Mashriq

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This article is about the Mashriq region. For other uses, see Mashriq (disambiguation)

Map of the Mashriq.

The Mashriq or Mashreq (also in use: Mashrek) (Arabic: مشرق) is, generally speaking, the region of Arabic-speaking countries to the east of Egypt and north of the Arabian Peninsula. It is derived from the Arabic consonantal root sh-r-q (ش ر ق) relating to the east or the sunrise, and essentially means "east" (most literally or poetically, "place of sunrise"). It refers to a large area in the Middle East, bounded between the Mediterranean Sea and Iran. It is therefore the corresponding term of Maghreb (مغرب), meaning "west", which refers to the Arabic-speaking countries in the west of North Africa. Egypt occupies an ambiguous position: while it has cultural and linguistic ties to both the Mashriq and the Maghrib, it is unique and different from both; thus it is usually seen as being part of neither. These geographical terms date from the early Islamic conquests.

Map of the Mashriq in 1600 AD under the Ottoman Empire.

This region is somewhat synonymous with Bilad al-Sham, but also includes Iraq and Kuwait. It is occasionally used as a synonym for "non-Maghrib" and in these instances includes Egypt, Sudan, and the Arabian Peninsula.