   right|thumb|300px|southerly countries of europe (dark blue) the term southern europe, at different times, has had different meanings, providing additional political, economic, civilizational and socio-cultural context to the definition in addition to the typical geographic, phytogeographic or climatic approach. ==geographic definition== thumb|300px|regions of europe based on cia world factbook   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: ===southwestern europe (iberian peninsula)=== ;countries whose borders lie within southwestern europe (iberia): *  *  *  *  ===southcentral europe (italian peninsula)according to encyclopedia britannica italy is located in south-central europe http://www.britannica.com/ebchecked/topic/297474/italy=== *  *  *  ===southeastern europe (balkan peninsula)=== ;countries whose borders lie within southeastern europe (the balkans): *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  ===island countries=== *  *  ==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 ([http://
Regions_of_Europe Southern_Europe