POLITICAL
The subregion western Europe consists of some of the wealthiest countries in Europe.The nine countries that belong to this subregion are Austria, Belgium, Liechtenstien, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Monaco, Netherlands and Switzerland. Although often confused, let me clarify that the UK is part of northern Europe and Spain, Portugal and Italy are part of southern Europe. The political borders have been changed many times as empires are born and fall but this region of Europe has been dominant in power since the middle ages. See more at our history of western Europe page The History of Western Europe.
Physical
The three major physical land features of Western Europe are the Great European Plain, the Central Uplands, and the Alpine mountain system (the Alps). The Great European Plain stretches east of the Pyrenees Mountains, in southern France and northern Spain to the Ural Mountains in Eastern Europe, a majority of Europe's agriculture occurs in this region.The Central Uplands is a hilly and rugged plateau that crosses the central part of Europe, Europe only hold part of the Central Uplands. And the Alps which runs through three of the major peninsulas of Western Europe, the Iberian, the Italian, and the Balkan is the second longest mountain range in Europe. Unlike the Caucasus, the Alps only runs through Europe, it's highest peak is Mont Blanc which reaches an altitude of 4,808.73 m (15,777 ft). The overall climate of this region of this subregion is a marine climate, the ocean's moisture moderates this subregion's climate.