Western Europe

Cultural  

1. Those nations in Europe that were not part of the Eastern Bloc, or more specifically, those nations allied with the United States in NATO (except Turkey). Neutral or nonaligned nations such as Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, and Spain, though western European in terms of geography, are not usually meant when the term “Western Europe” is used as the opposite for terms such as “Eastern Europe,” “the Eastern Bloc,” or “communist Europe.”

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Example Sentences

A spell of freezing weather bringing heavy snowfall and ice has caused transport disruption across western Europe.

From BBC

Nick Kalivas, Invesco’s head of factor strategy for ETFs, told MarketWatch via email that IPKW’s outperformance in 2025 was driven by exposure to Western Europe and its holdings of bank stocks that were helped by the steepening yield curve.

From MarketWatch

That’s an area that includes not only Cuba, Colombia and Greenland, already seen as likely targets for U.S. military intervention, but also parts of Western Europe and Africa.

From MarketWatch

Colder weather is expected in western Europe as an Arctic cold pool spreads.

From The Wall Street Journal

The U.K., often viewed as Western Europe’s most potent military, has only 147,000 active members and 32,000 reservists.

From The Wall Street Journal