Resources by country/region

  • General Middle East

    Political resources on the Net/Middle East

    InfoProd Research (Middle East)
    Info-Prod is a market research company based in Israel. It researches markets across the Middle East, being involved in market analysis, pricing, advertising, logistics, legislation and regulations. The Country Guides section of the site has detailed legal, economic and business information on Middle Eastern countries (this information is not very up to date, but Info-Prod can be contacted for more help)

    Global EDGE
    Academic site providing a wide range of information by country.

    MAFHOUM : Arab World business Information
    Provides links to news and media, economy, finance and industry in the Arab World

    Middle East economic survey
    Weekly newsletter on oil and gas sectors in the Middle East but also assessment of political situation.

    IFPO Open Archives & Electronic Collections
    The Institut Français du Proche Orient ( French Institute for the Near East ) has put its archives (articles, chapters, e-books,  reports, audiovisual archives, etc.) and some of its publications on open-access.

    MENAlab
    A constellation of independent internet destinations focused on the history, society, and culture of the Middle East and North Africa and dedicated to presenting open-access and advertising-free content generated by scholars and researchers from a variety of disciplines.

    Muslimheritage.com
    Articles on all aspects of Muslim heritage, including many historical images.

    Al Monitor
    Outlet for current events reporting and feature articles about regions in the Middle East. Categorized by country: Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Turkey.

    Muftah
    Resource description: Muftah is a journalistic platform launched in May 2010 to provide English-speaking audiences with incisive analysis on countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) that eschewed the Western media’s focus on terrorism, oil, and Islamism, and highlighted the complex factors that shape and influence regional countries and populations. From the start, Muftah has worked with a large and eclectic group of writers that include academics, practitioners, activists, and members of diaspora communities.

    Bibliothèques d'Orient / Libraries of the Orient
    Is a new trilingual (English, French, Arabic) platform of digital documents (ebooks, archives, maps, photographs, etc) organised in thematic categories (crossroads / communities / religions / politics / knowledge / imaginery / personalities), and contextualised with contributions by French and international scholars. Made up of complementary thematic series, the sites of this collection provide free digital access to documents scattered over various countries and partner institutions. This common heritage is aimed at providing a territory for interdisciplinary and cross-regional research projects.

    Media Use in the Middle East, 2017. A seven-nation survey by Northwestern University in Qatar
    This longitudinal study offers extensive and valuable intelligence about the media that people adopt, use, and prefer as well as their attitudes and opinions about the role, impact, and importance of mediated communication in their lives and the lives of others across the Middle East region.
    The full survey can be downloaded as a PDF too.

  • Middle Eastern Countries

    Iran

    Ensani : Portal jami' ulum insani پرتال جامع علوم انسانی
    This portal [in Persian only]  offers free search and access to journal articles in social sciences and humanities fields ( literature, economics, history, education, geography, law, psychology, linguistics, social sciences, Islamic science, political science, library science, philosophy and logic, management, women studies, art studies ). Most articles are available as full-text and can be freely downloaded.

    Iran Statistics
    Iranistics.com as an independent nonpartisan website aims to make comprehensive databases of international organisations, scholars and resources devoted to Iranian studies.

    Iran virtual library
    Quite broad-range and clear though not very deep-researched web-site.

    IranCarto
    IranCarto is a research site dedicated to cartographic studies on Iran and the Iranian world, past or present: society, demography, economics, politics, culture, history, language, arts, cities, countryside, etc. 555 cards from archives, atlas and new geographical works are available online.

    Iran Chamber Society
    Portal to Iranian culture and society.

    Iran Review
    Iran Review is an independent, non-governmental and non-partisan website – organization representing scientific and professional approaches towards Iran’s political, economic, social, religious, and cultural affairs, its foreign policy, and regional and international issues within the framework of analysis and articles.

    Noormags
    Noormags is one of the most reliable and referred database of articles indexed from more than 1450 Persian journals, mainly focused on Islamic sciences and humanities. Registration is free and individual. The database is accessible in Persian, Arabic and English. It can be searched by keyword, titles (of journals or articles), subjects and authors.The articles are viewable for free online but downloading them requires payment.

