GROUP ONE IRS 316 ASSIGNMENT

COURSE CODE: IRS 316

LECTURER : DR OMOTOSHO

COURSE TITLE: DYNAMICS OF THE MIDDLE EAST POLITICS

QUESTION: DEFINING THE AREA CALLED THE MIDDLE EAST

GROUP MEMBERS

BANKOLE EBUNOLUWA OLANREWAJU HIS/2016/ 031

OMILEKE OLATOMIWA ELIJAH HIS/2017/189

LADIPO OYINKANSOLA HIS/2017/147

ABIMBOLA GRACE HIS/2016/002

ONI EUNICE FOLASHADE HIS/2016/063

OLUWABUNMI FAMOROTI 65689723AI

IRS/2016/055

BELLO MUTIAT OLUWAKEMI IRS/2016/084

IRS/2016/043

TAIWO MARY BUKOLA IRS/2016/079

 THE CONTROVERSIAL ENTITY CALLED THE MIDDLE EAST

Origin and Evolution of The Term “Middle East”

One thing to note about the middle East is that the term itself was born out of a
European perspective. The Middle East was formerly referred to as either the "Near East" or the
"Far East". The Near East because of the area closest to Europe through the Mediterranean Sea,
and the Far East, including Asian lands as far as China and Japan. In 1902, it American Naval
strategist, by the name of Alfred Thayar Mahan published an article titled, "The Persian Gulf and
International Relations" in the British "National Review Magazine" where he first used the term.
It was actually a play on the Near East and the Far East and was his way of describing the "in-
between". Mahan's definition however, was simply the area between Arabia and India. His
version of the Middle East does not include countries that are today regarded as Middle Eastern.

Much of Egypt was not included, as well as today's Turkey, Lebanon or Syria. Northern
Iraq and Northern Iran were also not included. He instead included Pakistan, India and Sri
Lanka, countries that are not considered today as part of the Middle East. To Mahan, it was much
less a conventional, geographical region and more a strategic zone defined by the sea route from
the Suez Canal to Singapore - Britain's gateway to rich Asian trade. This trade was what Britain
depended on for wealth and power in the early 20th century. Mahan's definition simply included
the lands closest to this sea route. Mahan's Middle East doesn't define the geography of a region.
It was used solely as a basis for understanding British strategization. Not long after Alfred
Mahan's article was published, Valentine Chirol, a reporter of the" British Times" newspaper
began to publish a series of articles titled, "The Middle East Question". Thus, the the term
"Middle East" was settled in international literature.

By 1920, Britain's "Royal Geographical Society" derived their own version of the Middle
East. However, Egypt was not. This continues to be an ongoing debate about Egypt and its ties
and links with the rest of the Middle East. Culturally speaking, Egypt is ethnically Arab and
Arabic speaking but geographically, it is part of the African continent. This had let to some
scholars she organizations placing Egypt and the rest of North Africa outside the region they
would classify as the Middle East.
 In 1995, the United States State Department included North Africa but not Turkey in their
Middle East map. The countries included in North Africa were Morocco, Algeria, Libya and
Egypt. However, till date, the United States Department has refused to call the region "the
Middle East" and sticks to the term, "the Near East".

This usage of the term "Middle East" has increasingly come to supplant the more
conventional usage, which divided the area into two regions, the Middle East and North Africa.
The term "North Africa" referred to the Arab countries of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya;
"the Middle East," on the other hand, referred to Egypt (which is geographically located in North
Africa) as well as the rest of the Arab countries to the east plus Israel, Turkey, and Iran. . It has a
total population of around 300 million people and encompasses the countries of Morocco,
Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain,
Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen, Iraq, Turkey, and Iran. The African countries of
Mauritania and Sudan are also considered to be within the "Middle East."

