western Europe

western part of the European continent

Western Europe is mainly a socio-political concept forged during the Cold War, which largely defined its borders. Its boundaries were effectively forged during the final stages of World War II and came to encompass all European countries which did not come under Soviet control and influence. As such these capitalist First World countries did not see communist regimes imposed upon them. Neutral countries were classified by the nature of their political regimes.
See more at Wikipedia.org...