Near East

English

Proper noun

Near East

  1. (historical)The geographic region of Western Asia located southeast of Eastern Europe, comprising Anatolia, Transcaucasia, the Levant, and Mesopotamia; used primarily in historical contexts.

Usage notes

Definitions vary between different academic areas, the term originally being applied to the maximum extent of the Ottoman Empire. Outside of historical studies, the term is generally deprecated in favour of Middle East. However, the term Near East or Ancient Near East is still commonly preferred when discussing the region in ancient times.

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