    Kurdistan

    Kurmancî
    Kurdish linguistic magazine, published twice a year since 1987 to spread the results of the linguistic seminars of the Institut Kurde de Paris on problems of terminology and standardisation of the Kurdish language. All issues of this periodical are available on the Site, as well as the Kurdish - French - English - Turkish index of the first 20 issues.

    Palestine (Gaza and West Bank)

    Palestine Remix
    Palestine Remix is the largest interactive-visual project on modern Palestine.
    Tens of documentaries on Palestine are available on this open-source free website, allowing users to watch extracts, read about the films and watch the full documentaries with their transcripts. It allows users to search for any Palestine-related keyword within the documentaries transcripts, and each of the search results will immediately take them to the exact point where that word is mentioned in both video and text. Another unique feature of Palestine Remix is the users’ ability to create their own video remixes on any Palestine-related topic, by choosing any part they want from the available documentaries and stitching the chosen parts together to make their own short films. Palestine Remix is available in four languages: English , Arabic , Bosnian and Turkish . So, each documentary is available in these four languages.
    Maps, drone footage and a timeline are also available on Palestine Remix.

    PASSIA :The Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs, Jerusalem
    PASSIA is an Arab non-profit institution located in Jerusalem with a financially and legally independent status. It seeks to present the Palestinian Question in its national, Arab and international contexts through academic research, dialogue and publication Their website has a wealth of information on all issues related to the Arab-Israeli conflict, including facts sheets, detailed chronologies, maps.

    De-Colonizer :
    De-Colonizer is an alternative research center and art laboratory on Palestine/ Israel, aiming to bring to the wider audience possible new academic-level knowledges and tools by putting them into the public space with creativity. De-Colonizer is named for the eponymous blog created by Eitan Bronstein Aparicio, who founded the NGO Zochrot.

    Zochrot.org :
    Zochrot ("remembering" in Hebrew) is an NGO working since 2002 to promote acknowledgement and accountability for the ongoing injustices of the Nakba, the Palestinian catastrophe of 1948 and the reconceptualization of the Return as the imperative redress of the Nakba and a chance for a better life for all the country's inhabitants.

    Turkey and Ottoman Empire

    Ilahiyat Makaleler Veri Tabani
    Database of articles on Islamic Studies published in the journals of various
    Theology faculties in Turkey.

    Ankos : Turkish open access archive project
    Ankos has started the study of creating a national inter-universities common access point. This project has the support of MITOS, the national open access system. As of march 24, 2012, 31132 files were loaded.

    Maps of the Ottoman Empire
    Collection of scanned and geo-referenced a series of topographical maps of Eastern Turkey and the lands of the broader Ottoman Empire.

    Abdul Hamid II Collection (Library of Congress)
    This monumental collection portrays the Ottoman Empire during the reign of one of its last sultans, Abdul-Hamid II. The 1,819 photographs in 51 large-format albums date from about 1880 to 1893.

    HAZINE
    A guide for scholars researching the Middle East and beyond: archives, libraries, museums, and other research centers with material on the Middle East are stored and described on this very useful blog. At the moment it focuses on resources on the Ottoman Empire.

    Turkish Media
    This portal gives an overview of the different Turkish news media (magazines, dailies, radio stations, etc) available online.

    Open Access Bibliographies: National Library of Turkey
    In Turkish. A bibliography of Turkish publications kept at the National Library of Turkey
    since 1946 to present. Among others, this portal features a few dedicated bibliographies of major Turkish authors, a searchable database of Turkish articles (for the period 1923-1999) and a database of Greek and Armenian publications published in Turkey. A monthly bibliography of
    the National Library of Turkey is downloadable in PDF format.

    Reading with Atatürk
    In Turkish. Tour the IU Library of Rare Works where users can download and choose books to read from among 175 works read by Atatürk.

