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Western Asia
Area	6,255,160 km2 (2,415,131 sq mi)a
Population  • Density	313,428,000a  50.1/km2 (130/sq mi)
Countries	23 (19 recognized, 4 unrecognized)  Abkhazia  Armenia  Artsakh  Azerbaijan  Bahrain  Cyprus  Georgia  Iran  Iraq  Israel  Jordan  Kuwait  Lebanon  Northern Cyprus  Oman  Palestine  Qatar  Saudi Arabia  South Ossetia  Syria  Turkey  UAE  Yemen
Dependencies	1  Akrotiri and Dhekelia
Nominal GDP	$2.742 trillion (2010)
GDP per capita	$8,748 (2010)
Time zones	UTC+02:00 UTC+03:00 UTC+03:30 UTC+04:00 UTC+04:30
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) and the inclusion of the Caucasus. 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. 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".

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.

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.^[1][2] In contrast to this definition, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in its 2015 yearbook also includes Armenia and Azerbaijan, and excludes Israel (as Other) and Turkey (as Europe).^[3]
Unlike the UNIDO, the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) excludes Iran from Western Asia and includes Turkey, Georgia, and Cyprus in the region.^[4] 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, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.^[5][6][7] 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.

History

"Western Asia" was in use as a geographical term in the early 19th century, even before "Near East" became current as a geopolitical concept.^[8]
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.^[9][10][11]
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.^[12]

Use of the term in the context of contemporary geopolitics or world economy appears to date from at least the mid-1960s.^[13]

Geography

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

Plate tectonics

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.^[14] The Arabian Plate is moving northward into the Anatolian plate (Turkey) at the East Anatolian Fault,^[15] and the boundary between the Aegean and Anatolian plate in eastern Turkey is also seismically active.^[14]

Water resources

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.^[16]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.^[16] Flood or furrow irrigation, as well as sprinkler methods, are extensively used for irrigation, covering nearly 90,000 km² across Western Asia for agriculture.^[17]
Also, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers contribute very well.

Climate

A Lebanese Cedar Forest in winter

Köppen climate classification map of West 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.^[18] 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 kilometres per hour (50 miles per hour) and often kick up violent sand and dust storms that can carry sand a few thousand meters high, and can close down airports for short periods of time. These winds can last for a full day at the beginning and end of the season, and for several days during the middle of the season. The shamal is a summer northwesterly wind blowing over Iraq and the Persian Gulf states (including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait), often strong during the day, but decreasing at night. This weather effect occurs anywhere from once to several times a year.^[19]

Topography

Western Asia contains large areas of mountainous terrain. The Anatolian Plateau is sandwiched between the Pontus Mountains and Taurus Mountains in Turkey. Mount Ararat in Turkey rises to 5,137 meters. The Zagros Mountains are located in Iran, in areas along its border with Iraq. The Central Plateau of Iran is divided into two drainage basins. The northern basin is Dasht-e Kavir (Great Salt Desert), and Dasht-e-Lut is the southern basin.

In Yemen, elevations exceed 3,700 meters in many areas, and highland areas extend north along the Red Sea coast and north into Lebanon. A fault-zone also exists along the Red Sea, with continental rifting creating trough-like topography with areas located well-below sea level.^[20] The Dead Sea, located on the border between the West Bank, Israel, and Jordan, is situated at 418 m (1371 ft) below sea level, making it the lowest point on the surface of the Earth.^[21]

Rub' al Khali, one of the world's largest sand deserts, spans the southern third of the Arabian Peninsula in Saudi Arabia, parts of Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Jebel al Akhdar is a small range of mountains located in northeastern Oman, bordering the Gulf of Oman.

Demographics

The population of Western Asia was estimated at 272 million as of 2008, projected to reach 370 million by 2030 by Maddison (2007; the estimate excludes the Caucasus and Cyprus).
This corresponds to an annual growth rate of 1.4% (or a doubling time of 50 years), well above the world average of 0.9% (doubling time 75 years).
The population of Western Asia is estimated at about 4% of world population, up from about 39 million at the beginning of the 20th century, or about 2% of world population at the time.^[22]

The most populous countries in the region are Turkey and Iran and, each with around 79 million people, followed by Iraq and Saudi Arabia with around 33 million people each.

Numerically, Western Asia is predominantly Arab, Persian, Turkish, and the dominating languages are correspondingly Arabic, Persian and Turkish, each with of the order of 70 million speakers, followed by smaller communities of Kurdish, Azerbaijani, Hebrew, Armenian and Eastern Aramaic. The dominance of Arabic and Turkish is the result of the medieval Arab and Turkic invasions beginning with the Islamic conquests of the 7th century AD, which displaced the formerly dominant Aramaic and Hebrew in the Levant, and Greek in Anatolia, although Hebrew is once again the dominant language in Israel, and Aramaic (spoken largely by Assyrians) and Greek both remain present in their respective territories as minority languages.

Other significant native minorities include Assyrians, Druze, Jews, Mandeans, Maronites, Shabaks, Syriac Arameans, Lurs and Yezidis.

Economy

The economy of Western Asia is diverse and the region experiences high economic growth. Turkey has the largest economy in the region, followed by Saudi Arabia and Iran. Petroleum is the major industry in the regional economy, as more than half of the world's oil reserves and around 40 percent of the world's natural gas reserves are located in the region.

