The term Levant was originally applied to the "[[Mediterranean]] lands east of Italy", from the Middle French word levant meaning "the Orient". Historically, the "trade on the Levant" between Western Europe and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire Ottoman Empire] was of great economic importance. An imprecise term, Levant refers to an area of [[cultural]] habitation rather than to a specific geographic region, and its [[meaning]] shifts according to historical and cultural [[reference]] and preference.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levant] | The term Levant was originally applied to the "[[Mediterranean]] lands east of Italy", from the Middle French word levant meaning "the Orient". Historically, the "trade on the Levant" between Western Europe and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire Ottoman Empire] was of great economic importance. An imprecise term, Levant refers to an area of [[cultural]] habitation rather than to a specific geographic region, and its [[meaning]] shifts according to historical and cultural [[reference]] and preference.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levant] |