Far East

Far East is an inexact term often used for East Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia combined, sometimes including also the easternmost territories of Russia, i.e. the Russian Far East, as well as the western Pacific Ocean region.

Far East is sometimes used synonymously with East Asia, which may be defined in geographic or cultural terms to Russia's East, central and coastal China, Taiwan, Japan, both north and south Korea, the Philippines and Vietnam, as well as the states and cultures of the rest of Southeast Asia, such as Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, East Timor, and to a much lesser extent, South Asia such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bhutan.

It was well popularized in the English language during the period of the British Empire as a blanket term for lands to the east of British India. Prior to World War I, the Near East referred to relatively nearby lands of the Ottoman Empire, Middle East to northwestern South Asia and Central Asia, and Far East for countries along the western Pacific Ocean and countries along the eastern Indian Ocean. Many European languages have analogous terms, such as the French Extrême-Orient, Spanish Extremo Oriente, German Ferner Osten, Italian Estremo oriente, and Dutch Verre Oosten.

In Orientalist usage, it evokes cultural, as well as geographic separation, an exotic in addition to a distant locale. Far East never refers, for instance, to the culturally western nations of Australia and New Zealand, which lie even farther to the east of Europe than much of East Asia. Far East in this sense is comparable to terms such as the Orient, which means East; the Eastern world; or simply the East. East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia have a close cultural commonality, including art and religious and philosophical systems; for instance, Indian literature, mythology, religion and art has influenced the region.

The United Kingdom and United States historically used "Far East" for several units and commands in the region:

• British Far East Command
• RAF Far East Air Force
• U.S. Far East Air Force
• U.S. Far East Command
• The U.S. Far East Network

In addition, the post-World War II trials of Imperial Japanese war criminals was titled the International Military Tribunal for the Far East.

Use of the term in the Western world has become somewhat circumscribed due to its Eurocentrism and association with European imperialism in Asia. The more precise East Asia and Southeast Asia, or larger umbrella terms, such as Pacific Rim, are preferred in cultural and economic studies. The region's growth has given new meaning to the term as meaning the Far East of the world (i.e. the easternmost continental land in the Eastern Hemisphere) rather than to the Far East of Europe. Many commercial enterprises and institutions are named "Far East," like that of Far Eastern National University in Vladivostok, Far Eastern University in the City of Manila, and as South Korean's Far East University, and the Hong Kong-based Far Eastern Economic Review.

Gallery

Shanghai, China, People's Republic of China	Seoul, Korea	Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China	Shenzhen, China, People's Republic of China
Tokyo, Japan	Hong Kong, People's Republic of China	Manila, Philippines	Mumbai, India
Bangkok, Thailand	Singapore	Karachi, Pakistan	Guangzhou, China, People's Republic of China

See also

• Sinosphere
• Indosphere
• Four Asian Tigers
• East Asia
• South Asia
• Southeast Asia
• Russian Far East

References

• Whitaker, Brian. "From Turkey to Tibet," The Guardian, February 23, 2004.

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