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{{Short description|Countries predominantly situated in Asia}}
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{{Use American English|date=July 2020}}
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[[File:Modern Asia (1796).tif|thumb|The Eastern world in a 1796 map, which included the continents of Asia and [[Australia (continent)|Australia]] (then known as [[New Holland (Australia)|New Holland]]).]]
The '''Eastern world''', also known as '''the East''' or historically '''the [[Orient]]''', is an [[Hyponymy and hypernymy|umbrella term]] for various [[culture]]s or [[Society|social structures]], nations and [[Philosophy|philosophical systems]], which vary depending on the context. It most often includes [[Asia]], the [[Mediterranean region]] and the [[Arab world]], specifically in historical ([[Post-classical history|pre-modern]]) contexts, and in modern times in the context of [[Orientalism]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Thompson |first=William |author2=Joseph Hickey |year=2005 |title=Society in Focus |publisher=[[Pearson plc]] |location =Boston |id=0-205-41365-X}}</ref> The Eastern world is often seen as a [[Counterpart theory|counterpart]] to the [[Western world]].

The various regions included in the term are varied, hard to generalize, and do not have a single shared common heritage. Although the various parts of the Eastern world share many common threads, most notably being in the "[[Global South]]", they have never historically defined themselves collectively. The term originally had a literal geographic meaning, referring to the eastern part of the [[Old World]], contrasting the cultures and civilizations of Asia with those of Western Europe (or the [[Western world]]).

Conceptually, the boundary between east and west is more cultural and historical, rather than geographical, as a result of which [[Australia]] and [[New Zealand]], which were founded as [[History of Australia (1788–1850)|British settler colonies]], are typically grouped with the Western world despite being geographically closer to the Eastern world, while the [[Soviet Central Asia|Central Asian nations]] of the former [[Soviet Union]], are grouped in the East.<ref name=Mestrovic>{{cite book | last = Meštrovic | first = Stjepan | title = Balkanization of the West: The Confluence of Postmodernism and Postcommunism | publisher = [[Routledge]] | year = 1994 | isbn = 0-203-34464-2 | page = 61}}</ref> Other than much of Asia and [[Africa]], Western Europe has absorbed almost all of the societies of the [[Americas]], and [[Oceania]] into the Western world because of [[settler colonialism]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.brasembottawa.org/en/culture_academic/fine_arts.html |title=Embassy of Brazil – Ottawa |publisher=Brasembottawa.org |access-date=2011-05-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429013145/http://www.brasembottawa.org/en/culture_academic/fine_arts.html |archive-date=2011-04-29 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Falcoff |first=Mark |url=http://www.aei.org/publications/pubID.11413/pub_detail.asp |title=Chile Moves On |publisher=AEI |access-date=2011-05-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417075124/http://www.aei.org/publications/pubID.11413/pub_detail.asp |archive-date=2009-04-17 }}</ref>

Countries such as the [[Philippines]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Heydarian |first=Richard |date=2015-01-12 |title=Philippines' Shallow Capitalism: Westernization Without Prosperity |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-javad-heydarian/philippines-shallow-capit_b_6441868.html |access-date=19 November 2016 |website=The Huffington Post}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Hunt|first=Chester L.|title=The 'Americanization' Process in the Philippines |url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/45071116 |journal=[[India Quarterly]]|year=1956 |volume=12|issue=2|pages=117–130|doi=10.1177/097492845601200204 |jstor=45071116 |s2cid=152671922 |access-date=July 5, 2022|url-access=subscription}}</ref> which are geographically located in the Eastern world, may be considered [[Westernization|Western]] in some aspects of their society, culture and politics due to immigration and historical cultural influences from the [[United States]] and [[Western Europe]].

