Listening to an Iranian official describe his region as "West Asia" got me wondering if the word "Middle East" is on the outs and why. I suspect Middle East is eurocentric for some reason, but West Asia also preserves Europe as a continent, which is Eurocentric in its own way because Europe is not a continent and never was. If we're calling anything West Asia, it should be Spain and Portugal.

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[–] 3 points 1 month ago (2 children)

we call it the Levant, the Arabian Peninsula, and NE Africa

but if someone said "Eastern Mediterranean" or "Southwest Asia" I suppose I'd know what they meant

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