Western Europe

Western Europe is the region of Europe farthest from Asia, with the
countries and territories included varying depending on context.

Only after the beginning of the foreign conquests of the Age of

Discovery, the autonomous discourse of "Europe" as "the West"
began to protractedly detach itself from the unifying narrative of
"Christendom", the hitherto dominant identity system in the area, in
which was until then subsumed.[1] Later in time, the concept of
"Eastern Europe" was created during the Age of Enlightenment to Play media
consolidate and purify the concept of "Western Europe".[2] Video taken by the crew of
Expedition 29 on board the ISS on a
pass over Western Europe in 2011

Contents
Historical divisions
Classical antiquity and medieval origins
Religion
Cold War
Western European Union
Modern divisions
Geography: Realms, Regions, and Concepts
CIA classification
Western European and Others Group
Population
Climate
Languages
Economy
See also
References
Citations
Sources
External links

Historical divisions

Classical antiquity and medieval origins

Prior to the Roman conquest, a large part of Western
Europe had adopted the newly developed La Tène culture.
As the Roman domain expanded, a cultural and linguistic
division appeared between the mainly Greek-speaking
eastern provinces, which had formed the highly urbanized
Hellenistic civilization, and the western territories, which
in contrast largely adopted the Latin language. This
cultural and linguistic division was eventually reinforced
by the later political east–west division of the Roman
Empire. The Western Roman Empire and the Eastern
Roman Empire controlled the two divergent regions
between the 3rd and the 5th centuries.

The division between these two was enhanced during Late Schism of 1054 (East–West Schism) in
antiquity and the Middle Ages by a number of events. The Christianity, the predominant religion in Europe at
Western Roman Empire collapsed, starting the Early the time[3][4]
Middle Ages. By contrast, the Eastern Roman Empire,
mostly known as the Greek or Byzantine Empire, survived
and even thrived for another 1000 years. The rise of the Carolingian Empire in the west, and in particular the
Great Schism between Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism, enhanced the cultural and religious
distinctiveness between Eastern and Western Europe.

After the conquest of the Byzantine Empire, center of the Eastern Orthodox Church, by the Muslim Ottoman
Empire in the 15th century, and the gradual fragmentation of the Holy Roman Empire (which had replaced the
Carolingian Empire), the division between Roman Catholic and Protestant became more important in Europe
than that with Eastern Orthodoxy.

In East Asia, Western Europe was historically known as taixi in China and taisei in Japan, which literally
translates as the "Far West". The term Far West became synonymous with Western Europe in China during the
Ming dynasty. The Italian Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci was one of the first writers in China to use the Far West as
an Asian counterpart to the European concept of the Far East. In Ricci's writings, Ricci referred to himself as
"Matteo of the Far West".[5] The term was still in use in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Religion

Christianity is the largest religion in Western Europe. According to

a 2018 study by the Pew Research Center, 71.0% of Western
Europeans identified as Christians.[7]

In 1054, the East–West Schism divided Christianity into Western

Christianity and Eastern Christianity. This split Europe in two,
with Western Europe primarily under the Catholic Church, and
Eastern Europe under the Orthodox Church. Ever since the
Reformation in the 16th century, the primary Christian
denominations in Western Europe have been Catholicism and
Protestantism.

Under this definition of Eastern and Western Europe, Eastern

Europe contains Southeastern European countries as well, while
Western Europe includes Northern and Central European Religious division in 1054[6]
countries.
Cold War

During the four decades of the Cold War, the definition of

East and West was rather simplified by the existence of the
Eastern Bloc. Historians and social scientists generally
view the Cold War definition of Western and Eastern
Europe as outdated or relegating.[8][9][10][11]

During the final stages of World War II, the future of

Europe was decided between the Allies in the 1945 Yalta
Conference, between the British Prime Minister, Winston
Churchill, the U.S. President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and
Political spheres of influence in Europe during
the Premier of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin.
the Cold War
Post-war Europe would be divided into two major spheres:
the Western Bloc, influenced by the United States, and the
Eastern Bloc, influenced by the Soviet Union. With the onset of the Cold War, Europe was divided by the Iron
Curtain. This term had been used during World War II by German Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels and,
later, Count Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk in the last days of the war; however, its use was hugely popularized
by Winston Churchill, who used it in his famous "Sinews of Peace" address on 5 March 1946 at Westminster
College in Fulton, Missouri:

From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the
Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe.
Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia; all these famous cities
and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject, in
one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and in some cases increasing
measure of control from Moscow.

Although some countries were officially neutral, they were classified according to the nature of their political
and economic systems. This division largely defines the popular perception and understanding of Western
Europe and its borders with Eastern Europe.

The world changed dramatically with the fall of the Iron Curtain in
1989. West Germany peacefully absorbed East Germany, in the
German reunification. Comecon and the Warsaw Pact were dissolved,
and in 1991, the Soviet Union ceased to exist. Several countries
which had been part of the Soviet Union regained full independence.

