Southwest Asia

(redirected from South-West Asia)

Southwest Asia


(in Russian, Western, or Anterior, Asia), a group of natural lands, including Asia Minor, the Armenian and Iranian uplands, Mesopotamia, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Levant. Located within its bounds are the Caucasus and the Kopet Dag (USSR), the Asiatic part of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Kuwait, the Asiatic part of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the Yemeni Arab Republic, the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen, Qatar, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrein.

The northern regions of Southwest Asia (the Anterior Asian Uplands) constitute one of the links in the Mediterranean geosynclinal belt, in which young folded structures frame older stable interior massifs. This factor also led to the formation of a typical upland terrain with higher rim ranges and comparatively lower interior plateaus. The Arabian Peninsula and the Levant are related to the ancient platform structure of Gondwana, and in their geological and geomorphological characteristics they are close to the adjacent regions of Africa. The plains of Mesopotamia were formed on the site of the piedmont downwarp that originated between alpine structures in the north and platform structures in the south.

A commonly shared natural trait is the predominance of arid landforms with a broad expanse (particularly in the south) of deserts, semideserts, and dry steppes, as well as the presence of enormous areas without internal drainage. Only the shores of the Mediterranean, Black, and the southern part of the Caspian seas, as well as the southwestern part of the Arabian Peninsula and certain mountain regions, are characterized by better moisture conditions, which determine the spread of subtropical and (in the Arabian Peninsula) tropical forest and shrub formations.

Outstanding among the valuable minerals in Southwest Asia are the major deposits of petroleum (for the most part, in the basin of the Persian Gulf and on the Apsheron Peninsula). Pastureland plays an important role in the agriculture of most of the Southwest Asian countries by determining the development of extensive livestock raising (which in many regions is nomadic).

The Arabian Peninsula and Mesopotamia form what is called Southwest Asia in Russian geography.

References in periodicals archive ?
Intensifying sand and dust storms are blighting East, Central and South-west Asia.
The products are sold locally and internationally in areas like UK, USA, Canada, Middle-East and South-West Asia.
Meanwhile, South and South-West Asia is moving in the wrong direction on SDG6, SDG12 and SDG13.
Others landed at an undisclosed location on Wednesday in "south-west Asia", the US Air Force said.
QNA Doha THE Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Department of Human Rights concluded at the ministry's headquarters a workshop on the universal periodic review mechanism of human rights in cooperation with Geneva Institute for Human Rights, and the UN Human Rights Training and Documentation Centre for South-West Asia and the Arab Region.
Iran is an economically developed country in South-West Asia and is the largest economy in the region, second only to China, Japan, India, Turkey, Indonesia and South Korea in Asia in terms of GDP.
The NHRC chairman also met the Director of the UN human rights training and documentation centre for South-West Asia and the Arab region in Doha, Abdulsalam Sayed Ahmed.
Afghan refugees living in south-west Asia remain one of the world's most protracted refugee populations.
As members of the global hospitality industry who have a strong presence in south-west Asia, we draw deeply on the inherent culture of hospitality that exists in the Middle East and India.
From ancient Mesopotamian times, the mountainous regions of south-west Asia have been inhabited by a nomadic tribe.
"Heroin originating in India also reaches other countries in South Asia such as Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, although the flow to Sri Lanka has reportedly declined, and both those countries have long indicated South-West Asia as being among the sources for heroin reaching their territory," the UN World Drug Report 2014 said.