| Far East Countries | |||||||||||||
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| Location of the Far East narrow definition, to the exclusion of South Asia and Western China |
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| Chinese name | |||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 遠東 | ||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 远东 | ||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Far East | ||||||||||||
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| Filipino name | |||||||||||||
| Tagalog | Silanganan (poetic) Malayong Silangan (literal) |
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| Indonesian name | |||||||||||||
| Indonesian | Timur Jauh | ||||||||||||
| Japanese name | |||||||||||||
| Kanji | 極東 | ||||||||||||
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| Korean name | |||||||||||||
| Hangul | 극동 | ||||||||||||
| Hanja | 極東 | ||||||||||||
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| Malay name | |||||||||||||
| Malay | Timur Jauh | ||||||||||||
| Portuguese name | |||||||||||||
| Portuguese | Extremo Oriente | ||||||||||||
| Russian name | |||||||||||||
| Russian | Дальний Восток | ||||||||||||
| Thai name | |||||||||||||
| Thai | ตะวันออกไกล Tawan-oak klai |
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| Vietnamese name | |||||||||||||
| Quốc ngữ | Viễn Đông | ||||||||||||
| Chữ nôm | 遠東 (Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary) | ||||||||||||
| Hán tự | 遠東 | ||||||||||||
The Far East is a term used in English (with equivalents in various other languages of Europe and Asia, Chinese 遠東 yuǎn dōng literally translating to "far east") mostly equivalent to East Asia (including the Russian Far East) and Southeast Asia,[1] sometimes to the inclusion of South Asia for economic and cultural reasons.[2]
"Far East" came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century, denoting Eastern Asia as the "farthest" of the three "easts", beyond the Near East and the Middle East. For the same reason, ancient Chinese people called western countries "Tàixī (泰西)" - i.e. anything further west than India. The term is no longer commonly used, as it connotes the "orientalism" of the 19th century as described by Edward Said. Today terms like East Asia and the Orient are more common.[3]
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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.
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."[4]
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.
Concerning the term, John K. Fairbank and Edwin O. Reischauer, professors of East Asian Studies at Harvard University, wrote (in East Asia: The Great Tradition): "When Europeans traveled far to the east to reach Cathay, Japan and the Indies, 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."[5]
The term remains in use, alongside more specific terms such as East Asia and Southeast Asia, or Pacific Rim, and it features in 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 Review. Furthemore, the United Kingdom and United States of America have historically used Far East for several military units and commands in the region:
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Távol-Kelet
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The term Far East means countries of East Asia.[1] It became used in the English language during the period of the British Empire for lands to the east of British India.
Before World War I, the Near East meant relatively nearby lands of the Ottoman Empire, Middle East northwestern South Asia and Central Asia, and Far East 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, and Dutch Verre Oosten.
Far East is never used for the culturally Western nations of Australia and New Zealand, which lie even farther to the east of Europe than much of East Asia.
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| Name of region[2] 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 |
| File:Flag of the People' China[3] | 9,584,492 | 1,384,303,705 | 134.0 | Beijing |
| Hong Kong (China)[4] | 1,092 | 7,303,334 | 6,688.0 | — |
| Indonesia[5] | 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)[6] | 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[7] |
| North Korea | 120,540 | 22,224,195 | 184.4 | Pyongyang |
| Philippines | 300,000 | 84,525,639 | 281.8 | Manila |
| Russia[8] | 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)[9] | 15,007 | 952,618 | 63.5 | Dili |
| Taiwan[10] | 35,980 | 22,548,009 | 626.7 | Taipei |
| Vietnam | 329,560 | 81,098,416 | 246.1 | Hanoi |
Yuri Vladivostok 20030804
Vladivostok, |
0322 Pyongyang Turm der Juche Idee
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   | From Turkey to Tibet - From Turkey to Tibet | World news | guardian.co.uk |
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