List of Countries in Middle East

The Middle East is an area defined in West Asia and North Africa. The name of Middle East emerged when British colonial officials in the 1800’s divided the Orient into three administrative areas: Near East (West of India), Middle East (Western Asia) and Far East (Eastern Asia). At that time, the Middle East included Afghanistan, Pakistan and most part of India. In 1932, the British military Middle East office in Baghdad was moved to Cairo and was merged with the Near East office. The Middle East then gained entry as a designation for the Western Orient.

Geographically, the Middle East holds over two-thirds of the world’s known oil reserves and one-third of natural gas reserves. The area is generally dry and in many places water scarcity is a crucial problem. In most Middle Eastern societies, there are great differences between rich and poor, and from many countries great emigration is taking place. Huge areas of the region are largely uninhabited, but some cities and areas such as Cairo (and the entire Nile Valley), Gaza and Tehran have some of the densest population concentrations in the world.

Culturally, the Middle East was home to several of Earth’s oldest cultural communities, and here emerged the three major monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Politically, most of the countries in Middle East have monopoly regimes, while a few have actual democracy (e.g. Israel) or incipient pluralistic governance (Yemen, Jordan, etc.). The location of some of the world’s most important sailing routes (Suez Canal, Strait of Hormuz), the huge energy reserves and the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 have made it an area of ​​central political and economic importance, and for most of the post-war period, the Middle East has been a conflict-ridden center.

How Many Countries in Middle East

As of 2020, there are 16 countries in Middle East (listed by population).

Rank	Country	Population 2020
1	Egypt	101,995,710
2	Turkey	84,181,320
3	Iran	83,805,676
4	Iraq	40,063,420
5	Saudi Arabia	34,719,030
6	Yemen	29,710,289
7	Syria	17,425,598
8	Jordan	10,185,479
9	United Arab Emirates	9,869,017
10	Israel	8,639,821
11	Lebanon	6,830,632
12	Oman	5,081,618
13	Palestine	4,816,514
14	Kuwait	4,259,536
15	Qatar	2,113,077
16	Bahrain	1,690,888

Map of Middle Eastern Countries

Location Map of Middle East

Alphabetical List of All Countries in Middle East

As mentioned above, there are a total of 16 independent nations in Middle East. See the following table for full list of Middle East countries in alphabetical order:

#	Country	Official Name	Independence Date
1	Bahrain	Kingdom of Bahrain	December 16, 1971
2	Cyprus	Republic of Cyprus	October 1, 1960
3	Egypt	Arab Republic of Egypt	January 1, 1956
4	Iran	Islamic Republic of Iran	April 1, 1979
5	Iraq	Republic of Iraq	October 3, 1932
6	Israel	State of Israel	1948
7	Jordan	Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan	May 25, 1946
8	Kuwait	State of Kuwait	February 25, 1961
9	Lebanon	Lebanese Republic	November 22, 1943
10	Oman	Sultanate of Oman	November 18, 1650
11	Qatar	State of Qatar	December 18, 1971
12	Saudi Arabia	Kingdom of Saudi Arabia	–
13	Syria	Syrian Arab Republic	April 17, 1946
14	Turkey	Republic of Turkey	–
15	United Arab Emirates	United Arab Emirates	December 2, 1971
16	Yemen	Republic of Yemen	November 30, 1967