What is meant by \”the Middle East\”? Is this a region? How does this concept compare with \”Southwest Asia\” and \”North Africa\”?

Project description
The geographic concepts of \”continent\”, \”region\”, and \”country\” are frequently confused, even misused by the non-geographic public. Here are some possible topics to discuss in this forum:

1) Is Europe a continent? Why or why not? If it is not a continent, is it a country? What about Asia?

2) Why is Africa not a \”country\”? Is Africa a region or a continent, or both?

3) What is meant by \”the Middle East\”? Is this a region? How does this concept compare with \”Southwest Asia\” and \”North Africa\”?

4) Why is Australia considered to be a continent and not an island?

5) What is \”Eurocentrism\”? Why might Americans take this geographic perspective, also?

You can discuss all of these or just one of these.

http://nationalgeographic.org/standards/national-geography-standards/

This website has the Geography Standards listed. While not graded, this website is intended for the student\’s enrichment.