Middle East And North AfricaGeographically, the Middle East and North Africa region extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Indian Ocean in the east and from Turkey in north to Yemen in the south. The Arab-majority Middle East represents the core of the Muslim world. Turkic peoples of various sorts who converted to Islam controlled the areas north and northeast of the Middle East. It should be noted that the term “Middle East” was coined in the early 20th century. Prior to that, the region was referred to as the “Near East.” Despite the fact that the term Middle East has become ubiquitous, the United States government and academia still refer to the Near East.

Source: The North Africa Journal March 27, 2017 22:30 UTC