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ProfCrash · 06-14-2012, 10:33 AM

There are very real cultural differences between the Middle East and Asia even though they are on the same continent. So it is hard to say that Turkey is more Asian then European because Turkey is more culturally similar to the Middle East.

I don't know of too many folks who look at Iraq and go "They are Asian". No, they are Middle Eastern. Technically, they are on the Asian continent and if you are counting the number of continents that you have visited, you can say that. I visited Egypt a while back and get to check off the continent of Africa because of that trip but I would not think "Egypt is culturally closer to Africa than the Middle East."

We can break countries down by tectonic plates and the continents on those plates but that does not work well for the Asian contient because there are other cultural differences. Heck, Iran gets annoyed when you call them anything other then Persian. They are not Middle Eastern, they are Persian. Is India Asian? They have their own subcontient and while there are some similarities with Asian cultures there are some pretty serious differences as well. Toss in the Kashmir region where there are similarities to the Middle East and you have another country that is not easily defined.

I think this partially explains how people treat the UK. They are considered a part of Europe and are closer to Europe in terms of plate tectonics, culture, and history yet there is something different about the UK that seperates it somehow from Continental Europe. Kind of similar to how Hawaii is a state in the US but is very different then the rest of the US and I am not sure if Hawaii is considered a part of the North American Continent of the Asian continent. Alaska is in a similar position. It is a State in the US but it is different than the Continental US because of its geographic distance.

06-14-2012, 10:33 AM	#72
ProfCrash Tea Enthusiast Posts: 8,554 Karma: 75384937 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Somewhere in the USA Device: Kindle1, Kindle DX Graphite, K3 3G, IPad 3, PW2	There are very real cultural differences between the Middle East and Asia even though they are on the same continent. So it is hard to say that Turkey is more Asian then European because Turkey is more culturally similar to the Middle East. I don't know of too many folks who look at Iraq and go "They are Asian". No, they are Middle Eastern. Technically, they are on the Asian continent and if you are counting the number of continents that you have visited, you can say that. I visited Egypt a while back and get to check off the continent of Africa because of that trip but I would not think "Egypt is culturally closer to Africa than the Middle East." We can break countries down by tectonic plates and the continents on those plates but that does not work well for the Asian contient because there are other cultural differences. Heck, Iran gets annoyed when you call them anything other then Persian. They are not Middle Eastern, they are Persian. Is India Asian? They have their own subcontient and while there are some similarities with Asian cultures there are some pretty serious differences as well. Toss in the Kashmir region where there are similarities to the Middle East and you have another country that is not easily defined. I think this partially explains how people treat the UK. They are considered a part of Europe and are closer to Europe in terms of plate tectonics, culture, and history yet there is something different about the UK that seperates it somehow from Continental Europe. Kind of similar to how Hawaii is a state in the US but is very different then the rest of the US and I am not sure if Hawaii is considered a part of the North American Continent of the Asian continent. Alaska is in a similar position. It is a State in the US but it is different than the Continental US because of its geographic distance.