The conversation about Southwest Asia should begin by defining the meaning of this term. The fact is that the term Asia Minor is widespread in Russian-language literature, which appeared as a result of tracing the German term. From a geographical point of view, the region includes Asia Minor, the Arabian Peninsula, Transcaucasia, the Mesopotamian Lowlands, the Armenian Highlands, the Mediterranean coast, as well as the Iranian Highlands.
Political Division Southwest Asia
From a political point of view, Front Asia is usually divided into three large regions. The political regions of Southwest Asia include the Middle East, the Middle East and Transcaucasia. The region has important political significance, since large mineral reserves and important transit corridors are concentrated on its territory.
There are twenty sovereign internationally recognized states in Southwest Asia. Below is an exhaustive list with capitals in brackets:
- Afghanistan (Kabul).
- Azerbaijan, Baku).
- Armenia (Yerevan).
- Kingdom of Bahrain (Manama).
- Georgia, Tbilisi).
- Egypt (Cairo). Only the Sinai Peninsula belongs to the Asian part.
- Israel (Tel Aviv).
- Jordan (Amman).
- Iraq (Baghdad).
- Iran (Tehran).
- Yemen (Sana'a).
- Qatar (Doha).
- Cyprus (Nicosia).
- Kuwait (Kuwait).
- Lebanon (Beirut).
- UAE (Abu Dhabi).
- Oman (Muscat).
- Saudi Arabia (Riyadh).
- Syria (Damascus).
- Turkey (Ankara). It is worth noting that the European part of the country, which is historically called Thrace, does not belong to Southwest Asia.
Cultural features of the region
From a cultural point of view, the region is of great importance, since it was on the territory of the Fertile Crescent that covers Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon that wheat was first domesticated, and the first written civilizations arose. For a long time, the region flourished due to its relatively favorable climate and special political structure.
Another important feature of Southwest Asia is that it was on its territory that religions such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam arose. Today, however, the region is predominantly Islamic. Ethnically, the population of South-West Asia is quite diverse, since on its territory for many centuries a variety of different peoples have been mixed: from Iranians and Greeks to Indians and Turks.
Peninsula Asia Minor
The entire territory of this peninsula is occupied by the Republic of Turkey. This is one of the most politically and economically developed countries in the Southwest Asia region.
The peninsula is washed by the Black, Mediterranean, Marmara and Aegean Seas. Most of the peninsula is occupied by various mountain systems. The climate of the peninsula is characterized by aridity over a large territory, since most of it is occupied by the Asia Minor Plateau.
In the east of Asia Minor are located the historical regions of the Armenian Highlands and Taurus Mountains, which have been known to mankind since the days of the Sumerians, since there were sources of important minerals on their territory.
Despite the fact that Turkey is an important supplier of agricultural products, it is worth noting that this status is given to it thanks to properly established technology for growing crops, as the climate of the region is characterized by aridity and a very small river network.
The capital of Turkey is Ankara - one of the most important capitals of South-West Asia, as the country is a member of NATO and borders on many key states of the region. In addition, Turkey controls the Bosporus and Dardanelles, linking the Black and Mediterranean Seas.
Arabian Peninsula
Another important region of Southwest Asia is the Arabian Peninsula, which is the largest peninsula on the planet. On its territory there are eight rich oil-producing countries, each of which is also an absolute monarchy. In each country, Islam is the official religion.
South-West Asia and North Africa are separated from each other by the narrow Red Sea, which is important for the economy of the region, since it has great recreational potential and is an important transport corridor along which ships reach the Suez Canal, which separates Asia from Africa.
Most of the peninsula is occupied by rocky deserts formed by denudation of mountain elevations of volcanic origin. Rare oases cannot serve as a source of water on an industrial scale, so all countries in the region are engaged in desalination of sea water for industrial needs and the export of large quantities of drinking water.
Geography and politics of the Levant
The Levant is called the historical and geographical region, including countries such as Israel, Syria, Palestine, partly Egypt, Jordan and Turkey (some regions).
Despite the fact that over the centuries the meaning of this term could change significantly, it has invariably remained a crossroads where cultures of Europe, Africa and Asia met, where numerous peoples traded and waged wars for influence on the sea and on land. Writing and agriculture arose in this region, the first temples were built and great empires and new religions were created.
Today, the Levant has an extremely turbulent political situation caused by the civil war in Syria and the long-standing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The largest national group of the Levant region are Arabs, and the religious community is Muslims, although there are Christian communities and many small religions.
In addition, the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel says that it is the national state of the Jewish people, that is, Jews also occupy an important place on the ethnically colorful map of the region.
Iranian Highlands
As noted above, Southwest Asia is a very mountainous region in which there are numerous plateaus and highlands, the most eastern of which is Iranian.
The Iranian Highlands, as the name implies, lies mostly in the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran, however, some of its parts are located in countries such as Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Pakistan, which already belong to a different geographical and historical-political region.
The climate in the highlands is significantly different when moving from the center to the south. In the central part of the highland, a continental cool climate prevails, but in the south it turns into a moderately tropical climate with greater humidity and hotter summers.
Mesopotamian lowland. Geography and Ecology
The Mesopotamian Lowland is the territory bounded by the plateau of the Arabian Peninsula, the ridges of Zagros and Taurus. Mostly the plateau is located in Iraq and Kuwait, but also falls on the territory of Iran and Syria.
It is worth noting that the relief of this region is formed by the activity of the Tigris, Euphrates and Karun rivers, which for many millennia enriched the surrounding lands with fertile sediments from the north.
The region, also known as Mesopotamia, is the cradle of a written civilization in which mythology, history, astronomy, and organized religion began. And all this happened on a small land plot with not the most favorable climatic conditions, requiring incredible efforts for farming.
Macro Region Economy
Unlike Southeast Asia, Southeast is of direct interest to Europe due to its geographical proximity. In recent years, the humanitarian crisis that unfolded in the territory of Asia Minor due to the Syrian civil war has become increasingly important. Most of the countries in the region were somehow drawn into the conflict, which could not but affect the state of their economy.
In addition, the fall in oil prices on the world market caused a contraction in the economies of the leading oil producing countries in the region. However, various economic and infrastructure projects with the participation of other world players are actively developing in the region. For example, through the territory of Iran, Turkey and Syria, it is planned to build a transport corridor that will connect the countries of Europe and China. Today, the countries of South-West Asia play a key role in the extraction and transportation of energy resources.