Kde leží Blízký východ? :Srovnání definic a mentální mapy regionu očima vysokoškolských studentů

Abstract

This paper focuses on a broad spectrum of delineating definitions of the Middle East region from the perspective of selected authors and students at Palacký University Olomouc. The data about the delineation of the borders of the Middle East region were collected from various publications, articles, encyclopaedias and atlases. The data from students were collected via a web-based map questionnaire, which was in the form of a mental mapping exercise above the world map with four additional questions. The results of the survey were processed into composite maps, which were later compared among themselves and between formulated definitions. It was found out that the formulations of the delineation of the Middle East are rather different, both among the selected authors and individual definitions of students. Students most oCen coincided with two formulated definitions: those by the United Nations and the Central Intelligence Agency, but students’ perception of the Middle East stretches further to the north (Turkey) and East (Iran), unlike the studied definitions that rather include the states of North Africa (MENA region).