WordWeb Online

1. The area around the eastern Mediterranean; from Turkey to northern Africa and eastward to Iran; the site of such ancient civilizations as Phoenicia and Babylon and Egypt and the birthplace of Judaism and Christianity and Islam; had continuous economic and political turmoil in the 20th century
   "the Near East is the cradle of Western civilization"
   - Middle East, Mideast

Type of: geographic area, geographic region, geographical area, geographical region

Encyclopedia: Near East