    The Online Bibliography of Ottoman-Turkish  literature
    Is a free and extensive database of references to theses, books, articles, papers and projects relating toresearch into Ottoman-Turkish culture. Available both in English and Turkish.

    BiblioPera: Beyoglu Research Centers Network
    Is a partnership project of 9 international research centers located in Beyoglu, Istanbul (Turkey). Rising over the shoulders of a union catalogue, BiblioPera brings the multilingual collections of the libraries of research centers together, and creates a platform for further cooperation for research and activities in Social Sciences, Art & Humanities. The BiblioPera digital collections are of particular interest.

    Historians of the Ottoman Empire
    Description of resources: Ottoman Historians is a reference work developed by the University of Chicago that gives access to a database of significant historians and manuscripts of the Ottoman Empire, browsable by historian, author, work and date.

    OpenOttoman
    Description of resources: OpenOttoman is a new developing transnational portal aiming at digital collaboration for scholarship and public history focused on the Ottoman world.

    Egypt

    Abou Naddara Collection
    Resource description: This website offers the complete newspapers published by the Egyptian nationalist James Sanua (يعقوب صنوع, 1839-1912) from 1878 to 1910. In addition, formerly unpublished manuscripts by the same author, articles from newspapers of the period about the journalist and his oeuvre, as well as the decorations he received are also available. Most of the material was directly scanned from the originals published at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century, and therefore contains an ample variety of magnificent and colorful lithographs.

    The National Archives of Egypt
    The site contains about one million records representing the metadata of all the files and a sample of documents in Arabic language and their images. The complete database can be accessed from the Arabic search page Dar al-Watha'iq.

    Mada Masr
    Mada Masr is an independent Cairo-based news website, which started publishing in 2013, in the midst of popular protests and the ensuing political polarization. It aims at providing objective and professional journalism that constantly challenges and presents all sides of the story, offering quality in-depth and nuanced news coverage, analysis and opinion.

    858.MA : An Archive of Resistance أرشيف ثوري
    A unique collection featuring hundred of hours of footage shot and collected in Egypt around the 2011 Revolution are now made publicly available. More than 870 hours of indexed, time-stamped video material along with thousands more photographs and documents present thousands of histories of revolt told from hundreds of perspectives. All footage is published under creative commons.

    Gulf Region

    Qatar Digital Library (QDL)
    The Qatar Digital Library is making a vast archive featuring the cultural and  historical heritage of the Gulf and wider region freely available online for the first time. It includes archives, maps, manuscripts, sound recordings, photographs and much more, complete with contextualised explanatory notes and links, in both English and Arabic.

  • General Central Asia & Caucasia

    EurasiaNet
    EurasiaNet provides information and analysis about political, economic, environmental and social developments in the countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus. EurasiaNet.org is operated by the Central Eurasia Project of the Open Society Institute.

    Afghanistan and Central Asia Research Information (Indiana University)
    Look out for their comprehensive resources links for Afghanistan and Central Asia.

    Asia and the Pacific in Figures
    A statistical pocketbook containing principal series and key indicators for the Asia Pacific region (including Central Asian countries), published by the Statistics Division of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

    Silk Road Papers
    A collection of policy-focused studies on the politics and economies of the Caucasus and Central Asia.

    Open Central Asia
    A quarterly magazine published in London covering business, culture and politics in Central Asia and the Caucasus, with a focus on relations between Central Asian and European nations.

    Caucasian Review of International Affairs
    The Caucasian Review of International Affairs (CRIA) is a Germany-based, quarterly peer-reviewed free, not-for-profit and online academic journal which has been published in English since 2006.

    Central Eurasia Project
    This is embedded in the Open Society Foundations, aiming to promote social progress and human rights in Central Eurasia countries.

    The Silk Road Online Platform
    UNESCO has recently launched a new online initiative, the Silk Road online platform , to compile and disseminate this valuable knowledge for the benefit of academic, cultural and artistic professionals as well as the general public. Moreover, the online platform continues the Silk Road’s tradition and facilitates dialogue, encounters and exchanges among authorities, scholars, artists, educators, tourism professionals, students and youth.

