I too have the mighty power of copy and paste.
From the link in my previous post:
Quote:
The Middle East (or West Asia) sits where Africa, Asia and Europe meet. The countries of the Middle East are all part of Asia, but for clarity reasons we geographically show them here as a separate landmass.
Opinions vary as to what countries make up the modern definition of the Middle East. Historically, Armenia and Azerbaijan have been long associated with the Middle East, but in recent years, some sources now consider them to be more closely aligned with Europe based on their modern economic and political trends. We have moved in that direction, and the same applies for the island country of Cyprus, as it does for Georgia, the former Russian republic.
The African country of Egypt is still thought (by some) to be in the Middle East, as well as the northern African countries that border the Mediterranean Sea.
We attempt here to show the modern definition, but in world of geography, there are often many answers or (personal or political opinions) to what appears to be a simple question.
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If you look at the map I posted, you will see that all of Pakistan is north of the most southern area of Saudi Arabia. All of Pakistan is north of the Tropic of Cancer, which forms a good line for comparison.
I really don't think Afghanistan and Pakistan should be lumped in with The Philippines, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka.
NOT recommended: trying to convince everyone in Pakistan that they are a part of India, and convince everyone in India that they are a part of Pakistan.
As the article points out, Egypt is commonly held as part of the middle east even though it’s in the African continent (not western Asia). The point is that in common usage of today, Pakistan is considered a middle eastern country.
Besides, you have to be very careful when you draw east-west bearing lines to separate North from South. Look what happened with the Mason-Dixon line in the U.S.. It was expensive, to the tune of approximately 620,000 dead in the U.S. Civil War.