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West Asia, also known as Western Asia, is a western region of the Asian continent, that comprise the areas of The Iranian Plateau, Anatolia, the Levant, the Arabian Peninsula and the Caucasus. It is surrounded (clockwise, from west to east) by North Africa, Southeastern Europe, Central Asia, and Southern Asia. The term Western Asia came to use after WW2 when Eastern Asia stopped being called the Far East. Western Asia was previously known as The Near East and then The Middle East.

Western Asia's history dates back many millennia, Western Asia has special significance as three of the major world religions originated from here: Islam, Judaism and Christianity. Generally Western Asia has a hot, arid climate, with some regions being irrigated by major rivers. The countries located around the Persian Gulf have rich reserves of crude oil.

Contents

Definitions and usage

West Asia consists of the following countries and territories:

Differences in definitions

West Asia is a relatively new term for an area that has been coined the Middle East for centuries, however as the term Far East faded out for the regions of East Asia and Southeast Asia, the term Middle East remained, however today much controversy remains over the usage of the term Middle East. It is deemed Eurocentric as the area in question is in fact west of India, south of Russia, north of Somalia etc. As an alternative, West Asia is sometimes known as Southwest Asia. West Asia is often taken to include Turkey to Iran, however some definitons add Afghanistan and omit the South Caucasus countries (Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan) and Turkey. Other definitions include Pakistan, but also omit Cyprus, Turkey etc.

Geography

Geophysically, the terms Arabian subcontinent and Iranian Plateau are used to describe those regions which lie on the Arabian Plate, bordered on the north by the Eurasian Plate and on the east by the Indian plate. However, a good proportion of the Anatolian land mass is not on the Arabian plate, but on the fringes of the Eurasian Plate. As in the case of the Bosphorus Strait, everything to the south-east of Rumelia is considered West Asia]]. But, geopolitically, Western Asia subsumes the Arabian subcontinent and includes both, the territories found internal to the Arabian Plate and those in proximity to it. The Levant, for instance, is grouped in this region due to socio-political, historical, and ethnic (Arab) ties to neighbouring Arabia.

Climate

The climate of West Asia is mostly arid or semi arid, however there are some subtropical areas such as the Black Sea coast of Turkey and the Caspian Sea coast of Iran.

History

The history of West Asia is complex and ancient, the cradle of civilization is believed to be there.

See also

Other subregions of Asia
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