The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes

East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal direction The four cardinal directions, or cardinal points, are the four main compass directions: north North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite o ...

and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographi ...

as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent.

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental l ...

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 The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu people, Manchu-led Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin (1616–1636), La ...

of the 19th and early 20th centuries, the term " Tàixī ()" – i.e., anything further west than the

Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

– 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 Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part ...

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 called

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on th ...

a "rich and interesting country in the Far East ()." The term was popularized during the period of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as th ...

as a blanket term for lands to the east of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region ...

. In pre-

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in ...

European geopolitics, ''Near East'' referred to the relatively nearby lands of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

, ''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, a

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomou ...

. 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 Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also co ...

'' (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

for "East"), ''

Eastern world The Eastern world, also known as the East or historically the Orient, is an umbrella term for various cultures or social structures, nations and philosophical systems, which vary depending on the context. It most often includes at least ...

'', 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

have been deemed to be part of the Far East. Commenting on such terms, John K. Fairbank and Edwin O. Reischauer (both professors of East Asian Studies at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan cler ...

) 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: ''Pamantasan ng Malayong Silanganan''), also referred to by its acronym FEU, is a private non-sectarian liberal arts university in Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( ...

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital city, capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is Cities of the Philippines#Independent cities, highly urbanize ...

, 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 The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

's Far East Fleet, for instance.

Territories and regions conventionally included in the Far East

{{clear {, class="wikitable sortable" ! Name of

region In geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science Science is a systematic endeavor tha ...

and
territory, with flag !

Area Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an ...

(km²) !

Population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish b ...

Population density Population density (in agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products ...

(per km²) ! Capital ! Forms of government ! Currency !

Official languages An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...

, - !colspan="8" , North Asia , - , {{flagicon, Russia

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

, align="right" , 6,952,600 , align="right" , 8,371,257 , align="right" , 1.2 , Moscow , Federal semi-presidential republic ,

Ruble The ruble (American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of varieties of the English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, w ...

, 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

Islamic Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the ce ...

Sultanate This article includes a list of successive Islamic states and Muslim dynasties beginning with the time of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (570–632 CE) and the early Muslim conquests that spread Islam outside of the Arabian Peninsula The ...

, Brunei dollar , Malay 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, ind ...

Constitutional monarchy A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies di ...

, 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 Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southea ...

, Presidential republic , Rupiah , Indonesian , - , {{flag, Laos , align="right" , 237,955 , align="right" , 6,758,353 , align="right" , 26.7 , Vientiane , Socialist Republic , Kip , Lao , - , {{flag, Malaysia , align="right" , 330,803 , align="right" , 32,049,700 , align="right" , 92.0 ,

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

, Federal constitutional monarchy,
Parliamentary democracy , Ringgit , Malay , - , {{flag, Burma, name=Myanmar (Burma) , align="right" , 676,578 , align="right" , 53,582,855 , align="right" , 76.0 ,

Naypyidaw Naypyidaw, officially spelled Nay Pyi Taw (; ), is the capital and third-largest city of Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British Engli ...

, Unitary presidential
constitutional republic , Kyat , Burmese , - , {{flag, Philippines , align="right" , 300,000 , align="right" , 100,981,437 , align="right" , 336.0 ,

, Unitary presidential
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 , Singapore dollar , Malay, English,
Chinese (Mandarin), and Tamil , - , {{flag, Thailand , align="right" , 513,120 , align="right" , 68,863,514 , align="right" , 132.1 ,

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a c ...

,
Parliamentary democracy ,

Baht The baht (; th, บาท, ; sign: ฿; code In communication Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer t ...

, Thai , - , {{flag, East Timor, name=Timor-Leste (East Timor) , align="right" , 15,410 , align="right" , 1,167,242 , align="right" , 78.0 , Dili , Parliamentary republic , 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 The Hong Kong dollar (, sign: HK$; code In communication Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to t ...

, Chinese,
English , - , {{flag, Japan , align="right" , 377,973 , align="right" , 126,440,000 , align="right" , 334.0 , Tokyo , Parliamentary democracy,

, Yen , None , - bgcolor=lightblue , {{flag, Macau , align="right" , 115.3 , align="right" , 653,100 , align="right" , 21,340.0 , ''

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is ...

'' , Special administrative region
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 Ulaanbaatar (; mn, Улаанбаатар, , "Red Hero"), previously anglicized as Ulan Bator, is the capital and most populous city of Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a ...

, Parliamentary republic , Tögrög , Mongolian , - , {{flag, North Korea , align="right" , 120,540 , align="right" , 25,368,620 , align="right" , 212.0 ,

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 popula ...

, 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 Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the K ...

, Unitary presidential republic , South Korean won , 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 A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as ...

(ROC) government, commonly referred to as

Taiwan 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 China, officially the People's R ...

. Claimed in whole by the PRC; see political status of Taiwan.
, align="right" , 36,197 , align="right" , 23,577,271 , align="right" , 650.0 ,

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City New Taipei City is a spec ...

Semi-presidential system A semi-presidential republic, is a republic A republic () is a " state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a " government, or system of government, of such ...

, 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