    Silkroad foundation
    The Silkroad Foundation is a non-profit organization, established in 1996, to promote the study and preservation of cultures and art on Inner Asia and the Silk Road. The Silkroad Foundation provides resources, information, and interactive exchange about Inner Asia and the Silk Road.

    OXUS Central Asia
    Portal offering links on Central Asia

    Oriental Express Central Asia
    Central Asia country profiles.

    Ferghana.news : Information Agency
    Ferghana.Ru news agency is one of the most popular information resources regarding the Central Asian countries of the former USSR.
    It monitors print and electronic media outlets in Russia and Central Asia, offers reviews and on-line reports on current events, analytical surveys & marketing studies, as well as many links to information resources on the region.
    NB: The interfaces in Russian and Uzbek offer more resources than the English one.

    Registan
    Registan is a cross between think-tank and blog, maintained by a network of academics and practitioners dedicated to making social, political, and cultural knowledge on Eurasia relevant and useful to governments, businesses, and non-governmental organizations.

  • Central Asian & Caucasian Countries

    Afghanistan

    General
    Afghanistan On-line : has sections on culture, economics, geography, language, history and religion as well as a full set of links and updated daily news. Compiled by supporters of Jamiat-i-Islami, which was part of the United Front, this site is a good first stop for basic information.

    Eurasia Net : is a resource page put together by Eurasia Net, a division of the Open Society Institute. This is a very useful and easy to use site containing basic information, up-to-date news, human rights reports and analysis of current events.

    Watan Afghanistan: contains a bunch of links to sites and information about history, languages and tribes, biographies of prominent people, Islam, weather, photographs, news and lots more.

    Sabawoon : is a compilation of the latest news and editorials compiled from magazines, newspapers and NGO publications, an online journal, art gallery and an encyclopedia about Afghanistan containing historical, economic and cultural information.

    Afghanistan Studies- Directory of Online Resources for the Study of Afghanistan

    Afghanistan Digital Library
    The Afghanistan Digital Library is a project of New York University Libraries working to digitise as many published works (books, newspapers and reports) from Afghanistan as possible, covering all subject areas published during the period 1871-1930. Key topic areas include Afghan history, culture and politics. There are also numerous works on Afghan politics, many of which are published in Arabic. Details on copyright are provided on the website.

    Williams Afghan Media Project
    This site brings together several collections of photographic images of Afghanistan.

    About Afghanistan - A culture guide
    This website is maintained by an American citizen who lived in Afghanistan for a decade. It offers an insider's [non-academic] insights and tips about Afghanistan, culture, travel advice, and living and working there.

    Politics and Diplomacy

    Political Resources on the Web: contains information and links on elections, political parties and law. Hopefully this site will be updated with information about the new government. Political organizations of note included in the site are:

    • Hezb-E-Islami : is the official website of the Islamic Party describing its political framework, including legislative reforms, foreign policy, economy and history.
    • Afghanistan’s Liberation Organization : is the website of Afghanistan’s communist party and contains policy statements and historical information.

    United Nations : For information on the Bonn talks on the Afghan provisional government or for information on United Nations projects and reconstruction efforts for Afghanistan in general, see the United Nations website.

    Research Institutes

    NYU’s Center for International Cooperation :has links (found on the bottom under the heading Reconstruction of Afghanistan) to several websites and articles affiliated with and or written by Barnett Rubin, director of studies at the center and an expert on Afghanistan.

    Institute for Afghan Studies: contains a comprehensive compilation of historical information, analysis and bibliographies. Built by a non-profit, non-political and independent organization, founded and run by young Afghan scholars from around the globe, this site is well-designed and easy to use.

    Center for Afghanistan Studies : is the “only institutional base in the United States exclusively concerned with Afghanistan affairs” and its website contains country data (economics, history, stats) and limited analysis.

    Afghanistan Research Group : is a site compiled by Central European scholars and contains overviews and analysis in English and German.

