Bahrain
The Kingdom of Bahrain (Arabic: البحرين , al-Baḥrayn) is a Middle Eastern archipelago in the Persian Gulf, tucked into a pocket of the sea flanked by Saudi Arabia and Qatar. It displays relatively social liberalism compared with more conservative neighboring countries, where Islamic law is applied in a much stricter way. Case in point: alcohol is legal here. Although Bahrain has a heavily petroleum-based economy, its political, social, and cultural peculiarities helped it develop a fairly cosmopolitan middle class and a politically conscious working class.
26.067550.5511Egypt
The Arab Republic of Egypt (Arabic: مصر, màSr) is in north-eastern Africa. Egypt is perhaps best known as the home of the ancient Egyptian civilization, with its art, temples, hieroglyphs, mummies, and above all, its pyramids. Less well-known is Egypt's Coptic Christian and Muslim heritage, with ancient churches, monasteries and mosques dotted across the landscape. Egypt stimulates the imagination of western tourists like few other countries and is probably one of the most popular tourist destinations world-wide.
2729Iran
Iran (Persian: ایران) is a large country between the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf, and the Caspian Sea. It was renamed Iran in the early 20th century; before that it was known as Persia. It is bordered by Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan enclave, Armenia, and Azerbaijan to the northwest, Turkmenistan to the northeast, and Afghanistan and Pakistan to the east.
3253Iraq
Iraq (Arabic: العراق Al-Irāq) is a republic in the Middle East, north-west of the Persian Gulf. It borders Iran to the east, Kuwait to the south, Saudi Arabia to the southwest, Jordan to the west, Syria to the northwest, and Turkey to the north.
3343Israel
The State of Israel (Hebrew: מדינת ישראל; Arabic: دولة إسرائيل) is a small yet diverse Middle Eastern country bordered by Egypt and the Gaza Strip to the southwest, by the West Bank and Jordan to the east, and by Syria and Lebanon to the north. The country has a long coastline on the eastern Mediterranean Sea, and very limited access to the Red Sea at the Gulf of Aqaba (often called the Gulf of Eilat in Israel). Since 1967, Israel has controlled most of the West Bank (often called "Judea and Samaria" in Israel) as well as the Golan Heights. Israel has annexed East Jerusalem and the Golan, but most other countries, except the United States, reject the annexation, and consider these areas and the West Bank (which Israel did not annex, and Israeli law does not apply to the area) to be occupied Palestinian territory. Wikivoyage takes no stance on these political issues, but notes that in practice, current visitors to these areas will need Israeli visas and permits.
31.435Jordan
Jordan (Arabic: الأردنّ al-Urdunn) is an Arab kingdom in Western Asia, on the East Bank of the Jordan River. Jordan is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the east and south, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north, Israel, the West Bank and the Dead Sea to the west and the Red Sea in its extreme south-west. Jordan is located at the crossroads of Asia, Africa and Europe. The capital, Amman, is Jordan's most populous city and the country's economic and cultural centre.
31.236.5Kuwait
Kuwait (Arabic: الكويت) is a monarchy at the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
29.366747.9667Lebanon
The Republic of Lebanon (Arabic: لبنان) is a country in the Middle East at the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Syria to the north and the east, and Israel to the south.
33.935.5333Oman
The Middle East Sultanate of Oman (Arabic: سلطنة عُمان) is on the eastern side of the Arabian Peninsula. It borders the United Arab Emirates in the northwest, Saudi Arabia in the west, and Yemen in the southwest. Oman has two exclaves separated from it by the United Arab Emirates, the Musandam Peninsula and Madha.
21.555Palestinian territories
The Palestinian territories consist of two physically separate entities, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, in the Middle East. While not yet universally considered part of any sovereign nation, since November 2012, the Palestinian Authority has been upgraded to observer-state status by the United Nations. The Palestinian territories have all been under varying degrees of Israeli governance since 1967, and the final status of the territory remains the subject of ongoing and future negotiations.
31.883335.2Qatar
Qatar (Arabic: قطر; pronounced kut-ar) is a rich Arab state occupying a small peninsula extending into the Persian Gulf to the north of Saudi Arabia, east of Bahrain and west of the United Arab Emirates.
25.351.5167Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is a kingdom which geographically dominates the Arabian peninsula, with coastlines on the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. It borders Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yemen.
23.71666744.116667Syria
Syria (الجمهوريّة العربيّة السّوريّة Al-Jumhuriya al-`Arabiya as-Suriya, the Syrian Arab Republic) is one of the larger states of the Middle East. Its capital, and second largest city after Aleppo, is Damascus, the world's oldest continuously inhabited city. Syria is bordered to the north by Turkey, to the east by Iraq, by Jordan and Israel to the south, and by Lebanon to the south-west. In addition, the western part of the country has a short coastline on the Mediterranean Sea.
34.938.3Turkey
Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye) is a bi-continental country, consisting of the Anatolian region of West Asia, and Eastern Thrace on the Balkan peninsula in Europe. These lands are separated by the Turkish Straits (Bosphorus, Sea of Marmara, and Dardanelles). With the Black Sea to the north and the Aegean Sea in the west and Mediterranean Sea to the southwest, Turkey borders Bulgaria and Greece in the west, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia to the northeast, and Syria, Iraq and Iran to the southeast. While geographically most of the country is situated in Asia, most Turkish people consider themselves to be Europeans.
3936United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (Arabic: دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة) or simply the Emirates, is a federation of seven emirates on the eastern side of the Arabian peninsula, at the entrance to the Persian Gulf. It has coastlines on the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf. The neighboring states are Saudi Arabia to the west and southwest, and Oman to the east and southeast, including Omani enclaves on the Musandam Peninsula and at Madha. It is a country rich in history and culture and an easy starting point for travels in the Middle East.
24.454.3Yemen
Yemen is on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, and sharing borders with Saudi Arabia and Oman. Since at least 2011, Yemen has endured a bloody civil war, and tribal conflicts are ongoing.
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