The Mashriq ( ar, ٱلْمَشْرِق), sometimes spelled Mashreq or Mashrek, is a term used by Arabs to refer to the eastern part of the Arab world, located in Western Asia and eastern North Africa. Poetically the "Place of Sunrise", the name is derived from the verb ''sharaqa'' ( ar, شرق, link=no "to shine, illuminate, radiate" and "to rise"), from sh-r-q root (ش-ر-ق), referring to the east, where the sun rises. The region includes the Arab states of Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman,

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

, Qatar, Saudi Arabia,

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

Geography

As the word ''Mashriq'' refers to Arab countries located between the Mediterranean Sea and Iran, it is the companion term to '' Maghreb'' ( ar, ٱلْمَغْرِب), the western part of North Africa. Libya may be regarded as straddling the two regions, receiving influences from both the Maghreb and the Mashriq, with its eastern part ( Cyrenaica) being linked more to Egypt and the Mashriq, while western parts ( Fezzan and

Tripolitania Tripolitania ( ar, طرابلس '; ber, Ṭrables, script=Latn; from Vulgar Latin: , from la, Regio Tripolitana, from grc-gre, Τριπολιτάνια), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province o ...

) are tied to the Maghreb. These geographical terms date from the early Islamic expansion. The Mashriq corresponds to the

Bilad al-Sham Bilad al-Sham ( ar, بِلَاد الشَّام, Bilād al-Shām), often referred to as Islamic Syria or simply Syria in English-language sources, was a province of the Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, and Fatimid caliphates. It roughly correspon ...

and Mesopotamian regions combined. , the Mashriq is home to 1.7% of the global population.

Cooperation

All of the countries located in the Arab Mashreq area are members of the

Arab League The Arab League ( ar, الجامعة العربية, ' ), formally the League of Arab States ( ar, جامعة الدول العربية, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, E ...

(although

's membership is currently suspended), the

Greater Arab Free Trade Area The Council of Arab Economic Unity (CAEU) (Arabic: ) was founded by Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Yemen on May 30, 1964, following an agreement in 1957 ...

, and the United Nations. The region cooperates in several projects including the

Arab Mashreq International Road Network The Arab Mashreq international Road Network is an international road network between the primarily Arab countries of the Mashriq (Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Kuwait, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Oman and Yemen). In additi ...

and the

Arab Mashreq International Railway The Arab Mashreq International Railway is a proposed railway network in the Mashriq, which is located in Western Asia and eastern North Africa in the eastern part of the Arab world. The planned network has north–south and east–west axes, and 16 ...

. 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 1960s and 1970s, which originally included both Egypt and

References

{{Authority control Levant Regions of Asia Geography of the Middle East Geography of Western Asia Geography of North Africa Historical regions Middle East North Africa

Geography

Cooperation

See also

References