to Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Syria, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.[15][16][17] The Olympic Council of Asia's multi-sport event West Asian Games are contested by athletes representing these 13 countries. Among the region's sports organisations are the West Asia Basketball Association, West Asian Billiards and Snooker Federation, West Asian Football Federation, and the West Asian Tennis Federation.

    History

    See also:
    Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire

    "Western Asia" was in use as a geographical term in the early 19th century, before "

    India.[19][20][21] In the 20th century, "Western Asia" was used to denote a rough geographical era in the fields of archaeology and ancient history, especially as a shorthand for "the Fertile Crescent excluding Ancient Egypt" for the purposes of comparing the early civilizations of Egypt and the former.[22]

    Use of the term in the context of contemporary geopolitics or world economy appears to date from at least the mid-1960s.[23]

    Geography

    See also: Geography of Asia

    The region is surrounded by eight major seas; the Aegean Sea, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea.

    To the northwest and north, the region is delimited from

    Turkish Straits and drainage divide of the Greater Caucasus, to the southwest, it is delimited from Africa by the Isthmus of Suez, while to the northeast and east, the region adjoins Central Asia and South Asia. The region is located east of Southern Europe and south of Eastern Europe
    .

    The Dasht-e Kavir and Dasht-e Lut deserts in eastern Iran naturally delimit the region from Balochistan and South Asia.

    Geology

    Plate tectonics

    Three major

    seismically active.[24]

    Water resources

    Several major

    better source needed] Cretaceous and Eocene-origin aquifers are located beneath large portions of central and eastern Saudi Arabia, including Wasia and Biyadh which contain amounts of both fresh water and saline water.[26] Flood or furrow irrigation, as well as sprinkler methods, are extensively used for irrigation, covering nearly 90,000 km2 (35,000 sq mi) across West Asia for agriculture.[27] Also, the Tigris and Euphrates
    rivers contribute very well.

    Climate

    A Lebanese Cedar Forest in winter
    Köppen climate classification map of West Asia
    See also: Climate of Asia

    West Asia is primarily

    Euphrates, provide sources for irrigation water to support agriculture
    .

    There are two wind phenomena in West Asia: the sharqi and the shamal. The sharqi (or sharki) is a wind that comes from the south and southeast. It is seasonal, lasting from April to early June, and comes again between late September and November. The winds are dry and dusty, with occasional gusts up to 80 kilometres per hour (50 miles per hour) and often kick up violent sand and dust storms that can carry sand a few thousand meters high, and can close down airports for short periods of time. These winds can last for a full day at the beginning and end of the season, and for several days during the middle of the season. The shamal is a summer northwesterly wind blowing over Iraq and the Persian Gulf states (including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait), often strong during the day, but decreasing at night. This weather effect occurs anywhere from once to several times a year.[29]

    Topography

    West Asia contains large areas of mountainous terrain. The

    Dasht-e-Lut
    is the southern basin.

    In

    rifting creating trough-like topography with areas located well below sea level.[30] The Dead Sea, located on the border between the West Bank, Israel, and Jordan, is situated at 418 m (1,371 ft) below sea level, making it the lowest point on the surface of the Earth.[31]

    Rub' al Khali, one of the world's largest sand deserts, spans the southern third of the Arabian Peninsula in Saudi Arabia, parts of Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Jebel al Akhdar is a small range of mountains located in northeastern Oman, bordering the Gulf of Oman.

    Demographics

    Further information: Demographics of the Middle East
    See also: Ethnic groups in the Middle East

    The population of West Asia was estimated at 272 million as of 2008, projected to reach 370 million by 2030 by Maddison (2007; the estimate excludes the Caucasus and Cyprus). This corresponds to an annual growth rate of 1.4% (or a

    world average
    of 0.9% (doubling time 75 years). The population of West Asia is estimated at 4% of world population, up from about 39 million at the beginning of the 20th century, or about 2% of world population at the time.[32]

    The most populous countries in the region are Turkey and Iran, each with around 79 million people, followed by Iraq and Saudi Arabia with around 33 million people each, and Yemen with around 29 million people.

    Numerically, West Asia is predominantly

    Chaldeans) and Greek
    both remain present in their respective territories as minority languages.

    Significant native minorities include, in alphabetical order:

    Yezidis
    .

    Religion

    Religion in West Asia (2020)[36]

      Islam (92.59%)
      Christianity (3.87%)
      Judaism (2.02%)
      No religion (1.16%)
      Hinduism (0.32%)
      Other religions (0.25%)
      Buddhism (0.15%)
      Folk religions (0.06%)

    Four

    Druze faith) originated in West Asia.[37][38][39] Islam is the largest religion in West Asia, but other faiths that originated there, such as Judaism and Christianity,[40]
    are also well represented.

