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Far East

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, seeFar East (disambiguation).
Far East
Location of the Far East, geographically defined
Chinese name
Traditional ChineseViễn Đông
Simplified ChineseViễn Đông
Literal meaningFar East
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinYuǎn Dōng
Bopomofoㄩㄢˇ ㄉㄨㄥ
Tongyong PinyinYuǎn Dōng
Yue: Cantonese
JyutpingJyun5 Dung1
Southern Min
HokkienPOJÓan-tong
Burmese name
Burmeseအရှေ့ဖျား ဒေသ
IPA[ʔəʃḛbjádèθa̰]
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese Alpha betViễn Đông
Chữ HánViễn Đông
Thai name
Thaiตะวันออกไกล
RTGSTawan-ok Klai
Korean name
Hangul극동
HanjaCực đông
Transcriptions
Revised RomanizationGeuk Dong
McCune–ReischauerKŭk Tong
Mongolian name
Mongolian CyrillicАлс Дорнод
Als Dornod
Japanese name
KanjiCực đông
Hiraganaきょくとう
Katakanaキョクトウ
Transcriptions
RomanizationKyoku Tō
Malay name
Malayتيمور جاءوه
Timur Jauh
Indonesian name
IndonesianTimur Jauh
Filipino name
TagalogIn Filipino: Kasilangánan
Silangánan (poetic)
Maláyong Silángan (literal)
Tamil name
Tamilதூர கிழக்கு
Tūra Kiḻakku
Portuguese name
PortugueseExtremo Oriente
Russian name
RussianДальний Восток
IPA:[ˈdalʲnʲɪjvɐˈstok]
RomanizationDál'niy Vostók
Lao name
Laoຕາເວັນອອກໄກ
Taven-ok kai
Khmer name
Khmerចុងបូព៌ា
Chong Bopea
Tetum name
TetumDok Lorosa'e

TheFar Eastis thegeographical regionthat encompasses the easternmost portion of theAsiancontinent, includingEast,North,andSoutheast Asia.[1][2]South Asiais sometimes also included in the definition of the term.[3][4]In modern times, the termFar Easthas widely fallen out of use and been substituted byAsia–Pacific,[5]while the termsMiddle EastandNear East,although now pertaining to different territories, are still commonly used today.

The term first came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 15th century, particularly theBritish,denoting the Far East as the "farthest" of the three "Easts", beyond theNear Eastand theMiddle East.[6]Likewise, during theQing dynastyof the 19th and early 20th centuries, the term "Tàixī(Âu Châu) "– i.e., anything further west than theArab world– was used to refer to the Western countries.

Since the mid-20th century, the term has mostly gone out of use for the region in international mass media outlets due to its perceivedEurocentricconnotations.[7][8][9]North Asia is sometimes excluded due to cultural and ethnic differences.[10]

The term is still used in Russia to refer to itssparsely populated easternmost regions(being "far" in this case from the political, economic and cultural centres,MoscowandSaint Petersburg).

Popularization

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Among Western Europeans, prior to thecolonial era,Far Eastreferred to anything further east than the Middle East. In the 16th century, KingJohn III of PortugalcalledIndiaa "rich and interesting country in the Far East[11](Extremo Oriente). "The term was popularized during the period of theBritish Empireas a blanket term for lands to the east ofBritish India.

In pre-World War IEuropean geopolitics,Near Eastreferred to the relatively nearby lands of theOttoman Empire,Middle Eastdenotednorth-western Southern Asian regionandCentral Asia,and theFar Eastmeant countries along the western Pacific Ocean and eastern Indian Ocean. Many European languages have analogous terms, such as the French (Extrême-Orient), Spanish (Extremo Oriente),Portuguese(Extremo Oriente), Italian (Estremo Oriente), German (Ferner Osten),Polish(Daleki Wschód),Norwegian(Det fjerne Østen) andDutch(Verre Oosten).

