Southwest Asia
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Southwest Asia is a region of Asia generally understood as including Iran, the Levant, and Anatolia. Sometimes the Arabian Peninsula is included too. Southwest Asia and North Africa are usually referred to as the "Near East" or "Middle East"; the study of the region is was formerly known as "orientalism," but many departments refer to themselves as "Near Eastern studies."
Historically, South Asia has been tied to North Africa by political union: at various times, Ancient Egypt ruled over Palestine, while the Persian and Seleucid Empires ruled over Egypt. Egypt was politically united with Southwest Asia between 31 BCE and 969 CE (almost exactly a thousand years), with a very brief period between the Arab conquest of Jerusalem (637) and Egypt (639). The Fatimids soon captured the Levant as well, but lost it to the Normans during the Crusades (1099-1189). The two regions were united again under Salah ad-Din (1169) and remained under common rule after the Ottoman Conquest (1512). Under Khedive Muhammad Ali, Egypt became a de facto autonomous state with its own empire (which in 1842 included parts of Southwest Asia). In 1882, Britain invaded Egypt, cutting it off politically from the Ottoman Empire (although it remained officially Ottoman territory); the pretense of Ottoman rule ended in October 1914 when Turkey entered World War I on the side of the Central Powers. After the War, Egypt was virtually a colony of the UK, while Palestine and Iraq were League of Nations Mandates, which meant that they were united under British rule, although of course this was inconsequential.
Between 1949 and 1978, Israel was officially at war with Egypt, Egypt was officially united with Syria as the United Arab Republic (UAR) between 1958 and 1961 (Egypt used the name UAR until 1971). Today, the Arab League includes all of the nations of Southwest Asia and North Africa except for Israel.
See Also
Arabian Peninsula
Gulf Emirates
Levant
Southwest Asia & North Africa
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