OSME Regional List of birds

OSME Region Map

The sketch map below does not represent precise political boundaries or support any opinion where these are in dispute. It outlines the OSME Region, an ornithological concept which includes the Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asian republics. The Region contains 26 countries or territories, namely: Egypt, Cyprus, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Gaza, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen (including the Socotra archipelago), Oman, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tadzhikistan¹and Afghanistan. For seabird records, the OSME Region includes the following areas of sea or ocean:

1. In the eastern Mediterranean, to the east of a line from the Egypt-Libya coastal border north-northeastwards to where the southern end of the Turkey-Greece international limits adjoin.
2. The area of sea within the Turkish side of the Turkey-Greece international limits north and east to their northern end in the Bosporus.
3. In the Black Sea, south of a line drawn from European Turkey-Romania coastline border east-northeast to the Georgia-southern Russia coastline border.
4. In the Caspian Sea, to the east (and south) of a line running at right-angles to the coast northeastwards from the Azerbaijan-southern Russia coastline border to meet the internationally-agreed natural resources exploitation line (the mid-Caspian 'centreline') up towards the southern Russia-Kazakhstan coastline border (east of the Volga delta).
5. In the Indian Ocean, west of a line due south from the Iran-Pakistan coastline border at 61°24?E down to 10°N, which latitude is followed west until it meets a line projected at right angles from the Yemeni coast midway between the Socotra archipelago and Somalia. The sea area enclosed includes the entire Gulf between Iran and the Arabian peninsula, part of the Arabian Sea where it meets the Indian Ocean, but excludes internationally-agreed Somalian territorial waters.
6. In the Gulf of Aden, the line runs westwards from the point where it intersects the above line from the Yemeni coast along the Gulf of Aden 'centreline' to the Bab-el Mandab straits. The waters north of this line are within the OSME Region.
7. In the Red Sea, the line parallels the approximate centreline of the Red Sea (up to the territorial limits of the African states) north from the Bab-el-Mandab straits to meet a line projecting east from the Sudan-Egypt border. East and north of the two intersecting lines, Red Sea waters lie entirely within the OSME Region.


¹ Spellings of Central Asian countries in particular vary, mostly because the sounds have been transliterated into English from different original scripts several times in history. For example, we adopt ‘Tadzhikistan’ because it is (often) spelt that way in correspondence from that country, but recognise that ‘Tajikistan’ is a commoner earlier alternative, although only one of several! This variability of spelling applies to some other countries and so we have followed the principle of adopting spellings whose pronunciation, we are told, approximates nearest to that in the country itself.