    In

    Oriental Orthodoxy and Eastern Orthodoxy respectively are the predominant religions,[41] and there are still different ancient communities of Eastern Christians in Azerbaijan.[41] There are still large ancient communities of Eastern Christians (such as Assyrians, Middle Eastern Christians and Arab Christians) in Lebanon,[41] Iraq,[41] Iran,[42] Turkey,[43][41] Syria,[41] Jordan,[41] Israel and Palestine numbering more than 3 million in West Asia.[41] There are also large populations of expatriate workers which include sizeable Christian communities living in the Arabian Peninsula numbering more than 3 million.[44] Christian communities have played a vital role in West Asia.[45]

    Judaism is the predominant religion in Israel, and there are small ancient Jewish communities in West Asia such as in Turkey (14,300),[46] Azerbaijan (9,100),[47] and Iran (8,756).[48]

    The

    Hamza ibn-'Ali ibn-Ahmad and Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah and Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle. The number of Druze people worldwide is around one million, with about 45% to 50% living in Syria, 35% to 40% living in Lebanon, and less than 10% living in Israel; recently there has been a growing Druze diaspora.[49]

    There are also important minority religions like the

    Shabakism
    .

    Economy

    See also:
    Economy of West Asia

    The

    oil reserves and around 40 percent of the world's natural gas reserves
    are located in the region.

    Statistical data

    Country, with flag
    Area

    (km2)
    Population[51][52]

    (2021)
    Density

    (per km2)
    Capital
    		 Nominal GDP[53]
    (2012)     		Per capita[54]
    (2012)     		Currency Government Official languages
    Anatolia:
     Turkey[note 1] 783,562 84,775,404 94.1 Ankara $788.042 billion $10,523 Turkish lira
    Presidential republic
    		 Turkish
    Arabian Peninsula:
     Bahrain 780 1,463,265 1,646.1 Manama $30.355 billion $26,368 Bahraini dinar Constitutional monarchy
    Arabic
     Kuwait 17,820 4,250,114 167.5 Kuwait City $184.540 billion $48,761 Kuwaiti dinar Constitutional monarchy
    Arabic
     Oman 212,460 4,520,471 9.2
    Muscat
    		 $78.290 billion $25,356 Omani rial Absolute monarchy
    Arabic
     Qatar 11,437 2,688,235 123.2 Doha $192.402 billion $104,756 Qatari riyal Absolute monarchy
    Arabic
     Saudi Arabia 2,149,690 35,950,396 12 Riyadh $733.956 billion $25,139 Saudi riyal Absolute monarchy
    Arabic
     United Arab Emirates 82,880 9,365,145 97 Abu Dhabi $383.799 billion $43,774
    UAE dirham
    		 Federal constitutional monarchy
    Arabic
     Yemen 527,970 32,981,641 44.7
    government)
    Aden (Seat of government
    )     		$35.05 billion $1,354 Yemeni rial
    presidential republic
    Arabic
    South Caucasus:
     Abkhazia (unrecognized) 8,660 242,862 28 Sukhumi $500 million N/A Georgian lari
    Semi-presidential republic
    		 Abkhaz
    Russian
     Armenia 29,800 2,790,974 108.4 Yerevan $9.950 billion $3,033 Armenian dram
    Semi-presidential republic
    		 Armenian
     Azerbaijan 86,600 10,312,992 105.8 Baku $68.700 billion $7,439 Azerbaijani manat
    Presidential republic
    		 Azerbaijani
     Georgia 69,700 3,757,980 68.1 Tbilisi $15.847 billion $3,523 Georgian lari
    Semi-presidential republic
    		 Georgian
     South Ossetia (unrecognized) 3,900 53,532 13 Tskhinvali $500 million N/A Georgian lari
    Semi-presidential republic
    		 Ossetian
    Russian
    Fertile Crescent:
     Iraq 438,317 43,533,592 73.5 Baghdad $216.044 billion $6,410 Iraqi dinar Parliamentary republic
    Arabic
    Kurdish
     Israel 20,770 8,900,059 365.3
    Jerusalem
    1     		$353.65 billion $39,106 Israeli new shekel Parliamentary republic Hebrew
     Jordan 92,300 11,148,278 68.4 Amman $30.98 billion $4,843 Jordanian dinar Constitutional monarchy
    Arabic
     Lebanon 10,452 5,592,631 404 Beirut $42.519 billion $10,425 Lebanese pound Parliamentary republic
    Arabic
     Palestine[note 2] 6,220 5,133,392 667 Ramallah2 $6.6 billion $1,600 Egyptian pound, Jordanian dinar, Israeli new shekel
    Semi-presidential republic
    Arabic
     Syria 185,180 21,324,367 118.3 Damascus N/A N/A Syrian pound
    Presidential republic
    Arabic
    Iranian Plateau:
     Iran 1,648,195 87,923,432 45 Tehran $548.590 billion $7,207 Iranian rial Islamic republic Persian
    Mediterranean Sea:
     Akrotiri and Dhekelia3 254 15,700 N/A Episkopi N/A N/A Euro Stratocratic dependency under a constitutional monarchy English
     Cyprus 9,250 1,244,188 117 Nicosia $22.995 billion $26,377 Euro
    Presidential republic
    		 Greek
    Turkish
     Northern Cyprus (unrecognized) 3,355 313,626 93 North Nicosia $4.032 billion $15,109 Turkish lira Semi-presidential republic Turkish
    Sinai Peninsula:
     Egypt[note 3] 60,000 109,262,178 82 Cairo $262.26 billion $3,179 Egyptian pound
    Presidential republic
    		 Arabic

