<p>Middle East is a completely arbitrary definition, so many definitions include Afghanistan while others don’t. Will I be graded down for including Afghanistan as part of the Middle East on my essay?</p>
<p>yes of course it is.</p>
<p>See, that’s what I said, but many of my fellow students said no.</p>
<p>Easily the weirdest first post of all time…</p>
<p>it goes from the most west of Sudan all the way east to Pakistan. then from the most south Somalia all the way up to and including the bottom of Russia,</p>
<p>American government considers Afganistan a part of South Asia.</p>
<p>I always thought it was part of the middle east…</p>
<p>Culturally, Afghans are more closer to Indians/Pakistanis than arabs.</p>
<p>[Here’s the link](<a href=“South Asia - Wikipedia”>South Asia - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>It’s not in the Middle East; as Abhi said, it’s considered part of South Asia. If you look on any map labeled “Middle East,” you will not see Afghanistan. Its many ethnic groups position it closer to China and India.</p>
<p>Politicians and the press like to group it with the Middle East because the country is largely Muslim. It’s more convenient that way, especially if you want to paint the country as an enemy.</p>
<p>Oops, cross-posting, Abhi.</p>
<p>yeah, it’s NOT middle easy-------S. Asia.</p>
<p><a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_east[/url]”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_east</a></p>
<p>I always thought that even Iraq and Iran weren’t considered part of the Middle East.</p>
<p>^lol! Then did u think that only Saudi Arabia as Middle East? :D</p>
<p>Iran = Persia. They aren’t Arabs, but they are Middle Eastern.</p>
<p>okay, by the way, isn’t middle east considered Asia? That’s what I always know, but once in a while someone would disagree.</p>
<p>these definitions are so arbitrary anyway–Europe, Asia, and Africa are all connected (or atleast would be, pardoning canals and such). </p>
<p>Even things like ethnic groups are becoming increasingly arbitrary. I’d define borders by language groups. If I were Atlas of course.</p>
<p>When we were doing the evolution thing in Bio, we learned that Darwin or somebody else thought that S. America was attached to Africa…which indeed makes sense if u look at their shape—just like puzzles!</p>
<p>Afghanistan, along w/ Pakistan, is considered one of those “iffy” countries in hte Middle East. Culturally, Afghanis are more similar to South Asians (we all eat Kabobs, naan, rice ,etc etc), but with the spotlight it’s received being one of the centers of terrorism and the Taliban etc etc, it’s considered Middle Eastern in that regard. Despite it’s closer ties to South Asia, I think it’s still fair to call it Middle Eastern.</p>
<p>but isn’t there any official classification?!</p>