Nanyang (region)
Chinese name for the region of Southeast Asia, literally meaning Southern Ocean
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Nanyang (Chinese: 南洋; pinyin: nán yáng; 'Southern Ocean') is the Chinese term for the warmer and fertile geographical region along the southern coastal regions of China and beyond, otherwise known as the 'South Sea' or Southeast Asia. The term came into common usage in self-reference to the large ethnic Chinese migrant population in Southeast Asia, and is contrasted with Xiyang (Chinese: 西洋; pinyin: xī yáng; 'Western Ocean'), which refers to the Western world, Dongyang (simplified Chinese: 东洋; traditional Chinese: 東洋; pinyin: dōng yáng; 'Eastern Ocean'), which refers to Japan. The Chinese press regularly uses the term to refer to the region stretching from Yunnan Province to Singapore (north to south) and from Myanmar (Burma) to Vietnam (west to east); in addition, the term also refers to Brunei, East Malaysia, East Timor, Indonesia and the Philippines in the region it encompasses.