West Asia

  Southwest Asia in most contexts.

Southwest Asia or Southwestern Asia (largely overlapping with the Middle East) is the southwestern portion of Asia. The term Western Asia is sometimes used in writings about the archeology and the late prehistory of the region, and in the United Nations subregion geoscheme. Unlike the Middle East, which is a vaguely-defined region generally meant to include the North African country of Egypt, Western Asia is a purely geographical term, which includes the southwestern extreme of Asia.

Southwest Asia is partly coterminous with the traditional European names the Middle East and the Near East, both of which describe the regions' geographical position in relation to Europe rather than their location within Asia. The term Western Asia has become the preferred term of use for the Middle East by international organizations (most notably the United Nations) and also in countries to the east of the region, such as India and Australia, because of the perceived Eurocentrism of the historical term Middle East. In terms of cultural and political geography, the Middle East sometimes includes North African and western South Asian countries, particularly Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Egypt.

The definition of cultural-geographical regions in use by the United Nations.

The United Nations includes Turkey and the South Caucasus States (Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia) in its Western Asian subregion, as they are almost entirely located there. However, these countries also lie in regions that straddle both Asia and Europe, and have sociopolitical ties to the latter. Turkey is located in Europe and in Asia. The Asian part of the Arab world (including Arabia proper) is called the Mashreq in Arabic.

See continent and transcontinental country for further definitions

Territories

Some of the countries classified as southwest Asian are sometimes classified differently. Afghanistan, for example, is sometimes considered a Central Asian country, and sometimes as a South Asian country. Cyprus meanwhile politically aligns itself with Europe, and is generally considered a part of Southeastern Europe despite its geographic location. Southwest Asia is in most contexts meant to encompass:

• Afghanistan
• Armenia
• Bahrain
• Cyprus
• Iran
• Iraq
• Israel
• Jordan
• Kuwait
• Lebanon
• Oman
• Palestinian Territories (Gaza Strip and West Bank)
• Qatar
• Saudi Arabia
• Syria
• United Arab Emirates
• Yemen
• The Asian portion of
  • Egypt (Sinai Peninsula)

European states extending into Western Asia

Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey are generally considered European states part of whose territory is extending into western Asia. Armenia is entirely in Western Asia, however, like Cyprus its considered a European state because of socio-cultural connections.

• Georgia
• Turkey
• Azerbaijan
• Armenia

Use in ethnic statistics

The Canadian government uses "West Asian" in its statistics; however people from the Arab countries are counted in a separate "Arab" category.

Other subregions of Asia

• East Asia
• Southeast Asia
• South Asia (Indian subcontinent)
• Central Asia
• North Asia (Siberia)
• Northern Eurasia (extends into Europe)
• Central Eurasia (extends into Europe)