Western European Union

In 1948 the Treaty of Brussels was signed between Belgium, France,

Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. It was further
revisited in 1954 at the Paris Conference, when the Western European
Union was established. It was declared defunct in 2011 after the
Former Western European Union –
Treaty of Lisbon, and the Treaty of Brussels was terminated. When
its members and associates
the Western European Union was dissolved, it had 10 member
countries, six associate member countries, five observer countries and
seven associate partner countries.
Modern divisions

Geography: Realms, Regions, and Concepts

Geography: Realms, Regions, and Concepts has been published since 1971 and now in its 17th edition.[12] It
was written by the authors Jan Nijman, Peter O. Muller and Harm J. de Blij. It is used in many US schools to
teach students world geography.

Here, the definition of Western Europe includes:[12]

Austria
Belgium
Czech Republic
France
Germany
Ireland
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
Monaco
Netherlands
Switzerland
United Kingdom

CIA classification

The CIA classifies seven countries as belonging to "Western

Europe":[13]

Belgium
France
Ireland
Luxembourg
Monaco
Netherlands Regions of Europe based on CIA
United Kingdom world factbook. Western Europe in
light blue; Southwestern Europe in
The CIA also classifies three countries as belonging to "Southwestern red
Europe":

Andorra
Portugal
Spain

Western European and Others Group

The Western European and Others Group is one of several unofficial Regional Groups in the United Nations
that act as voting blocs and negotiation forums. Regional voting blocs were formed in 1961 to encourage
voting to various UN bodies from different regional groups. The European members of the group are:[14]

Andorra Iceland Norway

Austria Ireland Portugal
Belgium Italy San Marino
Denmark Liechtenstein Spain
Finland Luxembourg Sweden
France Malta Switzerland
Germany Monaco Turkey
Greece Netherlands United Kingdom

In addition, Australia, Canada, Israel and New Zealand are members of the group, with the United States as
observer.

Population
Using the CIA classification strictly would give the following calculation of Western Europe's population. All
figures based on the projections for 2018 by the Population Division of the United Nations Department of
Economic and Social Affairs.[15]

Country or Population (most recent

Rank Languages Capital
territory estimates)
1 United Kingdom 66,040,229 English London
France
2 65,058,000 French Paris
(metropolitan)
3 Netherlands 17,249,632 Dutch, Frisian Amsterdam
4 Belgium 11,420,163 Dutch, French and German Brussels
5 Ireland 4,857,000 Irish, English Dublin
French, Luxembourgish and
6 Luxembourg 602,005 Luxembourg City
German
Monaco (city-
7 Monaco 38,300 French
state)
Total 165,265,329

Using the CIA classification a little more liberally and including "South-Western Europe", would give the
following calculation of Western Europe's population.[15]
 Country or Population (most
Rank Languages Capital
territory recent estimates)
United
1 66,040,229 English London
Kingdom
France
2 65,058,000 French Paris
(metropolitan)
Spanish, Galician,
3 Spain 46,700,000 Madrid
Catalan, Basque
Amsterdam *Note: The Hague is the
4 Netherlands 17,249,632 Dutch, Frisian
seat of government[16]
5 Belgium 11,420,163 Dutch, French Brussels
6 Portugal 10,291,027 Portuguese Lisbon
7 Ireland 4,857,000 Irish, English Dublin
French, Luxembourgish
8 Luxembourg 602,005 Luxembourg City
and German
9 Andorra 78,264 Catalan Andorra la Vella
10 Monaco 38,300 French Monaco (city-state)
Total 222,293,922

Climate
The climate of Western Europe varies from subtropical and semi-arid in the coasts of Italy, Portugal and Spain
to alpine in the Pyrenees and the Alps. The Mediterranean climate of the south is dry and warm. The western
and northwestern parts have a mild, generally humid climate, influenced by the North Atlantic Current.

Languages
Western European languages mostly fall within two Indo-European language families: the Romance
languages, descended from the Latin of the Roman Empire; and the Germanic languages, whose ancestor
language (Proto-Germanic) came from southern Scandinavia.[17] Romance languages are spoken primarily in
the southern and central part of Western Europe, Germanic languages in the northern part (the British Isles and
the Low Countries), as well as a large part of Northern and Central Europe.[17]

Other Western European languages include the Celtic group (that is, Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Manx, Welsh,
Cornish and Breton[17]) and Basque, the only currently living European language isolate.[18]

Multilingualism and the protection of regional and minority languages are recognized political goals in Western
Europe today. The Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and
the Council of Europe's European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages set up a legal framework for
language rights in Europe.

