The name 'Asia Minor' (from the Greek 'Mikra Asia' - Little Asia) was first coined by the Christian historian Orosius (c. 375-418 CE) in his work Seven Books of History Against the Pagans in 400 CE.

Ancient Asia Minor is a geographic region located in the south-western part of Asia comprising most of what is present-day Turkey. The earliest reference to the region comes from tablets of the Akkadian Dynasty (2334-2083 BCE) where it is known as 'The Land of the Hatti' and was inhabited by the Hittites.

The Hittites themselves referred to the land as 'Assuwa' (or, earlier, Aswiya) which actually only designated the area around the delta of the river Cayster but came to be applied to the entire region. Assuwa is considered the Bronze Age origin for the name 'Asia' as the Romans later designated the area. It was called by the Greeks, Anatolia.

The Byzantine Empire controlled the region after the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 CE. After the rise of Islam, the later Byzantine Christians fought the Islamic Caliphates for the land until the coming of the Seljuq Turks in 1068 CE. Turkish control increased in the region until 1299 CE when Asia Minor became part of the Ottoman Empire and after its collapsed, it became Turkey.

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