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:For alternative meanings for "The West" in the United States, see The West (U.S.) and U.S. Western states.The term Western world can have multiple meanings depending on its context. Originally defined as Europe, most modern uses of the term refer to the societies of Europe and their genealogical, colonial, and philosophical descendants, typically also including those countries whose ethnic identity and dominant culture derive from European culture.
1 Western countries
To explain what is typical of Western society and Western culture, we must first define what constitutes the West (also called the Occident). Which countries belong, and which don't? Historically, the definitions have varied.
1.1 Historical
The Hellenic division between Greeks and " barbarians" (a Greek word), predates the division between East and West. The contrast was between Greek-speaking culture of mainland Greece, the Aegean, the Ionian coast and Magna Graecia in southern Italy, and the surrounding non-Greek cultures of Thrace and Anatolia, the Persian Empire, Phoenicians and EgyptJumhuriyat Misr al-Arabiyah ( In Detail) Official language Arabic Capital Cairo Largest City Cairo President Hosni Mubarak Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif Area Total % water Ranked 29th 1,001,450 km˛ 0. 6% Population Total (2003) Density Ranked 15th 74,718,797. This contrast can be traced in the Trojan WarThe Trojan War was a war waged, according to legend, against the city of Troy in Asia Minor by the armies of Greece, following the kidnapping (or elopement) of Helen of Sparta by Paris of Troy. The war figures centrally in Greek mythology and was narrated, which is dated traditionally to 1194 BCCenturies: 13th century BC 12th century BC 11th century BC Decades: 1240s BC 1230s BC 1220s BC 1210s BC 1200s BC 1190s BC 1180s BC 1170s BC 1160s BC 1150s BC 1140s BC Events and Trends 1197 BC -The beginning of first period (1197 BC 982 BC) by Sau Yung's - 1184 BCCenturies: 13th century BC 12th century BC 11th century BC Decades: 1230s BC 1220s BC 1210s BC 1200s BC 1190s BC 1180s BC 1170s BC 1160s BC 1150s BC 1140s BC 1130s BC Events and Trends April 24 1184 BC Traditional date of the fall of Troy. 1181 BC Menesth. Presuming it had a historical basis, the conflict was between AchaeansThis article is about the ancient people of the Achaeans. See AchaeaMud for the MUD created by Iron Realms Entertainment. The Achaeans (also Akhaians Greek ) is the collective name given to the Greek forces in Homer's Iliad. An alternative name, used inte and the non-Greek TrojansThis article is about the city of Troy / Ilion as described in the works of Homer, and the location of an ancient city associated with it. For other uses see Troy (disambiguation) and Ilion (disambiguation). Troy ( Greek Τροα Troia ( in western Anatolia. The Greeks also considered the Persian Wars of the early 5th century BC a conflict of west versus east.
The Mediterranean basin was united by Romans, but distinctions remained between the Empire's mostly Latin-speaking western half and the more urbanized eastern half, where Greek was the lingua franca. The Roman Emperor Diocletian divided the Roman Empire into two regions, each administered by a Caesar ( Tetrarchy), in 292 A.D.; the eastern part evolved into the Byzantine empire, a Christian theocracy where the emperor was also head of the spiritual life (" caesaropapism"). At the same time, Roman rule in the western part crumbled under pressures from outside the empire, and was slowly rebuilt as a culture divided between two sources of power, the Pope and the Emperor.
The distinctions between the western and eastern parts of the Christian world remained through the Middle Ages, despite a nominal sense of Christian unity (the concept of " Christendom") brought about by the conquests of Christian lands by the Muslim Arabs and Turks. The Franks under Charlemagne established a western empire, which was recognized as the Holy Roman Empire by the Pope, offending the Byzantine Emperor. The Latin Rite church of western and central Europe, headed by the Pope (the Patriarch of Rome), split with the eastern, Greek-speaking Patriarchates during the Great Schism. "Latin" and "Frankish" Crusaders sacked the Byzantine capital Constantinople in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade as ruthlessly as they did the 'infidel' Muslims. With its Byzantine heritage, Orthodox Europe, including Russia, may or may not be considered part of the West.