    Digital Archives

    Afghanistan Digital Library
    The Afghanistan Digital Library is a project of New York University Libraries working to digitise as many published works (books, newspapers and reports) from Afghanistan as possible, covering all subject areas published during the period 1871-1930. Key topic areas include Afghan history, culture and politics. There are also numerous works on Afghan politics, many of which are published in Arabic. Details on copyright are provided on the website.

    New York University - Afghanistan Digital Library
    The Afghanistan Digital Library will retrieve and restore works published in Afghanistan between 1870 and 1930.

    Preserving and Creating Access to Unique Afghan Records - Afghanistan Digital Collections
    Preserving and Creating Access to Afghanistan Literature from the Jihad Period. This project is currently funded by the University of Arizona Libraries and ACKU. About 5,500 titles (over 600,000 pages) are currently available. ACKU and UAL are processing an additional 300,000 pages. This site includes ANIS, Kabul Times and many other Afghanistan journals.

    Da Afghanistan Kalanay 1933- 1990 (also Known as Sulnama or Afghanistan Yearbook)
    Da Afghanistan Kalani, or Afghanistan Yearbook, is an almanac and yearbook published by the government of Afghanistan from 1933-1990. These digitized volumes offer access to a unique set of volumes of the country's political, social and economic history in Dari/Persian and Pashtu languages.

    Williams Afghan Media Project
    This site brings together several collections of photographic images of Afghanistan.

    Afghanistan: The Arthur Paul Afghanistan Collection at the University of Nebraska-Omaha
    History of the Collection: In 1974, the University Library received Arthur Paul's private collection of Afghanistan materials consisting of some one thousand items in Persian, Pashto and English languages. Mr. Paul [1898-1976] served as an economic advisor to the Royal Government of Afghanistan from 1960 to 1965.

    Media

    Afghanistan News: has updated headlines and news from a variety of print media and wire sources in English as well as links to other news sources and archives. Also try, the Afghan News Network .

    Afgha Press Agency: also has updated news and analysis from around the world. This site was originally dedicated entirely to Ahmad Shah Massoud of the United Front.

    Central Asian Mirror: places Afghanistan in the context of Central Asia and contains updated news and analysis about Afghanistan and its Central Asian neighbors.

    Culture

    Lemar-Aftab : is a very pretty e-zine emphasizing Afghani politics, film, music, art literature and the life of the Afghani people.

    Afghan Network: contains extensive information about Afghani literature, people and culture as well as links to the NGOs operating in Afghanistan.

    NGOs

    Relief Web : Compiled by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, this site contains up-to-date information on humanitarian assistance programs in Afghanistan, including financial tracking, UN documents, NGO reports and news articles from the international press.

    Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan : is the website for an organization of Afghan women fighting for human rights and for social justice in Afghanistan.

    Religious and Ethnic Communities

    Hazara community : contains news, links and information about the Hazaras in Afghanistan.

    Hindu community : with historical and religious information about the Hindus in Afghanistan.

    More links:

    INCORE : is a guide to internet sources on the conflict in Afghanistan compiled by a joint United Nations-University of Ulster project dedicated to the resolution of conflict. This site contains a vast collection of documents, articles and analysis.

    Afghanistan Studies: contains a decent list of sites from NGOs and media organizations to political parties as well as information on the Taliban, bin Laden and al-Qaeda.

    Azerbaijan

    Journal of Azerbaijani Studies
    A publication of the Khazar University, Azerbaijan

    Tatarstan

    Tatarstan on the internet


    Georgia

    Georgian Digital Text Collectiv e (ქართული ციფრული ტექსტების ჯგუფი)
    The Georgian Digital Text Collective, a website devoted to the literature and culture of the Republic of Georgia, provides resources in Georgian and English on Georgian history and culture.Those resources includes literary texts from the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as literature from earlier and more contemporary periods. Works include those by major Georgian authors, such as Vazha-Pshavela, Erlom Akhvlediani, and Lado Asatiani.The resources webpage links to many websites devoted to other aspects of Georgian culture and society(Art & Architecture, Cinema, Cuisne, Music and Dance, News sources, etc.)