Western Europe is a geographic region of Europe. This term does not have a precise definition. Its use has changed over time. During the middle ages, the European parts of the Western World included those countries following Catholicism or Protestantism. During the Cold War, "Western Europe" was a geographic and socio-political concept. It meant the democratic European countries of the First World, which are also vaguely defined. It was and still is distinguished from Eastern Europe by differences of economics, politics, and religion. At its widest medieval definition, it includes the following 32 countries: