Southern Europe
Southern Europe is the southern region of Europe.[1] It is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of southern Europe include some or all of these countries and regions: Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria,[note 1] Croatia, Cyprus,[note 2] Gibraltar,[note 3] Greece,[note 4] Italy,[note 5] Kosovo, Malta,[note 6] Monaco,[note 7] Montenegro, North Macedonia, Portugal, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, southern France,[note 8] Spain, Turkey (East Thrace),[note 9] and Vatican City.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]
Southern Europe is focused on the three peninsulas located in the extreme south of the European continent. These are the Iberian Peninsula, the Apennine Peninsula, and the Balkan Peninsula.[12][13] These three peninsulas are separated from the rest of Europe by towering mountain ranges, respectively by the Pyrenees, the Alps and the Balkan Mountains. The location of these peninsulas in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, as well as their mountainous reliefs, provide them with very different types of climates (mainly subtropical Mediterranean) from the rest of the continent. So, the Sirocco hot wind that originates in the heart of the Sahara blows over Italy, going up to the interior of the Alpine arc (Po Valley). The Alps prevent the Sirocco from spreading to the rest of Europe. And, conversely, the Alps and the Pyrenees protect the Italian and Iberian Peninsulas from the rains and icy winds from the south of France such as the Mistral and the Tramontane. When the Mistral and the Tramontane are blowing, this provokes an "upwelling" phenomenon on the French coast. They push the surface waters out to sea and bring deeper, cooler waters up to the seaside. Consequently, the temperature of the waters of the French coasts are therefore very cool even in summer, and not representative of the rest of the Mediterranean.[14][15][16] This same kind of phenomenon takes place between the two slopes of the Balkan mountain range. These mountains have, moreover, been a serious handicap to population displacement, focusing southern Europe mainly on the Mediterranean world. The climate and cultures are therefore very specific.
Different methods can be used to define southern Europe, including its political, economic, historical, and cultural attributes. Southern Europe can also be defined by its natural features — its geography, climate, and flora. Politically, nine of the southern European countries form the EU Med Group. Southern Europe also loosely corresponds to the European part of the Mediterranean Basin.
Geography
Geographically, southern Europe is the southern portion of the European continent. This definition is relative, although largely based on history, culture, climate, and flora, which is shared across the region. Southern Europe can be subdivided into three subregions:
- Iberian Peninsula and the surrounding islands (Southwest Europe)
- Italian geographic region[note 5](South-central Europe)
- Southeast Europe
The major islands in southern Europe generally include the Balearic Islands, Corsica, Crete, Cyprus,[note 2] Sardinia, and Sicily, as well as the island country of Malta.[note 6]
Gallery
-
Map representing the geography of Europe, with the mountain ranges separating southern Europe
-
Satellite image of the Iberian Peninsula
-
Satellite image of the Apennine Peninsula
-
Satellite image of the Balkan Peninsula
Climate
Southern Europe's most emblematic climate is the Mediterranean climate, influenced by the large subtropical semi-permanent centre of high atmospheric pressure found, not in the Mediterranean itself, but in the Atlantic Ocean, the Azores High. The Mediterranean climate covers Portugal, Spain, Italy, the southern coast of France, coastal Croatia, coastal Slovenia, southern Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, and Greece, as well as the Mediterranean islands. Those areas of Mediterranean climate present similar vegetations and landscapes throughout, including dry hills, small plains, pine forests and olive trees.
Cooler climates can be found in certain parts of southern European countries, for example within the mountain ranges of Spain and Italy. Additionally, the north coast of Spain experiences a wetter Atlantic climate. In the highest regions of the Alps, which border southern Europe, even ice cap climate can be found.[note 16]
Some parts of southern Europe have humid subtropical climates with warm and wet summers, unlike typical Mediterranean climates. This climate is mainly found in Italy and Croatia around the Adriatic Sea in cities such as Venice and Trieste, but also further north, near the Alpine foothills, in cities such as Como and Lugano.
