Difference Between the Mediterranean and the Middle Eastern (With Table)

The Mediterranean region and the Middle East are two of the largest and most famous regions in the world. Both the regions, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern, are very famous all over the world. People often think that both the regions, the Mediterranean and the Middle Eastern, are comprised of almost the same countries. But it is not so.

The Mediterranean vs the Middle Eastern

The main difference between the Mediterranean and the Middle Eastern is that the Mediterranean region is spread in the area of about 970,000 square miles. On the other hand, the Middle East is spread in the area of about 3,500,000 square miles.

The geographical region, Mediterranean Region, is comprised of seven Member States, either partly (Portugal, Spain, Italy, France) or entirely (Malta, Cyprus, Greece) and the Mediterranean Sea. It has prominent regional characteristics: a climate of dry, humid, and warm summers and cold winters and a typically hilly landscape. The Mediterranean has not solely very wealthy biodiversity but also a huge number of species that are not found anywhere in the world.

The middle Eastern is a geographical expression is used to refer to the areas bridging Arabian Peninsula, Levant, Turkey, Cyprus, Egypt, Iraq, and Iran..the expression came into extensive usage as a substitution of the term Near East starting in the early 20th century. The region has numerous rivers which provide support to agricultural activities in very limited areas such as the Tigris, the Nile Delta, and Euphrates watersheds of Mesopotamia (Kuwait, Syria, and Iraq).

Comparison Table Between the Mediterranean and the Middle Eastern

Parameters of Comparison

Mediterranean

Middle Eastern

Population

The population of the Mediterranean is 480 million.

The population of the Middle Eastern is 411 million.

Animals Found

Majorly goats and sheep can be found in the Mediterranean climate type.

Middle Eastern deserts are home to sand cats, gazelles, oryx, camels, lizards, goats, and cattle. 

Countries

There are 22 countries in the Mediterranean.

There are 18 countries in the Middle Eastern.

Discovery

The discovery of the Mediterranean took place around 5.9 million years ago.

The discovery of the Middle Eastern took place around 3500 B.C.

Founder

The Phoenicians are referred to as the founder of the Middle Eastern.

The Middle Eastern was founded by the Sumerians.

What is the Mediterranean?

The finest safeguard Mediterranean Region, the pertinent member states, and crucial stakeholders gang up to conceive nature defense measures, tailored to suit specific requirements of the complete Region and to aim its particular pressures. The Mediterranean Region is also very fickle with unexpectedly heavy rainfalls or periods of heavy winds like mistrial, etc.

The climate of the region has an intense impact on the wildlife and the vegetation of the region of the Mediterranean. The wildlife and the habitats of the Mediterranean are very particular as the region was not influenced by the last Ice Age. The rate of indigenousness is unusually at its peak. The region of the Mediterranean world’s one of the biggest hotspots of biodiversity. The forests of the Mediterranean are much more varied, porting around 100 distinct types of species of trees.

The area might be too dry for trees, various other areas of the Mediterranean are wrapped in grasslands. The region of the Mediterranean is comprised of high mountains and shores that are rocky and stony. The scrub of the Mediterranean with numerous flowers and fragrant plants is the straightforward outcome of centuries of the activities of humans.

What is the Middle Eastern?

Middle Eastern, the term, has guided to few uncertainties over its transforming definitions and has been seen by many to be prejudicial or a term that mainly focuses on European history and culture. The region of Middle Eastern is majorly incorporated of the territories comprised in the intimately connected of Western Asia, but the Caucasus is not included and comprises entire Egypt and not just the Sinai Peninsula.

The major part of Middle Eastern is the world of Arabs (13 out of 18). The countries with the most population in the region are Iran, Egypt, and Turkey, while Saudi Arabia is the hugest country of the Middle Eastern by its area. The history of the Middle Eastern can be traced back to ancient times, with the geopolitical significance of the region being realized Foe millennia.

Arabs account for major socio-ethnic teaming in the region of the Middle Eastern coming before Persians, Kurds, Turks, Copts, Iraqi, Jews, and Greek Cypriots. The climate of this region, the Middle Eastern, is typically hot. The area of the Middle Eastern has very little or no rain at all, specifically in the regions of Egyptians and the Peninsula.

Main Differences Between the Mediterranean and the Middle Eastern

  1. The climate of the Mediterranean is warm and dry while the climate of the Middle Eastern is hot.
  2. Languages spoken in the Mediterranean region are Italic, Ancient Greek, Kurdish, and so on, while the lanuages spoken in the Middle Eastern are Arabic, Turkish, Hebrew, etc.
  3. The Mediterranean dishes include pizza, pasta, tapas, etc while the popular Middle Eastern dishes include kebabs, dolmas, yogurt, etc.
  4. Trees like holm oaks, arbutuses, olive trees, laurels, carob trees, pine trees, junipers, cypresses, and so on are found in the Mediterranean region whereas trees like Cedar of Lebanon, Fan Palm, Fig, and many more are found in the region of Middle Eastern.
  5. The Mediterranean cuisines include Greek, Turkish, Egyptian, etc while the Middle Eastern cuisines include Arab, Georgian, etc.

Conclusion

Now that we know the difference between the two regions, the Mediterranean region, and the Middle Eastern region, we can easily differentiate between the two regions. Like the cuisines of both regions, the Mediterranean region, and the Middle Eastern region, are very popular in the world, but there are many differences in the cuisines of these regions, although their elements are almost the same. The Mediterranean region is the coastal region around the Mediterranean Sea. The living conditions of both the regions are very different, cultures, history, everything is different.

 References

  1. https://www.mdpi.com/478730
  2. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/public-health-nutrition/article/middle-eastern-and-biblical-origins-of-the-mediterranean-diet/E1BA95E341227CD1AB4869C600E468A4