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The Middle East is a modern term (it was first used by Alfred
Mahan in 1902) used to describe the area covering 16 countries
and states in northeastern Africa and southwestern Asia.
The Middle East is the most ancient region of human
civilization. Around 10,000 BC farming first developed in the
area referred to as the Fertile Crescent (the area of land
arching from the Persian Gulf over the watersheds of the
Tigris and Euphrates river in Iraq through the eastern coast
of the Mediterranean into Egypt.)
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1917 Balfour Declaration released from British government
1918 World War I ends; Allies carve up the Middle East;
Britain takes control of Palestine
More ...
Over the next 12,000 years many different great civilizations
and cultures developed from or invaded the area. The list of
ancient empires includes: Egyptians (c. 3000-1000 BC);
Assyrians and Babylonians (c. 1000-500 BC); Persians (c.
550-330 BC); Greeks (c. 330-60 BC); and Romans (C. 60 BC - 140
AD).
In modern times, the Ottoman Empire (c. 1300 - 1923) became
the largest political entity in Europe and western Asia. The
Safavid empire (1501 - 1736) dominated the area of modern
Iran.
The Middle East has been the center of more than 20 major
conflicts from the Persian-Greek Wars to the Crusades to the
Iran-Iraq War. After World War I, the decline and
dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire marked the beginning of a
new stage of conflict over territory centering around the
lands of Palestine.
While today about 92% of the population (292 million people)
are Muslims, the Middle East is the geographic and emotional
center of three of the world's great religions: Islam,
Christianity, and Judaism.
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