Thus we are left with simply the descriptive geographic name: North Africa and Southwest Asia, sometimes abbreviated as NASWA. You might have heard people refer to this area as the Arab World, but this would not apply to Iran, much of Israel, or Turkey. Referring to the region as the “Middle East” seems to privilege the European perspective, so what alternatives exist? Perhaps you could call it the Islamic World? This would exclude places like Israel and secular governments like Turkey, as well as the numerous minority religious groups found in the region. Eastern Europe and Turkey were commonly referred to as the “Near East,” while China was called the “Far East.” The “Middle East” was thus in between these two regions. In truth, the term “Middle East” originated in Western Europe.

The equator might objectively be in the middle of the globe, but the “Middle East” is over 1,000 miles to its north. Indonesia is in Southeast Asia but is northwest of Australia. California is west of Europe but east of China. Historically, this perhaps awkwardly named region of North Africa and Southwest Asia was commonly called the “Middle East.” This begs the question, though, what is it in the middle of? What is it east of? On a globe, east and west are relative terms. Figure 7.1: Map of North Africa and Southwest Asia (CIA World Factbook, Public Domain) In fact, North Africa has much more in common in terms of its physical and religious landscape with the Arabian Peninsula and Southwest Asia than some of its continental neighbors to the south (see Figure 7.1). But Sub-Saharan Africa is physiographically, culturally, and linguistically distinct from the African countries north of the Sahara. Africa, for instance, is almost entirely surrounded by water except for a small land connection with Asia at Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. Have a big chunk of land might be mostly surrounded by water? Let’s make it a region! Sometimes, though, making these sorts of divisions is more difficult.

When geographers divide the world into regions, we often do so using landmasses. North Africa and Southwest Asia’s Key Geographic Features

Describe the current areas of religious conflict within North Africa and Southwest Asia.

Explain how the history of North Africa and Southwest Asia impacted its cultural landscape.

Describe the geography of the major religious groups found in North Africa and Southwest Asia.

Identify the key geographic features of North Africa and Southwest Asia.

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