The Middle East, as defined above, encompasses four distinct culture areas: Arab,
Turkish, Iranian, and the newly evolved Israeli culture. The Arab, Turkish, and Iranian cultures
are heirs to great Islamic empires that had their centers in the region and represent three distinct
variations within the global Islamic civilization. The most recent and most enduring of these, the
Ottoman Empire, ruled over most of the Middle East, as well as parts of eastern Europe, for
almost 500 years, until its demise and dismemberment at the end of World War I. Out of its
ashes arose the modern state of Turkey, as well as the majority of the contemporary Arab nation-
states.

From the historical perspective, the Middle East is known as the "cradle of civilizations."
Its two major river systems, the Nile Valley in Egypt, and the Tigris-Euphrates in Iraq (ancient
Mesopotamia) were the sites of the world's earliest civilizations (e.g., Egyptian, Sumerian,
Babylonian, and Assyrian). This is where urban life and centralized forms of political
organization arose; it is also the birthplace of the world's three major monotheistic religions,
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. These three distinct yet related religions were forged in the
context of the Middle East, and all three continue today to find expression in and give meaning
to the lives of the people of the region.
ETHNICITY

Arabs constitutes the majority ethnic group in all of the Middle East states except Iran,
Israel and Turkey. Originally, the term 'Arab' referred to the peoples that inhabited the northern
and central portions of the Arab Peninsula. Following the spread of various Arab-Islamic
empires throughout the Middle East and into Europe and south Asia, the term 'Arab' has come to
be synonymous with those who speak Arabic. Presently, about 60% of the total population in the
Middle East speak Arabic and consider themselves to be an Arab. Another significant ethnic
group would be the Kurds, who exist as a minority population distributed throughout Iraq, Syria,
Iran and Turkey.

The ethnic groups in the Middle East refers to the peoples that reside in West Asia and
Egypt in North Africa. The region has historically been a crossroad of different cultures. Since
the 1960s, the changes in political and economic factors (especially the enormous oil wealth in
the and conflicts) have significantly altered the ethnic composition of groups in the region.
Whole some ethnic groups have been present in the region of millennia, others have arrived
fairly recently through immigration. The five largest ethnic groups in the region are Arabs,
Azerbaijan, Kurds, Persian and Turks, but there are dozens of other ethnic groups which have
hundreds of thousands and millions of members.

Other indigenous native or long standing ethnic groups include: Arameans, Armenians,
Assyrians, Balochs, Berbera, Copts, Mhallami, Nawar, Samaritans, Shabaks, Talishis, Tats,
Turcomans, Yazidis, and Zadas. More recent migrant or diaspora populations include Albanians,
Bengalis, British people, Bosniaks, Chinese, Circassians, Crimean Tatars, Filipinos, French
people, Indians, Indonesians, Italians, Malaysia, Pakistanis, Pashtuns, Punjabis, Romani, Sikhs,
Sindhis, Somalis, Sri Lankan, and sub Saharan Africans.

RELIGION

In addition to ethnicity, the peoples of the Middle East are differentiated by their religion.
Most of the people in the Middle East practice Islam. They are referred to as Muslims. Islam is
the dominant religion in all of the Middle Eastern states except Israel and Palestinian areas.
According to the list of states, the Middle East is almost uniformly populated by Muslims.
However, this apparent uniformity of religion masks a number of important distinctions. For
instance, there are a number of different sects within Islam. Most people in the Middle East
belong to the Sunni sect of Islam. Another sect, Shiite or Shia Islam, is the majority religion in
Iran, Lebanon, Iraq and Bahrain. There are also Shiite minorities in Lebanon, Kuwait, and
Yemen. Other smaller sects also exist within Islam. These sects include, among others, the
Alawites, the Druze, the Ibadis, the Ismailis, the Shafis, and various Sufi orders.

ISLAM

Islam is practiced in other countries besides the Middle Eastern states listed above. Over
the centuries Islam spread far and wide, through Asia and Africa, and even to parts of Europe.
This spreading of Islam has resulted in Islam becoming the dominant religion in non-Middle
Eastern states such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Indonesia. There are
also large numbers of Muslims in the Philippines, China, the former Yugoslavia, Ethiopia,
Nigeria, parts of Europe, and even the United States. In fact, more Muslims live outside the
Middle East than within. In addition to Islam, other religions are practiced in the Middle East.
For example, in Israel 82% of the population are Jews who practice Judaism. Israel the only state
in the Middle East where Islam is not the majority faith. Christianity is also practiced in the
region, especially in such states as Lebanon, Egypt, and Israel.

