What Countries Make Up the Middle East?
There is no exact definition of the Middle East that is agreed upon by all people. Some core countries are always included as part of the region, but there is disagreement about how far the region extends, and this is complicated by cultural, linguistic, and political considerations. The nations always included as being part of the region are Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel/Palestine, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, and Iran. So it can be said that the Middle East is approximately equivalent to Western Asia. But some countries outside of Western Asia, or that straddle Western Asia and another continent/region, are often included in regional classifications. Egypt is one of the most commonly included. Most of Egypt’s landmass is located in North Africa, but the Sinai Peninsula is in Western Asia, and geographically inseparable from Israel’s Negev desert. Not only that, but Egypt is the cultural capital of the Arab world and has therefore had a large influence on
