mashriq
{{Short description|Eastern part of the Arab world}}
{{Redirect|Mashreq|the bank|Mashreq (bank)}}
{{About|a geographical region}}
{{pp-pc}}
{{Infobox
| bodyclass = geography
| above = Mashriq
{{no bold|{{lang|ar|المشرق}}}}
| image = 250px
| label1 = Countries and territories
| data1 = {{plainlist|
- {{flagicon|Bahrain}} Bahrain
- {{flagicon|Egypt}} Egypt
- {{flagicon|Iraq}} Iraq
- {{flagicon|Jordan}} Jordan
- {{flagicon|Kuwait}} Kuwait
- {{flagicon|Lebanon}} Lebanon
- {{flagicon|Oman}} Oman
- {{flagicon|Palestine}} Palestine
- {{flagicon|Qatar}} Qatar
- {{flagicon|Saudi Arabia}} Saudi Arabia
- {{flagicon|Sudan}} Sudan
- {{flagicon|Syrian Opposition}} Syria
- {{flagicon|United Arab Emirates}} UAE
- {{flagicon|Yemen}} Yemen
}}
| label2 = Major regional organizations
| data2 = Arab League, GCC, GAFTA, COMESA, Community of Sahel–Saharan States, Union for the Mediterranean
| label3 = Demonym
| data3 = Mashriqi
Saracen {{small|(historical)}}
| label4 = Population
| label5 = Languages
| data5 = {{plainlist|
}}
| label6 = Religion
| data6 = Islam, Christianity and Judaism
| label7 = Time Zones
| data7 =
}}
The Mashriq ({{IPAc-en|m|ə|ˈ|ʃ|r|iː|k}}; {{langx|ar|ْاَلْمَشْرِق|al-Mashriq|lit=the east}}), also known as the Arab Mashriq ({{langx|ar|اَلْمَشْرِقُ الْعَرَبِيُّ|translit=al-Mashriq al-ʿArabi|lit=the Arab east}}), sometimes spelled Mashreq or Mashrek, is a term used by Arabs to refer to the eastern part of the Arab world, as opposed to the Maghreb (western) region, and located in West Asia and eastern North Africa.{{cite web |work=world bank, siteresources |title=Economic interrogation in the mashriq |url=http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTMENA/Resources/MashreqStudypub.pdf}} It is the Arabic equivalent for the term Middle East.{{Cite book |last=Everett-Heath|first=John |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780191866326.001.0001/acref-9780191866326-e-10125?rskey=Kbo4yV&result=2 |title=The Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names |date=2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-186632-6 |edition=4th |location=Oxford |oclc=1053905476}} Poetically the "Place of Sunrise", the name is derived from the verb sharaqa ({{lang|ar|َشَرَق}}, "to shine, illuminate, radiate" and "to rise"), from the sh-r-q root ({{lang|ar|ش-ر-ق}}), referring to the east, where the sun rises.{{cite book |last=Alvarez|first=Lourdes María |title=Abu Al-Ḥasan Al-Shushtarī |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=atDKUFnFAKMC&pg=PA157 |year=2009 |publisher=Paulist Press |isbn=978-0-8091-0582-3 |page=157}}{{cite book |last1=Peek|first1=Philip M. |last2=Yankah|first2=Kwesi |title=African Folklore: An Encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SmmUAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA442 |date=2003-12-12 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-94873-3 |page=442}}
The region includes the Arab-majority states of Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.{{Cite web |title=Mashriq {{!}} geographical region, Middle East |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Mashriq |access-date=2021-08-16 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Libya - Geography |website=www.country-data.com |url=http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-8151.html |access-date=2023-06-12}}{{cite book |last1= Le Gall |first1= Michel |last2= Perkins |first2= Kenneth |title= The Maghrib in Question: Essays in History and Historiography |year= 2010 |publisher= University of Texas Press |page=8 |isbn=978-0-292-78838-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mGzKAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA8}}
Geography
As the word Mashriq refers to Arab countries located between the Mediterranean Sea and Iran, it is the companion term to Maghreb ({{langx|ar|المغرب}}), the western half of the Arab world comprising Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya. Libya may also be regarded as straddling the two regions. Cyrenaica in eastern Libya is considered part of the Mashriq, whereas Tripolitania in western Libya is considered part of the Maghreb. Therefore Sirtica or the Gulf of Sidra is considered the dividing point between the Maghreb and Mashreq within the Arab world.
These geographical terms date from the early Islamic expansion. The Mashriq corresponds to the Bilad al-Sham and Mesopotamian regions combined.{{cite book|last=Clancy-Smith|first=Julia|title=North Africa, Islam and the Mediterranean World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=seH9AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA98|date=2013-11-05|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-31213-8|page=98}} {{As of|2014}}, the Mashriq is home to 1.7% of the global population.[http://www.capmas.gov.eg/pdf/EgyptInFigure/EgyptinFigures/Tables/English/pop/population/index.html Official estimate of the Population of Egypt] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130525221856/http://www.capmas.gov.eg/pdf/EgyptInFigure/EgyptinFigures/Tables/English/pop/population/index.html |date=May 25, 2013 }}UN estimate for Lebanon{{Cite web|url=http://www.dos.gov.jo/dos_home_e/main/index.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117225318/http://www.dos.gov.jo/dos_home_e/main/index.htm|url-status=dead|title=Official Jordanian population clock|archivedate=January 17, 2012}}{{cite web |title=National Main Statistical Indicators |url=http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/DesktopDefault.aspx?lang=en |publisher=State of Palestine – Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics |access-date=2016-05-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203043434/http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/DesktopDefault.aspx?lang=en |archive-date=2016-12-03 |url-status=dead }}UN estimate for Syria{{cite web |url=http://data.worldbank.org/country/iraq |publisher=The World Bank |title=Iraq |access-date=2023-12-21}}
Cooperation
All of the countries located in the Arab Mashreq area are members of the Arab League, the Greater Arab Free Trade Area, and the United Nations. The region cooperates in several projects including the Arab Mashreq International Road Network and the Arab Mashreq International Railway. Several nations are also members of the GCC and others have tried to achieve political unity in the past, such as the United Arab Republic in the 1950s and 1960s, which originally included both Egypt and Syria.
See also
- Arabia Felix
- Arabian Peninsula
- Cradle of civilization
- Fertile Crescent
- Levant
- Maghreb, "Place of Sunset", which contrasts with Mashriq, "Place of Sunrise"
- Mashriqi Arabic
- Mashriqi Jews
- Nile
- Shaam (Greater Syria)
References
{{reflist}}
{{Middle East}}
{{Regions of the world}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Geography of the Middle East
Category:Geography of West Asia