黎凡特（Levant，一個不精確的歷史上的地理名稱，相當於現代所說的東地中海區（Eastern Mediterranean），它指的是中東托魯斯山脈以南、地中海東岸、阿拉伯沙漠以北和上美索不達米亞以西的一大片地區。它不包括托魯斯山脈、阿拉伯半島和安那托利亞。不過有時奇里乞亞被包括在黎凡特內。西奈半島有時被包括在黎凡特內，不過一般被看作是黎凡特與埃及北部之間的一個邊緣地區。有些時間裡黎凡特的文化和居民曾經在西奈半島和尼羅河占支配地位，但是這些地方一般不被納入黎凡特。
黎凡特」一詞原本適用於「義大利以東的地中海土地」，在中古法語（moyen français）中，Levant一字即太陽升起之處、「東方」的意思。歷史上，黎凡特於西歐與鄂圖曼帝國之間的貿易擔當重要的經濟角色。黎凡特是中世紀東西方貿易的傳統路線，是阿拉伯商人通過陸路將印度洋的香料等貨物運到地中海黎凡特地區，威尼斯和熱那亞的商人從黎凡特將貨物運歐洲各地。
該地區在阿拉伯語中也被稱為sham沙姆，意為左路，當阿拉伯人在麥加面朝東方禮拜時，大敘利亞地區在左邊，故名。
The Levant (/ləˈvænt/), also known as the Eastern Mediterranean, is a geographic and cultural region consisting of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt".] The Levant today consists of Cyprus, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and part of southern Turkey (the former Aleppo Vilayet).
Precise definitions have varied over time, and the term originally had a broader and less well-defined usage.[3] The Levant has been described as the "crossroads of western Asia, the eastern Mediterranean and northeast Africa",[4] and the "northwest of the Arabian plate".
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Most Levantine populations speak Levantine Arabic, also known as Mediterranean Arabic (شامي). In Israel, the primary language is Hebrew. In Cyprus, the primary languages are Greek and Turkish, although a dialect of Levantine Arabic, Cypriot Maronite Arabic, is the most-spoken minority language. Some communities and populations speak Greek, Armenian, Circassian, French, English or other languages in addition to Levantine Arabic.
Al-Dawla Al-Islamiya fi al-Iraq wa al-Sham（阿拉伯文），翻成英文是「伊拉克和沙姆伊斯蘭國」（ Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham） ，最後一個字的「沙姆」（al-Sham）即是造成多種英文名稱爭議的由來。「沙姆」意指敘利亞─精確的說是涵蓋敘利亞、黎巴嫩、以色列與約旦等、古稱黎凡特（Levant）的東地中海地區。ISIL中的L即代表黎凡特，象徵這組織想將勢力拓展到伊拉克以外
