Template talk:Asia topic

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This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Template:Asia topic page.

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Note: Not all pages about the country Georgia are at [ [Whatever in Georgia (country)] ], such as Foreign relations of Georgia, which may lead to trouble. 68.39.174.238 00:25, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

  • If that's the case, then you could create some redirects to help solve the problem. More sophisticated template logic might be a better idea though. --CapitalR 09:46, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Parameters 2 and 3

Does anyone know what parameters 2 and 3 do in this template? It looks like 2 is reserved for China and 3 for Taiwan, but I can't quite figure out why. --CapitalR 09:46, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes, these parameters allow the replacement of the "China" and "Taiwan" country names by other terms (usually, "People's Republic of China" and "Republic of China" respectively). I'm not sure if they are actually used anywhere; while they could be used to solve a problem, it would require the parameters being added to every template in the series. Warofdreams talk 18:03, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The Gaza Strip and the West Bank

[1] - Why is the former kept and the latter was removed? — Instantnood 13:25, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

Interesting - I've reinserted West Bank; both are present in Template:Asia. Warofdreams talk 02:36, 19 June 2006 (UTC)
I deleted the west bank, which pointed to an article about politics with nothing about history in it. For those interested, there is plenty of material in History of Palestine and numerous other articles.
--Gabi S. 11:34, 24 June 2006 (UTC)
Remember that this template is used for many topics, not just history. If the redirect from "History of the West Bank" is inappropriate, the solution is to fix that, not to remove things from this template. Warofdreams talk 03:54, 25 June 2006 (UTC)
They are commonly referred to as Palestinian territories and there is no need for separation in this general template. And these are territories occupied by Israel, thus grouped together, following the China and Korea examples. --Gabi S. 07:06, 25 June 2006 (UTC)
There is an article for geography of the West Bank, but not for geography of the Palestinian territories (a separate geography of the Gaza Strip article is missing though). — Instantnood 20:01, 27 June 2006 (UTC)
The Gaza Strip does not deserve a special entry in this Geography of Asia template. It is already part of the Palestinian Territories entry, and if you don't know, the Palestinian Authority completely administers the Gaza Strip. From a geographical point of view, this tiny strip is completely negligible. Note that India, for example, is listed without any pointers to Assam or other disputed regions in it. Anyone looking for Gaza Strip will easily find it under the Palestinian Territories entry. --Gabi S. 19:47, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
The West Bank is not completely administered by the Palestinian Authority [2]. There's no comparable trouble with Assam or any other disputed territories. — Instantnood 22:04, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
The Gaza Strip is completely administered by the Palestinian Authority. And all the Palestine-related noise is not making the Palestinian National Authority a sovereign entity comparable in any way to the State of Israel, so there is no point in emphasizing them as equal. Also, please note that there is no need to list the separate parts of the Palestinian Territories in this template. It suffices to have just the Palestinian Territories listed, and anyone looking there will easily find the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. These are considered internal provinces of the Palestinian Territories, which are part of the area controlled by Israel. --Gabi S. 23:39, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
I forgot to address the missing articles issue. If there is some article missing on, say, the History of the Gaza Strip, then please go ahead and create it. Don't change the template because an article is missing, create the article. If there is a similar article, you can redirect to it. If you create a new article but don't have enough information, you can mark it as a stub. But don't change the template just because an article is missing. --Gabi S. 23:45, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
First, the West Bank is not entirely under PNA administration. And second, what to do if Foo of Palestinian territories does not exist? — Instantnood 23:52, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
PNA administration is irrelevant, actually. Separating the Palestinian Territories into the Gaza Strip and the West Bank is redundant and too detailed for a general list that is used as an index, and should be avoided in this template. Of course such details are important when getting into the topic, but from a general point of view, as used in this template, it is over-elaborated. (Oh, by the way, if X of Palestinian Territories does not exist, just go ahead and create it.) --Gabi S. 08:36, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Foo in Taiwan AND Foo in the Republic of China

