Southern Europe
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2009) |
 |
This article is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this article to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (October 2010) |
The term Southern Europe, at its most general definition, is used to mean "all countries in the south of Europe". However, the concept, at different times, has had different meanings, providing additional political, linguistic and cultural context to the definition in addition to the typical geographical, phytogeographic or climatic approach. Most coastal countries in the United Nations-designated southern Europe border the Mediterranean Sea. Exceptions are Portugal which has only Atlantic coastline, Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia, which are landlocked, and Bulgaria, which borders the Black Sea.
Contents |
[edit] Geographical definition
Geographically, southern Europe is the southern half of the landmass of Europe. This definition is relative, with no clear limits. The Alps and Massif Central mountains constitute a physical barrier between Italy and France and the rest of Europe.[clarification needed]
Countries geographically considered part of southern Europe include:
[edit] Iberian Peninsula
Andorra
Portugal (including: Madeira and Azores)
Spain (including: Balearic Islands)
Gibraltar (British overseas territory)
[edit] Italian Peninsula
Italy (including: Sardinia and Sicily)
San Marino
Vatican City
[edit] Balkans
Albania
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia (below Sava and Kupa)
Greece (including: Aegean Islands, Crete, and Ionian Islands)
Montenegro
Serbia (below Sava and Danube)
Macedonia
Turkey (European Turkey)
[edit] Other
- Croatia (northern regions (Slavonia, Zagreb, Međimurje and Zagorje) are sometimes considered as Central Europe)
Cyprus (geographically part of Asia but considered European for historic and cultural reasons)
Malta (including: Gozo)
Romania (Northern Dobruja is considered Southern European and sometimes Wallachia. Transylvania is sometimes considered as Central Europe)- Serbia (northern regions (Vojvodina, northern Belgrade, Mačva region) are sometimes considered as Central Europe)
Slovenia (region of Primorska)
[edit] United Nations geoscheme
For its official works and publications, the United Nations Organization groups countries under a classification of regions. Southern Europe, as defined by the United Nations (the sub-regions according to the UN), comprises the following countries and territories:[1]
- Albania
- Andorra
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Croatia
- Gibraltar (can be included in Western Europe politically as it is a territory of the
United Kingdom) - Greece (including: Aegean Islands, Crete, and Ionian Islands)
- Italy (including: Sardinia and Sicily)
- Macedonia
- Malta (including: Gozo)
- Montenegro
- Portugal (including: Madeira and Azores)
- San Marino
- Serbia
- Slovenia
- Spain (including: Balearic Islands)
- Vatican City
As of 2009, there were 163,865,210 people living in Southern Europe with an average population density of 74 inhabitants per square kilometer:[1]
| Southern Europe:[1] | ||||
| Country | Area (km²) |
Population (2010 est.) |
Population density (per km²) |
Capital |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albania |
28,748 | 3,695,000 | 111.1 | Tirana |
| Andorra |
467.63 | 84,082 | 179.8 | Andorra la Vella |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina |
51,129 | 4,613,414 | 90.2 | Sarajevo |
| Croatia |
56,594 | 4,489,409 | 81 | Zagreb |
| Gibraltar (United Kingdom) |
6.8 | 29,431 | 4,328 | Gibraltar |
| Greece |
131,990 | 11,295,002 | 85.3 | Athens |
| Italy |
301,338 | 60,418,711 | 200.5 | Rome |
| Republic of Macedonia |
25,713 | 2,114,550 | 82.2 | Skopje |
| Malta |
316 | 412,966 | 1,306.8 | Valletta |
| Montenegro |
13,812 | 672,181 | 50 | Podgorica |
| Portugal |
92,090 | 11,317,192 | 114 | Lisbon |
| San Marino |
61.2 | 31,716 | 501 | City of San Marino |
| Serbia |
88,361 | 7,306,677 | 107.46 | Belgrade |
| Slovenia |
20,273 | 2,054,199 | 99.6 | Ljubljana |
| Spain |
504,030 | 46,030,109 | 93 | Madrid |
| Vatican City |
0.44 | 826 | 1877 | Vatican City |
| Total | 1,338,694 | 163,865,210 | 74.05 |
[edit] Climatical definition
Southern Europe's climate is that of the Mediterranean climate, which has become a typically known characteristic of the area. The humid subtropical climate can be considered too as a Southern Europe climate (Northern Italy, Eastern Romania and Bulgaria).
