The Middle East

The Middle East

is a geographical region that, to many people in the United States, refers to the Arabian Peninsula and lands bordering the easternmost part of the Mediterranean Sea, the northernmost part of the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf. Countries that reside in this definition of the Middle East include: Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

The name "Middle East" has been in use since the 1850s, but its meaning has varied over time and continues to vary with different governments, people, and more. The first official document of the United States that used the term "Middle East" was the Eisenhower Doctrine in 1957.

The map displayed above is part of the CIA Factbook, a world atlas published by the United States Central Intelligence Agency, for the purpose of assisting government officials and others with world geography. Geology.com uses the CIA Factbook as its primary reference for country names, borders and more. The geography displayed by the CIA Factbook follows policies of the United States government and is not in agreement with every nation and every group of people.

The map on this page was created by the CIA in April 2019. It was produced using a Lambert Conformal Conic Projection with standard parallels at 12 degrees north and 38 degrees north. The scale of the map is 1:21,000,000.

Countries of the Middle East
Country	Capital	Government
Bahrain	Manama	Absolute monarchy
Cyprus	Nicosia	Presidential republic
Egypt	Cairo	Presidential republic
Iran	Tehran	Islamic republic
Iraq	Baghdad	Parliamentary republic
Israel	Jerusalem	Parliamentary republic
Jordan	Amman	Constitutional monarchy
Kuwait	Kuwait City	Constitutional monarchy
Lebanon	Beirut	Parliamentary republic
Oman	Muscat	Absolute monarchy
Qatar	Doha	Absolute monarchy
Saudi Arabia	Riyadh	Absolute monarchy
Syria	Damascus	Presidential republic
Turkey	Ankara	Presidential republic
United Arab Emirates	Abu Dhabi	Federal absolute monarchy
Yemen	Sana'a	Provisional presidential republic

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