Near East

Geographical term that roughly encompasses West Asia

The Near East is a transcontinental region around the Eastern Mediterranean encompassing the historical Fertile Crescent (that is, the Levant and Mesopotamia), as well as Anatolia, Egypt, and occasionally the Balkan and Arabian Peninsulas. The term was coined in the 19th century by modern Western geographers and was originally applied to the Ottoman Empire, but today has varying definitions within different academic circles. The term Near East was used to refer to the part of the Orient nearest to Europe, as opposed to the Middle East (then comprising the lands between the Persian Gulf and Southeast Asia) and the Far East (East Asia and beyond), together known as the "three Easts"; it was a separate term from the Middle East during earlier times and official British usage.

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