I live in North America and of course, I know this is considered to be a -western culture...I just don't know why.
Which countries are considered "western" and which countries are considered "eastern" and why?
Which countries are considered "western" and which countries are considered "eastern" and why?
-
Yes, technically you have a good point, and I've often wondered this myself. It's really interesting to look at an upside down backwards map at the world. It's somewhat arbitrary what we call East and West, but nonetheless has a basis in history.
If you think about the land mass of Europe and Asia, this is where the idea of East and West first really came from. Europe and Asia are really part of one huge connected land mass. So the Eastern part of that is Asia and the Western part of that land mass is Europe. They were often involved in trade with each other and Asia became known as the "East" and Europe the "West" and also differed in philosophy, religion etc. So western cultures are European cultures or those that take after the European tradition such as the United States, which is considered to be a Western culture. Other examples of "Western" countries are England, France, and Spain. Eastern cultures are considered to be based in Asian cultures, religions and philosophies. Examples of Eastern countries are China, Japan, Korea, etc.
"Middle-Eastern" cultures fall in the middle of the East and the West and are what we might think of as Arab culture in the region between Europe and Asia in Iraq, Afganistan, etc.
I hope that helps you to understand the difference between Eastern and Western.
If you think about the land mass of Europe and Asia, this is where the idea of East and West first really came from. Europe and Asia are really part of one huge connected land mass. So the Eastern part of that is Asia and the Western part of that land mass is Europe. They were often involved in trade with each other and Asia became known as the "East" and Europe the "West" and also differed in philosophy, religion etc. So western cultures are European cultures or those that take after the European tradition such as the United States, which is considered to be a Western culture. Other examples of "Western" countries are England, France, and Spain. Eastern cultures are considered to be based in Asian cultures, religions and philosophies. Examples of Eastern countries are China, Japan, Korea, etc.
"Middle-Eastern" cultures fall in the middle of the East and the West and are what we might think of as Arab culture in the region between Europe and Asia in Iraq, Afganistan, etc.
I hope that helps you to understand the difference between Eastern and Western.