English > Near East: 1 sense > noun 1, location| Meaning | The area around the eastern Mediterranean; from Turkey to northern Africa and eastward to Iran; the site of such ancient civilizations as Phoenicia and Babylon and Egypt and the birthplace of Judaism and Christianity and Islam; had continuous economic and political turmoil in the 20th century. |
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| Synonyms | Middle East, Mideast |
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| Instances | Mashriq | Arabic name for the Middle East |
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| Instance of | geographical area, geographic area, geographical region, geographic region | A demarcated area of the Earth |
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| Parts | Egypt, Arab Republic of Egypt, United Arab Republic | A republic in northeastern Africa known as the United Arab Republic until 1971 |
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| Fertile Crescent | A geographical area of fertile land in the Middle East stretching in a broad semicircle from the Nile to the Tigris and Euphrates |
| Iran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Persia | A theocratic Islamic republic in the Middle East in western Asia |
| Iraq, Republic of Iraq, Al-Iraq, Irak | A republic in the Middle East in western Asia |
| Israel, State of Israel, Yisrael, Zion, Sion | Jewish republic in southwestern Asia at eastern end of Mediterranean |
| Israel | An ancient kingdom of the Hebrew tribes at the southeastern end of the Mediterranean Sea |
| Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan | An Arab kingdom in southwestern Asia on the Red Sea |
| Kuwait, State of Kuwait, Koweit | An Arab kingdom in Asia on the northwestern coast of the Persian Gulf |
| Lebanon, Lebanese Republic | An Asian republic at east end of Mediterranean |
| Levant | The former name for the geographical area of the eastern Mediterranean that is now occupied by Lebanon, Syria, and Israel |
| Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia | An absolute monarchy occupying most of the Arabian Peninsula in southwest Asia |
| Syria, Syrian Arab Republic | An Asian republic in the Middle East at the east end of the Mediterranean |
| Turkey, Republic of Turkey | A Eurasian republic in Asia Minor and the Balkans |
| Region of | Arab-Israeli War, Six-Day War, Six Day War | tension between Arabs and Israeli erupted / erupted into a brief war in June 1967 |
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| Arab-Israeli War, Yom Kippur War | Egypt and Syria attacked Israel in October 1973 (on Yom Kippur) |
| Operation Desert Storm | The United States and its allies defeated Iraq in a ground war that lasted 100 hours (1991) |
| falafel, felafel | small croquette of mashed chick peas or fava beans seasoned with sesame seeds |
| pita, pocket bread | usually small round bread that can open into a pocket for filling |
| zarf | An ornamental metal cup-shaped holder for a hot coffee cup |
| Spanish | medio este, Medio Oriente, Oriente Medio |
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| Catalan | Orient Mitjà, Pròxim Orient |
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