😱The Truth Behind the Name ‘Middle East’! CONTEXT: Have you ever wondered why we call it the Middle East when it’s not really in the “middle” or even the “east”? The term Middle East doesn’t come from geography — it comes from colonial-era politics and Western perception. Back in the 19th century, European powers divided the world into three regions: Near East — the territories of the Ottoman Empire close to Europe. Far East — the Asian countries near the Pacific Ocean, like China and Japan. An