The Middle East refers to a set of countries located in North Africa, the Persian Gulf region, and Southwest Asia. These countries differ immensely geographically, politically, socially, economically, and culturally. However, they are collectively referred to as the "Middle East" because of their proximity to each other. 

Broadly, the Middle East encompasses the following areas:

• Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Turkey (the Fertile Crescent)

• Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, and Tunisia (part of Northern Africa)

• Afghanistan, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait,  Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan (part of Southwest Asia)

This guide includes both general Middle East resources and by country resources of external web resources.  Individual country pages include links to general history and culture related websites, as well as news resources and official government websites.