Western Muslims are Muslims who reside in the West. Ever since the rise of Islam, Muslims have lived in parts of the West alongside Jews and Christians. Until the twentieth century, very few Muslims had ever lived in Western Europe, with the main exceptions being southern Italy and Al-Andalus, the period of Islamic rule of the Iberian Peninsula (i.e. what is now Spain and Portugal). The scientific and literary accomplishments of this period are often seen as an important influence on the development of the Renaissance.