It is the most widespread religion in the Middle East apart from being the largest religion
in the Middle East it is also one of the largest in the world. Research indicates that close to 94%
of the Middle East population belonged to Islam, Middle East's Muslim population account for
20% of the world’s Muslim population. The spread of Islam is closely linked with the history of
the Middle East as the converts established some caliphates with their own law based on Islamic
law.In the modern era most of the nations in the region also use Islamic law as the basis of their
legal law, but the Sunni Islam widely dominates othe Islamic religion.
CHRISTIANITY

Is another dominant religion in the Middle East, which traces its root to modern day
Israel. Even though Christianity traces its root to the region, it is still considered one of the minor
religion in the area since its adherents account for only 5% of the regions population. During the
early 20th century Christian accounts for 20% of the regions population. The only Middle
Eastern nation that has a Christian majority is Cyprus where more than 70% of the countrys
population is made up of Christians .The most popular Christian denomination in Cyprus is
Eastern orthodox Christianity, with the Greek residents of the country being the principal
adherent of the sect.

JUDAISM

Judaism which also traces it's root to the region, is also practiced in the Middle East ,
which is considered to be the most ancient of the Abrahamic faiths. Some of the central figure in
Judaism such as Abraham and Sarah were believed to have lived within present day Iraq, another
Middle Eastern country that is often mention in religious text in Judaism is Egypt. In the past a
significant population lived in Arabic countries which greatly influenced their cultural practices
as well as their language. Most of the Jews who lived in Arabic nations fled from those countries
as a result of anti-Semitism, in the modern era most of the Jews living in the Middle East live in
Israel where they make up more than 70% of the nations population.

MANDAEISM

It is a minor religion in the Middle East which is mainly practiced in Iran and
Iraq.Globally there are less than 100,000 practitioners of the religion. The practices and beliefs
of mandaeism are similar to those other religion practiced.

SHABAKISM

It is also another minor religion practiced in the region which is primarily practiced in
the northern part of Iraq. The Iraqi government estimated that roughly 60,000 people practice
religion in the country.
 Other religion in the region include : Gnosticism , Babism , Sabianism , Zoroastrianism,
Alevism, Mandaeism , Manichaeism , Nusairism , and so on …

NATIONAL IDENTITY

The peoples of the Middle East are differentiated by their national identity (such as
people who live in Syria are Syrian, people who live in Iran are Iranian, etc.). While ethnic and
religious identities are important in the Middle East, people often have a strong sense of
nationalism (a strong attachment to the state) that is connected to their national identity. These
individuals often place more emphasis on their country of origin than their ethnic or religious
background.

LANGUAGE

The Middle East geographical region comprised of nations that cover territory in both
Asia and Africa. The region spans an area of roughly 2,782,860 square miles, and in 2010 it was
home to more than 370 million people. The Middle East is one of the most linguistically diverse
regions with more than 60 languages being spoken in the region including Arabic, Greek, and
Kurdish. Most of the languages spoken in the Middle East are native to the region while others
were introduced from other parts of the world.

The most common spoken language of the “Middle East” is Arabic, a Semitic language
closely related to Hebrew that was developed beginning in the 8 th century BC.  Currently, around
280 million people speak Arabic in the regions of the “Middle East” and North Africa
encompassing the countries between Morocco to Iraq.  The Qur’an, the central religious text of
Islam, is only allowed to be written in Arabic, giving the language a very important role in the
Muslim world.  Different from some other languages, there are many different dialects of Arabic,
which can make it difficult for speakers from different areas of the Arabic speaking world to
understand one another3. 
 The next major language of the Middle East is Persian or Farsi, the national language of
Iran.  Persian is spoken by an estimated 65 million people, most of which are concentrated in
Iran but there are significant Persian speaking populations in Afghanistan and the United Arab
Emirates.  Younger than Arabic, Persian was developed around 400 BC and is closely related to
Hindi and Urdu.  There are three main dialects of Persian: Iranian Persian (spoken in Iran), Dari
Persian (spoken in Afghanistan) and Tajik Persian (spoken in Tajikistan.

