Western Asia

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Western Asia
Location of Western Asia on Earth
Area 6,255,160 km2
(2,415,131 sq mi)a
Population
Density
313,428,000a
50.1km2 (130sq mi)
Countries
23 (20 recognized, 3 unrecognized)[show]
Nominal GDP $2.742 trillion (2010)
GDP per capita $8748 (2010)
Time zones UTC+0200
UTC+0300
UTC+0330
UTC+0400
UTC+0430
Notes
a Area and population figures include the Sinai.
Western Asia, West Asia, Southwestern Asia or Southwest Asia is the westernmost
subregion of Asia. The concept is in limited use, as it significantly overlaps with
the Middle East (or the Near East), the main difference usually being the exclusion
of the majority of Egypt (which would be counted as part of North Africa). The term
is sometimes used for the purposes of grouping countries in statistics. The total
population of Western Asia is an estimated 300 million as of 2015.

In an unrelated context, the term is also used in ancient history and archaeology
to divide the Fertile Crescent into the Asiatic or Western Asian cultures as
opposed to ancient Egypt. As a geographic concept, Western Asia includes the
Levant, Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Iran, the Armenian Highlands, the South Caucasus,
the Arabian peninsula as well as the Sinai Peninsula, making Egypt a
transcontinental country. Although the term Western Asia is mostly used as a
convenient division of contemporary sovereign states into a manageable number of
world regions for statistical purposes, it is sometimes used instead of the more
geopolitical term Middle East, for example by the Government of Canada.[1]

The term is used pragmatically and has no correct or generally agreed-upon

definition. 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) only includes Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait,
Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Palestinian territories (called West Bank and Gaza in the
latter), Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, UAE, and Yemen as West Asian countries.[2][3]
In contrast to this definition, the United Nations Industrial Development
Organisation (UNIDO) in its 2015 yearbook also includes Armenia and Azerbaijan, and
excludes Israel (as Other) and Turkey (as Europe).[4] Unlike the UNIDO, the United
Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) excludes Iran from Western Asia and include
Turkey, Georgia, and Cyprus in the region.[5] In the United Nation's 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,
Syria, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.[6][7][8] The Olympic Council of Asia's
multi-sport event West Asian Games are contested by athletes representing these
thirteen 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.

Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Geography
2.1 Geology
2.1.1 Plate tectonics
2.1.2 Water resources
2.2 Climate
2.3 Topography
3 Demographics
4 Economy
5 Statistical data
6 Sports
7 Map of Western Asia
8 See also
9 References
10 External links
History[edit]
See also History of the Middle East, Ancient Near East, History of the Ottoman
Empire, Treaty of Gulistan, Treaty of Turkmenchay, and Partitioning of the Ottoman
Empire
Western Asia was in use as a geographical term in the early 19th century, even
before Near East became current as a geopolitical concept.[9] In the context of the
history of classical antiquity, Western Asia could mean the part of Asia known in
classical antiquity, as opposed to the reaches of interior Asia, i.e. Scythia, and
Eastern Asia the easternmost reaches of geographical knowledge in classical
authors, i.e. Transoxania and India.[10][11][12] In the 20th century, Western Asia
was used to denote a rough geographical era in the fields of archaeology and
ancient history, especially as a shorthand for the Fertile Crescent excluding
Ancient Egypt for the purposes of comparing the early civilizations of Egypt and
the former.[13]

Use of the term in the context of contemporary geopolitics or world economy appears
to date from the 1960s.[14]

Geography[edit]
See also Geography of Asia
Western Asia is located directly south of Eastern Europe. The region is surrounded
by seven major seas; the Aegean Sea, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Persian
Gulf, the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea.

To the north, the region is delimited from Europe by the Caucasus Mountains, to the
southwest, it is delimited from Africa by the Isthmus of Suez, while to the east,
the region adjoins Central Asia and South Asia.

The Dasht-e Kavir and Dasht-e Lut deserts in eastern Iran naturally delimit the
region somewhat from Asia itself.

Geology[edit]
Plate tectonics[edit]
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.[15] The Arabian Plate is moving northward into the Anatolian plate (Turkey)
at the East Anatolian Fault,[16] and the boundary between the Aegean and Anatolian
plate in eastern Turkey is also seismically active.[15]
Water resources[edit]
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.[17] 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.[17] Flood or furrow irrigation, as well as sprinkler methods, are
extensively used for irrigation, covering nearly 90,000 km across Western Asia for
agriculture.[18]

Climate[edit]

A Lebanese cedar forest in winter.

Kppen climate classification map of West Asia.

See also Climate of Asia
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.[19] 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 oft