Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA)
Candlefocus EditorThe European region of EMEA includes the entirety of the continent, ranging from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the dominively Muslim countries of the Caucasus in the east. This region is largely comprised of democratic nations that have either been members of the European Union or have close economic ties with the organization. This includes the majority of countries of Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the Nordic and Baltic states.
The Middle East region of EMEA includes the countries of the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Jordan, and Israel. Generally, these countries are predominately Muslim, though there is an important concentration of Jews in Israel and Christians in Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan. These countries, along with numerous other Ottoman possessions and North African nations, were part of the Middle Eastern Ottoman Empire from 1516 to 1918.
The African region of EMEA includes the majority of the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. This region stretches from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the Cape of Good Hope in the south, and includes the countries of the Sahara, Horn of Africa, and the West African Coast. Sub-Saharan Africa has some of the poorest economies of any region in the world, though these countries are undergoing significant stages of development.
EMEA is often used by large corporations to distinguish their activity in these regions compared to their activity in North America, Latin America, and Asia, in order to develop different strategies for different regions. This region is also often broken down into two subregions, SEMEA (Southern Europe Middle East and Africa) and EMENA (Europe, Middle East and North Africa).
Overall, EMEA and its subregions are incredibly important to the business, political, and social realms, as well as for understanding trends of global development. As a collective, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa includes some of the most populous countries in the world, such as Russia, Turkey, and Sudan, and—with the development of technological infrastructure in the region—is helping to bridge the economic gap between more developed countries and the less developed countries. Ultimately, EMEA is an important concept to understand, as it is an acronym used widely in global activities and refers to some of the most important countries in the world.