The term Middle East refers to the region that is made of parts of western Asia and northern Africa. The region has utmost importance in the world history and has introduced the world with Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Some very ancient civilizations existed in this region and it has been always a foremost centre of world affairs. Middle East is enormously rich with natural resources and the world literally is reliant upon this region for the fulfillment of their requirement related to the fossil fuels. This paper discusses several aspects related to the region which is known as the Middle East.
The name Middle East is considered to be used for the first time during the period of British India by the English however the term became popular when an American novelist used this term in his novel to indicate the region between the India and Arabia. Earlier the area was known as near east but after the fall of Ottoman Empire in late twentieth century, the region was termed as Middle East. The region is rich from irrigation point of view as it has plenty of rivers. Though there benefit is limited to very small area and whole region can not take the benefits of the rivers. All major civilizations of ancient times were originated on the river banks of these rivers. The climate of the region is scorched hot. Almost all the countries of this region are producing crude oil which has been accounted as the main source of their revenue in the recent times.
The geographical importance of the region is more strategic due to its proximity to the Eurasia, Indian Ocean, African continent and the Mediterranean Sea. The region is not only important because of its strategic location but also it has witnessed the origin of world’s most ancient civilizations like Egyptian civilization and Mesopotamian civilization. The region witnessed multiple empires like: Neo Assyrian, Achaemenid, the Macedonian, the Roman and Byzantine Empire. The region witnessed the birth of Islamic golden age in 7th century when Arab took over the region. It provided a separate identity to the region and made it Islam dominant. Modernization of the region started Post World War I when British defeated the Ottoman Empire. During the ruling of British Empire the region was divided into smaller nations. Several major events occurred during the modernization process formation of Israel in the year 1948 and departure of Britain and France were few of them.
The region provides shelters to number of ethnic groups that mainly consists of Arabs, Shabaks, Turks, Mhallami, Somalis, Roma, Persians, Armenians, Azeris, Samaritans, Greeks, Turcomans, Gagauz, Mandeans and Georgians. The religion which is mainly practiced in the Middle East region is Islam though there are several forms of the Islam which are practiced in the region by different religious groups. The two leading religions of the world, Christianity and Islam emerged here and they flourished in the world. Islam is the main religion but not alone, Christianity and Judaism are also practiced widely in the Middle East region. Apart from these major beliefs a number of other religions like Bahai, Yazdanism, Druze, Zoroastrianism, and Shabakism are also practiced in the region.
Arabic, Turkish and Persian are among top languages when we look at in terms of the speakers. Though there are several other languages, practiced in the region. Being authorized language in the region, Arabic is spoken by the maximum number of people. It has a large impact in Arabian countries but also has a great impact in other than Arabian countries. Persian is another popular language after Arabic though it has its impact in Iran only but also used in some neighboring countries. Turkish is third most popular language of the region though like Persian, it has the impact in its own land. People use English as their second language in the region. English is popular among people who are from affluent class in various countries of the region. The other very popular languages in the region are Urdu, French and Russia. People use these languages that are migrated from Pakistan and Russia.
The region is having unequal distribution of resources and wealth hence one can see extremely poor country like Gaza and very rich countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE. All of the nations in the region are working towards continuous improvement and growth and all of them are having positive growth rate. As per some facts and data released by World Bank; Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran are top three economies in the region with highest GDP. On the other hand Qatar, Kuwait and UAE are having highest per capita income. Countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and UAE are highly dependent on oil and related products to sustain its economy and growth. Whereas countries like Turkey, Egypt and Israel depend upon agriculture, textile, cattle, lather industry and dairy including oil. These countries are also popular for making surgical instruments and equipments required in defence. The country is very conservative when it comes to tourism. It’s among the most undeveloped industry in the region. Government policies and conservative society are the major hurdles for this sector. However in past few years some of the countries started changing their attitude tourism. They are making favorable changes to boost tourism in their country in terms of policies and facilities. It also been noticed that unemployment rate among youth is very high in the region. Unemployment rate among youth is 25 percent against the overall unemployment rate which is 13.2 percent. In country like Syria it is as high as 73 percent which is a matter of urgent concern.
If we talk about music, the music in the region is influenced by various countries from western Asia as well as North Africa. One can feel the influence of Greece, Indian, Italian music on Middle Eastern music. In the whole region one common thing that uniting all the countries, their languages, traditions and culture is Religion. During 7th century Islam became one of the most dominating and commonly accepted religions in the region. Arabic music is very melodious; it is formed by using maqamat and modes. The Arabic music is similar to Persian music, dastgah. The music basically originated from classical music and further developed folk and liturgical music. One can easily noticed the influence of west and other popular music but the music maintains its core tune by having quarter tones, stringed instruments. The other characteristics of music are: music holds a very composite rhythmic organization, homophonic texture and vocals. Unlike other music, this music can last up to three hours with a highly praised climax.
Works Cited
Anderson, Ewan W. and William Bayne Fisher . The Middle East: Geography and Geopolitics. London: Routledge, 2000.
Held, Colbert C. Middle East Patterns: Places, Peoples, and Politics. . New York: Westview Press, 2000.
