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Middle Eastern studies, a subset of Asian studies, is a name given to a number of academic programs associated with the study of the culture, politics, economy, and geography of the Middle East, an area that is generally interpreted to cover a range of nations extending from North Africa in the west to the Chinese frontier, including Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Saudi Arabia and multiple other nations.  In some circles (archaeologists, historians, and geographers), this region is referred to as the Near East and some academic programs are so-named.  The curriculua for these programs include studies of the cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology of this regions.

It is considered as part of area studies taking an interdisclipinary approach to the study of a region.
Although some academic programs combine Middle Eastern Studies with Islamic Studies, based on the preponderance of Muslims in the region, others maintain these areas of study as separate disciplines.