Flora
Southern Europe's
In the Mediterranean coastal areas,
-
Beech forest in the Aurunci Mountains, Italy
-
Stone pines in Doñana National Park, Spain
-
Aleppo pineforest, Croatia
-
Temperate pine forests of Monte Cimone, Italy
-
Dry olive groove, Crete
History
Early history
The
The period known as classical antiquity began with the rise of the city-states of Ancient Greece. Greek influence reached its zenith under the expansive empire of Alexander the Great, spreading throughout Asia. The Roman Empire came to dominate the entire Mediterranean Basin in a vast empire based on Roman law and Roman legions. It promoted trade, tolerance, and Greek culture. By 300 AD the Roman Empire was divided into the Western Roman Empire based in Rome, and the Eastern Roman Empire based in Constantinople. The attacks of the Goths led to the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD, a date which traditionally marks the end of the classical period and the start of the Middle Ages. During the Middle Ages, the Eastern Roman Empire survived, though modern historians refer to this state as the Byzantine Empire. In Western Europe, Germanic peoples moved into positions of power in the remnants of the former Western Roman Empire and established kingdoms and empires of their own.
The period known as the
Post-Middle Ages
Beginning roughly in the 12th century in Florence, and later spreading through Europe with the development of the printing press, a Renaissance of knowledge challenged traditional doctrines in science and theology, with the Arabic texts and thought[23] bringing about rediscovery of classical Greek and Roman knowledge. The Catholic reconquest of Portugal and Spain led to a series of oceanic explorations resulting in the Age of Discovery that established direct links with Africa, the Americas, and Asia. During this period, Iberian forces engaged in a worldwide struggle with Islamic societies; the battlefronts in this Ibero-Islamic World War stretched from the Mediterranean into the Indian Ocean, finally involving the islands of Southeast Asia.[24] Eventually this ecumenical conflict ended when new players—England, Holland and France—replaced Spain and Portugal as the main agents of European imperialism in the mid-17th century.
European overseas expansion led to the rise of
20th and 21st century
The outbreak of
Italy became a major
The Gotthard, a major and direct transport axis between Northern and southern Europe, was completed in 2016 with the Gotthard Base Tunnel.[29] The Gotthard inscribes itself in a long history of transit across the Alps, which saw them progressively changing from an obstacle to a corridor between the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.[30]
Demographics
Languages
Romance languages
The most widely spoken family of languages in southern Europe are the Romance languages, the heirs of Latin, which have spread from the Italian peninsula, and are emblematic of Southwestern Europe (See the Latin Arch.). By far the most common Romance languages in southern Europe are Italian (spoken by over 50 million people in Italy, southern Switzerland, Malta, San Marino, and Vatican City) and Spanish, which is spoken by over 40 million people in Spain, Andorra and Gibraltar. Other common Romance languages include Portuguese (spoken in Portugal and Andorra), French (spoken in France, Monaco, and the Aosta Valley in Italy), Catalan (spoken in eastern Spain, Andorra, Southwestern France, and the Sardinian town of Alghero in Italy), Galician (spoken in northwestern Spain), Mirandese (spoken in northeast Portugal), and Occitan, which is spoken in the Val d'Aran in Catalonia, in the Occitan Valleys in Italy and in southern France.[citation needed]
Slavic languages
Other languages
The Hellenic languages or Greek language are widely spoken in Greece and Cyprus. Additionally, other varieties of Greek are spoken in small communities in parts of other European countries.[citation needed]
English is used as a second language in parts of southern Europe. As a primary language, however, English has only a small presence in southern Europe, only in Gibraltar (alongside Spanish) and Malta (secondary to Maltese). English is also widely spoken in Cyprus.[citation needed]
There are other language groupings in southern Europe.
Religion
The predominant religion in southern Europe is Christianity. Christianity spread throughout southern Europe during the Roman Empire, and Christianity was adopted as the official religion of the Roman Empire in the year 380 AD. Due to the historical break of the Church into the western half based in Rome and the eastern half based in Constantinople, different denominations of Christianity are prominent in different parts of Europe.[31]
Other classifications
CIA World Factbook
In the CIA World Factbook, the description of each country includes information about "Location" under the heading "Geography", where the country is classified into a region. The following countries are included in their classification "southern Europe":[33]
In addition, Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain are classified as "Southwestern Europe", while Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Turkey (the part west of the Bosporus) are described as located in "Southeastern Europe".
