Western Asia Information
Western Asia, West Asia, Southwest Asia or Southwestern Asia are terms that were intended to name the western portions of Asia. The terms are approximately geographically synonymous with Middle East and Near East, which as common nouns refer etymologically to a geographical position in relation to Western Europe rather than to a location within Asia. Nations of Asia that emerged as independent of European colonial rule in the second half of the 20th century, especially India, choosing to perceive Eurocentrism in "Middle" and "Near", prefer to use West Asia instead. India has never defined itself as being in West Asia even though British India was one of the first nations to be in the Middle East. Many Indian scholars use the term "Central Asian Subcontinent" for the Indian peninsula.
Although the term has been adopted by some diplomatic corps in West Asia and by some international organizations of an informational nature, such as the United Nations Statistics Division and the National Geographic Society, most western agencies and educational institutions prefer Middle or Near East. In modern English the adjectives have lost their directional significance, becoming instead parts of the proper nouns. For example, no one in the United States understands the Near East to be near anywhere or the Middle East to be in the middle. The Far East is located in the far west, but paradoxes such as these are not part of the meaning of the proper nouns and are ignored.
Similarly, West Asia has become a proper noun often shown hyphenated. In the 21st century the term Western Asia - North Africa (WANA) has become current, raising the same questions concerning what nations are in West Asia as troubled the concepts of Near and Middle East. In addition some of the nations of Central Asia and the Caucasus are being defined as in West Asia and in the parallel system as in the Middle East. The proper noun, West Asia, was innovated by the first Prime Minister of the newly independent nation of India in the mid-20th century. Like the terms it was intended to replace, it currently evidences little consistency in its exact meaning. Different agencies with different requirements use it in different senses.
Western Eurasia, which is a noun preceded by an adjective, is unrelated in origin to West Asia. Eurasia is the combination of Europe and Asia, but the line between Europe and Asia is not necessarily a northward extension of the eastern boundary of West Asia.
A monument of ancient West Asia.
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Origin of the term
Etymologically the common nouns east, Asia, Orient and Levant all mean "the direction in which the sun rises." Only the North Pole and the South Pole have no east. Even above the Arctic Circle and below the Antarctic Circle the sun moves higher and lower in the sky. At the poles there is only one direction, north or south. Everywhere else on Earth the observer sees an east and a west.
Paradoxes of meaning occur when "East" and its equivalents become proper nouns referring to regions of specifiable longitude and latitude. For example, to a person living in India, which is in the region specified as "the East," the region, "Near East," is the near west. This sort of paradox was noted by Arnold J. Toynbee in a 1916 presentation of documents on the Armenian massacres to Parliament by the Foreign Office of Great Britain:[2]
"The Armenians have been a very typical element in that group of humanity which Europeans call the 'Near East,' but which might equally well be called the 'Near West' from the Indian or the Chinese point of view."
As far as the maps of the former colonial powers are concerned, the observer is always in Europe. This Eurocentrism, as it has been called, descends from the Roman Empire. As far as ancient Rome was concerned, the Mediterranean was mare nostrum, "our sea." The Roman military was nostri, "our men." Of the provinces, Gallia Cisalpina was "this side" of the Alps; Gallia Transalpina, "across" them. Similarly, Hispania Citerior was on the "inside" of Spain; Hispania Ulterior on the "outside." The world map of Claudius Ptolemy, geographer of the empire, gives many other instances amounting to "far" and "near" to Rome.
Geography
See also: Geography of AsiaWestern Asia is located directly south of Eastern Europe.
Climate
Cedar forest in winter, located in LebanonWestern Asia is primarily arid and semi-arid, and can be subject to drought, but it also contains vast expanses of forest and fertile valleys. The region consists of grasslands, rangelands, deserts, and mountains. Water shortages are a problem in many parts of West Asia, with rapidly growing populations increasing demands for water, while salinization and pollution threaten water supplies.[3] Major rivers, including the Tigris and Euphrates, provide sources for irrigation water to support agriculture.
There are two wind phenomena in Western 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 kilometers 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.[4]
Topography
The mountainous village of Pyrgos, overlooking Morphou Bay, in Cyprus.While Western Asia mainly contains areas with low relief, Turkey, Iran, and Yemen include mountainous terrain. The Anatolian Plateau is sandwiched between the Pontus Mountains and Taurus Mountains in Turkey. Mount Ararat in Turkey rises to 5,165 meters. The Zagros Mountains are located in Iran, in areas along its border with Iraq. The Central Plateau of Iran is divided into two drainage basins. The northern basin is Dasht-e Kavir (Great Salt Desert), and Dasht-e-Lut is the southern basin.
