Countries of the Middle East

Presently I believe it's referred to as the Bir Tawil.

That blip is not the Bir Tawil or Hala'ib triangle, those are more to the east. That blip is a lake along the Nile River that belongs to Sudan for some reason.

I thought it was Abyei

Abyei is part of both Sudan and South Sudan, effectively a condominium.

Here is this video: https://youtu.be/gtLxZiiuaXs (skip to 6:46)

The video that Gamer1162 references the history of the area, but doesn't speak to the 'blip' directly. The same amendment to the condominium treaty that makes Bir Tamil unclaimed and Hala'ib claimed by both Sudan and Egypt puts the Wadi Halfa under Sudanese control, as it was easier to manage the flooding on Lake Nubia from the Sudanese side.

This is very interesting. Since this is unclaimed territory, I wonder what would happen if someone goes there and plants his flag.

They did. A child (in U.S., I think) wanted to be a princess. So her dad went there, "claimed" it, and declared her Princess and ruler. Trump has proposed to her (after Melania divorces him) if she'll make him King - having a higher IQ, she declined.

Actually both territories are part of the same territorial dispute. There are to different treaties that define that border, and each country stands by one of them. Both claim the Hala'ib Triangle (which is rich in resourses) is theirs, which means they cannot claim Bir Tawil as well because none of the two treaties gives both territories to one of the two countries.

I believe that it was vice versa: Sudan believed in an old colonial border while Egypt believed it was a line of longitude. The blip is a dispute over the Hala’ib triangle. Bir Tawil hasn’t been claimed because neither country wants to claim the lesser piece of land.

there was an agreement that either Egypt of Sudan controlled Bir Tawil or the Hala'ib Triangle. Both wanted the triangle, and they both claim it since it is rich in natural recources. They if one of them were to claim Bir Tawil, according to the agreement, they would have to give up control of the triangle, which none of them want, so the land goes unclaimed.

ibx2cat is nice

Honestly, ibx2cat speed at which he talks isn’t 200 words per minute. I think he talks at a fine pace compared to his video length.

true

The concept of "Middle East" is quite political anyway. But ok, let's say that the turkish part of Cyprus qualifies it for being in the Middle East.

Personally I think the Causcasian countries and Cyprus are definitely European, but that's just me.

fitheach mexico is closely related to central america but it is a part of north america?? For thousands of years Egypt has been a major part of Africa...

@TheNotoriousA agreed

@hatekn3 Central America DOES include Mexico, however, Central America is a subdivision of North America, much like the Balkans are a subdivision of Europe. Egypt is a major part of Africa, but the fact that it is a transcontinental country can make the fact disputed.

Putting Cyprus in Asia is acceptable, but putting it in the Middle East? The Middle East is a political subdivision, much like Western Europe. Putting Russia in Western Europe is much the same as putting Cyprus in the Middle East, as neither are very culturally similar to the places they "classify" in. Furthermore, if Cyprus is considered Middle Eastern, then so should Azerbaijan at the very least, if not Afghanistan and the Maldives as well. If I am going to be honest, Georgia and Armenia are as much Middle Eastern, if not more, than Cyprus, which contains much, much less political ties (minus the disputed northern side) to the Middle East than to Europe or even Asia as a whole. In Addition, Cyprus is mainly Christian, while the rest of the Middle East has a Muslim Supermajority (with the exceptions of Turkey and Israel).

Even though Wikipedia does include Cyprus as a Middle Eastern country, that does not necessarily mean that Cyprus has to be Middle Eastern; Wikipedia has some questionable classifications when it comes to Eastern Europe. Also just because of the controversy with Cyprus on this website, it would be a good idea to not include it, or at least leave a caveat.

Neither Turkey or Cyprus remotely belong in the middle east

Yeah, I agree that Cyprus shouldn't be considered part of the Middle East. Continents are geographical, and so given Cyprus's proximity to the Asian mainland, it makes sense to call it Asian. However, "Middle East" is more of a cultural term, and culturally, Cyprus is not at all similar to countries like Iraq or Saudi Arabia. You could make an argument that it's part of the "Turkosphere" or whatever, but it's still more Greek than Turkish (and even then, I'm not sure I even consider Turkey to be fully Middle Eastern). I'd be happy to say Cyprus is "West Asian," but I personally don't consider it Middle Eastern.

Turkey is in an awkward position. The western end of Turkey is very European while the eastern end is very Middle Eastern. The Kurdish homeland is in Turkey, Iran, Syria, and Iraq. I would argue that this region would make Turkey part of the Middle East. I would also argue that Thrace would make Turkey European.

I'll save Cyprus only.

Of what, genocide by drowning?

of other comments I left that were deleted.

Basically Isralestine gets you two points.

And maybe a more accurate name would be the Palestinian Pieces of Land

It's still part of Israel - Palestine isn't a country

Yeah, it's rich for the same reason as pretty much every Middle Eastern country: OIL!

Pretty trueeee

Even if the world would be more peaceful, it would still be catastrophic for the economy.

for what? Recognizing a kindred spirit in truthiness?

Yes, and I'm never quite sure, if this is the Middle East, what the Near East is. I thought the ME is basically the Iran/Iraq/Arabia area, and the Turkey are is the NE. But what do I know...

Do you speak with such hyperbole in everyday conversation, too?