EuroVoc
EuroVoc is a multilingual thesaurus maintained by the Publications Office of the European Union, giving definitions of terms for official use. In the definition of "southern Europe", the following countries are included:[34]
UN geoscheme classification
The United Nations geoscheme is a system devised by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) which divides the countries of the world into regional and subregional groups, based on the M49 coding classification. The partition is for statistical convenience and does not imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories.[35]
In the UN geoscheme, the following countries are classified as southern Europe:[35]
- Albania
- Andorra
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Croatia
- Greece
- Holy See
- Italy
- Malta
- Montenegro
- North Macedonia
- Portugal
- San Marino
- Serbia
- Slovenia
- Spain
as well as the dependent territory:
European Travel Commission classification
European Travel Commission divides the European region on the basis of Tourism Decision Metrics (TDM) model. Countries which belong to the southern/Mediterranean Europe in this classification are:[36]
Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, East Thrace (Turkey), Greece, Italy, Malta, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, and Spain.
See also
- Central and Eastern Europe
- Central Europe
- Eastern Europe
- EU Med Group
- EuroVoc#Southern Europe
- Mediterranean Basin
- Northern Europe
- Northwestern Europe
- Southeast Europe
- Western Europe
Notes
- ^ a b Often included. The United Nations geoscheme includes Bulgaria in Eastern Europe.
- ^ Western Asia.
- ^ a b A British Overseas Territory.
- ^ a b Some Greek offshore islands near Asia Minor are considered parts of Asia in physical geography.
- ^ Southwestern Europe. Most of Italy is on the Eurasian Plate, while some parts such as Apulia are on the Adriatic Plate. Pantelleria, the Pelagie Islands, and some parts of Sicily are located on the African Plate, near of the boundary between the African Plate and the Eurasian Plate.[2][3] The United Nations geoschemeincludes Italy in southern Europe.
- ^ a b c In geology, the Maltese Islands is located on the African Plate.[2] The island group lies approx. 200 km south of the boundary between the African Plate and the Eurasian Plate.[3] In political geography, Malta is considered a European country. The United Nations geoscheme includes Malta in Southern Europe.
- ^ a b Sometimes included. The United Nations geoscheme includes Monaco in Western Europe.
- ^ Sometimes included, especially Alpes-Maritimes, Corsica, and Pyrénées-Orientales. The United Nations geoscheme includes Metropolitan France in Western Europe.
- ^ a b The European part of Turkey.
- ^ A part of Pyrénées-Orientales.
- ^ Sometimes included. French Cerdagne is the only part located on the Iberian Peninsula (Ebro Basin). The United Nations geoscheme includes Metropolitan France in Western Europe.
- ^ a b Sometimes included. The United Nations geoscheme includes Metropolitan France in Western Europe.
- ^ Sometimes included. Essentially on the south side of the Alps (Po Basin).[17][18] The United Nations geoscheme includes Switzerland in Western Europe.
- ^ Occasionally included. The United Nations geoscheme includes Moldova in Eastern Europe.
- ^ Sometimes included. The United Nations geoscheme includes Romania in Eastern Europe.
- ^ The highest mountain of Italy is Mont Blanc (4,810 m)
References
- ^ Southern Europe
- ^ a b c Taylor Combaluzier. "African & Arabian Tectonic Plates". McGill University, Montréal. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
- ^ a b Galea, Pauline (2007). "Seismic history of the Maltese Islands and considerations on seismic risk: Earthquakes in Malta". Annals of Geophysics. 50 (6): 725–740. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
- ISBN 978-1-134-25965-6.
- ISBN 978-0-275-97787-0.
- ^ Europe, Southern: Italy, Cyprus, Greece, European Turkey: Selected References. Air University Library. 1992.