    Notes:
    1 Ramallah is the actual location of the government, whereas the proclaimed capital of Palestine is

    disputed status, most embassies are in Tel Aviv.[note 4]
    3 British Overseas Territory

    Sports

    Map

    See also

    References

    Notes

    1. ^ The figures for Turkey includes East Thrace, which is not a part of Anatolia.
    2. ^ UN observer state.
    3. ^ The area and population figures for Egypt only include the Sinai Peninsula.
    4. ^
      sovereign states do not recognize Jerusalem as either state's de jure capital under the position that Jerusalem's status is pending future negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. In practice, therefore, most maintain their embassies in Tel Aviv and its suburbs, or else in suburbs such as Mevaseret Zion outside Jerusalem proper. See CIA Factbook, "Map of Israel" (PDF) and Status of Jerusalem
      for more information.

    Citations

    1. ^ a b "World Population prospects – Population division". United Nations. Archived from the original on 5 February 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
    2. ^ a b "Overall total population" (xlsx). United Nations. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
    3. ^ a b c d "World Economic Outlook Database". imf.org. IMF. Outlook Database, October 2020
    4. ^ "Land Use Dynamics and Institutional Changes in West Asia" (PDF).
    5. ^ "Western Asia". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved 2024-04-14.
    6. ^ "World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions" (PDF).
    7. ^ Parts of each region overlap, however, the Middle East and West Asia are not synonymous terms. The Middle East is a political term that has changed many times depending on political and historical context while West Asia is a geographical term with more accuracy.
    8. ^ Brummitt, R. K. (2001). World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (PDF) (2nd ed.). International Working Group on Taxonomic Databases For Plant Sciences (TDWG). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-01-25. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
    9. ^ "Chapter 21. West Asia". www.fao.org. Retrieved 2023-07-17.
    10. ^ Environment, U. N. (2023-04-12). "West Asia". Ozonaction. Retrieved 2023-12-12.
    11. ^ Miller, David. "West Asia". National Geographic Style Manual. National Geographic Society. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
    12. OCLC 53465560
      .
    13. ISBN 9781784715502
      .
    14. ^ "Standard Country or Area Codes for Statistical Use". Millenniumindicators.un.org. Retrieved 2012-08-25. The UNSD notes that the "assignment of countries or areas to specific groupings is merely for statistical convenience and does not imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories."
    15. ^ "WABSF Member Countries". Archived from the original on 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2017-03-31.
    16. ^ "The West Asian Games". Topend Sports.
    17. ^ "WAFF Member Associations". The-Waff.com. Archived from the original on 2018-08-01. Retrieved 2017-03-31.
    18. ^ e.g. James Rennell, A treatise on the comparative geography of western Asia, 1831.
    19. ^ James Rennell, The Geographical System of Herodotus Examined and Explained, 1800, p. 210.
    20. ^ Hugh Murray, Historical Account of Discoveries and Travels in Asia (1820).
    21. ^ Samuel Whelpley, A compend of history, from the earliest times, 1808, p. 9 Archived 2022-11-20 at the Wayback Machine.
    22. ^ e.g. Petrus Van Der Meer, The Chronology of Ancient Western Asia and Egypt, 1955. Karl W. Butzer, Physical Conditions in Eastern Europe, Western Asia and Egypt Before the Period of Agricultural and Urban Settlement, 1965.
    23. ^ The Tobacco Industry of Western Asia, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service, 1964.
    24. ^ a b Beaumont (1988), p. 22
    25. ^ Muehlberger, Bill. "The Arabian Plate". NASA, Johnson Space Center. Archived from the original on 2007-07-06.
    26. ^ a b Beaumont (1988), p. 86
    27. ^ "Land & Water". Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
    28. ^ "Chapter 7: Middle East and Arid Asia". IPCC Special Report on The Regional Impacts of Climate Change: An Assessment of Vulnerability. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 2001. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