Cultural and geographic meaning

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Significantly, the term evokes cultural as well as geographic separation; theFar Eastis 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 subjectivity was well illustrated in 1939 byRobert Menzies,aPrime Minister of Australia.Reflecting on his country's geopolitical situation with the onset ofwar,Menzies commented that: "The problems of the Pacific are different. What Great Britain calls the Far East is to us the near north."[12]

Far East,in its usual sense, is comparable to terms such as theOrient(Latinfor "East" ),Eastern world,or simplythe East,all of which may refer, broadly, to East and South-East Asia in general. Occasionally, albeit more in the past, theRussian Far EastandSouth Asiahave been deemed to be part of the Far East.

Commenting on such terms,John K. FairbankandEdwin O. Reischauer(both professors of East Asian Studies atHarvard University) wrote, inEast Asia: The Great Tradition:

When Europeans traveled far to the east to reachCathay,Japan and theIndies,they naturally gave those distant regions the general name 'Far East.' Americans who reached China, Japan and Southeast Asia by sail and steam across the Pacific could, with equal logic, have called that area the 'Far West.' For the people who live in that part of the world, however, it is neither 'East' nor 'West' and certainly not 'Far.' A more generally acceptable term for the area is 'East Asia,' which is geographically more precise and does not imply the outdated notion that Europe is the center of the civilized world.[9]

Today, the term remains in the names of some longstanding institutions, including theFar Eastern Federal UniversityinVladivostok,Far Eastern UniversityinManila,theFar East Universityin South Korea, andFar East,the periodical magazine of theMissionary Society of St. Columban.Furthermore, the United States and United Kingdom have historically incorporatedFar Eastin the names of several military units and commands in the region, such as the BritishRoyal Navy'sFar East Fleet,for instance.

Territories and regions conventionally included in the Far East

[edit]
Name ofregion[13]and
territory, withflag 		Area
(km2) 		Population
 Population density
(per km2) 		Capital Forms of government Currency Official languages
North Asia
RussiaRussia[14][15] 6,952,600 7,975,762 1.1 Moscow[16] Federalsemi-presidentialrepublic Ruble Russian and
27 other co-official languages
East Asia
China[17] 9,598,094[18]
 1,371,821,094[19] 145.0 Beijing One-partysocialist republic Yuan (Renminbi) Chinese (Mandarin)[20]
Hong Kong 1,108 7,448,900 6,777.0 Hong Kong Special administrative region
of the People's Republic of China. 		Hong Kong dollar Chinese,[21]
English
Japan 377,973 126,440,000 334.0 Tokyo Parliamentary democracy,
Constitutional monarchy 		Yen Japanese[22]
Macau 115.3 653,100 21,340.0 Macau Special administrative region
of the People's Republic of China 		Pataca Chinese,[23]
Portuguese
Mongolia 1,566,000 3,081,677 1.97 Ulaanbaatar Semi-presidential system Tögrög Mongolian
North Korea 120,540 25,368,620 212.0 Pyongyang Jucheunitariandictatorship
Socialist Republic 		North Korean won Korean
South Korea 100,363 51,446,201 507.0 Seoul Unitarypresidentialrepublic South Korean won Korean
Taiwan[24] 36,197 23,577,271 650.0 Taipei Semi-presidential system New Taiwan dollar Chinese (Mandarin)
Southeast Asia
Brunei 5,765 417,200 72.11 Bandar Seri Begawan AbsoluteIslamicSultanate Brunei dollar Malayand English
Cambodia 181,035 16,245,729 81.8 Phnom Penh Constitutional monarchy Riel Khmer
Christmas Island[25] 135 1,692 12.5 Flying Fish Cove External territoryof Australia Australian dollar None[26]
Cocos (Keeling) Islands[27] 14 593 42.4 West Island External territoryof Australia Australian dollar None[28]
Indonesia 1,904,569 261,115,456 138.0 Jakarta Presidential republic Rupiah Indonesian
Laos 237,955 6,758,353 26.7 Vientiane Socialist Republic Kip Lao
Malaysia 330,803 32,049,700 92.0 Kuala Lumpur Federal constitutional monarchy,
Parliamentary democracy 		Ringgit Malay
Myanmar (Burma) 676,578 53,582,855 76.0 Naypyidaw Unitarypresidential
constitutional republic 		Kyat Burmese
Philippines 300,000 100,981,437 336.0 Manila Unitarypresidential
constitutional republic 		Philippine peso (Piso) Filipinoand English
Singapore 722.5 5,638,700 7,804.0 Singapore Parliamentary republic Singapore dollar Malay,English,
Chinese (Mandarin),andTamil
Thailand 513,120 68,863,514 132.1 Bangkok Constitutional monarchy,
Parliamentary democracy 		Baht Thai
Timor-Leste (East Timor) 15,410 1,167,242 78.0 Dili Parliamentary republic U.S. dollar/Centavo coins TetumandPortuguese
Vietnam 331,212 94,569,072 276.03 Hanoi One-party,
Socialist Republic 		đồng Vietnamese

