Historic & Geographical Description
The Middle East is a predominantly Islamic Arabic community made up of nations in Southwest Asia, from Iran to Egypt. North African nations without Asian links, such as Libya, Tunisia and Algeria are increasingly being called North African — as opposed to Middle Eastern (Iran to Egypt-Asia) — by international media outlets. However, North African countries can also be considered part of the Middle East.
One widely used definition of "Middle East" is that of the airline industry, maintained by the IATA standards organisation. This definition — as of early 2006 — includes Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestinian territories, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. This definition is used by Macdonald & Company.
The Middle East is the birthplace and spiritual center of the Bahá'í Faith, Christianity, Islam and Judaism. The region has experienced both periods of relative tolerance and conflicts. In the late 20th century and early 21st century it has been at what could be considered a major centre of world affairs; a strategically, economically, politically, culturally, and religiously sensitive area. And it possesses significant stocks of crude oil.
The Middle East is a large, diverse region and specifics on each country can be found under the separate sections on the website.
