Western Asia as defined by the National Geographic Society. The West Asian nations of its map are Turkey, Iran, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestinian Territories and Cyprus, with a note that Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan and Pakistan are "sometimes included in West Asia."

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 gained independence from European colonial rule in the second half of the 20th century, especially India, perceive Eurocentrism in "Middle" and "Near", and prefer to use West Asia instead.

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.

Origin of the term

Paradoxes of east and west

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:

"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. 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.

Geographers recognize two major groups of continents located on opposite sides of the globe, which they have been pleased to call the Eastern Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere. The name and location of these half-globes is a matter of scientific accident; presumably, if the scientists of some other nation had scientifically formalized latitude and longitude, the Prime Meridian would be elsewhere. There are no contending schemes; no one considers this plan a form of centrism. Similarly, Eurasia, which spans most of the Eastern Hemisphere, has a well defined east (etymologically "direction of the dawn") and west ("direction of the evening"), which are manifest and not debatable or any form of -centric.

Europe and Asia

Europe is always on the west of Eurasia and Asia always on the east. There is some centrism in that concept although not necessarily western. For example, the Japanese call Japan, which has never been under the rule of a colonial power, Nippon, "Land of the Rising Sun." This concept looks to the center of Eurasia, which is to the west. The fact that the population of the islands in the Pacific Ocean must travel into the setting sun to arrive at the Land of the Rising Sun is ignored.

Asia and Europe descend into modern usage from ancient Greek civilization, where they were among the very oldest geographical words. The etymologies remain a blank still, even though many theories have been proposed. They do not readily fit any Greek derivations. For example, Europe appears to be "broad view" or "wide face" or "wide land." The Europe seen by the Greeks was entirely mountainous; moreover, all Europe is a small, peninsula-like adjunct to the vastness of Asia. Indo-European etymologists are silent on these topics. The words may be Hellenized loans from another language.

Asian appears as an ethnic name of some enslaved women in the Linear B tablets dated to the Late Bronze Age. Some Aswiai appear to have been from Lydia, which had the Hittite name Aššuva. Whether the name was originally Greek or Anatolian is undetermined. The Greeks of the period had colonized the coast of Anatolia, moving in on the Luvians. Philip Smith, writer for the classical encyclopedist, William George Smith, considering all the references in ancient Greek authors, concludes: "The origin of the names, both of Europe and Asia, is lost in antiquity, but perhaps not irrecoverably." Of Asia he concludes: "... its primary reference is to the 'sun' ... that the 'Asians' are 'the people of the sun', or, 'the people from the east'...."

In a similar article on Europe, William Bodham Donne defines Europe as "that portion of the globe which constitutes the northwest division of the Old or Great Continent." After stating several etymological theories he adopts Hermann's Greek origin from "Broad Land," "as distinguished from the Aegean Islands and the peninsula of Pelops."

Perceptions of Asia in the Age of Enlightenment

The term Western Asia appears as early as the Utopian literature of the early Age of Enlightenment.

Rejection of the vocabulary of the British Empire

The British government during the Age of Empire did not make use of the geographical systems developed during the Age of Enlightenment. Instead it substituted it own vocabulary derived from practical diplomatic experience with the governments of the east. The term Near East was innovated in the mid-ninteenth century. It was followed and to a large degree supplanted by Middle East in the earliest 20th century. Meanwhile the system based on geography continued in parallel with the others.

Geography

Western Asia is located directly south of Eastern Europe.

Climate

Cedar forest in winter, located in Lebanon

Western 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. 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.

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. 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.

Khinalug village in Azerbaijan is the highest and most isolated settlement in the Caucasus

A 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

Plate tectonics

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. The Arabian Plate is moving northward into the Anatolian plate (Turkey) at the East Anatolian Fault, and the boundary between the Aegean and Anatolian plate in eastern Turkey is also seismically active.

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. 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. Flood or furrow irrigation, as well as sprinkler methods, are extensively used for irrigation, covering nearly 90,000 km² across Western Asia for agriculture.

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 Europe

The countries and territories in the UN Subregion of Western Asia, 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. Afghanistan is also sometimes included in a broader definition of "Western Asia", although Afghanistan can be considered Central Asian, South Asian, or West Asian. 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 (more often South West Asia) 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.

