who is asian, what is asian?

Question

Why do people immediately think of chinese/japanese/korean (all people of that skin colour) when they hear the word Asian?

Isn`t an Indian an asian person too?
Would you consider an Indian person asian?
do you consider yourself asian, if you are from India, Pakistan etc?

Answer 1

The people around you must be very ignorant/uneducated.

India is part of Asia, and yes they are considered Asian, HOWEVER, it is a different PART of Asia.

India is in the southern part of Asia, where as Japan etc is in East Asia.

Russia is also part of Asia as much of Russia extends over Asia, however when most people think of Russia they don't think of East Asia (ie Japan etc) do they? It all comes down to people simply not being aware/educated.

'Asia' actually consists of quite a lot of countries, I'm sure many people who don't know much about Asia are surprised to see what countries actually do fall under the category.

Here is a list of the countries classified by region if you're interested:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia#Territories_and_regions

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In regards to ellen degenitals stating people are not uneducated/ignorant I disagree. Sure, not ALL people are. But there ARE many people out there that DON'T know that Iraq or India or w/e are a part of Asia. I have met many of them, I even met some people at university who don't know that. Just because YOU know something or the people you know know it doesn't mean EVERYONE does. I have known INDIANS (especially children of Indian immigrants) that didn't know that India was part of Asia.

Answer 2

''what'' is Asian? Human I suppose.

India comes under Asia but the difference is people in most Asian countries have similar looks (smaller eyes for example) and Indians looks relatively different compared to the rest of the Asians. It's more of a 'stereotype' illustration.
So a person from another continent is more likely to picturize a Chinese rather than an Indian when he hears the word 'Asian'.
Hope it helped.

Answer 3

It's interesting to note that the land the Ancient Greeks and Romans called "Asia" actually referred to modern day Turkey.

When St. Isidore of Seville writing around the year 600 A.D.said "Now some of the languages of Asia sound like Greek but are not Greek," he was actually referring to present day Turkey.

Later on , all the hinterland beyond Turkey, all the way to the Pacific, became called Asia.

Technically speaking, an "Asian" today is someone who actually lives in Asia. This could include peoples as culturally and genetically diverse as Iranians, Indians, Turkomens, Kazakhs, Chinese, Cambodians, Vietnamese, and Paleo-Siberian peoples.

However, it's a mute point whether any person of Asian heritage living outside of Asia , and who never grew up in an Asian country, is Asian just as it is a mute point as to whether anyone of European ancestry living outside of Europe is European.

Even if such people can be called Asians or Europeans it is certainly not in the same context as someone who was born and raised in an Asian or European country.

Answer 4

When Americans think Asian, the thought is of people from wars which they lost [Korean War (1950-53) and Vietnam War (1957-75)] or who they defeated [Japanese from WWII (1937-1945: By the way, the bombing of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941 was 66 years ago today.) and Chinese from whom they partial help save from the Japanese during the "Rape of Nanking*"(the day which started the massacre so named (also called "Nanking, the forgotten holocaust", or the Nanking Massacre) on December 13, 1931)]: Koreans in the Korean War, Vietnamese from the Vietnam War, and Japanese from WWII.

In the UK, they would think of Indians because India was once a part of the British Empire until India gained independence in 1946.

*Nanking is now "Nanjing" in Chinese Pinyin.

Answer 5

There was no concept of "Asia" before European mapmakers stuck that label on their maps. The Asian continent is home to hundreds of cultures, many of which have no real relationship to one another. Any classification that lumps Persians, Punjabis, Malays, Japanese, and Goldi into the same category is almost by definition useless.

Answer 6

well i am korean
and indians are counted as asians but as u know india collided to asia about more than 3 million years of BCE
people say they r indian instead of asian

Answer 7

yes. they are asian, but Americans immediately think east Asian when one says "Asian". that isn't a bad thing. they still kno that South Asian is asian as well. but south east asian is always forgotten (Vietnam, Thai, Malay, Indonesian, Filipino, etc.) that is a problem.

also, in the UK, ppl immediately think South Asian when someone says "asian"

people are not uneducated/ignorant. they know that Indian is asian. it's just not their first thought. when sumone says "male" do you immediately think of adult men? if so it would be foolish to assume you are ignorant just because you don't immediately think of "boys" as well.

Answer 8

anyone from asia

Answer 9

yes,, and malay too =)