Southwest Asia

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A map showing Southwest Asia - The term "Middle East" is more often used to refer to both Southwest Asia and some North African countries

Southwest Asia, or West Asia, is the southwestern part of Asia.

Geographers that were annoyed with the ambiguity of the term "Middle East" tried to popularize the word "Southwest Asia", but with limited success. The term "West Asia" has however become the preferred term of use for the Middle East in countries such as India, possibly because of the perceived Eurocentrism of the term "Middle East". Still others deem that the Middle East should include North African countries or at least the part of Egypt in North Africa.

The countries and territories in Southwest Asia include:

Sometimes the following countries are defined as in Southwest Asia:

Anatolia, Arabia, Levant, and Mesopotamia are subregions of Southwest Asia.

For the history of countries in Southwest Asia, see History of the Middle East

	Regions of the World
North Asia \| Southeast Asia \| Central Asia \| Southwest Asia \| South Asia \| East Asia \| North Africa \| Central Africa \| West Africa \| East Africa \| Southern Africa \| North America \| Central America \| Caribbean \| Guyana Highlands \| Andean States \| Antarctica \| Western Europe \| Eastern Europe \|Northern Europe \| Southern Europe \| Central Europe \| Australasia or Australia\| Micronesia \| Melanesia \| Polynesia (For more visit subcontinent and subregion)