The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The term first came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 15th century, particularly the British, denoting the Far East as the "farthest" of the three "Easts", beyond the

Near East The ''Near East''; he, המזרח הקרוב; arc, ܕܢܚܐ ܩܪܒ; fa, خاور نزدیک, Xāvar-e nazdik; tr, Yakın Doğu is a geographical term which roughly encompasses a transcontinental region in Western Asia, that was once the hist ...

and the Middle East. Likewise, during the Qing dynasty of the 19th and early 20th centuries, the term " Tàixī ()" – i.e., anything further west than the Arab 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 eurocentric connotations.Reischauer, Edwin and John K Fairbank, ''East Asia: The Great Tradition,'' 1960. The Russian Far East is often excluded due to cultural and ethnic differences, and is often considered as part of North Asia or Siberia instead.

Popularization

Among Western Europeans, prior to the colonial era, ''Far East'' referred to anything further east than the Middle East. In the 16th century,

King John III of Portugal John III ( pt, João III ; 7 June 1502 – 11 June 1557), nicknamed The Pious ( Portuguese: ''o Piedoso''), was the King of Portugal and the Algarves from 1521 until his death in 1557. He was the son of King Manuel I and Maria of Aragon, the ...

called India a "rich and interesting country in the Far East ()." The term was popularized during the period of the British Empire as a blanket term for lands to the east of British India. In pre- World War I European geopolitics, ''Near East'' referred to the relatively nearby lands of the Ottoman Empire, ''Middle East'' denoted north-western South Asia and Central Asia, and the ''Far East'' meant countries along the western Pacific Ocean and eastern Indian Ocean. Many European languages have analogous terms, such as the French ('), Spanish ('), Portuguese ('), German ('), Italian ('), Polish ('), Norwegian (') and Dutch (').

Cultural and 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 subjectivity was well illustrated in 1939 by

Robert Menzies The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...

, a

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the Australian Government, federal government of Australia and is also accountable to Parliament of A ...

. Reflecting on 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." ''Far East'', in its usual sense, is comparable to terms such as the ''

Orient The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the c ...

'' ( Latin for "East"), '' Eastern world'', or simply ''the East'', all of which may refer, broadly, to East and South-East Asia in general. Occasionally, albeit more in the past, the Russian Far East and South Asia have been deemed to be part of the Far East. Commenting on such terms,

John K. Fairbank John King Fairbank (May 24, 1907 – September 14, 1991) was an American historian of China and United States–China relations. He taught at Harvard University from 1936 until his retirement in 1977. He is credited with building the field of Ch ...

and

Edwin O. Reischauer Edwin Oldfather Reischauer (; October 15, 1910 – September 1, 1990) was an American diplomat, educator, and professor at Harvard University. Born in Tokyo to American educational missionaries, he became a leading scholar of the history and cul ...

(both professors of East Asian Studies at Harvard University) wrote, in ''East Asia: The Great Tradition'': Today, the term remains in the names of some longstanding institutions, including the Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok,

Far Eastern University Far Eastern University (Filipino language, Filipino: ''Pamantasan ng Malayong Silanganan''), also referred to by its acronym FEU, is a Private university, private non-sectarian Liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Manila, Philippines ...

in Manila, the Far East University in South Korea, and ''Far East'', the periodical magazine of the Missionary Society of St. Columban. Furthermore, the United States and United Kingdom have historically incorporated ''Far East'' in the names of several military units and commands in the region, such as the British Royal Navy's Far East Fleet, for instance.

Territories and regions conventionally included in the Far East

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(km²) ! Population
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(per km²) ! Capital ! Forms of government ! Currency ! Official languages , - !colspan="8" , North Asia , - , {{flagicon, Russia Russia , align="right" , 6,952,600 , align="right" , 8,371,257 , align="right" , 1.2 , Moscow , Federal semi-presidential republic , Ruble , Russian and
27 other co-official languages , - !colspan="8" , Southeast Asia , - , {{flag, Brunei , align="right" , 5,765 , align="right" , 417,200 , align="right" , 72.11 , Bandar Seri Begawan ,

Absolute Absolute may refer to: Companies * Absolute Entertainment, a video game publisher * Absolute Radio, (formerly Virgin Radio), independent national radio station in the UK * Absolute Software Corporation, specializes in security and data risk manage ...

Islamic Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the mai ...

Sultanate ,

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and English , - , {{flag, Cambodia , align="right" , 181,035 , align="right" , 16,245,729 , align="right" , 81.8 ,

Phnom Penh Phnom Penh (; km, ភ្នំពេញ, ) is the capital and most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its economic, indus ...

, Constitutional monarchy , Riel , Khmer , - bgcolor=lightblue , {{flag, Christmas Island , align="right" , 135 , align="right" , 1,843 , align="right" , 10.39 , Flying Fish Cove , External territory of Australia , Australian dollar , None , - bgcolor=lightblue , {{flag, Cocos (Keeling) Islands , align="right" , 14 , align="right" , 544 , align="right" , 43.0 , West Island , External territory of Australia , Australian dollar , None , - , {{flag, Indonesia , align="right" , 1,904,569 , align="right" , 261,115,456 , align="right" , 138.0 ,

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

, Presidential republic , Rupiah , Indonesian , - , {{flag, Laos , align="right" , 237,955 , align="right" , 6,758,353 , align="right" , 26.7 , Vientiane , Socialist Republic ,

Kip Kip, KIP or kips may refer to: Athletics * Kip (artistic gymnastics), a basic skill on the women's uneven bars * Kip (trampolining), a coaching skill used in trampolining * Kip-up, an acrobatic manoeuvre used in martial arts and gymnastics People ...

