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Mashriq

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This article is about the Mashriq region. For other uses, see Mashriq (disambiguation)

The Mashriq (Arabic: مشرق, also transcribed Mashreq, Mashrek etc.) is the region of Arab countries to the east of Egypt and the Levant. This composes the countries of Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine. It is derived from the Arabic consonantal root sh-r-q (ش ر ق) relating to the east or the sunrise, and essentially means "east" (most literally or poetically, "place of sunrise").

As it refers to countries bounded between the Mediterranean Sea and Iran it is therefore the companion term to Maghreb (مغرب), meaning "west" (a reference to the Arabic-speaking countries in western North Africa). Egypt occupies an ambiguous position: while it has cultural, ethnic and linguistic ties to both the Mashriq and the Maghreb, it is unique and different from both. Therefore, Egypt is located at the center/heart of the Arab world and that is why the headquarters of the Arab League is located in the Egyptian capital of Cairo. Thus, it is usually seen as being part of neither; however, when it is grouped with one or the other, it is generally considered part of the Mashriq on account of its closer ties to the Levant. Egypt and the Levant were often ruled as a single unit, as under the Ancient Egyptian New Kingdom, the Umayyad Caliphate, Abbasid Caliphate, the Fatimid Caliphate, the Ayyubid dynasty, the Mamluks, and for a time under Muhammad Ali Pasha. There are also similarity between the Egyptian and the nearby Levantine dialects. These geographical terms date from the early Islamic expansion.

This region is somewhat similar a combination of Bilad al-Sham and Mesopotamia. As of 2014, the Mashriq is home to 1.7% of the global population.

See also

References

  1. European Neighbourhood Policy in the Mashreq Countries: Enhancing Prospects for Reform - Mashreq region (covering Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the Palestinian territories)
  2. Introduction to Migration and the Mashreq
  3. Migrants from the Maghreb and Mashreq Countries
  4. Official estimate of the Population of Egypt
  5. UN estimate for Lebanon
  6. Official Jordanian population clock
  7. Official estimate of the population of Palestine
  8. UN estimate for Syria
  9. WorldBank estimate of the Population of Iraq
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