== Overview ==
{{overview section|date=December 2025}}
As with other regions of the world, Asia consists of many different, extremely diverse countries, ethnic groups and cultures.<ref>{{cite web|last=Cartmill|first=Matt|title=The Status of the Race Concept in Physical Anthropology|date=September 1998|access-date=16 October 2021|url=https://pages.ucsd.edu/~jmoore/courses/anth42web/CartmillRaceConcept1998.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627144817/https://pages.ucsd.edu/~jmoore/courses/anth42web/CartmillRaceConcept1998.pdf|archive-date=27 June 2021|page=651-660}}</ref> This concept is further debated because in some [[English-speaking world|English-speaking countries]], common vernacular associates the "Asian" identity to people of East Asian origin and Southeast Asian origin,<ref>For example, "Asian and Indian people" are referred to in the New Zealand Heart Foundation's [http://www.pickthetick.org.nz/bmi/ BMI calculator] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090531222922/http://www.pickthetick.org.nz/bmi/ |date=2009-05-31 }}.</ref><ref name="Asia Society">{{cite web|last=Schiavenza|first=Matt|title= Why Some 'Brown Asians' Feel Left Out of the Asian American Conversation|url=https://asiasociety.org/blog/asia/why-some-brown-asians-feel-left-out-asian-american-conversation|date=October 19, 2016|access-date=June 14, 2022|website=[[Asia Society]]|quote=And that, unfortunately, did not include any South Asians and only one Filipino. That caused a bit of an outcry. It raises a legitimate issue, of course, one about how 'brown Asians' often feel excluded from the Asian American conversation.}}</ref> while in some countries the "Asian" identity is associated with people of South Asian origin, and in other contexts, Asian regions such as the [[Indian subcontinent]] are included with East Asia. [[West Asia]] (which includes [[Israel]], part of the [[Arab world]], [[Iran]], etc.), which may or may not see themselves part of the Eastern world, are sometimes considered "Middle Eastern" and separate from Asia.<ref>{{cite book |last=Khatib |first=Lina |author-link=Lina Khatib |title=Filming the modern Middle East: politics in the cinemas of Hollywood and the Arab world |volume=57 | series=Library of Modern Middle East Studies, Library of International Relations |publisher=[[I.B. Tauris]] |year=2006 |isbn=1-84511-191-5 |pages= 166–167, 173}}</ref>

The division between 'East' and 'West', formerly referred to as [[Orient]] and [[Occident]], is a product of European cultural history and of the distinction between [[Christendom|Christian Europe]] and the cultures beyond it to the East. With the [[European colonization of the Americas]], the [[East-West dichotomy]] became global. The concept of an Eastern, "Indian" ([[Indies]]) or "[[Oriental]]" sphere was emphasized by ideas of racial as well as religious and cultural differences. Such distinctions were articulated by Westerners in the scholarly tradition known as [[Orientalism]], which is notable in being a Western conception of a unified Eastern world not limited to any specific region(s), but rather all of Asia together.<ref>Tromans, 6</ref><ref>from the Latin ''oriens''; ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]''</ref>

== Culture ==
{{unsourced section|date=July 2025}}
Eastern culture, also known as Eastern civilization, Asian civilization, Oriental culture, Eastern society, or simply the East, refers to the [[Cultural heritage|internally diverse culture]] of the Eastern world. The term "Eastern" encompasses the [[social norms]], [[ethical value]]s, [[Tradition|traditional customs]], [[belief systems]], [[political system]]s, [[Cultural artifact|artifacts]] and [[technology|technologies]] primarily rooted in [[History of Asia|Asian]] history. There are subgroups within Eastern culture, such as countries within East Asia, Southeast Asia, or South Asia, as well as [[syncretism]] within these regions. These include the spread of [[Eastern religions]] such as [[Buddhism]] or [[Hinduism]], the usage of [[Chinese characters]] or [[Brahmic scripts]], language families, the fusion of cuisines, and traditions, among others.

== See also ==
{{Portal |border=no|Asia|Civilizations|World}}

{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Arab world]]
* [[Asia-Pacific]]
* [[Buddhism by country]]
* [[Byzantine commonwealth]]
* [[Christendom]]
* [[Continental union]]
* [[East Asian cultural sphere]]
* [[East–West dichotomy]]
* [[Far East]]
* [[Globalization]]
* [[Global East]]
* [[Global North and Global South]]
* [[Greater India]]
* [[Greater Iran]]
* [[Greater Middle East]]
* [[Hinduism by country]]
* [[Muslim world]]
* [[Near East]]
* [[Western world]]
* [[Westernization]]
{{div col end}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Eastern world}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Asia-Pacific]]
[[Category:Country classifications]]
[[Category:Cultural concepts]]
[[Category:Cultural regions]]
[[Category:Historiography of Asia]]
[[Category:Eastern culture]]
[[Category:Eurocentrism]]

Eastern world - Revision history

TKMD at 14:01, 28 March 2026