Oriental vs Asian what's the difference?

Answer 1

Oriental: From or pertaining to the Orient.

Asian: From or pertaining to Asia.

Simple, no?

What constitutes "the Orient" is a matter of discussion, and has changed over the last seven hundred years. One fairly precise definition states that it is the area "...constituting the biogeographic region that includes Asia south and southeast of the Himalayas and the Malay Archipelago west of Wallace's line."

Etymologically, oriental comes from the Latin word for east, just as occidental came from Latin for west, austral from south, and boreal from north.

Asia is the entire continent, so when you use the term Asian, you're including the middle-east, Israel, and possibly India. (This is debatable, because India actually sits on a different tectonic plate--hence the Indian Subcontinent.)

In recent times, roughly the last fifteen years, Oriental has retroactively been declared an offensive or insensitive word amongst some people. In reality, it was historically NOT used in a deliberately offensive manner, and any attempt to take offense is intellectually dishonest.

If someone takes offense at your legitimate use of the word Oriental, challenge them on it. Make them explain why they think it's offensive. Invariably, there is no valid reason other than, "because it IS!"

Answer 2

"Indian" types = South Asian

"oriental" types = East Asian

There is also the Southeast Asian who tend to look more similar to the East Asians but are culturally closer to India with the exception of Vietnam