In medieval historiography,
West Francia (
Latin:
Francia occidentalis) or the
Kingdom of the West Franks (
regnum Francorum occidentalium) was the western part of
Francia, inhabited and ruled by the
Germanic Franks, and forms the earliest stage of the
Kingdom of France, lasting from about 840 until 987. West Francia was formed out of the division of the
Carolingian Empire after the death of Emperor
Louis the Pious, but the east–west division "gradually hardened into the establishment of separate kingdoms".