Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) - Investopedia

Key Takeaways · The designation "Europe, Middle East, and Africa" (EMEA) refers to a geopolitical region encompassing those continents and areas. · The EMEA ... Markets InternationalMarkets WhatIsEurope,MiddleEast,andAfrica(EMEA)? Europe,MiddleEast,andAfrica(EMEA)countriesareageographicaldivisionusedbymanymultinationalcorporations. TheacronymisaneasyshorthandmethodofreferringtoallthreecontinentsatonceandisespeciallypopularamongNorthAmericancompanies. KeyTakeaways Thedesignation"Europe,MiddleEast,andAfrica"(EMEA)referstoageopoliticalregionencompassingthosecontinentsandareas.TheEMEAdesignationisusedbyglobalcorporationstoreportsalesseparatefromotherregionsliketheAmericasandAsia.TheEMEAisalargeexpanseandcanbebrokendownintosmallersubregionssuchastheSEMEAorEMENA. UnderstandingEurope,MiddleEast,andAfrica Europe,MiddleEast,andAfrica(EMEA)isalabelthatmanyglobalfirmsusewhendividingtheiroperationsbygeography.Amultinationalmight,forexample,breakoutitsfinancialresultsbyregion,reportingsalesandprofitsintheAmericas,the EMEAregion,andAsiaPacificandJapan.Itmightalsoassignleadershiprolesbasedonthesedivisions.MicrosoftCorp.(MSFT),forexample,hasaVice-PresidentforEurope,MiddleEast,andAfrica. EMEA isacommongeographicaldivisionininternationalbusiness,butitisnotpreciselydefined.ItmayormaynotincludeRussia(shownbelow)orKazakhstan(notshown),forexample.Europeanoverseasterritoriesonothercontinentsaregenerallyexcluded(thoughFrenchGuianaisshownbelow). SincefewfirmshaveoperationsinanythingclosetoeverycountrythatmightbeconsideredEMEA,thelistofnationscomprising anindividualfirm'sEMEA regionwillbeidiosyncratic.  SpecialConsiderations Besidesbeingwidelyrecognized,theEMEA isusefulforoperationalpurposesbecausemostoftheregion—Russia'sfareastexcluded—fallswithinfourtimezones,facilitatingcommunicationandtravel.  Otherthanlongitude,however,littleunitestheEMEA region.Itcontainsincrediblepolitical,economic,linguistic,cultural,religious,andclimaticdiversity.Someoftheworld'srichestcountriesarelumpedinwithsomeofthepoorest.Politicalsystemsrangefromstabledemocraciestoautocraciestofailedstates.Regions,wherethelinguafrancaisSwahili,arelumpedinwithoneswhereitisArabic,French,Russian,orEnglish.Locallanguagesnumberinthehundreds.  EMEA,inotherwords, isacreatureofcorporateboardrooms,notanintuitivedesignationwithitsrootsinhistory,culture,orpolitics. RegionsRelatedtoEMEA SometimesIndiaisincludedinthegrouping,makingtheacronymEMEIAorsometimesEMIA.CompaniesmaysometimesseparatetheirbusinessoperationsinEasternandWesternEurope,referringinsteadtoEasternEurope,MiddleEast,andAfrica(EEMEA)andtheEuropeanUnion(EU)orEuropeanFreeTradeAssociation(EFTA).Othersimilaracronymsinclude: SoutheasternEurope,MiddleEast,andAfrica(SEEMEA) SouthernEurope,MiddleEast,andAfrica(SEMEA) TheMiddleEastandNorthAfrica(MENA) CentralandEasternEurope(CEE) CentralEurope,MiddleEast,andAfrica(CEMEA) Europe,theMiddleEast,andNorthAfrica(EUMENAorEMENA) Europe,theMiddleEast,Africa,andtheCaribbean(EMEAC) Europe,theMiddleEast,Africa,andtheCommonwealthofIndependentStates(EMEACIS) TheCommonwealthofIndependentStates(CIS),whichreferstothegroupofnationsaroundtheCaspianandBlackSeas CentralandEasternEurope,theMiddleEast,andAfrica(CEMA) NorthAtlanticandCentralEurope(NACE) LikeEMEA,theseregionalgroupingsarebasedongeographicalcloseness,ratherthancultural,linguistic,historical,orpoliticalsimilarities.Typically,nationsaregroupedtogetherbasedonwhatismostconvenientforthemultinationalcorporationmakingthedesignation. CompareAccounts AdvertiserDisclosure × TheoffersthatappearinthistablearefrompartnershipsfromwhichInvestopediareceivescompensation.Thiscompensationmayimpacthowandwherelistingsappear.Investopediadoesnotincludealloffersavailableinthemarketplace. Provider Name Description RelatedTerms WhatYouShouldKnowAbouttheSilkRoute TheSilkRoutewasahistorictraderoutethatdatedfromthesecondcenturyB.C.untilthe14thcenturyA.D.andstretchedfromChinatotheMediterranean. more Brexit BrexitreferstotheU.K.'swithdrawalfromtheEuropeanUnionaftervotingtodosoinaJune2016referendum. more Capitalism Capitalismisaneconomicsystemwherebymonetarygoodsareownedbyindividualsorcompanies.Thepurestformofcapitalismisfreemarketorlaissez-fairecapitalism.Here,privateindividualsareunrestrainedindeterminingwheretoinvest,whattoproduce,andatwhichpricestoexchangegoodsandservices. more MiddleEastandNorthAfrica(MENA) TheMiddleEastandNorthAfrica(MENA)isaregionencompassingapproximately22countriesintheMiddleEastandNorthAfrica more Europe,Australasia,FarEast(EAFE)Definition EAFEisanacronymforEurope,Australasia,andtheFarEast,themostdevelopedareasoftheworldoutsideofNorthAmerica. more GulfTiger GulfTigerisacolloquialtermsometimesusedtorefertoDubai,whichisaMiddleEasterncity. more PartnerLinks RelatedArticles CompanyProfiles HowCoca-ColaMakesMoney:SyrupandFinishedProductSales CompanyProfiles HowChina'sLenovoMakesMoney InternationalMarkets InterestedinInvestinginAfrica?Here'sHow Economy Top25DevelopedandDevelopingCountries SustainableInvesting TheGreenInvestor:QuantifyingtheInvestingRisksofClimateChange(Episode1,Dec.9,2021) Oil TheBiggestOilProducersintheMiddleEast