The Middle East, if I may adopt a term which I have not seen, will some day need its Malta, as well as its Gibraltar it does not follow that either will be in the Persian Gulf. Mahan first used the term in his article "The Persian Gulf and International Relations", published in September 1902 in the National Review, a British journal. He labeled the area surrounding the Persian Gulf as the Middle East, and said that after Egypt's Suez Canal, it was the most important passage for Britain to control in order to keep the Russians from advancing towards British India. Mahan realized not only the strategic importance of the region, but also of its center, the Persian Gulf. During this time the British and Russian Empires were vying for influence in Central Asia, a rivalry which would become known as the Great Game. However, it became more widely known when American naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan used the term in 1902 to "designate the area between Arabia and India". The term "Middle East" may have originated in the 1850s in the British India Office. Other concepts of the region exist including the broader the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), which includes states of the Maghreb and the Sudan, or the " Greater Middle East" which additionally also includes parts of East Africa, Mauritania, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and sometimes the South Caucasus and Central Asia. Because of the arid climate and heavy reliance on the fossil fuel industry, the Middle East is both a heavy contributor to climate change and a region expected to be severely negatively impacted by it. Most of the countries that border the Persian Gulf have vast reserves of petroleum, with monarchs of the Arabian Peninsula in particular benefiting economically from petroleum exports. Conversely, the Levantine coast and most of Turkey have relatively temperate climates typical of the Mediterranean, with dry summers and cool, wet winters. These regions are collectively known as the Fertile Crescent, and comprise the core of what historians had long referred to as the cradle of civilization (a label now applied to multiple regions of the world). Several major rivers provide irrigation to support agriculture in limited areas here, such as the Nile Delta in Egypt, the Tigris and Euphrates watersheds of Mesopotamia, and the basin of the Jordan River that spans most of the Levant. The Middle East generally has a hot, arid climate, especially in the Arabian and Egyptian regions. Arabs constitute the main ethnic group in the region, followed by Turks, Persians, Kurds, Azeris, Copts, Jews, Assyrians, Iraqi Turkmen, Yazidis, and Greek Cypriots. Several major religions have their origins in the Middle East, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The history of the Middle East dates back to ancient times, with the geopolitical importance of the region being recognized for millennia. The most populous countries in the region are Egypt, Turkey, and Iran, while Saudi Arabia is the largest Middle Eastern country by area. Most Middle Eastern countries (13 out of 18) are part of the Arab world. The region includes the vast majority of the territories included in the closely associated definition of West Asia, but without the South Caucasus, and additionally includes all of Egypt (not just the Sinai) and all of Turkey (not just the part barring East Thrace). The term "Middle East" has led to some confusion over its changing definitions, and being seen as too Eurocentric. The term came into widespread usage as a replacement of the term Near East (as opposed to the Far East) beginning in the early 20th century. The Middle East (term originally coined in English ) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. Middle East map of Köppen climate classification. Map of the Middle East between North Africa, Southern Europe, Central Asia, and Southern Asia.
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