    29. ISBN 978-81-261-1419-1
      . Retrieved 1 February 2009.
    30. ^ Sweeney, Jerry J.; Walter, William R. (December 1, 1998). "Region #4 — Red Sea Continental Rift Zone" (PDF). Preliminary Definition of Geophysical Regions for the Middle East and North Africa. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 27, 2007. Retrieved March 1, 2009.
    31. ^ "ASTER Image Gallery: The Dead Sea". NASA. Archived from the original on 2006-08-30.
    32. ISBN 92-64-10412-7
      . Statistical Appendix (2007, ggdc.net) "The historical data were originally developed in three books: Monitoring the World Economy 1820–1992, OECD, Paris 1995; The World Economy: A Millennial Perspective, OECD Development Centre, Paris 2001; The World Economy: Historical Statistics, OECD Development Centre, Paris 2003. All these contain detailed source notes." Estimates for 2008 by country (in millions): Turkey (71.9), Iran (70.2), Iraq (28.2), Saudi Arabia (28.1), Yemen (23.0), Syria (19.7), Israel (6.5), Jordan (6.2), Palestine (4.1), Lebanon (4.0), Oman (3.3), United Arab Emirates (2.7), Kuwait (2.6), Qatar (0.9), Bahrain (0.7).
    33. ^ Laing-Marshall 2005, p. 149–150.
    34. ^ "Who are the Chaldean Christians?". BBC News. March 13, 2008. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
    35. ISBN 9780429962004
      . Worldwide, they number 1 million or so, with about 45 to 50 percent in Syria, 35 to 40 percent in Lebanon, and less than 10 percent in Israel. Recently there has been a growing Druze diaspora.
    36. ^ "Religious Composition by Country, 2010–2050". www.pewforum.org. 2 April 2015. Archived from the original on 2019-12-21. Retrieved 2020-10-18.
    37. ^ "Middle East (region, Asia)". Britannica. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
    38. ISBN 9781446289761
      . The Middle East is the cradle of the three monotheistic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
    39. ISBN 9781317455721
      .
    40. ISBN 9781538124185
      . The Middle East still stands at the heart of the Christian world. After all, it is the birthplace, and the death place, of Christ, and the cradle of the Christian tradition.
    41. ^ a b c d e f g h "Global Christianity – A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Christian Population" (PDF). Pew Research Center.
    42. ^ Price, Massoume (December 2002). "History of Christians and Christianity in Iran". Christianity in Iran. FarsiNet Inc. Retrieved 1 December 2009.
    43. ^ "Christianity in Turkey". Retrieved 13 March 2015.
    44. ^ "BBC News – Guide: Christians in the Middle East". BBC News. 11 October 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
    45. ISBN 9781351510721
      .
    46. ^ "How many Jews live in Turkey?". Institute for Jewish Policy Research. 10 May 2022. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
    47. ^ "Ethnic composition of Azerbaijan 2009". Pop-stat.mashke.org. 7 April 1971. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
    48. ^ "Jewish woman brutally murdered in Iran over property dispute". The Times of Israel. 28 November 2012. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2014. A government census published earlier this year indicated there were a mere 8,756 Jews left in Iran See
    49. ISBN 9780429962004
      . Worldwide, they number 1 million or so, with about 45 to 50 percent in Syria, 35 to 40 percent in Lebanon, and less than 10 percent in Israel. Recently there has been a growing Druze diaspora.
    50. ISBN 1860641709
      .
    51. ^ "World Population Prospects 2022". United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
    52. ^ "World Population Prospects 2022: Demographic indicators by region, subregion and country, annually for 1950-2100" (XSLX) ("Total Population, as of 1 July (thousands)"). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
    53. ^ "GDP". IMF. Retrieved 2014-04-16.
    54. ^ "GDP per capita". IMF. Retrieved 2014-04-16.

    Sources

    • Laing-Marshall, Andrea (2005). "Assyrians". Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities. Vol. 1. New York-London: Routledge. pp. 149–150.
      ISBN 978-1-135-19388-1
      .

    Further reading
    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=West_Asia&oldid=1218883236"