Eurasian
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Main article: Eurasia
The term Eurasian refers to the cultural ties and linkages between those in a wider view of the Eurasian continent, centering on the Silk Road, and Central Asia.
However in English vernacular, "Eurasian" is a term that refers to those of mixed European and Asian (or ancestry —increasingly by mixed parentage as a fact of modern transculturation. More precise descriptions may include Nordic/Baltic/Slavic/Celtic linkages with people of Chinese/Indian/Afghani/Turkic/Mongolian (etc) heritage.
Names
In Southeast Asia, most have European names, often British, Portuguese or Dutch, and are Christians. The oldest Eurasian community in the region is in Malacca, in Malaysia dating from when the town was a Portuguese settlement, and many also moved to Singapore. There were also Eurasians in the Netherlands East Indies, but following Indonesian independence, most emigrated to the Netherlands, where there is an annual Eurasian festival called Pasar Malam Besar (literally 'big evening market' in Indonesian), the largest of its kind in the world. There are also Vietnamese with French blood.
In India, the term Anglo-Indian is used, although this may not only also apply to people with British ancestry, but also Portuguese or Dutch. While ostracised by Indians during the British Raj, Anglo-Indians enjoy the same rights as other Indian citizens, and there are still seats reserved in parliament for them. Many have emigrated to the UK or Australia. In the UK, well-known Anglo-Indians include singers Cliff Richard and Engelbert Humperdinck, though the latter later moved to the United States, while TV personality Melanie Sykes has an Anglo-Indian mother.
The term Eurasian is also sometimes used to describe the racial strain of the peoples of the nations of Central Asia, half way between the centres of Caucasoid and Mongoloid populations. It may also pertain to the genetic "supercluster" of human populations that includes populations of the Mongoloid and Caucasoid racial classifications.
See also
- List of terms for multiraciality
- Mestizo
- Eurasian Singaporean
- Luk kreung
- Northern Eurasian Supercluster
External links
- Eurasian Nation (http://www.eurasiannation.com/)
- Eurasian Association of Singapore (http://www.eurasians.org/home.html)
- Pasar Malam Besar, Tong Tong Foundation, Netherlands (http://www.pasarmalambesar.nl/english/eng.htm)
- EurasiaNet provides information and analysis about political, economic, environmental and social developments in the countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus, as well as in Russia, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia. (http://www.eurasianet.org)