<P> In European historiography, the meaning of "the Orient" changed in scope several times . Originally, the term referred to Egypt, the Levant, and adjoining areas . as far west as Morocco . During the 1800s, India, and to a lesser extent China, began to displace the Levant as the primary subject of Orientalist research . By the mid-20th century, Western scholars generally considered "the Orient" as just East Asia, Southeast Asia, and eastern Central Asia . As recently as the early 20th century, the term "Orient" often continued to be used in ways that included North Africa and even parts of southeastern Europe . Today, the term primarily evokes images of China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and peninsular Southeast Asia . Throughout the history of the changing sense of the term, "the Orient" was never equivalent to Asia as a whole . "The Orient" being largely a cultural term, large parts of Asia--Siberia most notably--were excluded from the scholarly notion of "the Orient". </P> <P> Equally valid terms for the Orient still exist in the English language in such collocations as Oriental studies (now Asian Studies in some countries). </P> <P> The adjectival term Oriental has been used by the West to mean cultures, peoples, countries, Asian rugs, and goods from the Orient . "Oriental" means generally "eastern". It is a traditional designation (especially when capitalized) for anything belonging to the Orient or "East" (for Asia), and especially of its Eastern culture . It indicated the eastern direction in historical astronomy, often abbreviated "Ori". In contemporary American English, Oriental usually refers to things from the parts of East Asia traditionally occupied by East Asians and most Central Asians and Southeast Asians racially categorized as "Mongoloid". This excludes Jews, Indians, Arabs, and most other South or West Asian peoples . Because of historical discrimination against Chinese, Korean and Japanese, in some parts of the United States, some people consider the term derogatory . For example, Washington state prohibits the word "Oriental" in legislation and government documents, preferring the word "Asian" instead . </P> <P> In more local uses, "oriental" is also used for eastern parts of countries, for example Morocco's Oriental Region . Oriental is also used as an adjective akin to "eastern", especially in the Spanish - speaking world . For example, the Philippine islands of Mindoro and Negros are each divided into two provinces whose titles include the words "oriental" and "occidental" respectively . The official name of Uruguay is the República Oriental del Uruguay or Oriental Republic of Uruguay because it is east of the Uruguay River . </P>

Pearl of the orient land of the rising sun