Near East
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2008-07-15T09:06:00Z
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[[Image:NearEast2.png|300px|thumb|The Near East.]][[Image:B) Syria - Belka, Woman from Damascus, Arab from Baghdad.jpg|thumb|Inhabitants of the Near East, late nineteenth century.]]
The '''Near East''' is a term commonly used by Western [[archaeologist]]s, [[geographer]]s, and [[historian]]s, less commonly by Western journalists and commentators, to refer to the region encompassing [[Anatolia]] (the Asian portion of modern [[Turkey]]), the [[Levant]] ([[Syria]], [[Jordan]], [[Israel]], [[Lebanon]], and [[Palestine]]), [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], [[Armenia]], and [[Mesopotamia]] ([[Iraq]]). The alternative term ''[[Middle East]]''—preferred in some political and economic contexts—is not used by Near Eastern archaeologists and historians.
== Background ==
The term ''Near East'' came into use in the 1890s, when [[Europe]]an [[Power in international relations|powers]] were faced with two critical situations in the "east".<ref name="davison">{{cite journal |author=Davidson, Roderic H. |title=Where is the Middle East? |journal=Foreign Affairs |volume=38 |pages=p. 665–675 |year=1960}}</ref> The [[First Sino-Japanese War|Sino-Japanese War]] in 1894–1895 occurred in the [[Far East]], while an [[Armenian Genocide]] and instability involving the [[Crete|Cretans]] and [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]]ns were occurring in the Near East.<ref name="davison"/> British archaeologist [[David George Hogarth|D.G. Hogarth]] published ''The Nearer East'' in 1902, which helped to define the term and its extent, including [[Albania]], [[Montenegro]], southern [[Serbia]] and [[Bulgaria]], [[Greece]], [[Egypt]], all the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] lands, the entire [[Arabian Peninsula]], and western parts of [[Iran]].<ref name="davison"/>
==See also==
* [[Ancient Near East]]
* [[Orient]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Near East]]
[[Category:Middle East]]
[[Category:Ancient Near East]]
[[Category:Titular Sees of the Coptic Orthodox Church]]
[[ar:شرق أدنى]]
[[an:Orient Prosimo]]
[[ba:Яҡын Көнсығыш]]
[[br:Reter-Nesañ]]
[[el:Εγγύς Ανατολή]]
[[es:Oriente Próximo]]
[[eo:Okcidenta Azio]]
[[fa:خاور نزدیک]]
[[fr:Proche-Orient]]
[[ko:근동]]
[[id:Timur Dekat]]
[[it:Vicino Oriente]]
[[ka:ახლო აღმოსავლეთი]]
[[nl:Nabije Oosten]]
[[ja:近東]]
[[uz:Yaqin Sharq]]
[[pt:Oriente Próximo]]
[[ru:Ближний Восток]]
[[sv:Främre Orienten]]
[[tr:Yakın Doğu]]
[[uk:Близький Схід]]
[[ur:مشرق قریب]]
[[wo:Penku gu Jege]]
[[zh:近東]]