Editing Middle East (section)

===Translations===
European languages have adopted terms similar to ''Near East'' and ''Middle East''. Since these are based on a relative description, the meanings depend on the country and are generally different from the English terms. In [[German language|German]] the term ''[[:de:Naher Osten|Naher Osten]]'' (Near East) is still in common use (nowadays the term ''Mittlerer Osten'' is more and more common in press texts translated from English sources, albeit having a distinct meaning).

In the four Slavic languages, [[Russian language|Russian]] [[:ru:Ближний Восток|Ближний Восток]] or ''Blizhniy Vostok'', [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]] [[:bg:Близък Изток|Близкия Изток]], [[Polish language|Polish]] ''[[:pl:Bliski Wschód|Bliski Wschód]]'' or [[Croatian language|Croatian]] ''[[:hr:Bliski istok|Bliski istok]]'' (terms meaning ''Near East'' are the only appropriate ones for the region).

However, some European languages do have "Middle East" equivalents, such as [[French language|French]] [[:fr:Moyen-Orient|Moyen-Orient]], [[Swedish language|Swedish]] [[:sv:Mellanöstern|Mellanöstern]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]] [[:es:Oriente Medio|Oriente Medio or Medio Oriente]], [[Greek language|Greek]] is Μέση Ανατολή (''Mesi Anatoli''), and [[Italian language|Italian]] [[:it:Medio Oriente|Medio Oriente]].<ref group="note">In Italian, the expression "Vicino Oriente" (Near East) was widely used to refer to Turkey, and ''Estremo Oriente'' (Far East or Extreme East) to refer to all of Asia east of Middle East</ref>

Perhaps because of the political influence of the United States and Europe, and the prominence of Western press, the Arabic equivalent of ''Middle East'' (Arabic: الشرق الأوسط ''ash-Sharq al-Awsaṭ'') has become standard usage in the mainstream Arabic press. It comprises the same meaning as the term "Middle East" in North American and Western European usage. The designation, ''[[Mashriq]]'', also from the Arabic root for ''East'', also denotes a variously defined region around the [[Levant]], the eastern part of the Arabic-speaking world (as opposed to the ''[[Maghreb]]'', the western part).<ref>{{cite book |author1=Anderson, Ewan W. |author2=William Bayne Fisher |title=The Middle East: Geography and Geopolitics |publisher=Routledge |year=2000 |pages=12–13}}</ref> Even though the term originated in the West, countries of the Middle East that use languages other than Arabic also use that term in translation. For instance, the [[Persian language|Persian]] equivalent for Middle East is خاورمیانه (''Khāvar-e miyāneh''), the Hebrew is המזרח התיכון (''hamizrach hatikhon''), and the Turkish is Orta Doğu.<ref>{{citation|title=The Middle East in Turkish|url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-turkish/the-middle-east|website=dictionary.cambridge.org|access-date=16 February 2025}}</ref>