It's unlikely that there would ever be two distinct articles on "Topic in Taiwan" and "Topic in the Republic of China", but rather more likely that one would be a redirect to the other. Similarly it will often be the case that if there are distinct West Bank and Gaza Strip articles there may not be an overarching article for the Palestinian Territories (though that is by no means always the case) and conversely there will clearly be times when "Topic in the West Bank" or "Topic in the Gaza Strip" are inappropriate. Is there some of way of controlling these with template parameters? TheGrappler 05:11, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

History of the Republic of China and history of Taiwan, for instance. — Instantnood 22:05, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

The Republic of China might be part of China if you think so, but Taiwan isn't. The ROC is only a government on Taiwan, and it has no culture, but Taiwan does. So you should really change it into Taiwan. I don't really care if it goes under China. It would be better if it doesn't though, because Chinese culture and technologies are different from Taiwanese.--68.98.154.196 19:16, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Distorting history and culture to fulfill political agendas like so doesn't fit here... --Aldis90 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Aldis90 (talkcontribs) 19:19, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

Articles that deal with government should use "Republic of China" or "Republic of China (Taiwan)". Articles that are not primarily about government should use "Taiwan". There needs to be a parameter to distinguish the two. The current template where "China" has an asterisk with a footnote included PRC, HK, Macau, and ROC(Taiwan) is a blatant violation of NPOV. Readin (talk) 14:15, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

I don't see any requirements about what kinds of entities can be listed, nor about preventing overlap. So to fix the NPOV problem, which needed immediate fixing, I just moved all the topics into the list on an equal footing. So China, Hong Kong, Macau, People's Republic of China, Republic of China and Taiwan are all in the list on an equal footing with no judgements made as to their independence, lack of independence, or territorial overlap.Readin (talk) 14:26, 12 June 2008 (UTC)
NPOV changes were recently reverted. The WP:NPOV says "Neutral point of view is a fundamental Wikimedia principle and a cornerstone of Wikipedia...This is non-negotiable and expected of all articles, and of all article editors." While the reason given for reverting the changes had merit, it is not as important as maintaining NPOV. If a way can be found to maintain NPOV while grouping mainland China, HK, and Macau, it makes sense to do so. But if those are grouped it's difficult to see how we maintain NPOV regarding Taiwan because both including Taiwan and excluding Taiwan would represent a POV.Readin (talk) 13:56, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Gay rights in...

I've followed this template from Gay Rights, and was wondering why there is China, and then People's Republic of Chna. What is the difference?

It's part of the endless debate over the correct terminology for Taiwan and China. Giving both the terms is a (rather unsatisfactory) way of ensuring the correct links are available. Warofdreams talk 02:15, 15 August 2006 (UTC)
Oh, I see. Thank you. Dev920 02:18, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Template name

Per here, would anyone object to this template being renamed {{Asia topic}}, thereby leaving the of/in specified by its parameter (e.g. {{Asia topic|Communications in}}, {{Asia topic|Economy of}}, etc)...?  Regards, David Kernow (talk) 02:49, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

I'm not sure why this template is titled "terrorism in asia", as terrorism encompases most if not all of the middle east also (and arguably the rest of the world). Maybe it should be changed to plain "terrorism". Dullfig 23:42, 23 December 2006 (UTC)
The template itself isn't called "Terrorism in Asia"; the parameter supplied to that instance of the template has caused it to carry that title (i.e. {{Asia topic|Terrorism in}} ). Yours, David (talk) ~~~~~

[edit] Examples in use

Shamelessly borrowed from Template:Europe topic. These actually should exist.

Some specific-interests are also legitimate:

[edit] Parameter 3

This seems to be intended to allow an alternative article for topics relating to "…the People's Republic of China", but I have yet to discover it actually being used. There was an equivalent parameter 4 which used to perform a similar function for "…the Republic of China" but this was lost in about June 2006. Is there any point in keeping this any longer? HTH HAND —Phil | Talk 15:40, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

Nope, it's been superfluous since then. Well spotted - I've now removed it. Warofdreams talk 02:19, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Default to country link...?

