The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and all of the Arabian Peninsula. Consisting of an area over 6,255,160 square kilometers (2,415,131 sq mi) and a population over 313,428,000, the Middle East includes twenty independent countries – Turkey, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Iran, Cyprus, and part of Egypt. Today the Middle East is home to several indigenous and ethnic groups, including: Arabs, Turks, Persians, Jews/Israelis, Kurds, Assyrians (Chaldo-Assyrians), Arameans-Syriacs, Egyptian Copts, Armenians, Azeris, Maltese, Circassians, Greeks, Turcomans, Shabaks, Yazidis, Mandeans, Georgians, Roma, Gagauz, Mhallami, and Samaritans. Like their indigenous brothers and sisters, they face a number of common struggles: sovereignty, the right to self-determination, preservation of language and heritage, rights to land and natural resources, impacts from climate change and environmental damage, and recognition within local, federal, and international governments and laws.