It does not appear that there has ever been an 'old name' for Asia itself; rather, many individual countries within Asia have had different names in the past much like in Europe. The region of China, India and Pakistan used to be referred to as the 'Kashmir' region just like Pakistan, Iraq and Iran are technically part of Asia and yet, along with other countries, are referred to as the 'Arab World' today.
With the rise and fall of huge empires over the years countries and regions have been divided and reshaped many times. The Persians, Greeks, Romans, Turks and Mongols all had empires that spread into vast areas of Asia and left these regions divided and consequently renamed. Some of these countries like Yemen, Korea and Jordan only became countries under their current names as recently as the 20th century.
Also known as Asiatic people, the term Asian is used more commonly to describe the ethnicity of people, the inclusion of which countries differs according to the nationality of the individual. For example in the U.S. The term Asian represents people who live in any other part of Asia not including West and Central Asia whereas within Europe it is used in a broader sense to describe people from that entire area of landmass.
Asia as a continent is home to 60% of the world's population. In the last century alone the population of Asia had quadrupled. The continent covers just under 9% of the world surface which is 30% of its landmass. With hundreds of languages and even more dialects within each one Asia is a culturally diverse continent with years of rich history. To find out more about the history of the names of each country visit: http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/hist_country_names.htm This website gives a very brief description of when each country got its current name and what it was originally called.
- How empires changed the continent's landscape
With the rise and fall of huge empires over the years countries and regions have been divided and reshaped many times. The Persians, Greeks, Romans, Turks and Mongols all had empires that spread into vast areas of Asia and left these regions divided and consequently renamed. Some of these countries like Yemen, Korea and Jordan only became countries under their current names as recently as the 20th century.
Also known as Asiatic people, the term Asian is used more commonly to describe the ethnicity of people, the inclusion of which countries differs according to the nationality of the individual. For example in the U.S. The term Asian represents people who live in any other part of Asia not including West and Central Asia whereas within Europe it is used in a broader sense to describe people from that entire area of landmass.
- Interesting facts about the region
Asia as a continent is home to 60% of the world's population. In the last century alone the population of Asia had quadrupled. The continent covers just under 9% of the world surface which is 30% of its landmass. With hundreds of languages and even more dialects within each one Asia is a culturally diverse continent with years of rich history. To find out more about the history of the names of each country visit: http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/hist_country_names.htm This website gives a very brief description of when each country got its current name and what it was originally called.