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| Mashriq المشرق | |
|---|---|
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| Countries and territories | |
| Major regional organizations | Arab League,GCC,GAFTA,COMESA,Community of Sahel–Saharan States,Union for the Mediterranean |
| Demonym | Mashriqi Saracen(historical) |
| Population | 275,102,630 (2018)[1] |
| Languages | |
| Religion | Islam, Christianity, Mandaeism, Judaism, Druze, Samaritanism, Yezidism and Alawisim |
TheMashriq (/məˈʃriːk/;Arabic:ْاَلْمَشْرِق,romanized: al-Mashriq,lit. 'the east'), also known as theArab Mashriq (Arabic:اَلْمَشْرِقُ الْعَرَبِيُّ,romanized: al-Mashriq al-ʿArabi,lit. 'the Arab east'), sometimes spelledMashreq orMashrek, is the eastern part of theArab world, as opposed to the Maghreb (western region), located inWest Asia and easternNorth Africa.[2] It is the Arabic equivalent for the termMiddle East.[3] Poetically the "Place of Sunrise", the name is derived from the verbsharaqa (َشَرَق, "to shine, illuminate, radiate" and "to rise"), from the sh-r-q root (ش-ر-ق), referring to the east, where the sun rises.[4][5]
The region includes the Arab-majority states ofBahrain,Egypt,Iraq,Jordan,Kuwait,Lebanon,Oman,Palestine,Qatar,Saudi Arabia,Sudan,Syria, theUnited Arab Emirates, andYemen.[3][6][7][8]
As the wordMashriq refers to Arab countries located between theMediterranean Sea andIran, it is the companion term toMaghreb (Arabic:المغرب), the western half of the Arab world comprisingAlgeria,Morocco,Tunisia, andLibya. Libya may also be regarded as straddling the two regions.Cyrenaica in eastern Libya is considered part of the Mashriq, whereasTripolitania in western Libya is considered part of the Maghreb. Therefore Sirtica or theGulf of Sidra is considered the dividing point between the Maghreb and Mashreq within the Arab world.[7][8]
These geographical terms date from the early Islamic expansion. The Mashriq corresponds to theBilad al-Sham andMesopotamian regions combined.[13] As of 2014[update], the Mashriq is home to 1.7% of the global population.[14][15][16][17][18][19]
All of the countries located in the Arab Mashreq area are members of theArab League, theGreater Arab Free Trade Area, and theUnited Nations. The region cooperates in several projects including theArab Mashreq International Road Network and theArab Mashreq International Railway. Several nations are also members of theGCC and others have tried to achieve political unity in the past, such as theUnited Arab Republic in the 1950s and 1960s, which originally included bothEgypt andSyria.
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