Geography of the Southwestern Asia

The Near and the Middle East is a vast region, encompassing Southwestern Asia and Southern Africa. The Asian part of the region (the initial historical name - the Front Asia) is situated at the junction of the three continents - Europe, Asia and Africa. It is divided into geographical zones - Asia Minor peninsula, Armenian Plateau, Plateau of Iran; Mesopotamia (the interfluves of Tigris and Euphrates rivers), the Arabian Peninsula, Eastern Levant, Cyprus (island); as well as some minor isles of the Mediterranean, of the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea. The African part of the region, or Southern Africa, from Egypt and Sudan in the East of the continent to Morocco, Western Sahara and Mauritania in the West is often called Mashriq, in Arabian that
means "the West" or a place of the sunset.

This is the world of deserts, semideserts and the steppe, of high mountains and stony tablelands, pasture greenlands and fertile oases. The regional landscape is dominated by the deserts, the doleful and cheerless sight of which is livened only in rainy seasons. Forests cover only on damp mountain slopes and along the moist river shores. Among the arid lands Mesopotamia is distinguished for being rich in river waters (those of Tigris and Euphrates) and underground waters. The animal world and vegetation are extremely abundant in the seas, gulfs and bays. The region is of great economic and strategic significance thanks to it location at the junction of the most important maritime communication routes and the presence of oil deposits.

The blissful lands of the Mediterranean used to be the cradle of the great ancient civilizations: Ancient Egyptian, Phoenician, Aegean, Ancient Greek. Turkey. Kemer. A. Pobedonostseva. 2006.		The Rubʿ al-Khali sand desert (‘Empty Quarter' in Arabic). Saudi Arabia. M.A.Rodionov. 2006.		The lower reaches of the Nile (Al-Bahr). According to Herodotus "The Civilization of Egypt is a blessed gift of the Nile". Egypt. Y.K.Chistov. 2006