Statistical data

Country, with flag	Area (km2)	Population[23] (2016)	Density (per km2)	Capital	Nominal GDP[24] (2012)	Per capita[25] (2012)	Currency	Government	Official languages
Anatolia:
Turkey1	783,562	79,512,426	94.1	Ankara	$788.042 billion	$10,523	Turkish lira	Presidential republic	Turkish
Arabian Peninsula:
Bahrain	665	1,425,171	1,646.1	Manama	$30.355 billion	$26,368	Bahraini dinar	Constitutional monarchy	Arabic
Kuwait	17,820	4,052,584	167.5	Kuwait City	$184.540 billion	$48,761	Kuwaiti dinar	Constitutional monarchy	Arabic
Oman	212,460	4,424,762	9.2	Muscat	$78.290 billion	$25,356	Omani rial	Absolute monarchy	Arabic
Qatar	11,437	2,569,804	123.2	Doha	$192.402 billion	$104,756	Qatari riyal	Absolute monarchy	Arabic
Saudi Arabia	2,149,690	32,275,687	12	Riyadh	$733.956 billion	$25,139	Saudi riyal	Absolute monarchy	Arabic
United Arab Emirates	82,880	9,269,612	97	Abu Dhabi	$383.799 billion	$43,774	UAE dirham	Federal Constitutional monarchy	Arabic
Yemen	527,970	27,584,213	44.7	Sana'a (Houthi-led government) Aden (Seat of government)	$35.05 billion	$1,354	Yemeni rial	Provisional Presidential republic	Arabic
South Caucasus:
Abkhazia5	8,660	242,862	28	Sukhumi	$500 million	N/A	Georgian lari	Semi-presidential republic	Abkhaz Russian
Armenia	29,800	2,924,816	108.4	Yerevan	$9.950 billion	$3,033	Armenian dram	Semi-presidential republic	Armenian
Artsakh5	11,458	150,932	N/A	Stepanakert	$1.6 billion	$2,581	Artsakh dram Armenian dram	Presidential republic	Armenian
Azerbaijan	86,600	9,725,376	105.8	Baku	$68.700 billion	$7,439	Azerbaijani manat	Presidential republic	Azerbaijani
Georgia	69,700	3,925,405	68.1	Tbilisi	$15.847 billion	$3,523	Georgian lari	Semi-presidential republic	Georgian
South Ossetia5	3,900	53,532	13	Tskhinvali	$500 million	N/A	Georgian lari	Semi-presidential republic	Ossetian Russian
Fertile Crescent:
Iraq	438,317	37,202,572	73.5	Baghdad	$216.044 billion	$6,410	Iraqi dinar	Parliamentary republic	Arabic, Kurdish
Israel	20,770	8,191,828	365.3	Jerusalem4	$257.62 billion	$33,451	Israeli new shekel	Parliamentary republic	Hebrew, Arabic
Jordan	92,300	9,455,802	68.4	Amman	$30.98 billion	$4,843	Jordanian dinar	Constitutional monarchy	Arabic
Lebanon	10,452	6,006,668	404	Beirut	$42.519 billion	$10,425	Lebanese pound	Parliamentary republic	Arabic
Palestine6	6,220	4,790,705	667	Ramallah3	$6.6 billion	$1,600	Egyptian pound, Jordanian dinar, Israeli new shekel	Semi-presidential republic	Arabic
Syria	185,180	18,430,453	118.3	Damascus	n/a	n/a	Syrian pound	Presidential republic	Arabic
Iranian Plateau:
Iran	1,648,195	80,277,428	45	Tehran	$548.590 billion	$7,207	Iranian rial	Islamic republic	Persian
Mediterranean Sea:
Cyprus	9,250	1,170,125	117	Nicosia	$22.995 billion	$26,377	Euro	Presidential republic	Greek, Turkish
Northern Cyprus5	3,355	313,626	93	North Nicosia	$4.032 billion	$15,109	Turkish lira	Semi-presidential republic	Turkish
Sinai Peninsula:
Egypt 2	60,000	850,000	82	Cairo	$262.26 billion	$3,179	Egyptian pound	Presidential republic	Arabic

Notes:

¹ The figures for Turkey includes East Thrace, which is not a part of Anatolia.
² The area and population figures for Egypt only include the Sinai Peninsula.
³ Ramallah is the actual location of the government, whereas the proclaimed capital of Palestine is Jerusalem, which is disputed.^{[note 1]
4}Jerusalem is the proclaimed capital of Israel and the actual location of the Knesset, Israeli Supreme Court, etc. Due to its disputed status, most embassies are in Tel Aviv.^{[note 1]
5}Unrecognised state

6 UN observer state

Sports

• The West Asian Tennis Federation regulates the championships and leagues in the region.


• The West Asian Billiards & Snooker Federation regulates the championships related to billiards and snooker, amongst which an annual tournament.


• The West Asian Games have been held in 1997, 2002 and 2005.


• The West Asian Football Federation was founded in 2001 and is one of the regional federations of the Asian Football Federation. They organize the WAFF Championship.


• The West Asia Basketball Association organizes the WABA Championship since 1999.

Map of Western Asia

Arm.

Azerbaijan

Bah.

Cyprus

Egypt

Georgia

Iran

Iraq

Isr.

Jordan

Kuwait

Leb.

(Az.)

Oman

Pal.

Pal.

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

Syria

Turkey

UAE

Yemen

Aegean Sea

Arabian Sea

Aral Sea

Black Sea

Caspian Sea

Gulf of Aden

Gulf of Oman

Mediterranean Sea

Persian Gulf

Red Sea

Sea of Azov

AFRICA

ASIA

EUROPE

See also

• Cinema of West Asia


• List of World Heritage Sites in Western Asia


• West Asian Games


• West Asian Basketball League


• West Asia Basketball Association


• West Asian Billiards & Snooker Federation


• West Asian Tennis Federation


• West Asian Football Federation

Notes

References

External links

• 
  Stanford's Map of Western Asia from 1885 by Edward Stanford