Legal Writing

?Near East? vs ?Middle East?

By Maeve Maddox

Readers often encounter the term Near East and wonder how the term differs from Middle East.

Near East is the earlier term and, like Far East, was coined from the “western” perspective of European writers. The earliest example of the use of Near East in the OED is dated 1856. The earliest use of “middle East” to refer to the countries of Mesopotamia is dated 1876. The first example in which middle is capitalized is dated 1900.

According to the AP Style Guide, the countries of the Middle East are

Iran, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Egypt, Sudan, and “the eastern part of Turkey.”

Noting that popular usage once distinguished between the “Near East” and the “Middle East,” AP recommends using Middle East unless a story source uses the term “Near East. ”

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Full post as published by Daily Writing Tips on August 27, 2010 (boomark / email).