“The Middle East region was in advance of western Europe for all but the last five hundred of the five thousand or so years for which human history can be traced back”. - Peter Mansfield
If the above quote surprises you, it's fairly safe to say that you are living in the modern age wherein The Middle East is viewed more as a collection of failed states than a productive, and prosperous region of the world. The assertion, though bold, is true. While the modern media prefers to sensationalize conflicts and conclude their utter randomness, the truth is that in this region, just like any other, a survey of the people, their culture, politics, and history can, in fact, illuminate the causes and effects of everyday bloodshed. Rest assured, acts of violence are usually far from random. Below I have compiled just such a survey where I have attempted to simplify and explain the whole of The Middle East. While it is impossible to cover everything of note or to remain completely neutral, I have made my best attempts to do just that. Below there are maps and a short ethnography of the largest ethnic groups in the region. Further beyond that is what I believe to be the shortest possible complete history of the region or if you will, Everything You Need to Know About The Middle East.
Let's start with a map: All provided by Google Earth unless otherwise cited
The Middle East Region and parts of South Asia
Here is the region that I would classify as the Middle East and parts of South Asia. South Asia is included for the important states of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Contrary to popular belief Afghanistan is generally not considered part of the modern Middle East. I've included this map without borders to try and express the fact that man of the nations that we think of on the Arabian Peninsula and beyond are not united so much by their borders but rather by their heritage, religion, and/or lineage. This point is crucial for understanding the region.
Now we'll look at a political map including borders accepted by the entire international community.... almost. I've labeled the countries that we will be discussing throughout this piece and left out several of those that we will not, for convenience sake.
Now that we've established the places we will be talking about, let's move on to the people who live in those places.
Ethnic Groups in The Middle East:
There are hundreds of different ethnic groups living throughout the Middle East and South Asia, however, many of them are subsets of major groups. Again, for simplicities sake, here we will cover the major players. The largest group of people in the region are, unsurprisingly, Arabs. For the purpose of understanding, our definition of the Arab race will encompass those whose heritage can be traced back to the Arabian peninsula, (that giant thing sticking out of the Earth between the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea) and those who have accepted the Arabic language, religion, and culture after the Islamic conquests. The true definition is a subject of hot debate with linguistic, ethnic, religious, and tribal arguments. This definition helps to explain the fact that Arabs are not a traditional ethnic group, with recognizable physical traits or lineage but rather a pan-ethnic group organized by their shared qualities. It is in this way that Arabs inhabit territories stretching from Libya to Iraq and beyond. Arabs make up a large percentage of most of the countries on the Arabian peninsula and North Africa. Before the advent of Islamic civilization, the Arabs were mostly bedouin (nomadic) people living in the desert with large amounts of autonomy.
The Persian people are the second most numerous in the Middle East, however, live mostly in Iran. These are an ancient people who have lived in present-day Iran for more than a millennia and have been the group behind many great empires. Later, as you will see in the history section, Persians came to be in many cases decisive enemies of the more populous Arabs due to their close adherence to Shia Islam and revolution. It is imperative to an accurate study of the Middle East that one does not confuse Arabs and Persians.
Turkish people, (a subset of the much broader Turkic Peoples) now living mostly in Turkey are in third. Turkish people originated in Central Asia before migrating to Iran, Anatolia (present-day Turkey) and beyond. They were, like the Arabs, mostly nomadic people living off of trade in order to survive. After converting to Islam, the Turkish people began to conquer their own empire. This conquest would go on to plant the seeds of the Ottoman Empire which occupies a crucial spot in history as the rulers of the Muslim world for centuries and is all too often left out of curriculums all across the United States.
The fourth largest and often forgotten group are the Kurds who are probably some of the worst victims of empire and imperialism throughout Middle Eastern history. Kurds are among a group discussed by Bernard Lewis in The Arabs in History who after their conquest by the Arabs accepted the Muslim faith but not the Arabic language. The present Kurdish population is split between four separate countries within each of which they are a minority. See below. Considering their population inhabits a sizable, contiguous area, it is a point of international conflict that they have never had a unified state to call their own. Currently, the Kurds are engaged in conflicts in Iraq, Syria, and Turkey where they are both fighting The Islamic State and for their independence
Notice the problem?
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Obviously, there are a ton of other groups in the Middle East but let's leave it at that for now. Also, just for a quick overview of the South Asian states we've included, Pakistan and Afghanistan, are made up of several intermingling groups. These areas are inhabited by but are not limited to, the Punjabi, Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara and Uzbek.
Side note: The most important point that you should grasp from this entire section is the fact that while there are a lot of Arabs in the Middle East, they are by no means the only native people. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, there is no sizable Arabian minority, save the foreign fighters, present. Just wanted to clear that up because it is far too often glossed over in the media and educational systems.
In the next installments, I will delve into the history of this region which I have condensed in the shortest possible way through four additional installments. In the sixth, you may find a condensed history. Understand however that this summary is meant only to supplement and not replace the preceeding text.
Keep in mind that the aspects that I focus on the most are the ones closely tied to the CURRENT situation in the Middle East.