Cities

[edit]
Further information:Cities of East Asia;List of cities in East, South, and Southeast Asia by population;andList of ports and harbors of the Pacific Ocean

See also

[edit]
Look upfar eastin Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Organizations

References

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  1. ^"Oxford Dictionaries – Dictionary, Thesaurus, & Grammar".askoxford.Archived fromthe originalon 29 September 2007.
  2. ^"What is the Far East?".WorldAtlas.1 August 2017.Retrieved9 June2022.
  3. ^"Far East, Middle East, Near East".13 July 2011. Archived fromthe originalon 15 July 2023.Retrieved15 July2023.
  4. ^"Far East Definition".Law Insider.Archived fromthe originalon 15 July 2023.Retrieved15 July2023.
  5. ^Farrell, Brian P.; Long, S.R. Joey; Ulbrich, David, eds. (18 July 2022),"From Far East to Asia Pacific: Great Powers and Grand Strategy 1900–1954",From Far East to Asia Pacific,De Gruyter Oldenbourg,doi:10.1515/9783110718713,ISBN978-3-11-071871-3,retrieved10 August2024
  6. ^"Where is the Middle East? The Near East? The Far East?".Dictionary.24 February 2012.Retrieved19 October2021.
  7. ^Fields, Larry."The Eurocentric Worldwiew: Misunderstanding East Asia"(PDF).asj.upd.edu.ph.p. 40.Archived(PDF)from the original on 22 October 2015.Retrieved9 June2022.
  8. ^"A menagerie of monikers".The Economist.7 January 2010.Retrieved9 July2011.
  9. ^abReischauer, Edwin and John K Fairbank,East Asia: The Great Tradition,1960.
  10. ^"East and Southeast Asia".ANDE.Retrieved19 October2021.
  11. ^Robert Sewell (1901).A Forgotten Empire: Vijayanagar; A Contribution to the History of India.Asian Educational Services.ISBN9788120601253.
  12. ^Menzies, R.G. (26 April 1939)."73 Broadcast Speech".Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.Archivedfrom the original on 20 March 2022.Retrieved13 October2023.
  13. ^Continental regions as perUN categorisations (map),except 12. Depending on definitions, various territories cited below (notes 6, 11–13, 15, 17–19, 21–23) may be inone or both ofAsia and Europe, Africa, or Oceania.
  14. ^Russia is atranscontinental countrylocated in Eastern Europe and North Asia, but is considered European historically, culturally, and ethnically, and the vast majority of its population (78%) lives within itsEuropean part.
  15. ^Russian Far East only.
  16. ^Moscow is located in Europe.
  17. ^The state is commonly known as simply "China", which is subsumed by theeponymous entity and civilisation (China).Figures given are forMainland Chinaonly, and do not include Hong Kong, Macau, andTaiwan.
  18. ^Includes PRC-administered area (Aksai ChinandTrans-Karakoram Tract,both territories claimed by India).
  19. ^Information listed is forMainland Chinaonly. TheSpecial administrative region(i.e. Hong Kong and Macau), the island territories under the control of the Republic of China (which includes the islands ofTaiwan,Quemoy,andMatsu) are excluded.
  20. ^"Law of the People's Republic of China on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language (Order of the President No.37)".Chinese Government. 31 October 2000. Archived fromthe originalon 24 July 2013.Retrieved21 June2013.For purposes of this Law, the standard spoken and written Chinese language means Putonghua (a common speech with pronunciation based on the Beijing dialect) and the standardized Chinese characters.
  21. ^No specific variety of Chinese is official in the territory. Residents predominantly speakCantonese,thede factoregional standard.
  22. ^Japan'sNational Diethave not officially enacted a law stating that the official language is Japanese.
  23. ^No specific variety of Chinese is official in the territory. Residents predominantly speakCantonese,thede factoregional standard.
  24. ^Figures are forthe areaunder thede factocontrol of theRepublic of China(ROC) government, commonly referred to asTaiwan.Claimed in whole by the PRC; seepolitical status of Taiwan.
  25. ^Christmas Islandis an External Territory of Australia.
  26. ^English does not havede jurestatus in Christmas Island and in Australia, but it is the de facto language of communication in government.
  27. ^TheCocos (Keeling) Islandsare an External Territory of Australia.
  28. ^English does not havede jurestatus in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and in Australia, but it is the de facto language of communication in government.

