"The Arab world (Arabic: العالم العربي al-ʿālam al-ʿarabī), formally the Arab homeland (الوطن العربي al-waṭan al-ʿarabī), also known as the Arab nation (الأمة العربية al-ummah al-ʿarabīyyah), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, consists of the 22 Arab countries which are members of the Arab League. A majority of these countries are located in Western Asia, Northern Africa, Western Africa, and Eastern Africa. The region stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the east, and from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the Indian Ocean in the southeast. The eastern part of the Arab world is known as the Mashriq, and the western part as the Maghreb. Arabic is used as the lingua franca throughout the Arab world.
Malta, an island country in Southern Europe whose national language also derives from Arabic (through Sicilian Arabic), is not included in the region. Similarly, Chad, Eritrea, and Israel recognize Arabic as one of their official or working languages but are not included in the region because they are not members of the Arab League (although Chad and Eritrea applied for full membership in 2014). The Arab world has a combined population of around 422 million inhabitants (as of 2012) and a gross domestic product of $2.782 trillion (2018).
In post-classical history, the Arab world was synonymous with the historic Arab empires and caliphates. Arab nationalism arose in the second half of the 19th century along with other nationalist movements within the Ottoman Empire. The Arab League was formed in 1945 to represent the interests of Arab people and especially to pursue the political unification of the Arab countries; a project known as Pan-Arabism."
(from Wikipedia)
"The Middle East is a transcontinental region in Afro-Eurasia which generally includes Western Asia (except for Transcaucasia), all of Egypt (mostly in North Africa), and Turkey (partly in Southeast Europe). The term has come into wider usage as a replacement of the term Near East (as opposed to the Far East) beginning in the early 20th century. The broader concept of the "Greater Middle East" (aka the Middle East and North Africa or the MENAP) also includes the Maghreb, Sudan, Djibouti, Somalia, the Comoros, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and sometimes Transcaucasia and Central Asia into the region. The term "Middle East" has led to some confusion over its changing definitions.
Most Middle Eastern countries (13 out of 18) are part of the Arab world. The most populous countries in the region are Egypt, Iran, and Turkey, while Saudi Arabia is the largest Middle Eastern country by area. The history of the Middle East dates back to ancient times, with the geopolitical importance of the region being recognized for millennia. Several major religions have their origins in the Middle East, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Arabs constitute the majority ethnic group in the region, followed by Turks, Persians, Kurds, Azeris, Copts, Jews, Assyrians, Iraqi Turkmen, and Greek Cypriots."
(from Wikipedia)
A description of a book titled "Keys to Understanding the Middle East":
"This book is intended for readers who have never studied the Middle East, or experts who may wish to fill gaps in their knowledge of the region from other disciplines. Whether for establishing or deepening one’s knowledge of the region, these fundamentals are important to know. The languages, cultural, religious and sectarian communities of the region, and selected turning points and influential people in history are starting points for gaining an understanding of the diverse contexts of the region."
Keys to Understanding the Middle East (Payind) (file size: about 10 MB)
First paragraph of the Preface of a book titled "Arab Region - Atlas of Our Changing Environment":
"The Arab region, a group of 22 member countries of the League of Arab States sharing a common language, culture and religion, is divided into three contiguous clusters falling in two continents, two hemispheres, and borders on five oceans and seas. Covering around 14 million square kilometres, the region covers 9 per cent of the Earth’s total land area, with a population of over 350 million, of which 56% is urbanised."
Chapter One (file size: about 29 MB)
Chapter Two (pages 1-29) (file size: about 24 MB)
Chapter Two (pages 30-60) (file size: about 13 MB)
Chapter Three (pages 1-31) (file size: about 17 MB)
Chapter Three (pages 32-63) (file size: about 21 MB)
Chapter Three (pages 64-96) (file size: about 19 MB)