Any reason why each link doesn't (seem to) default to a country link, as per {{Europe topic}}...?  Curious, David Kernow (talk) 08:25, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

Just that no-one has desired that function enough to implement it. If you'd like to, please feel free. Warofdreams talk 01:41, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
Have only just spotted your reply; apologies. As this default seems reasonable and already exists in {{Europe topic}}, I'll implement it here and on any other of the {{[continent] topic}} templates without it. Regards, David (talk) 22:23, 13 February 2007 (UTC)
PS insert "eventually". —The preceding unsigned comment was added by David Kernow (talkcontribs) 10:18, 16 February 2007 (UTC).
  • ...now implemented (eventually). David (talk) 14:32, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] On "significant territory in Europe"

Why are countries that only have a very small part (<5%) of their territory in Europe listed as having "significant territory in Europe"? Is the significance referred to here political, cultural, historical, in terms of population or is it geographical? My first guess when reading this was that it meant geographical.
If it is geographical, I could see countries such as Russia having this designation. But in cases such as Georgia (2.87%) and Turkey (3.05%), I don't see it. (See Transcontinental country#Countries in both Asia and Europe). If any percentage is enough, then shouldn't Greece (4.6% in Asia) be listed here (as per the previous link)?
If on the other hand, significance is something else, or all of the above, then ok. In any case, I think it should be better defined.
Also, wouldn't it make sense to mark which countries are considered to be European culturally, politically, historically, etc. even though they're geographically in Asia? (See, for example, Cyprus which is wholly in Asia, geographically, but is a full EU member or Armenia)
I'm nowhere near an expert, just wondering.... --Kimon 14:08, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

Neither am I – and I'm inclined to agree (and, since I believe the significance is meant to be geographical, I'm sheepish not to've noticed these apparent discrepancies before!). Personally, I'd say that if Georgia has just 2.87% of its territory in Europe, while Greece has just 4.6% of its territory in Asia, let's make life simpler by saying Georgia is wholly in Asia and Greece wholly in Europe. Presumably, though, that's not the official view (probably, I guess, because it ignores some history as regards the other factors you mentioned – politics, culture, etc). I suppose Turkey may have more of a claim to be partly European as I'm assuming the 3.05% of its land in question is the land on the far side of the Dardanelles-Marmara-Bosporus. But, by the same token, wouldn't Cyprus also then be European...?  (More of a rhetorical question.)
So perhaps the phrase should read "Has some territory in Europe."  Anyone else...?
Regards, David Kernow (talk) 22:20, 13 February 2007 (UTC)
I that would be more objective text, or perhaps even "Has territory in Europe."
This brings up another question. Do any of these countries have territorial claims that are in Europe? Perhaps this could also be noted if the country claims the territory but it is not officially part of its geography. --Kimon 15:45, 14 February 2007 (UTC)
As there seems to be agreement, I've changed the text. The current note was basically introduced to make the scope of the template clearer; I think that notes introduced simply because they have some interesting information would distract from its primary purpose. Warofdreams talk 23:25, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] History of South Korea links to "History of of Taiwan"

History of South Korea, which includes this template, contains a link "History of of Taiwan". This might be fixed by changing "{{{1}}} of Taiwan" to "{{{1}}} Taiwan", but I am not prepared to attempt this change. --Kernigh 03:33, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

This seems to be repaired – or have I missed the problem...?  Regards, David Kernow (talk) 14:15, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] What's the point?

Whats the point of having a big bulky template box like this especially since there may be no connection at all besides them being countries of the continent of Asia? Doesn't the categorization pages do enough already? --Dara 21:21, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

It's not so big/bulky when it's instantiated; per this above, the links default to a country's article if no "X of [country]" article exists. Re categories vs. templates (vs. lists), I think these are meant to be complementary routes to articles, to accommodate different types of browsing. Regards, David Kernow (talk) 14:10, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] China and Taiwan

question: why is it that the entry for china is:
China (People's Republic of China (Hong Kong • Macau)

and for taiwan is:
Republic of China (Taiwan))
 ?
i think that the use of the parentheses is not right. please clear me on this matter. thanks. --RebSkii 17:07, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

