A [[compass rose with west highlighted]]
West is most commonly a
noun,
adjective, or
adverb indicating
direction or
geography.
West is one of the four
cardinal directions or
compass points. It is the opposite of
east and at right angles to
north and
south.
By
convention, the left side of a
map is west.
To go west using a compass for
navigation, set a
bearing or
azimuth of 270°.
West is the direction towards which the
sun sets at the
equinox, and therefore the direction opposite that of the
Earth's rotation.
Moving continuously west is following a
circle of latitude, which, except in the case of the
equator, is not a
great circle.
In
astronomy, there are several
comets named after a discoverer whose name was West; the most famous is Comet West.
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"'''The West'''" also often refers to Western countries. When used in this sense, it could mean anything from
NATO,
Europe and
North America with or without
Japan to all of
Judeo-Christian civilisation.
See also:
Occident
"'''West'''" can also refer to the
American West, a portion of the
United States, especially during the end of the
19th century. It is also called the "Old West" or "Wild West" (see
American Old West).
See also: Western movie
In pre-modern
China, the
West indicated the land of
Buddha and the place from which the sacred Buddist scriptures came (cf.
Journey to the West).
In
Mumbai city, West refers to the part of a suburb to the west of the railway line. (See
Mumbai suburban railway)
----
West is the surname of various persons, notably
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See also
Category:Orientation
da:Vest (retning)
de:Westen
es:Oeste
eo:Okcidento
fr:Ouest
id:Barat
it:Ovest
he:מערב
nl:West
nb:Vest
nn:Vest
ja:西
pl:Zachód
pt:Oeste
simple:West
fi:Länsi
sv:Väster
zh:西方