- Southern Europe
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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
Geographical definition
Southern Europe by UN.
Geographically, southern Europe is the southern half of the landmass of Europe. This definition is relative, with no clear limits.
Countries geographically considered part of southern Europe include:
Iberian Peninsula
Andorra
Gibraltar (British overseas territory)
Portugal (including: Madeira and Azores)
Spain (including: Balearic Islands)
Italian Peninsula
Italy (including: Sardinia and Sicily)
San Marino
Vatican City
Balkans
Albania
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia (below Sava and Kupa)
Greece (including: Aegean Islands, Crete, and Ionian Islands)
Macedonia
Montenegro
Serbia (below Sava and Danube)
Kosovo (contested independence)
Turkey (East Thrace)
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)
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 Albania28,748 3,695,000 111.1 Tirana Andorra467.63 84,082 179.8 Andorra la Vella Bosnia and Herzegovina51,129 4,613,414 90.2 Sarajevo Croatia56,594 4,489,409 81 Zagreb Gibraltar (United Kingdom)6.8 29,431 4,328 Gibraltar Greece131,990 11,295,002 85.3 Athens Italy301,338 60,418,711 200.5 Rome Republic of Macedonia25,713 2,114,550 82.2 Skopje Malta316 412,966 1,306.8 Valletta Montenegro13,812 672,181 50 Podgorica Portugal92,090 11,317,192 114 Lisbon San Marino61.2 31,716 501 City of San Marino Serbia88,361 7,306,677 107.46 Belgrade Slovenia20,273 2,054,199 99.6 Ljubljana Spain504,030 46,030,109 93 Madrid Vatican City0.44 826 1877 Vatican City Total 1,338,694 163,865,210 74.05 Climatical definition
Southern Europe's most emblematic climate is that of the Mediterranean climate, which has become a typically known characteristic of the area. The humid subtropical climate is a southern european climate too (Northern Italy, Bulgaria...).
Those areas of Mediterranean climate present similar vegetations and landscapes throughout, including dry hills, small plains, pine forests and 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)
- Kosovo
- Macedonia
- Malta
Monaco- Montenegro
- Portugal[2]
- Serbia (south)[3]
- Slovenia (coasts)
- Spain (the whole of the country except the northern coast)
Phytogeographical definition
The European floristic regionsSouthern 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:[4]
- 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 Lake Balaton)- Italy
- Kosovo
- Macedonia
- Malta
- Montenegro
- Portugal
- 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)
Linguistic Southern Europe
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 Moldova 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, Ladin, Sardinian, Catalan, Occitan, Franco-Provençal, plus the so-called "Italian dialects", not officially recognised by Italian Republic (Piedmontese, Ligurian, Lombard, Venetian, Emiliano and Romagnolo, Neapolitan, Sicilian)
Moldova: Romanian- Monaco: French, Monégasque
- Portugal: Portuguese, Mirandese
- Romania: Romanian
- San Marino: Italian
- Spain: Spanish, Catalan, Galician (plus Aragonese, Asturian, Leonese, Extremaduran)
- Switzerland: French, Italian, Romansh
- Vatican City: Italian
Greek language
- Albania: Himariote
- Cyprus: Cypriot Greek
- Greece: Cappadocian, Cretan, Maniot, Pontic, Tsakonian, Romano-Greek, Yevanic
- Italy: Griko
- Turkey: Pontic
- Ukraine: Crimean Greek
Albanian language
Albanian is also a language rooted in southern Europe, spoken in the Balkan peninsula.
Gheg:
- Northern Albania
- Kosovo
- West Macedonia
- South-east Montenegro
- South Serbia
Tosk:
- Southern Albania
- Greek Epirus
- Kosovo
- West Macedonia
- Arbëria
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
- Italy: Slovene (in Eastern Friuli-Venezia Giulia)
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 northwestern 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 Andalusian, Spanish with some English) are also spoken.
- Gibraltar: English
- Malta: English
- Italy: German (in South Tyrol and some small areas in the Northern part of the country)
Semitic languages
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.
See also
References
- ^ a b c United Nations Statistics Division- Standard Country and Area Codes Classifications (M49)
- ^ http://www.meteo.pt/pt/areaeducativa/otempo.eoclima/clima.pt/index.html
- ^ World Factbook
- ^ Wolfgang Frey and Rainer Lösch; Lehrbuch der Geobotanik. Pflanze und Vegetation in Raum und Zeit. Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, München 2004
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