Editing East Indies (section)

==Overview==
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During the era of [[History of colonialism|European colonization]], territories of the [[Spanish Empire]] in Asia were known as the [[Spanish East Indies]] for 333 years before the [[Treaty of Paris (1898)|American conquest]] and later the [[Treaty of Manila (1946)|independence of the Philippines]]. [[Dutch Empire|Dutch]] occupied colonies in the area were known for about 300 years as the [[Dutch East Indies]] until [[Proclamation of Indonesian Independence|Indonesian independence]]. The East Indies may also include the former [[French Indochina]], former British territories [[Brunei]], [[British Hong Kong|Hong Kong]] and [[Singapore]] and former [[Portuguese Macau]] and [[Timor]]. It does not, however, include the former [[Netherlands New Guinea|Dutch New Guinea]], which is geographically considered to be part of [[Melanesia]].

The inhabitants of the East Indies are never called ''East Indians'', as they are not linguistically related to South Asia, most specifically the [[Indo-Aryan languages]]. It distinguishes them both from inhabitants of the [[Caribbean]] (which is also called the [[West Indies]]) and from the [[indigenous peoples of the Americas]] who are often called ''[[Native Americans in the United States|American Indians]]''. However, in colonial times, the non-Indian Southeast Asians were also called "Indians".

Peoples of the East Indies comprise a wide variety of cultural diversity, and the inhabitants do not consider themselves as belonging to a single [[ethnic group]]. The region is mostly populated by the [[Austronesians]], who first expanded from the island of [[Geography of Taiwan|Taiwan]], and later on during the [[early modern period]], when East Asians such as the [[Han Chinese]] started to migrate south and became known as the [[Peranakans]] or Straits Chinese.

[[Buddhism]], [[Christianity]], [[Islam]] and [[Hinduism]] are the most popular [[Major religious groups|religions]] throughout the region, while [[Sikhism]], [[Jainism]], [[Chinese folk religion]] and various other traditional beliefs and practices are also prominent in some areas. The major languages in this area draw from a wide variety of [[language family|language families]] such as the [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]] and [[Sino-Tibetan languages]], and should not be confused with the term [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]], a group of languages spoken in the [[Indian subcontinent]]. Speakers of [[Austroasiatic languages|Austroasiatic]], [[Kra–Dai languages|Tai–Kadai]], and [[Hmong–Mien languages]] also live in the region.

Regions of the East Indies are sometimes known by the colonial empire they once belonged to, hence, ''Spanish East Indies'' means the [[Philippines]], ''Dutch East Indies'' means [[Indonesia]], and ''British East Indies'' refers to [[Malaysia]].

Historically, the king of [[Ethiopian Empire|Abyssinia]] (modern [[Ethiopia]]) was identified with "[[Prester John]] of the Indies", since that part of the world was imagined to be one of "Three Indias".