New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Reference Terms
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Western world

The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident (from Latin: occidens "sunset, West"; as contrasted with the Orient), is a term referring to different nations depending on the context. There are many accepted definitions about what all they have in common.

The concept of the Western part of Earth has its roots in Greco-Roman civilization in Europe, and the advent of Christianity. In the modern era, Western culture has been heavily influenced by the traditions of the Renaissance, Protestant Reformation, Age of Enlightenment -- and shaped by the expansive colonialism of the 15th-20th centuries. Before the Cold War era, the traditional Western viewpoint identified Western Civilization with the Western Christian (Catholic-Protestant) countries and culture. Its political usage was temporarily changed by the antagonism during the Cold War in the mid-to-late 20th Century (1947-1991).

The term originally had a literal geographic meaning. It contrasted Europe with the linked cultures and civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia and remote Far East, which early-modern Europeans saw as the East. Today, this has little geographic relevance, since the United States and Canada are in the Americas, Russia expands to Northern Asia and Australia and New Zealand are part of Oceania.

In the contemporary cultural meaning, the phrase "Western world" includes Europe, as well as many countries of European colonial origin with substantial European ancestral populations in the Americas and Oceania.

Related Stories
 


Science & Society News

October 27, 2025

Researchers found that life expectancy growth in wealthy nations has dramatically slowed since 1939. Once driven by major reductions in child mortality, longevity gains are now limited by slower progress in older-age survival. The study suggests no ...
Researchers have uncovered microbial evidence in the remains of Napoleon’s soldiers from the 1812 Russian retreat. Genetic analysis revealed pathogens behind paratyphoid and relapsing fever, diseases likely contributing to the army’s massive ...
Inside your body, an intricate communication network constantly monitors breathing, heart rate, digestion, and immune function — a hidden “sixth sense” called interoception. Now, Nobel laureate ...
Vast amounts of valuable research data remain unused, trapped in labs or lost to time. Frontiers aims to change that with FAIR² Data Management, a groundbreaking AI-driven system that makes datasets reusable, verifiable, and citable. By uniting ...
Overdose deaths from fentanyl mixed with stimulants have skyrocketed among seniors, increasing 9,000% in just eight years. Once thought to affect mainly the young, the opioid epidemic’s fourth wave ...
Men’s heavy drinking is fueling a hidden crisis affecting millions of women and children worldwide. The harms, from violence to financial instability, are especially severe where gender inequality is high. Experts warn that alcohol policies must ...
Over 40% of fatal crash victims had THC levels far above legal limits, showing cannabis use before driving remains widespread. The rate didn’t drop after legalization, suggesting policy changes haven’t altered risky habits. Experts warn that the ...
BMJ Group has pulled a widely reported apple cider vinegar weight-loss study after experts uncovered major flaws in its data and analysis. Attempts to replicate the results failed, and irregularities raised questions about the trial’s reliability. ...
Researchers found that middle-aged adults, especially women, are far more likely to be addicted to ultra-processed foods than older generations. Marketing of diet-focused processed foods in the 1980s may have played a major role. Food addiction was ...
Beer and wine, staples of human history for millennia, are still yielding new surprises. Recent research highlights how yeast extracts can cloud lagers, gluten can be quickly detected with a simple test strip, tannins give red wine its lip-puckering ...
Rice, a staple for billions, is one of the most resource-hungry crops on the planet—but scientists may have found a way to change that. By applying nanoscale selenium directly to rice plants, researchers dramatically improved nitrogen efficiency, ...
Researchers reviewing 46 studies found evidence linking prenatal acetaminophen (Tylenol) exposure with higher risks of autism and ADHD. The FDA has since urged caution, echoing scientists’ advice ...

Latest Headlines

updated 12:56 pm ET