In Yemen, elevations exceed 3,700 meters in many areas, and highland areas extend north along the Red Sea coast and north into Lebanon. A fault-zone also exists along the Red Sea, with continental rifting creating trough-like topography with areas located well-below sea level.[5] The Dead Sea, located on the border between the West Bank, Israel, and Jordan, is situated at 418 m (1371 ft) below sea level, making it the lowest point on the surface of the Earth.[6]
Khinalug village in Azerbaijan is the highest and most isolated settlement in the CaucasusA large lowland belt is located on the Arabian Peninsula, from central Iraq, through Saudi Arabia, and to Oman and the Arabian Sea. The Euphrates and Tigris rivers cut through the lowland belt in Iraq and flow into the Persian Gulf. 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.
Geology
Three major tectonic plates converge on Western Asia, including the African, Eurasian, and Arabian plates. The boundaries between the tectonic plates make up the Azores-Gibraltar Ridge, extending across North Africa, the Red Sea, and into Iran.[7] The Arabian Plate is moving northward into the Anatolian plate (Turkey) at the East Anatolian Fault,[8] and the boundary between the Aegean and Anatolian plate in eastern Turkey is also seismically active.[7]
Water resources
Several major aquifers provide water to large portions of Western Asia. In Saudi Arabia, two large aquifers of Palaeozoic and Triassic origins are located beneath the Jabal Tuwayq mountains and areas west to the Red Sea.[9] 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.[9] Flood or furrow irrigation, as well as sprinkler methods, are extensively used for irrigation, covering nearly 90,000 km² across Western Asia for agriculture.[10]
Current definitions
Government of India
United Nations Statistics Division
Regions of Asia described by the UN: North Asia Central Asia Western Asia South Asia East Asia Southeast Asia Eastern EuropeThe countries and territories in the UN Subregion of Western Asia,[11] listed below:
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- Bahrain
- Cyprus
- Georgia
- Iraq
- Israel
- Jordan
- Kuwait
- Lebanon
- Oman
- Palestine
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- Syria
- Turkey
- United Arab Emirates
- Yemen
Though not included in the UN subregion of Western Asia, Iran is commonly included within Western Asia.[1][12] Afghanistan is also sometimes included in a broader definition of "Western Asia", although Afghanistan can be considered Central Asian,[13][14] South Asian,[15][16][17] or West Asian.[12] The Sinai Peninsula of Egypt is geographically part of the region. Pakistan, which mostly lies in South Asia, is in some cases described as a crossroads to West Asia[18] (more often South West Asia)[19][20] and may be included in an extended definition, due to its shared western borders and culture with neighboring Iran and Afghanistan, as well as its close geographic proximity to the Middle East region and subsequent inclusion in the greater Middle East definition.
Ethnicity statistics of the government of Canada
The Canadian government uses "West Asian" in its statistics.[12]
General data
Territory and region
Map of Western Asia
Arm. Azerbaijan Bah. Cyprus Egypt Georgia Iran Iraq Isr. Jordan Kuwait Leb. (Az.) Oman Pal. Pal. Qatar Saudi Arabia Syria Turkey UAE Yemen Aegean Sea Arabian Sea Aral Sea Black Sea Caspian Sea Gulf of Aden Gulf of Oman Mediterranean Sea Persian Gulf Red Sea Sea of Azov AFRICA ASIA EUROPESee also
References
- ^ a b "Middle East, West Asia". National Geographic Style Manual. National Geographic Society. http://stylemanual.ngs.org/home/W/west-asia.
- ^ Toynbee, Arnold Joseph (1916), "A Summary of Armenian History Up to and Including the Year 1915", in Viscount Bryce, The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire: Documents Presented to Viscount Grey of Fallodon, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs: Laid Before the Houses of Parliament as an Official Paper and Now Published by Permission, New York and Toronto: Hodder and Stoughton, p. 595
- ^ "Chapter 7: Middle East and Arid Asia". IPCC Special Report on The Regional Impacts of Climate Change: An Assessment of Vulnerability. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 1997. http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc/regional/index.htm.
- ^ Taru Bahl, M H Syed, ed (2003). Encyclopaedia of the Muslim World. New Delhi: Anmol Publications. p. 20. ISBN 9788126114191. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=2x4jq4bXrq0C&pg=PA20&dq=%22Sharqi%22+wind&as_brr=3. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
- ^ Sweeney, Jerry J., William R. Walter. "Preliminary Definition of Geophysical Regions for the Middle East and North Africa" (PDF). Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. http://www.llnl.gov/tid/lof/documents/pdf/235042.pdf.
- ^ "ASTER Image Gallery: The Dead Sea". NASA. http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery-detail.asp?name=deadsea.
