Asian

The term Asian in a geographical sense simply refers to something or someone from Asia. However the term has evolved in popular usage to often mean a person from a specific part of Asia rather than the continent as a whole. Its precise use varies depending on who is using it, where it is being used, and in which context it is being used in.

When is an Asian not an Asian?

Despite the fact that these people are technically 'Asians' by geographical location on the map, they have generally have not been labelled as such in Western society.

Related Topics:
Map - West

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'West Asians'

The term "West Asian" is now sometimes used to refer to people from Middle Eastern nations. This term is used mostly in Australasia where the "Middle East" is actually to the west, and so the term "Middle East" is geographically confusing.

Related Topics:
West Asia - Middle Eastern

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Though in Western society, Middle Easterners rarely evoke the term Asian, the original Greek name Asia referred to Asia Minor, where we would now consider as Middle East. An example of this is in Alexander the Great's title King of Asia.

Related Topics:
Middle Easterner - Greek - Asia - Asia Minor - Middle East - Alexander the Great - King of Asia

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Russians

Although some ethnic Russians hail from Asia (descendants of people shipped off to Siberia centuries ago, among other settlers), these people are not racially classified as "Asian" in most countries (including the United States) because their ancestors were Caucasian, rather than Mongoloid. However, Russian citizens who are Mongoloid, those who are descended from Siberian ethnci parentage, as well as the Russian geographical segment of the trans-continental Eskimo population, the Yuit or Siberian Yupik - that is, Northeast Asians - also are not classified as "Asian," for no apparent reason, although this may related to Cold War classification of people in the former USSR as Soviets or Russians, to the exclusion of other ethnic labels.

Related Topics:
Russians - Siberia - Mongoloid - Eskimo - Siberian Yupik - Cold War

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Filipinos

In the United States Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), Filipinos are reocgnized as belonging to different entities from both Asian and Pacific Islander, hence, there is a 'Filipino' option included. The United States government decided to create this distinction because it recognizes the variety of peoples living in the Philippines, some of which are not Asian, but are descended from European, Middle Eastern, or American parentage. In the Philippines, most Filipinos consider themselves as mixtures of Pacific Islander(Austronesian) and Asian, with some European, Middle Eastern, and/or American blood.

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