- ^ Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Alan Barnard and Jonathan Spence. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
- ^ UCF Libraries – Southern Europe
- ^ Which Countries Make Up Southern Europe? WorldAtlas
- ^ "Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000 - Chapter 30. Southern Europe". Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 2000. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
- ^ Romania | History, Map, & Facts | Britannica
- ISBN 9781317907336.) divided Europe into its major divisions. Southern Europe falls into three units — the Pyrenean, Alpine, and Balkan peninsulas.
He (August Zeune
- ^ "Europe: Physical Geography". National Geographic Society. 4 January 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
Europe's main peninsulas are the Iberian, Italian, and Balkan, located in southern Europe
- ^ "Mediterranean sea-surface temperature". ESA. 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ^ Barale, Vittorio (January 2011). "Fig. 3.a: Sea surface temperature of the Mediterranean Sea (water masses and physical processes)". The coastal dimension of maritime spatial planning. ResearchGate. Archived from the original on 23 April 2023. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
- ^ "2010-2019 SST in the Mediterranean". eo science for society. 24 June 2019. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ISBN 9783110824841.
The canton of the Ticino marks the geographic descent from high Alps to plain and is, therefore, a land of climatic as well as linguistic transition, where heat and abundant moisture favor almonds, figs, and all the fruits common to southern Europe, except the olive.
- ISBN 9789264160651.
The Regio Insubrica spreads over three Italian provinces (Verbano-Cusio Ossola, Varese, Como) and the Swiss canton of Ticino. The national border cuts across a culturally and geographically homogenous territory. The region is peripheral for both countries, but it is an essential pole of communication between Northern and Southern Europe.
- ^ "Mediterranean Basin". Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
- ^ Wolfgang Frey and Rainer Lösch; Lehrbuch der Geobotanik. Pflanze und Vegetation in Raum und Zeit. Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, München 2004
- John Wiley & Sons. p. 145.
In the coastal areas, the olive groves are tightly interwoven with low maquis, garrigue and steppe, which have been widely grazed and, consequently, burned. On the other hand, low mountains and inland hills have chestnut and mixed deciduous coppiced woods. The actual boundaries between these two different vegetation landscapes can be found at different altitudes according to local climatic conditions; higher (about 1000m asl) in the eastern and southern areas, and lower and close to the sea in the central and northern basin.
- ^ "Phoenicia". World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
- ^ e.g. Averroes#Commentaries on Aristotle written in the 12th century, which was mentioned in Divine Comedy IV:144 Archived 2015-06-20 at the Wayback Machine around 1320 AD
- ^ Truxillo, Charles A. By the Sword and the Cross: The Historical Evolution of the Catholic World Monarchy in Spain and the New World, 1492-1825.
- ^ Richard J. Mayne. "history of Europe:: The Middle Ages". Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18 April 2009.
- ^ Steven Kreis (11 October 2006). "The Origins of the Industrial Revolution in England". Historyguide.org. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
- ^ Vértesy, László (2018). "Macroeconomic Legal Trends in the EU11 Countries" (PDF). Public Governance, Administration and Finances Law Review. 3. No. 1. 2018.
- ^ "From 6 to 27 members". ec.europa.eu. 6 December 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ISBN 9781781319383.
The first Gotthard Tunnel, a 9-mile (14 km) engineering marvel of its time, was dug between 1872 and 1882; 199 men died in the process. Running between the Swiss villages of Göschenen and Airolo, it was the first modern railway link between northern and southern Europe, and it is still used today.
- ISBN 9781464812163.
The Rhine-Alpine Corridor is a north-south corridor extending from the North Sea ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp to the Mediterranean port of Genoa in northern Italy. The corridor is a primary artery for transporting goods in Europe.
- ISBN 9780521616645. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
- ^ Conrad Hackett (29 November 2017), "5 facts about the Muslim population in Europe", Pew Research Center, archived from the original on 21 April 2023
- ^ CIA. "The World Factbook". Archived from the original on 24 January 2024.
- ^ Publications Office of the European Union. "7206 Europe". EU Vocabularies. Archived from the original on 6 March 2020.
- ^ a b "Methodology". UNSD. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
- ^ Tourism Economics (July 2014). "European Tourism 2014 – Trends & Prospects - Quarterly Report (Q2/2014)" (PDF). European Travel Commission. p. 5. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 April 2023.