Economy
Western Europe is one of the richest regions of the world. Germany has the highest gross domestic product in
Europe and the largest financial surplus of any country, Luxembourg has the world's highest GDP per capita,
and Germany has the highest net national wealth of any European state.
Switzerland and Luxembourg have the highest average wage in the world, in nominal and PPP, respectively.
Norway ranks highest in the world on the Social Progress Index.[19]

See also
Central Europe
Eastern Europe
Northern Europe
Southern Europe
Far West
Marshall Plan
Eurovoc#Western Europe
Western world

References

Citations
1. Delanty, Gerard (1995). "The Westemisation of Europe". Inventing Europe Idea, Identity,
Reality. p. 30. doi:10.1057/9780230379657 (https://doi.org/10.1057%2F9780230379657).
ISBN 978-0-333-62203-2. "Until the late fifteenth century the idea of Europe was principally a
geographical expression and subordinated to Christendom which was the dominant identity
system in the West. The idea of Europe as the West began to be consolidated in the foreign
conquests of the age of 'discovery" (...) "Europe then begins to shed itself of its association with
Christendom and slowly becomes an autonomous discourse."
2. Sushytska, Julia (2012). Bradatan, Costica (ed.). "What Is Eastern Europe? A Philosophical
Approach" (https://philpapers.org/rec/SUSWIE). Angelaki. Routledge: 39–51.
3. "Atlas of the Historical Geography of the Holy Land" (https://web.archive.org/web/20130610034
842/http://rbedrosian.com/Maps/ahgh66b.htm). Rbedrosian.com. Archived from the original (htt
p://rbedrosian.com/Maps/ahgh66b.htm) on 10 June 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
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~DiazStudents/MiddleAgesChurchMap1.jpg) on 13 February 2013. Retrieved 23 February
2013.
5. Ricci, Matteo (1610) [2009]. On Friendship: One Hundred Maxims for a Chinese Prince.
Translated by Timothy Billings. Columbia University Press. pp. 19, 71, 87. ISBN 978-
0231149242.
6. Dragan Brujić (2005). "Vodič kroz svet Vizantije (Guide to the Byzantine World)" (http://www.car
tileonline.eu/carte/1025738/dragan-brujia-vodia-kroz-svet-vizantijeDragan). Beograd. p. 51.
7. "Being Christian in Western Europe" (http://www.pewforum.org/2018/05/29/being-christian-in-w
estern-europe/), Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 2018, retrieved 29 May 2018
8. "The geopolitical conditions (...) are now a thing of the past, and some specialists today think
that Eastern Europe has outlived its usefulness as a phrase.""Regions, Regionalism, Eastern
Europe by Steven Cassedy" (http://science.jrank.org/pages/11016/Regions-Regionalism-Easte
rn-Europe-Future-Eastern-Europe.html). New Dictionary of the History of Ideas, Charles
Scribner's Sons. 2005. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
 9. "One very common, but now outdated, definition of Eastern Europe was the Soviet-dominated
communist countries of Europe."http://www.cotf.edu/earthinfo/balkans/BKdef.html Archived (htt
ps://web.archive.org/web/20171210020555/http://www.cotf.edu/earthinfo/balkans/BKdef.html)
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image of 'Eastern Europe', desperately trying to patch together political and social
developments from Budapest to Bukhara or Tallinn to Tashkent without acknowledging that this
Cold War frame of reference is coming apart at the seams. Central Europe Review: Re-Viewing
Central Europe By Sean Hanley, Kazi Stastna and Andrew Stroehlein, 1999 (http://www.ce-revi
ew.org/99/1/hanley1.html) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20171031132532/http://www.c
e-review.org/99/1/hanley1.html) 31 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine
11. Berglund, Sten; Ekman, Joakim; Aarebrot, Frank H. (2004). The handbook of political change
in Eastern Europe (https://books.google.com/books?id=HeRzzwzdfPkC&q=Eastern+Europe+te
rm+outdated&pg=PA2). p. 2. ISBN 9781781954324. Retrieved 5 October 2011. "The term
'Eastern Europe' is ambiguous and in many ways outdated."
12. "Confirmed: Czech Republic is in Western Europe, says US textbook" (https://news.expats.cz/
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News.expats.cz.
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c1682_governancehandbook_lr_en.pdf) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/201101091435
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15. "World Population Prospects 2018" (https://web.archive.org/web/20160919061238/https://esa.u
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16. "Europe :: Netherlands — The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency" (https://www.cia.
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Sources
The Making of Europe, ISBN 0-14-015409-4, by Robert Bartlett
Crescent and Cross, ISBN 1-84212-753-5, by Hugh Bicheno
The Normans, ISBN 0-7524-2881-0, by Trevor Rowley
1066: The Year of the Three Battles, ISBN 0-7126-6672-9, by Frank McLynn

External links
The European sub-regions according to the UN (http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49re
gin.htm#europe)
 Teaching about Western Europe (http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-9217/europe.htm)

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