I know that some people are finding the two layers of brackets confusing. Do you have a suggestion to make it less so? Warofdreams talk 02:42, 9 March 2007 (UTC)
Because it is just one entry, China (People's Republic of China (Hong Kong • Macau) • Republic of China (Taiwan)).--Huaiwei 11:43, 9 March 2007 (UTC)
how about square brackets? + nowiki of course. --RebSkii 18:14, 13 March 2007 (UTC)
That will be a good idea. I tried the same thing, without realising I can "no wiki" it. ;)--Huaiwei 22:48, 13 March 2007 (UTC)
The template has been edited to reflect the above.--Huaiwei 12:19, 22 May 2007 (UTC)
Under current naming conventions, the Republic of China should be alphabetized under letter T. The way you list it is biased. Can you please alphabetize it the right way?--Jerry 20:43, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] WB & GS

Hello, I tried to update this template to reflect that there are two separate pages dealing with the Geography of the West Bank and Geography of the Gaza Strip, but I realise that this template functions for numerous other areas where Palestinian society is dealt with by a single entry. Does anyone have ideas as to how to ensure WB & GS appear for relevant entries, and Palestinian territories or Palestinian National Authority for their relevant entries? Many thanks, TewfikTalk 20:19, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

The template is really for countries; smaller entities such as the West Bank or Gaza Strip are beyond its scope. If there are any articles where the information on the Palestinian territories is divided between them, perhaps it could redirect to the general article on the territories, or lead to a disambiguation page. Warofdreams talk
Not exactly, since tiny locations like Macau are included too. I am going to try inserting them in a format similar to those for China and Korea. Do comment and amend where neccesary.--Huaiwei 04:11, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Yemen

Why the 2? It's physically separate from Africa? --Howard the Duck 14:01, 9 June 2007 (UTC)

Please see Transcontinental_country#Yemen.--Huaiwei 14:33, 9 June 2007 (UTC)
That has to be very minuscule... but on what continental shelf Socotra sits?
It may be very minuscule, but we do have independent countries which are pretty minuscule too. Geographic size is irrelevant when talking about geographic boundaries. One square metre of sand across the continental divide, and thats transcontinental. Subjectivity dosent count in this regard.--Huaiwei 15:48, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "partially in Asia"...dumb pendantry

I thought this is supposed to be an infobox, not a hair-splitting thesis on what is or isn't in Asia. Remove the footnotes.Kransky 14:43, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

When we originally didn't have the footnotes, countries such as Egypt with only a small amount of territory in Asia were repeatedly removed. However, their purpose is to remove this confusion, rather than to provide a lengthy description of the exact status of each nation. I've simplified the footnotes by merging them all into one. Warofdreams talk 15:52, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Greece?!

Greece is not transcontinental. All of Greece is located in Europe.

Islands that belong to Greece, therefore are European. So there is no reason to have Greece in the table. --219.90.228.195 12:58, 3 August 2007 (UTC)

I agree, so I've removed it. Warofdreams talk 16:18, 3 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Text along left

Why? First of all, the text ("Sovereign states") does not serve any purpose, but furthermore, it is completely inaccurate. Korea, Hong Kong, and the Palestinian territories are not sovereign states. I would take out the column completely, but I don't want to mess with the formatting. -Justin (koavf)·T·C·M 01:31, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] President of Asia template

This has just been applied to a few articles. If it is to stay, it really needs to have the link pulled out of it's heading. I think it is safe to say that we will never have (or need) a Presidents of Asia article - let's just make i a black non-link heading.

Further, I'm not a huge fan of these kind of templates - they try to link completely unrelated topics together. In fact, that is manifest by the fact that there is no Presidents of Asia article. It's really not that helpful. --Merbabu 02:39, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

PS, i surprised myself and fixed it without problem. --Merbabu 02:43, 19 August 2007 (UTC)
No, that broke it by removing useful functionality. The documentation will tell you how to fix it: use {{Asia topic|Presidents of|Alternative title}}. Warofdreams talk 00:24, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Identical templates?

What is the difference between this template and "{{Countries of Asia}}"? They seem have identical purpose.Vice regent 16:20, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

This template is designed to be used with an argument, so for instance, it can be used on the History of Oman article to link to other History of... articles. That said, there may be a case for merging the two. Warofdreams talk 02:31, 19 February 2008 (UTC)
Then basically this template has everything the other has and then some. Thus, why not delete the other one and keep this one?Vice regent 14:35, 28 February 2008 (UTC)