Eurasian
From open-encyclopedia.com - the free encyclopedia.
The term Eurasian, which is not related to the land mass of Eurasia, refers to those of mixed European and Asiatic ancestry, or increasingly, mixed parentage.
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.
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, 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 (Europe, North Africa and Southwest Asia) and Mongoloid (East Asia, Southeast Asia and North Asia) populations.
