Nelson Armstrong, age 16, of Bennington, Vt., for his question:
WHERE EXACTLY IS THE MIDDLE EAST?
The Middle East is a region loosely defined by geography and culture. It is located in southwest Asia and northeast Africa. The term Middle East refers collectively to Cyprus, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Egypt, the Yemen Arab Republic, the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen and the states and emirates along the south and east fringes of the Arabian Peninsula, namely Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
When used by scholars to designate a so called cultural area, the unity of which is based on Islamic law and custom, the term Middle East usually embraces a much more extensive region, stretching from the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan in the east through all of North Africa, including Sudan, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.
The term Middle East a8 it is now applied was first used by the British military during World War II.
The term "Near East," which was formerly used to describe the region, is now sometimes applied to the central core area, that is the Mediterranean region of the Middle East.
Since ancient times invaders and traders have crossed the area known as the Middle East in search of raw materials, food, manufactured good or even political power. Inventions, ideas and institutions have spread from this area to affect people in all other parts of the world, Baring it the name "Cradle of Civilization."
The world's first farms, cities, governments, law codes and alphabets were Middle Eastern. Four major religions also started here: Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity and Islam.
As ancient peoples learned how to tame the great Nile, Tigris, Euphrates and Indus Rivers to support agriculture, they also learned to form governments, established religious beliefs about the universe, human relationships and the meaning of life and death.
The first Middle Eastern states were Egypt and Sumer, which began before 3000 B.C.
Most of the people of the Middle East are Arabs. Other peoples include African blacks, Armenians, Copts, Greeks, Iranians, Jews, Kurds and Turks. Almost all of these people have the same culture, except for differences in religion and language.
Much of the Middle East is desert. The people live crowded along the seacoasts, in river valleys and in mountain valleys that have enough water for growing crops. Most of the people today are poor farmers.
Oil has been discovered in a number of the Middle Eastern countries. Income from it is being used to develop these countries and is improving the lives of the people.
Most people of the Middle East belong to the Mediterranean branch of the European geographical race. As a group, they have darker skin and hair than other peoples of the European race.