Countries are also divided into East and West. What are the western countries?

The western world is considered as Europe (except Russia), the United States and Canada in North America and Australia and New Zealand in Oceania. These countries are mainly white countries with Christian and western cultural backgrounds, and some Latin American countries that believe in Catholicism also belong to the western world.

The western world (English), also known as the west, western countries (English), western cultural areas and free world, has different definitions in different occasions and times. These countries have the same culture and writing, but they are not necessarily located in the west, such as Israel, Australia and New Zealand in the Middle East.

Western ideas originated from Greek civilization, Roman Empire and later Christian culture. After the Renaissance, religious reform, the Enlightenment and the expansion of imperialism and colonialism, today's western world was formed. During the Cold War, western views were established in capitalist countries that were deeply influenced by liberal ideas and opposed capitalism, forming an anti-liberal camp, which was different from capitalist countries with different political and economic aspects.

The original literal meaning of this word is a geographical concept. Since15th century, Western Europeans have regarded West Asia, South Asia and East Asia as the East. In the contemporary cultural sense, this western world includes not only Europe, but also countries whose ancestors migrated from Europe to America and Oceania during the European colonial period.

The western world is also a geographical concept centered on China in ancient China. Modern usage rules are synonymous with "western world". In the early Ming Dynasty, Borneo Island was the boundary, and the east was called the Eastern Ocean, and the west was called the Western Ocean. Therefore, what used to be called the South China Sea was called the Eastern Ocean and the Western Ocean in the Ming Dynasty, and the sea in the Gulf of Siam was called the "Rising Sea".

country

Northern Europe: Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Iceland.

Western Europe: Britain, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France.

Southern Europe: Spain, Portugal, Italy

Central Europe: Germany, Austria, Switzerland

North America: USA, Canada

Australia: Australia, New Zealand

Asia: Japan

In addition to the traditional division of East and West countries, Japan is a special country. Although Japan belongs to the East geographically, it is generally regarded as a western country because of its western capitalist political system.

Extended data:

history

Western culture is influenced by many ancient and great Western Asian civilizations, such as Phoenicia, Soviet Union, and Babylon? . It originated in the Mediterranean basin and its vicinity, and Greece is often regarded as its origin.

With the passage of time, the first wave of expansion, accompanied by the conquest of the Roman Empire, spread to the entire Mediterranean coastal area and the southern coastal area of the Black Sea.

The second wave of expansion is the spread of Christianity. Christianity in England (5th century AD), Bulgaria (9th century AD), Kiev, Russia (10th century AD), Northern Europe (12nd century AD) and Lithuania (14th century AD) pushed the whole of Europe into western Christian culture.

Carol quigley, a historian in The Evolution of Civilization? Some people think that western Christian culture was born around 500 AD. After the demise of the Western Roman Empire, the cultural vacuum left behind brought about the vigorous development of new ideas, which was impossible in classical times.

From the demise of the Western Roman Empire to the Renaissance, Western Europe experienced the first sharp decline, and then adapted, adjusted and re-developed in material, technology and politics. This whole period is about 1000 years, which is called the Middle Ages. In the early stage, it formed a dark age, and in the later stage, it prompted the Renaissance to reflect on its own views and self-image in history.

Due to the remnants of the Eastern Roman Empire and the Christian Church, the knowledge of the Roman Empire was partially preserved in the Middle Ages. Europe has also greatly expanded the import of new technologies from China and India through Arabia. Since the Renaissance, the development of Europe has surpassed the influence of Greek civilization, Roman Empire and Islamic world. Due to the commercial, scientific and industrial revolution, the colonial empire in western Europe once ruled people in vast areas of the world in the middle of the 20th century.

This expansion also spread Christianity to the whole world, making Christianity the largest religion in the world.

East-west model

After the end of World War II, the pattern of bipolar confrontation and cold war appeared between the "Oriental Group" headed by the Soviet Union and the "capitalist camp" headed by the United States. The relationship between them is usually called "East-West relationship". Although the "camp" no longer exists, the term "western countries" is still in use.

In addition to the traditional division of eastern and western countries, Russia and Japan are two special powers. The similarity of their national characters has a sense of difference outside the western world.

Although Russia belongs to the west in race, culture and geography, it has not been recognized by western countries because of its political system and national strength. Although Japan is associated with the western group in the camp, it involves the relationship between the East and the West and the group concept. But geographically, culturally and ethnically, they all belong to the East (East Asia) and are often regarded as eastern countries.

References:

Baidu Encyclopedia-Western Countries