<P> While the eastern geographical boundaries of Europe are well defined, the boundary between Eastern and Western Europe is not geographical but historical, religious and cultural . </P> <P> The Ural Mountains, Ural River, and the Caucasus Mountains are the geographical land border of the eastern edge of Europe . </P> <P> In the west, however, the historical and cultural boundaries of "Eastern Europe" are subject to some overlap and, most importantly, have undergone historical fluctuations, which make a precise definition of the western geographic boundaries of Eastern Europe and the geographical midpoint of Europe somewhat difficult . </P> <P> The East--West Schism (which began in the 11th century and lasts until the present) divided Christianity in Europe, and consequently the world, into Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity . </P>

The term used to describe areas of china controlled by european nations is