Why is the Middle East called the Middle East?

The Middle East is a Europe-centered vocabulary, which means the eastern part of Europe and the region between the Far East and the Near East. The Middle East refers to some areas from the eastern and southern Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf coast, including most parts of West Asia except Afghanistan, and the Transcaucasian region bordering Egypt and Russia in Africa. About 23 countries and regions, 65.438+0.5 million square kilometers, 490 million people. Climate types mainly include tropical desert climate (including subtropical desert climate), Mediterranean climate and temperate continental climate, among which tropical desert climate is the most widely distributed.

ancient history

The historical evolution of the Middle East issue can be summarized as "1234": one ancestor, two nationalities, three exiles and four wars. Palestine was called Canaan in ancient times, and the local residents were called Canaanites. They were originally Semites in Arabia. Around 1 1 century BC, the Philistines along the Aegean Sea moved to Canaan. In the 5th century BC, Herodotus, a Greek historian, called this area "Palestine" for the first time, which means "land of Philistines" in Greek, and it has been used ever since.

climate

The climate in the Middle East is dry, mainly including tropical desert climate, Mediterranean climate and temperate continental climate. Most of this area is located between 20 and 30 north latitude, and the tropic of cancer runs through the middle, and the temperature is hot. It is also controlled by subtropical high and northeast trade winds from arid inland areas of Asia, so it is dry and rainy. At the same time, the blocked plateau terrain in this area blocked the entry of humid air at sea and aggravated the drought in this area, thus forming the characteristics of tropical desert climate.

traditional culture

The Middle East, represented by Arab cuisine, has spread to other countries, so from the perspective of the whole Middle East, the tastes of dishes are very similar. Even within a country, there will be no different dishes in different regions.

Famous dishes include oil-soaked okra, oil-soaked green beans, oil-soaked tomatoes and European zucchini. Middle easterners like to cook food with olive oil. Because Lebanese cuisine advocates natural health, Middle Easterners not only use a lot of olive oil in their dishes, but also use fresh lemon juice and garlic as seasonings. Almost all dishes are cooked on this basis.