Holidays to Middle East
Numerous tourists want to have a vacation or holiday in the Middle east to see the culture the landscapes the mountains, deserts, the beaches, the coatline, the culture, the entertainment or the sports. Many want a luxury holiday or a cheap holiday. Many need accommodation to stay at such as cottages, cabin, villas, hotels, homes, flats, houses etc:
The Middle East is a subcontinent with no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. The term "Middle East" was popularized around 1900 in the United Kingdom; it has a loose definition traditionally encompassing countries or regions in Western Asia and parts of North Africa. The corresponding adjective to Middle East is Middle-Eastern and the derived noun is Middle-Easterner.
The history of the Middle East dates back to ancient times, and throughout its history the Middle East has been a major centre of world affairs. The Middle East is also the geographic origin of three of the world’s major religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The Middle East generally has an arid and hot climate, with several major rivers providing for irrigation to support agriculture in limited areas. Many countries located around the Persian Gulf have large quantities of crude oil. In modern times the Middle East remains a strategically, economically, politically, culturally, and religiously sensitive region.
The Middle East defines a geographical area, but does not have precisely defined borders. The modern definition of the region includes: Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, the Palestinian territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Egypt, with its Sinai Peninsula in Asia, is considered part of the Middle East, although most of the country lies geographically in North Africa. According to international media, North African nations without Asian links, such as Libya, Tunisia and Algeria, are increasingly being called North African.
The Middle East is home to numerous ethnic groups, including Arabs, Turks, Persians, Jews, Armenians, Georgians, Kurds, Aramean Syriacs, Azeris, Circassians, Berbers, Somalis, Greeks, Samaritans, Turkmens, Pashtuns, Baluch, Habesha(mainly Eritrean habesha), Punjabi, Sindhi and Nubians.
Territories and regions
Main article: Regions of the Middle East
Anatolia - Turkey
Arabian Peninsula - Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, U.A.E.,
Oman, Yemen and Bahrain
Mesopotamia - Iraq
Persian Plateau - Afghanistan
and Iran
The Levant - Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Palestinian Authority and Israel
North Africa - Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia
East Africa - djibouti,
Somalia, Sudan
Further information: List of Middle Eastern countries
The Middle East is primarily arid and semi-arid, and can be subject to drought; nonetheless, there exists vast expanses of forests and fertile valleys. The region consists of grasslands, rangelands, deserts, and mountains; K2 in northern Pakistan rises 8611 meters above sea level to become the highest peak in the Middle East.. Water shortages are a problem in many parts of the Middle East, with rapidly growing populations increasing demands for water, while salinization and pollution threaten water supplies. Major rivers, including the Nile and the Euphrates, provide sources for irrigation water to support agriculture.
While Middle East mainly contains areas with low relief, portions of Turkey, Iran, and Yemen include mountainous terrain. The Anatolian Plateau is sandwiched between the Pontus Mountains and Taurus Mountains in Turkey. Mount Ararat in Turkey rises to 5,165 meters and K2, located in Pakistan rises to 8,611 meters and is the highest peak in the Middle East. The Zagros Mountains are located in Iran, in areas along its border with Iraq. The Central Plateau of Iran is divided into two drainage basins. The northern basin is Dasht-e Kavir (Great Salt Desert), and Dasht-e-Lut is the southern basin.
In Yemen, elevations exceed 3,700 meters in many areas, and highland areas extend north along the Red Sea coast and north into Lebanon. A fault-zone also exists along the Red Sea, with continental rifting creating trough-like topography with areas located well-below sea level. The Dead Sea, located on the border between the West Bank, Israel, and Jordan, is situated at 418 m below sea level, making it the lowest point on the surface of the Earth.
A large lowland belt is located on the Arabian Peninsula, from central Iraq, through Saudi Arabia, and to Oman and the Arabian Sea. The Euphrates and Tigris rivers cut through the lowland belt in Iraq and flow into the Persian Gulf. Rub'al Kha-Li-, one of the world's largest sand deserts, spans the southern third of the Arabian Peninsula in Saudi Arabia, parts of Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Jebel al Akhdar is a small range of mountains located in northeastern Oman, bordering the Gulf of Oman.
Some important cities in the region.
Abu Dhabi, UAE, Dubai, UAE, Beirut, Lebanon, Cairo, Egypt, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tehran, Iran, Tel Aviv, Israel, Levent,
Istanbul, Turkey, Ankara, Turkey, I.zmir, Turkey
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