Far East

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The Far East is a term often used by some people in the Western world to refer to the countries of East Asia.^[1] It is a Eurocentric term that nevertheless retains a degree of popular usage. "Far East" came because from Europe the Eastern Asia is the "farthest" of the "east" literally near the Pacific Ocean.

[edit] Popularisation

The term Far East was 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, Portuguese Extremo Oriente, German Ferner Osten, Italian Estremo Oriente, Polish Daleki Wschód, and Dutch Verre Oosten.

[edit] Cultural as well as geographic meaning

Significantly, the term evokes cultural as well as geographic separation; the Far East is not just geographically distant, but also culturally exotic. It never refers, for instance, to the culturally Western nations of Australia and New Zealand, which lie even farther to the east of Europe than East Asia itself. This combination of cultural and geographic subjectivism was well illustrated in 1939 by the Prime Minister of Australia, R. G Menzies. Reflecting upon his country's geopolitical concerns with the onset of war, Menzies commented that:

"The problems of the Pacific are different. What Great Britain calls the Far East is to us the near north."^[2]

Far East in its usual sense is comparable to terms such as the Orient, which means East; the Eastern world; or simply the East. South East Asia and the Russian Far East might now be included in the Far East to some extent due to recent Chinese migration to Russia, and the Korean diaspora in Russia.

[edit] Eurocentrism

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 also 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.

Despite its shortcomings, the term is unlikely to fade from use completely due to historical usage within the names of many Asian-based commercial enterprises and institutions. Examples include: Far Eastern National University in Vladivostok, Far Eastern University in the City of Manila, South Korean's Far East University, and the Hong Kong-based Far Eastern Economic ReviewNORTh America have historically used Far East for several military units and commands in the region:

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

[edit] Territories and regions conventionally included under the term Far East

Name of region[3] and territory, with flag	Area (km²)	Population (1 July 2002 est.)	Population density (per km²)	Capital
Brunei	5,770	350,898	60.8	Bandar Seri Begawan
Cambodia	181,040	12,775,324	70.6	Phnom Penh
China[4]	9,584,492	1,384,303,705	134.0	Beijing
Hong Kong (China)[5]	1,092	7,303,334	6,688.0	—
Indonesia[6]	1,419,588	227,026,560	159.9	Jakarta
Japan	377,835	126,974,628	336.1	Tokyo
Laos	236,800	5,777,180	24.4	Vientiane
Macau (China)[7]	25	461,833	18,473.3	—
Malaysia	329,750	22,662,365	68.7	Kuala Lumpur
Mongolia	1,565,000	2,694,432	1.7	Ulaanbaatar
Myanmar (Burma)	678,500	42,238,224	62.3	Naypyidaw[8]
North Korea	120,540	22,224,195	184.4	Pyongyang
Philippines	300,000	84,525,639	281.8	Manila
Russia[9]	13,115,200	39,129,729	3.0	Moscow
Singapore	704	4,483,900	6,369.0	Singapore
South Korea	98,480	48,324,000	490.7	Seoul
Thailand	514,000	62,354,402	121.3	Bangkok
Timor-Leste (East Timor)[10]	15,007	952,618	63.5	Dili
Taiwan[11]	35,980	22,548,009	626.7	Taipei
Vietnam	332,885	81,098,416	246.1	Hanoi

[edit] Gallery

Shanghai, China, PRC	Tokyo, Japan	Singapore City, Singapore	Seoul, Korea, ROK
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam	Osaka, Japan	Vladivostok, Russian Far East, Russia	Manila (Makati), Philippines
Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China	Guangzhou, China, PRC	Jakarta, Indonesia	Hanoi, Vietnam
Phnom Penh, Cambodia	Yangon (Rangoon), Myanmar (Burma)	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Macau (Macao), PRC
Bangkok, Thailand	Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Republic of China	Pyongyang, Korea, DPRK	Hong Kong, PRC
Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei	Ulan Bator (Ulaanbaatar), Mongolia	Kuching, Malaysia	Busan (Pusan), Korea, ROK
Vientiane, Laos	Surabaya, Indonesia	Pattaya, Thailand	Cebu City, Philippines

[edit] See also

Look up Far East in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

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

[edit] References

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