Talk:Middle East

Middle East vs Near East
There is a confusion in the terminology as these two are used in Slavic and some other countries. The terms literally translated as Near East are used in the same sense as "Middle East" is used in English. --Anatoli 04:10, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

RFV discussion: March–August 2016
Rfv-sense: "The region between the Near East and the Far East." According to the article Near East it appears that Near East is a dated term for Middle East. On the other hand, the definition "region between the Near East and the Far East" may be understood as comprising Central Asia and South Asia. --Hekaheka (talk) 05:38, 23 March 2016 (UTC)
 * That's exactly what I was taught in college; that the phrase originally referred to the region of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran, rather than the Arab world, which was described as the Near East; but that over time "Middle East" came to be applied to the Arab world as well, and eventually the term "Near East" became scarce, while "Middle East" was rarely applied to India (although I think Afghanistan and Pakistan might still be thought of as part of the Middle East). Of course, "what I was taught" isn't attestation, but I don't think it'll be hard to find that.  P Aculeius (talk) 02:42, 25 March 2016 (UTC)
 * The OED has »…Also (esp. in early use): India and adjacent countries; an area perceived as lying between the Near East and the Far East.« Some relevant cites given there:
 * 1900  19th Cent. Mar. 413   The most sensitive part of our external policy in the Middle East is the preservation of the independence and integrity of Persia and Afghanistan.
 * 1903  V. Chirol Middle Eastern Question i. 5   ‘The Middle East’, that is to say..those regions of Asia which extend to the borders of India or command the approaches to India.
 * 1958  Ld. Vansittart Mist Procession vi. 82   We had [in 1909] none of the sloppy modernism which lumps everything from the Mediterranean to Bengal as Middle East... Persia, Baluchistan, Afghanistan, India were the Middle East.
 * 1988  Daily Tel. 14 Apr. 12   Potentates in the Near East (not ‘Middle East’, please—that's India) did indeed keep elephants.
 * Seems more than sufficient to me. Vorziblix (talk) 22:24, 2 April 2016 (UTC)


 * RFV passed. —Μετάknowledge discuss/deeds 06:03, 28 August 2016 (UTC)