The Middle East is a
region, not a continent.
In a sense, it is the north-east corner of
Africa, the southwestern tip of Asia, and the Arabian Peninsula. All of
the countries border either the Red Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the
Persian Gulf, or the Gulf of Oman as it goes into the Arabian Sea. The
countries share a hot, dry climate influenced, in part, by nearness to
the sea. All of them, except Israel, share the Islamic religion and
similar cultures, though this does not keep them from conflict with each
other.
