Anatolia the Mediterranean, Greeks in Late Antiquity came to use the name Μικρὰ Ἀσία ("Mikrá Asía") or Asia Minor, meaning "Lesser Asia" to refer to present-day Anatolia. The English-language name "Anatolia" itself derives from the Greek ("") meaning “the East” or more literally “sunrise” (comparable to the Latin-derived terms "levant" and "orient"). The precise reference of this term has varied over time, perhaps originally referring to the Aeolian, Ionian and Dorian colonies on the west coast of Asia Minor. In the Byzantine Empire, the Anatolic Theme (Ἀνατολικόν θέμα) was a "theme" covering the western and central parts of Turkey's present-day Central
Economy of East Asia known today as China, Japan, and Korea. These three ancient states traded an abundance of raw materials and high-quality manufactured goods, exchanged cultural ideas and practices, and had military conflicts with each other throughout the centuries. For much of East Asia's history, China was the largest and most advanced economy in the region and globally as a whole. During the first half of the Middle Ages, China was the most developed state in East Asia. The history of trade in East Asia was largely shaped by the history of trade within Ancient China. Ancient China had economic contacts with Persia