The area presents similar landscapes throughout, including:
- Dry Hills
- Small Plains
- Pine Forests
- Olive Trees
The area which is considered climatically Southern Europe is:
- Albania
- Bosnia and Herzegovina (coasts)
- Croatia (coasts)
- Cyprus
France (southeast coast, and the island of Corsica)- Gibraltar
- Greece
- Italy (except the Po River plain and Alps region)
- Macedonia
- Malta
Monaco- Montenegro
- Portugal (northeast and southern two-thirds)
- Serbia (south)[2]
- Slovenia (coasts)
- Spain (the whole of the country excepted the northern coast)
- Turkey (only European territories, western and southern coast)
[edit] Phytogeographical definition
Southern Europe's flora is that of the Mediterranean Region, one of the phytochoria recognized by Armen Takhtajan. The Mediterranean and Submediterranean climate regions in Europe comprise the following countries and territories:[3]
- Albania
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- France (the southern and southeastern part, and the island of Corsica)
- Greece (including: Aegean Islands, Crete, and Ionian Islands)
Hungary (the southwestern part till the Balaton lake)- Italy
- Macedonia
- Malta
- Montenegro
- Portugal (the southern half)
- Romania (only the southern part along the Danube river)
- Serbia
- Slovenia
- Spain (except for the northwestern part)
Switzerland (only Ticino)
Ukraine (only the southern part of Crimea)
[edit] Linguistic Southern Europe
[edit] Romance languages
Romance languages and modern Greek are the heirs of Latin and ancient Greek as the main historical languages of the mediterranean area. Romance languages have spread from the Italian peninsula, and are emblematic of southern-western Europe: the "latin arch" (Romania and Moldava are an exception on that point); modern Greek is used in Greece and Cyprus.
- Andorra: Catalan
- France: French, Occitan, Franco-Provençal, Catalan, Corsican
- Italy: Italian, Friulian, Ligurian, Sardinian, Sicilian
Moldova: Romanian- Monaco: French, Monégasque
- Portugal: Portuguese, Mirandese,
- Romania: Romanian
- San Marino: Italian
- Spain: Spanish, Catalan, Galician
- Switzerland: French, Italian, Romansh
- Vatican City: Italian
[edit] Greek language
[edit] Albanian language
Albanian is also a language rooted in southern Europe, spoken in the Balkanic peninsula.
[edit] South Slavic languages
Slavic languages that are now spoken in southern Europe are not rooted in the Mediterranean area nor spoken mainly in those areas: In that sense those languages are not part of the linguistic definition of southern Europe, since they are logically associated with their "core". That said southern Slavic languages form a quite homogenous area, geographically separated from north Slavic languages by Hungary and Romania.
- Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian
- Bulgaria: Bulgarian
- Croatia: Croatian
- Macedonia: Macedonian
- Montenegro: Montenegrin, Serbian
- Serbia: Serbian
- Slovenia: Slovene
[edit] Germanic languages
Due to the English colonisation in Malta and Gibraltar, Germanic languages have a little presence in southern Europe, far from the core of Germanic languages in north-western Europe. Malta uses English as a second language in some cases (after Maltese, which still is the original and main native language). In Gibraltar, English is the official language but Spanish and llanito (mix of Andalucian, Spanish with some English) are also spoken.
[edit] Semitic languages
[edit] Basque language
The Basque language is a linguistic isolate spoken by the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France.
[edit] Turkic languages
Turkish language is a non Indo-European that due to the expansion of the Ottoman Empire in Europe has even today presence in many countries in the Balkans. The only countries though that Turkish has an offical status is the geographically Asian and transcontinental countries of Cyprus and Turkey respectively.
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c United Nations Statistics Division- Standard Country and Area Codes Classifications (M49)
- ^ World Factbook
- ^ Wolfgang Frey and Rainer Lösch; Lehrbuch der Geobotanik. Pflanze und Vegetation in Raum und Zeit. Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, München 2004
|
|
