The Middle East is a group term (similar to Europe and Asia) that serves merely as a divider for my purposes. Adobe Stock had the best map so I borrowed this (hopefully with the right attribution).
The region definition changes depending on which version that you use. Some options include some of northern Africa with the overall numbers ranging from 17 through to 22. For my purposes I will use the following list of 17 that encompasses the vast majority of West Asia. The countries include:
