@oeschinen Wow. Your information is so great! You're really amazing

@Flawless-94 Ikr! It's really relatable and that's why I wanted to bring up this topic

I read in an article some years ago that Japanese people apparently preferred to refer themselves as Asians rather than Japanese and I suppose it brought wide impact to the East Asian people as a whole. It's a stigma, a view deep rooted before globalisation. Of course all people from the Asia continent are Asians, but the diversity of Asian people is vast.

Yes they are! And it really piss me of when people give me that 'are you kidding me' look when I say I'm Asian.
Some people have even told me how come I don't have hooded eyes -_-

Yup, it's so annoying because when most people speak of Asians they're thinking of East Asians which are Chinese, Korean, Japanese and all those common groups of Asians. India, Pakistan and all those places are considered South Asia and are referred to as South Asians. I see there's a much more detailed and informative comment below mine so I'm kind of just summarizing hers lol but I get so frustrated when people general Asia as just one part of Asia (East Asia)

@oeschinen Wow ! Your info is so awesome *thumbs up*

@oeschinen i love you

Geographically, yes, those countries you listed above there are considered "Asians", meaning they originate or identify with cultures originating from their countries which are located in the "Asian" continent. However, Asia is the largest continent on Earth and thus covers a broad and very wide region in the world with different cultures and ethnic group under the broad "Asian" category.

In censuses, the term "East Asian", "South Asian", "South-east Asian", "West Asian" and "Central Asian" are used so people can choose the closest one they identify with because let's face it, China and Saudi Arabia may both be Asian countries but as we know, are very culturally and ethnically distinct from each other. Hence, the need for more region-specific categories.

Due to the large diaspora of Eastern Asians (Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese etc.) into the western countries, people mostly recognize the Sinosphere cultures as being "Asian". Especially because these groups of people were also probably one of the most, earliest and prominent immigrants into the western world, with the other people from different regions of Asia coming later on. This Sinosphere is also the most populated region on Earth so there just a lot of people compared to people from different Asian regions. In a way, due to their sheer numbers, Eastern Asian culture easily stands out among the rest.
So to those with unfamiliar with Asian culture and people, they might naturally assume that Asians means the people coming from Eastern Asia because this is what they are usually/mostly exposed to.

But as we know, Asia is indeed a very large and diverse place with lots of distinct and unique cultures of their own and to answer your question, yes, people from countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan are truly Asian.

What are your thoughts?