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The term "Western" refers to "[[the West]]", meaning those countries and people aligned with [[Western Christendom]] (as described by historian [[Arnold Toynbee]]). The Western world was led by England (see [[British Empire]]) until the ascendancy of the [[United States of America]].
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The term "Western" refers to "[[the West]]" (or the Occident), meaning those countries and people aligned with [[Western Christendom]] (as described by historian [[Arnold Toynbee]]). The Western world was led by England (see [[British Empire]]) until the ascendancy of the [[United States of America]].
However this term is not exclusively used to refer to anglophone nations nor is it used to refer to countries aligned on the western side on a standard [[world map]]. For example, European nations such as [[France]] and [[Germany]] are counted as "Western" states whereas some countries in [[South America]], such as [[Peru]] and [[Chile]], are not.
The general rule of thumb is that it is used to refer to nations that have an origin in the [[Latin]]/[[Germanic]] roots of Western Europe and have a similar high level of societal development (e.g [[Australia]].)
[[Category:Geography]]
[[Category:Geography]]