The region commonly referred to as southwest Asia reaches from the mid-latitudes to the tropics and encompasses a swath of land stretching zonally from the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea to the Himalayan Mountains and meridionally from the Caspian Sea to the Arabian Sea (roughly 26°E to 70°E and 12°N to 42°N). In addition, this area includes the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian (Persian) Gulf, and the Red Sea. The countries within this region include: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Yemen (Figure A72).
Topographic map of southwest Asia in meters above sea level. Topographic data were provided by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) established as part of NASA’ Earth Observing System (EOS) Data and Information System (EOSDIS) and are available at http://edcdaac.usgs.gov/main.html. GTOPO30 is a global...
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Cross-references
Airmass Climatology
Asia, Climate of South
Climate Classification
Deserts
Extratropical Cyclones
Mediterranean Climates
Monsoons and Monsoon Climate
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Cullen, H.M. (2005). Asia, Climate of Southwest. In: Oliver, J.E. (eds) Encyclopedia of World Climatology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht . https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3266-8_21
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