, Lao , - , {{flag, Malaysia , align="right" , 330,803 , align="right" , 32,049,700 , align="right" , 92.0 , Kuala Lumpur , Federal constitutional monarchy,
Parliamentary democracy ,

Ringgit The Malaysian ringgit (; plural: ringgit; symbol: RM; currency code: MYR; Malay name: ''Ringgit Malaysia''; formerly the Malaysian dollar) is the currency of Malaysia. It is divided into 100 ''sen'' (formerly ''cents''). The ringgit is issued ...

, - , {{flag, Burma, name=Myanmar (Burma) , align="right" , 676,578 , align="right" , 53,582,855 , align="right" , 76.0 , Naypyidaw , Unitary

presidential President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese fu ...

constitutional republic , Kyat ,

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, - , {{flag, Philippines , align="right" , 300,000 , align="right" , 100,981,437 , align="right" , 336.0 , Manila , Unitary

constitutional republic , Philippine peso (Piso) , Filipino and English , - , {{flag, Singapore , align="right" , 722.5 , align="right" , 5,638,700 , align="right" , 7,804.0 , Singapore ,

Parliamentary republic A parliamentary republic is a republic that operates under a parliamentary system of government where the executive branch (the government) derives its legitimacy from and is accountable to the legislature (the parliament). There are a number ...

, Singapore dollar ,

, English,
Chinese (Mandarin), and Tamil , - , {{flag, Thailand , align="right" , 513,120 , align="right" , 68,863,514 , align="right" , 132.1 , Bangkok , Constitutional monarchy,
Parliamentary democracy , Baht ,

Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...

, - , {{flag, East Timor, name=Timor-Leste (East Timor) , align="right" , 15,410 , align="right" , 1,167,242 , align="right" , 78.0 ,

Dili Dili (Portuguese/Tetum: ''Díli'') is the capital, largest city of East Timor and the second largest city in Timor islands after Kupang (Indonesia). It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed in ...

, U.S. dollar / Centavo coins , Tetum and Portuguese , - , {{flag, Vietnam , align="right" , 331,212 , align="right" , 94,569,072 , align="right" , 276.03 , Hanoi , One-party,
Socialist Republic , đồng , Vietnamese , - !colspan="8" , East Asia , - , {{flag, China , align="right" , 9,598,094
, align="right" , 1,371,821,094 , align="right" , 145.0 , Beijing , One-party socialist republic , Yuan (Renminbi) , Chinese (Mandarin){{cite web , url=http://www.gov.cn/english/laws/2005-09/19/content_64906.htm , title=Law of the People's Republic of China on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language (Order of the President No.37) , publisher=Chinese Government , date=31 October 2000 , access-date=21 June 2013 , quote=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. , archive-date=24 July 2013 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724204951/http://www.gov.cn/english/laws/2005-09/19/content_64906.htm , url-status=dead , - bgcolor=lightblue , {{flag, Hong Kong , align="right" , 1,108 , align="right" , 7,448,900 , align="right" , 6,777.0 , ''Hong Kong'' , Special administrative region
of the People's Republic of China. , Hong Kong dollar , Chinese,
English , - , {{flag, Japan , align="right" , 377,973 , align="right" , 126,440,000 , align="right" , 334.0 , Tokyo , Parliamentary democracy,
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of the People's Republic of China , Pataca , Chinese,
Portuguese , - , {{flag, Mongolia , align="right" , 1,566,000 , align="right" , 3,081,677 , align="right" , 1.97 , Ulaanbaatar ,

, Tögrög , Mongolian , - , {{flag, North Korea , align="right" , 120,540 , align="right" , 25,368,620 , align="right" , 212.0 , Pyongyang , Juche unitarian dictatorship
Socialist Republic , North Korean won , Korean , - , {{flag, South Korea , align="right" , 100,363 , align="right" , 51,446,201 , align="right" , 507.0 , Seoul , Unitary

republic ,

South Korean won The Korean Republic won, unofficially the South Korean won ( Symbol: ₩; Code: KRW; Korean: 대한민국 원) is the official currency of South Korea. A single won is divided into 100 jeon, the monetary subunit. The jeon is no longer used f ...

, Korean , - , {{flag, Taiwan Figures are for the area under the ''de facto'' control of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

(ROC) government, commonly referred to as Taiwan. Claimed in whole by the PRC; see

political status of Taiwan The controversy surrounding the political status of Taiwan or the Taiwan issue is a result of World War II, the second phase of the Chinese Civil War (1945–1949), and the Cold War. The basic issue hinges on who the islands of Taiwan, Peng ...

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, New Taiwan dollar , Chinese (Mandarin)

Cities

{{Further, Cities of East Asia, List of cities in East, South and Southeast Asia by population, List of ports and harbors of the Pacific Ocean

References

{{Reflist, 30em

Popularization

Cultural and geographic meaning

Territories and regions conventionally included in the Far East

Cities

See also

Organizations

References

Further reading