General data

Below are some additional details about nations that have been considered in West Asia by some major agency. The data section does not support any specific agency view.

Territory and region

Country, with flag	Area (km²)	Population (2009)	Density (per km²)	Capital	Nominal GDP (2009)	Per capita (2009)	Currency	Government	Official languages
Anatolia:
Turkey1	783,562	77,804,122	95	Ankara	$615.33 billion	$8,723	Turkish lira	Parliamentary republic	Turkish
Arabian Peninsula:
Bahrain	665	791,000	1,189	Manama	$19.4 billion	$19,455	Bahraini dinar	Constitutional monarchy	Arabic
Kuwait	17,820	3,566,437	174	Kuwait City	$156.31 billion	$57,482	Kuwaiti dinar	Constitutional hereditary	Arabic
Oman	212,460	3,200,000	15	Muscat	$52.3 billion	$18,013	Omani rial	Absolute monarchy	Arabic
Qatar	11,437	1,696,563	123	Doha	$92.5 billion	$68,871	Qatari riyal	Absolute monarchy	Arabic
Saudi Arabia	1,960,582	28,686,633	15	Riyadh	$438.01 billion	$16,778	Saudi riyal	Absolute monarchy	Arabic
United Arab Emirates	82,880	8,132,491	8	Abu Dhabi	$229.97 billion	$46,857	UAE dirham	Federal Constitutional monarchy	Arabic
Yemen	527,970	23,580,000	45	Sana'a	$26.2 billion	$1,061	Yemeni rial	Constitutional republic	Arabic
South Caucasus:
Armenia	29,800	3,245,900	109	Yerevan	$8.71 billion	$2,667	Armenian dram	Presidential republic	Armenian
Azerbaijan	86,600	8,922,000	103	Baku	$43.11 billion	$4,807	Azerbaijani manat	Presidential republic	Azerbaijani
Georgia	69,700	4,385,841	63	Tbilisi	$10.74 billion	$2,448	Georgian lari	Semi-presidential republic	Georgian
Fertile Crescent:
Iraq	438,317	31,234,000	71	Baghdad	$70.1 billion	$2,200	Iraqi dinar	Parliamentary republic	Arabic, Kurdish
Israel	20,770	7,653,600	365	Jerusalem	$194.83 billion	$26,100	Israeli new shekel	Parliamentary democracy	Arabic, Hebrew
Jordan	92,300	6,318,677	68	Amman	$22.93 billion	$3,828	Jordanian dinar	Constitutional monarchy	Arabic
Lebanon	10,452	4,224,000	404	Beirut	$37 billion	$9,479	Lebanese pound	Parliamentary republic	Arabic
Palestine	6,220	4,148,000	667	Jerusalem (declared)	$6.6 billion	$1,600	dinar, pound, shekel	Presidential republic	Arabic
Syria	185,180	22,505,000	118	Damascus	$52.52 billion	$2,579	Syrian pound	Presidential republic	Arabic
Iranian plateau:
Iran	1,648,195	74,196,000	45	Tehran	$330.46 billion	$4,459	Iranian rial	Islamic republic	Persian
Mediterranean Sea:
Cyprus	9,250	801,622	90	Nicosia	$23.2 billion	$29,619	Euro	Presidential republic	Greek, Turkish
Sinai Peninsula:
Egypt 2	61,000	850,000	82	Cairo	$187.95 billion	$2,450	Egyptian pound	Semi-presidential republic	Arabic
Sources: The World Factbook, United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), 15 July 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica. Notes: 1 The figures for Turkey includes East Thrace, which is not a part of Anatolia. 2 The area and population figures for Egypt only include the Sinai Peninsula.

Map of Western Asia

The map below is a generalized map of the major nations that have been included in West Asia at some time by some major agency. The map does not represent any specific point of view. Not all possible nations have been included.

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

EUROPE

See also

	Geography portal
	Asia portal

• Cinema of West Asia
• Southwest Asia Service Medal
• West Asian Football Federation
• West Asian Games

Bibliography

• Smith, William, ed (1854). Dictionary of Greek and Roman geography. Vol. I Abacaenum—Hytanis. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. 

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