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Middle East

✨ The golden crossroads of cultures

The Middle East is a broad, historically rooted geographic term for a region centered on Western Asia and often including Egypt and, in some definitions, parts of North Africa. There is no single official border for the region, so lists of countries vary. It commonly includes the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Iraq, Iran, Türkiye, and the countries around the eastern Mediterranean and Persian Gulf.

The region links Asia, Africa, and Europe, and its location has made it an important crossroads for migration, trade, and cultural exchange. Major seas and waterways shape its geography, including the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf, and Gulf of Oman. Its landscapes are highly varied.

Large areas are arid or semi-arid, with deserts such as the Arabian Desert, while mountain ranges occur in Türkiye, Iran, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Levant. The Tigris and Euphrates are among its best-known rivers, and the Nile is vital to Egypt. Climate also varies with latitude, elevation, and proximity to the sea, from hot desert conditions to cooler mountain environments and Mediterranean climates.

The Middle East is home to many languages, ethnic groups, and religious traditions. It also contains major historical centers of civilization and important reserves of oil and natural gas, although its economies are diverse and not all countries depend on these resources.

💡 Did you know?

Did you know that the tallest skyscraper in the world is in the Middle East? The Burj Khalifa, in Dubai, is 828 meters high! It's so high that if you stand at the top, you can see the sunset a second time even though it has already disappeared for the people below. The elevator to go up is one of the fastest in the world: it climbs 10 meters every second!

The Middle East is often called the 'Cradle of Civilization'. It was here, in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq), that the Sumerians invented the first form of writing over 5,000 years ago, by tracing nail-shaped signs on clay tablets. They also invented the wheel and the first schools to learn to read and count!

In the Arabian Desert lies the Rub al-Khali, also called the 'Empty Quarter'. It is the largest continuous expanse of sand in the world. There are giant dunes that can reach 250 meters high! For centuries, only the bedouins knew the secrets to crossing this ocean of burning sand thanks to their camels.