Listening to an Iranian official describe his region as “West Asia” got me wondering if the word “Middle East” is on the outs and why. I suspect Middle East is eurocentric for some reason, but West Asia also preserves Europe as a continent, which is Eurocentric in its own way because Europe is not a continent and never was. If we’re calling anything West Asia, it should be Spain and Portugal.
I agree with you about India and the Caribbean etc. being considered their own “continents”
I think the tectonic plates have helped to make natural boundaries that create such difference in culture, in particular the Indian region (incl. Pakistan, Bangladesh) is vastly different from the other side of the Himalayas, of course still linked, but culture is very different!
Same goes with the Carribean, Arabia, etc.