Specifying geography with cardinal directions

Question

So here in America we are in "the West".

Would this become "the Western world" or "the western world? "

I'll assume the same applies to "the East" (Asia).

Answer 1

There are quite a few rules when dealing with cardinal directions. When they refer to a specific region, they will use an article and be capitalised. i.e. the North and the Southwest. If you are just specifying a direction, then there should be no capitalisation.

When used as an adjective, there are three general scenarios:
1. We are referring to a general location, i.e. western temperatures or southern England.
2. We are referring to the population of a region or the activities of that population, i.e. Eastern cricket.
3. The adjective is part of a proper name.

So: In America you are in the West. America is part of North America, which is part of the northern Americas, which are part of the western world.

I shan't put a TL;DR here this time, since I'm off to bed, but I'll try to put one here on the 'morrow.