Further reading

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  • Burghart, Sabine, Denis Park, and Liudmila Zakharova. "The DPRK's economic exchanges with Russia and the EU since 2000: an analysis of institutional effects and the case of the Russian Far East."Asia Europe Journal18.3 (2020): 281–303. on North Korea
  • Clyde, Paul Hibbert, and Burton F. Beers.The Far East: A History of Western Impacts and Eastern Responses, 1830–1975(1975).online
  • Crofts, Alfred.A history of the Far East(1958)online
  • Fairbank, John K., Edwin Reischauer, and Albert M. Craig.East Asia: The great traditionandEast Asia: The modern transformation(1960) [2 vol 1960] online, famous textbook.
  • Green, Michael.By More Than Providence: Grand Strategy and American Power in the Asia Pacific Since 1783(2019)excerpt
  • Iriye, Akira.After Imperialism; The Search for a New Order in the Far East 1921–1931.(1965).
  • Keay, John.Empire's End: A History of the Far East from High Colonialism to Hong Kong(Scribner, 1997).online
  • Louis, Wm Roger. "The road to Singapore: British imperialism in the Far East, 1932–42." inThe fascist challenge and the policy of appeasement(Routledge, 2021) pp. 352–388.
  • Macnair, Harley F. & Donald Lach.Modern Far Eastern International Relations.(2nd ed 1955) 1950 edition online free, 780pp; focus on 1900–1950.
  • Norman, Henry.The Peoples and Politics of the Far East: Travels and studies in the British, French, Spanish and Portuguese colonies, Siberia, China, Japan, Korea, Siam and Malaya(1904)online
  • Paine, S. C. M.The Wars for Asia, 1911–1949(2014)excerpt
  • Ring, George C.Religions of the Far East: Their History to the Present Day(Kessinger Publishing, 2006).
  • Solomon, Richard H., and Masataka Kosaka, eds.The Soviet Far East military buildup: nuclear dilemmas and Asian security(Routledge, 2021).
  • Stephan, John J.The Russian Far East(Stanford University Press, 2022).
  • Vinacke, Harold M.A History of the Far East in Modern Times(1964)online free
  • Vogel, Ezra.China and Japan: Facing History(2019)excerpt
  • Woodcock, George.The British in the Far East(1969) online.
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