It was well 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 South Asia and Central Asia, and Far East for countries along the western Pacific Ocean. Many European languages have analogous terms, such as the French Extrême-Orient, German Ferner Osten, Italian Estremo oriente, and Dutch Verre Oosten.

 

In Orientalist usage, it evokes cultural, as well as geographic separation, an exotic in addition to a distant locale. Far East never refers, for instance, to the culturally western nations of Australia and New Zealand, which lie even farther to the east of Europe than much of East Asia. Far East in this sense is comparable to terms such as the Orient, which means East; the Eastern world; or simply the East.

 

 

OUR MISSIONARIES

 

Steve & Sheila Campbell   Philippines
Bill & Terry Craig   Japan
Bill & Sallie DeWeese   China
Bill & Georgia Ecton   Korea
Bob & Sandy Piatt   Japan

Henry & Celeste Ward   Japan
Bryant & Sharon Wooten   Philippines
Doug & Helen Worley   Philippines
John & Christi Wynn   Philippines
Glen & Aimee Zemke   Japan