Near East 214632 225768815 2008-07-15T09:06:00Z 81.152.43.194 [[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]]