- ^ a b Beaumont (1988), p. 22
- ^ Muehlberger, Bill. "The Arabian Plate". NASA, Johnson Space Center. http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/handbooks/arabianpages/mainframe.htm.
- ^ a b Beaumont (1988), p. 86
- ^ "Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)". http://www.fao.org/AG/agl/AGLW/aquastat/regions/neast/index6.stm.
- ^ "United Nations Statistics Division- Standard Country and Area Codes Classifications (M49)". United Nations Statistics Division. http://millenniumindicators.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm. Retrieved 2010-07-24.
- ^ a b c "Ethnic Origin (247), Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3) and Sex (3) for the Population of Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2006 Census". Statistics Canada. 2006. http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/data/topics/RetrieveProductTable.cfm?TPL=RETR&ALEVEL=3&APATH=3&CATNO=&DETAIL=0&DIM=&DS=99&FL=0&FREE=0&GAL=0&GC=99&GK=NA&GRP=1&IPS=&METH=0&ORDER=1&PID=92333&PTYPE=88971&RL=0&S=1&ShowAll=No&StartRow=1&SUB=801&Temporal=2006&Theme=80&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF=.
- ^ The 2007 Middle East & Central Asia Politics, Economics,and Society Conference University of Utah.
- ^ "Regional Economic Outlook: Middle East & Central Asia" May 2006, International Monetary Fund.
- ^ CIA world factbook, Afghanistan - Geography (Location: Southern Asia)
- ^ "South Asia". Web.worldbank.org. http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/0,,menuPK:158937~pagePK:158889~piPK:146815~theSitePK:223547,00.html. Retrieved 2011-06-18.
- ^ "Center for South Asian Studies". Ii.umich.edu. http://www.ii.umich.edu/csas/aboutus/contactus. Retrieved 2011-06-18.
- ^ Pakistan a vital lynchpin connection to South, Central, West Asia, Western China, Embassy of China in Pakistan
- ^ About Pakistan: Embassy of Pakistan in Greece, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Pakistan)
- ^ Pakistan-Iran. Relations in the Changing Security Environment, South Asia Institute (Heidelberg University)
- ^ "International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database, April 2010: Nominal GDP list of countries. Data for the year 2009". Imf.org. 2006-09-14. http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2010/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2009&ey=2009&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=512%2C941%2C914%2C446%2C612%2C666%2C614%2C668%2C311%2C672%2C213%2C946%2C911%2C137%2C193%2C962%2C122%2C674%2C912%2C676%2C313%2C548%2C419%2C556%2C513%2C678%2C316%2C181%2C913%2C682%2C124%2C684%2C339%2C273%2C638%2C921%2C514%2C948%2C218%2C943%2C963%2C686%2C616%2C688%2C223%2C518%2C516%2C728%2C918%2C558%2C748%2C138%2C618%2C196%2C522%2C278%2C622%2C692%2C156%2C694%2C624%2C142%2C626%2C449%2C628%2C564%2C228%2C283%2C924%2C853%2C233%2C288%2C632%2C293%2C636%2C566%2C634%2C964%2C238%2C182%2C662%2C453%2C960%2C968%2C423%2C922%2C935%2C714%2C128%2C862%2C611%2C716%2C321%2C456%2C243%2C722%2C248%2C942%2C469%2C718%2C253%2C724%2C642%2C576%2C643%2C936%2C939%2C961%2C644%2C813%2C819%2C199%2C172%2C184%2C132%2C524%2C646%2C361%2C648%2C362%2C915%2C364%2C134%2C732%2C652%2C366%2C174%2C734%2C328%2C144%2C258%2C146%2C656%2C463%2C654%2C528%2C336%2C923%2C263%2C738%2C268%2C578%2C532%2C537%2C944%2C742%2C176%2C866%2C534%2C369%2C536%2C744%2C429%2C186%2C433%2C925%2C178%2C746%2C436%2C926%2C136%2C466%2C343%2C112%2C158%2C111%2C439%2C298%2C916%2C927%2C664%2C846%2C826%2C299%2C542%2C582%2C967%2C474%2C443%2C754%2C917%2C698%2C544&s=NGDPD&grp=0&a=&pr.x=15&pr.y=10. Retrieved 2011-06-18.
- ^ World Economic Outlook Database-April 2010, International Monetary Fund. Accessed on April 24, 2010.
- ^ "Central Intelligence Agency". Cia.gov. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2001.html. Retrieved 2011-06-18.
- ^ "Palestinian Authority (PA) (Palestinian government) - Britannica Online Encyclopedia". Britannica.com. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/439781/Palestinian-Authority. Retrieved 2011-06-18.
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Categories: Western Asia | Regions of Asia
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