Palestine, The Middle East?

[Helios]

Why is Palestine called the middle east? I look at a map. There's Asia. There's the Palestine region in WESTERN Asia. It's the middle west, not the middle east. Let this error be corrected.

 

[Jack21222]

It's "west" from what frame of reference? Why would you use Asia as your frame of reference, over, say, London?

 

[russ_watters]

Error? Do you know where the name actually came from? Why is the eastern hemisphere the eastern hemisphere and the western hemisphere the western hemisphere? Why should we care?

Also, you do understand it isn't just the Palestinian area that has this label, right?

 

[rootX]

With the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1918, the use of "Near East" declined in English. "Middle East" came to be applied to the re-emerging nations of the Islamic world. A variety of academic disciplines, including archaeology and ancient history, retained the term "Near East". It is used to describe an area coterminous with the contemporary term Middle East. (See Ancient Near East).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_east#Criticism_and_usage

I see why Near East was used, but don't know who introduced "Middle East". Here:

Before the First World War, "Near East" was used in English to refer to the Balkans and the Ottoman Empire, while "Middle East" referred to Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia, Turkestan, and the Caucasus. In contrast, "Far East" referred to the countries of East Asia: China, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, etc. Some critics advise using an alternative, geographically descriptive term, such as "Western Asia." The official United Nations designation of the area is "Western Asia"

Near, far, and middle.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Why is New Jersey a mid-Atlantic state even though it is nowhere near the middle of the Atlantic? On account of Turkey being on the losing side in WWI?

 

[russ_watters]

Why is New Jersey a mid-Atlantic state even though it is nowhere near the middle of the Atlantic? On account of Turkey being on the losing side in WWI?

No, it is actually just wishful thinking...

 

[Chi Meson]

Mid-east is Persia.

Mid-west is Peoria.

What's the problem?