c groups: Javanese (41 percent), Sundanese (15 percent), numerous others (2000 census). Literacy: 90 percent. (Source: World Factbook.)
Many have two names, but having only one name is also common. Muslims have complex name rules.
Caution. Synonym for mysterious, but considered a racially charged adjective. See also CHARLIE CHAN; CHINA DOLL; DRAGON LADY; EXOTIC; FU MANCHU; ORIENTAL; PROVERBS, Chinese fondness for; YELLOW PERIL; YELLOW SKIN.
INTERNMENT, Japanese and:
During World War II, the incarceration of 120,000 men, women and children of Japanese ancestry, two-thirds of them U.S. citizens. They were ordered to sell their homes and businesses, usually at a steep discount, to whites and then move to “relocation centers.” The last internees were released in 1946. Some advocates urge the use of “incarceration” instead of internment as a more accurate depiction. See also ANGEL ISLAND; EXECUTIVE ORDER 9066; JAP; PEARL HARBOR; YELLOW PERIL; YELLOW SKIN.
Caution. An interview subject may speak limited or otherwise inadequate English. Use of another member of the family as an interpreter can yield flawed translations. A daughter, for example, may hesitate to completely translate her mother’s words or the daughter’s vocabulary (in English or the parent’s native language) may itself be limited. If deadline permits, have an independent native speaker listen to a recording of the original interview. See CHARLIE CHAN; DIALECT; FU MANCHU; INSCRUTABLE.
Sometimes thought of as part of the Middle East, although not an Arab country. Iran is nearly 3000 years old. In the classical world, it was the Western image of Asia. Herodotus chronicled the Greco-Persian Wars of the 5th century B.C. Much of the premier collection of fairy tales, “The Thousand Nights and One Night,” is set in Iraq and Iran. In Farsi, the Persian language, it means “Land of the Aryans,” or Nobles. Not an Arab ethnic group, but much cultural interaction with Arabia, so Iran is often thought of as part of the Middle East. In many ways, the center of Shia scholarship, Iran has an affinity with other Shia Muslims in the Middle East, notably in Iraq and Syria. Known as Persia until 1935. Iran and Persia are used interchangeably in cultural and other contexts. Following the overthrow of its monarchy, Iran became an Islamic republic in 1979. Simmering tensions with the United States since then, especially over the development of nuclear materials. About the land mass of Alaska. Capital: Tehran. Languages: Persian (official, 53 percent), Azeri (16 percent), Kurd (10 percent) and others. Faith: Muslim (Shia, 89 percent; Sunni 9 percent) and others. Population: 79 million (2012 estimate). Proportion of population younger than 15: about one-quarter. Ethnic groups: Persian (61 percent), Azeri (16 percent), Kurd (10 percent) and others. Literacy: 77 percent. (Source: World Factbook.) See ARYAN.
A Persian or Iranian name consists of a given name, sometimes more than one, followed by a family name. Many of the names in the Alf Layla wa-Layla, or “The Thousand Nights and One Night” are Persian, including Scheherazade (various spellings). See IRAN.
One of the two major religions of South Asia, the other being Hinduism. The conflict between followers of Hinduism and Islam remains one of the bloodiest in the world. Though its origins are in Arabia, modern Islam is a world religion (Indonesia is the largest Muslim nation). It is one of the three great religions that venerate Abraham and incorporates teachings from both Judaism and Christianity. At the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, one of the holiest cities of the Islamic world, there is a minaret known as the Tower of Jesus. Halal, dietary rules under Islamic law, are similar to the kosher dietary laws of Judaism. During what are known as the Dark Ages in Europe, Islamic scholars preserved many of the great books of Western civilization. Arab mathematicians invented algebra (Arabic for “the reduction”). Within Islam, the great divide is between the majority Sunni and the minority Shia. There is no quick description of the theological diff