West Asia
West Asia, also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost region of Asia. As defined by most academics, UN bodies and other institutions, the subregion consists of Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Mesopotamia, the Armenian highlands, the Levant, the island of Cyprus, the Sinai Peninsula and the South Caucasus.[4][5][6] The region is separated from Africa by the Isthmus of Suez in Egypt, and separated from Europe by the waterways of the Turkish Straits and the watershed of the Greater Caucasus. Central Asia lies to its northeast, while South Asia lies to its east. Twelve seas surround the region (clockwise): the Aegean Sea, the Sea of Marmara, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aqaba, the Gulf of Suez, and the Mediterranean Sea. West Asia contains the majority of the similarly defined Middle East. The Middle East is a political term that has changed many times depending on political and historical context while West Asia is a geographical term with more consistency. It excludes most of Egypt and the northwestern part of Turkey, and includes the southern part of the Caucasus.
Not to be confused with Middle East.Area
5,994,935 km2 (2,314,657 sq mi)a
50.1/km2 (130/sq mi)
$9.063 trillion (2019)[3]
$3.383 trillion (2019)[3]
0.699 (medium)
Semitic, Turkic, Iranic, Armenian, North Caucasian, Georgians, Hellenic, Indo-Aryan, etc.
West Asian
Western Asian
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Armenia
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Azerbaijan (except for a small portion of territory north of the Greater Caucasus)
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Bahrain
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Cyprus
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Egypt (only Sinai Peninsula)
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Georgia (except for a small portion of territory north of the Greater Caucasus)
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Iran
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Iraq
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Israel
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Jordan
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Kuwait
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Lebanon
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Oman
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Palestine
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Qatar
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Saudi Arabia
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Syria
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Turkey (except Turkish Thrace)
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United Arab Emirates
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Yemen (except Socotra)
145 – West Asia142 – Asia001 – World
West Asia covers an area of 5,994,935 km2 (2,314,657 sq mi), with a population of about 313 million.[1][2] Of the 20 UN member countries fully or partly within the region, 13 are part of the Arab world. The most populous countries in West Asia are Iran, Turkey, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
In the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD), West Asia excludes the Arabian Peninsula and includes Afghanistan.[7] The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) excludes Egypt and includes Afghanistan.[8] The United Nations Environment Programme excludes Cyprus, Israel, Turkey, and Iran from West Asia.[9]
Definition
The term West Asia is used pragmatically and has no "correct" or generally accepted definition. Its typical definitions overlap substantially, but not entirely, with definitions of the terms Middle East, Eastern Mediterranean, and Near East (which is historically familiar but widely deprecated today). The National Geographic Style Manual as well as Maddison's The World Economy: Historical Statistics (2003) by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) include only Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Palestine (called West Bank and Gaza in the latter), Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, UAE, and Yemen as West Asian countries.[10][11] By contrast, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in its 2015 yearbook includes Armenia and Azerbaijan, and excludes Israel (as Other) and Turkey (as Europe).[12]
Unlike the UNIDO, the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) excludes Iran from West Asia and includes Turkey, Georgia, and Cyprus in the region.[13] In the United Nations geopolitical Eastern European Group, Armenia and Georgia are included in Eastern Europe, whereas Cyprus and East Thracian Turkey are in Southern Europe. These three nations are listed in the European category of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
National members of West Asian sports governing bodies are limited to Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Syria, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.[14][15][16] The Olympic Council of Asia's multi-sport event West Asian Games are contested by athletes representing these 13 countries. Among the region's sports organisations are the West Asia Basketball Association, West Asian Billiards and Snooker Federation, West Asian Football Federation, and the West Asian Tennis Federation.