Hebrew is spoken by roughly 3.8 million people in the “Middle East,” but this population
is now concentrated in Israel and the neighboring countries.  Though, not all Jews, even Israeli
Jews, speak Hebrew since centuries ago, Hebrew ceased being a working language; however,
due to Jewish nationalism, the Zionist movement, and the need for a unifying language between
immigrants into Israel the language has been revived. 

Turkish, the national language of Turkey and the main spoken language of the Turkish
nation is also spoken by roughly 170,000 people in Cyprus and by minorities in the Fertile
Crescent area.  Kurdish is the language that unifies the Kurds, a nation that spans a large
geographical range from Beirut to Afghanistan.  

Additionally, almost all countries in the “Middle East” have several minority languages,
such as Berber, spoken by many North Africans, including some parts of northwestern Egypt.
Azeri, a minority Turkic language, is often spoken in northwestern Iran.  Turkish tribes in the
southern Zagros Mountains in Iran speak Qashqai, while Baluchi is spoken in southeastern and
eastern Iran by the Baluch peoples and migrants in United Arab Emirates and Oman.  Nomadic
tribes in the Zagros Mountains can be found speaking Luri.  Lastly, Armenian, due to its
historical significance is spoken by minorities in urban centers such as Beirut, Damascus,
Aleppo, Tehran, and Cairo

ECONOMY

The discovery of vast oil deposits revolutionized the Middle East's economy. More than half of
the world's known oil reserves are found in the region, although they are not equally distributed.
Saudi Arabia has the largest deposits and is the world's leading oil producer and exporter. Iran,
Iraq, and the small Persian Gulf state of Kuwait are the other major producers. Aside from oil,
chrome, coal, sulphur, and magnesium mined in Turkey, and phosphates from Jordan, the region
is generally poor in other mineral resources . The region was prominent in agriculture before
the discovery of oil in the 20th century .

Turkey, Egypt, and Israel are the most industrially developed countries of the region. The
processing of agricultural products, petroleum refining and the production of petrochemicals,
textiles, and such traditional crafts as rug weaving are the chief areas of industrial activity.
Heavy industry, including machinery and steel production and motor vehicle assembly, is being
encouraged. The economy of the Middle East is very diverse, with national economies ranging
from hydrocarbon-exporting rentiers to centralized socialist economies and free-market
economies. The region is best known for oil production and export, which significantly impacts
the entire region through the wealth it generates and through labor utilization. In recent years,
many of the countries in the region have undertaken efforts to diversify their economies.

Following the oil boom of the 1970s, Middle Eastern economies have implemented
several reform policies aimed at sustaining economic growth and increasing participation at the
macroeconomic level. The implementation of these economic reforms became more urgent in the
region as oil price volatility threatened the economic stability of major oil-exporting countries.
While each country follows its own economic agenda, many face similar challenges and target
issues which affect the region as a whole. The policies are especially concerned with attracting
foreign investment in an integrated global economy.

CONCLUSION

The term Middle East over the years has generated a lot of controversies among
scholars . It is however important for us to note that the region is plagued with a lot of violence,
wars and misunderstanding .It is also important for us to note that the region contributes a lot
when it comes the global economy
 REFERENCES

 Bates, D., and A. Rassam (1983). Peoples and Cultures of the Middle East. Englewood
Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.
 Carelton, Coon ( 1961 ). Caravan: The Story of the Middle East. New York: Holt,
Rinehart & Winston.
 Eickelman, Dale (1981). The Middle East: An Anthropophagical Approach. Englewood
Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.
 Richard, A., and J. Waterbury (1990). A Political Economy of the Middle East: State,
Class, and Economic Development. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press.