system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: why is it called the Middle East and not West Asia?
gpt
Because it was named by Europeans.  From the European perspective, the 'Far East' (China, etc.) is as far East as you can go without running into the ocean.  So the 'Near East' would be when you stop being in Europe and are now in the 'East' and the 'Middle East' would be between those two points (although, in reality, the Middle and Near East are much closer than the Middle East and Far East).