Southern Europe

Southern Europeis also known asMediterranean Europe, as its geography is marked by theMediterranean Sea. Definitions of southern Europe include some or all of these countries and regions:Albania,Andorra,Bosnia and Herzegovina,Bulgaria,Croatia,Cyprus,Gibraltar,Greece,Italy,Malta,Monaco,Montenegro,North Macedonia,Portugal,San Marino,Serbia,Slovenia,southern France,Spain,Turkey(East Thrace),andVatican City.
Southern Europe is focused on the three peninsulas located in the extreme south of the European continent. These are theIberian Peninsula, theItalian Peninsula, and theBalkan Peninsula.These three peninsulas are separated from the rest of Europe by towering mountain ranges, respectively by thePyrenees, theAlpsand theBalkan 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 (mainlysubtropicalMediterranean) from the rest of the continent. So, theSiroccohot wind that originates in the heart of theSaharablows overItaly, 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 theMistraland theTramontane. When theMistraland theTramontaneare 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.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 theMediterranean world. The climate and cultures are therefore very specific.
Different methods can be used to define southern Europe, including itspolitical,economic,historical, andculturalattributes. Southern Europe can also be defined by its natural features — itsgeography,climate, andflora. Politically, nine of the southern European countries form theEU Med Group. Southern Europe also loosely corresponds to the European part of theMediterranean Basin.
Geographically, southern Europe is the southern portion of theEuropeancontinent. 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 threesubregions:
Themajor islands in southern Europegenerally include theBalearic Islands,Corsica,Crete,Cyprus,Sardinia, andSicily, as well as theisland countryofMalta.
Southern Europe's most emblematicclimateis theMediterranean climate, influenced by the large subtropical semi-permanent centre of high atmospheric pressure found, not in the Mediterranean itself, but in the Atlantic Ocean, theAzores High. The Mediterranean climate coversPortugal,Spain,Italy, the southern coast ofFrance, coastalCroatia, coastalSlovenia, southernBosnia and Herzegovina,Montenegro,Albania, andGreece, as well as the Mediterranean islands. Those areas of Mediterranean climate present similar vegetations and landscapes throughout, including dry hills, small plains,pineforests andolivetrees.
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.
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 theAdriatic Seain cities such asVeniceandTrieste, but also further north, near the Alpine foothills, in cities such asComoandLugano.
Southern Europe'sflorais mainly characterized byMediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub, but alsotemperate broadleaf and mixed forests. The Mediterranean and Submediterranean climate regions in Europe are found in much of southern Europe, mainly Portugal, Spain, Italy, Malta, Albania, Greece, Cyprus and all the mediterranean islands, but also in southeast France, theBalkanMediterranean coast and part of Macedonia.
In the Mediterranean coastal areas,olive groves,maquis shrubland, andsteppesare very common. At higher elevations, or latitudes, they are replaced bychestnutand (often coppiced) mixed forests.
ThePhoeniciansoriginally expanded fromCanaanports, dominating trade in theMediterraneanby the 8th century BC.Carthagewas founded in 814 BC, and theCarthaginiansby 700 BC had firmly established strongholds inSicilyandSardinia(both regions in present dayItaly), which created conflicts of interest withEtruria. Its colonies later reached theWestern Mediterranean, such asCádizin Spain and most notablyCarthagein North Africa, and even theAtlantic Ocean. The civilisation spread across the Mediterranean between 1500 BC and 300 BC.
The period known asclassical antiquitybegan with the rise of the city-states ofAncient Greece. Greek influence reached its zenith under the expansive empire ofAlexander the Great, spreading throughoutAsia. TheRoman Empirecame to dominate the entireMediterranean Basinin a vast empire based onRoman lawandRoman legions. It promoted trade, tolerance, and Greek culture. By 300 AD the Roman Empire was divided into theWestern Roman Empirebased in Rome, and theEastern Roman Empirebased in Constantinople. The attacks of theGothsled to thefall of the Western Roman Empirein 476 AD, a date which traditionally marks the end of the classical period and the start of theMiddle 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 peoplesmoved into positions of power in the remnants of the former Western Roman Empire and establishedkingdomsand empires of their own.
The period known as theCrusades, a series of religiously motivated military expeditions originally intended to bring theLevantback into Christian rule, began. SeveralCrusader stateswere founded in the eastern Mediterranean. These were all short-lived. The Crusaders would have a profound impact on many parts of Europe. Theirsack of Constantinoplein 1204 brought an abrupt end to the Byzantine Empire. Though it would later be re-established, it would never recover its former glory. The Crusaders would establish trade routes that would develop into theSilk Roadand open the way for the merchant republics ofGenoaandVeniceto become major economic powers. TheReconquista, a related movement, worked to reconquerIberiaforChristendom. Thelate Middle Agesrepresented a period of upheaval in Europe. The epidemic known as theBlack Deathand an associated famine causeddemographiccatastrophe in Europe as the population plummeted. Dynastic struggles andwars of conquestkept many of the states of Europe at war for much of the period. In theBalkans, theOttoman Empire, a Turkish state originating inAnatolia, encroached steadily on former Byzantine lands, culminating in thefall of Constantinoplein 1453.
Beginning roughly in the 12th century inFlorence, and later spreading through Europe with the development of theprinting press, aRenaissanceof knowledge challenged traditional doctrines in science andtheology, with the Arabic texts and thoughtbringing about rediscovery of classical Greek and Roman knowledge. The Catholic reconquest of Portugal and Spain led to a series of oceanic explorations resulting in theAge of Discoverythat 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 theMediterraneaninto theIndian Ocean, finally involving the islands ofSoutheast Asia(see also:Indo-Mediterranean).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 ofcolonial empires, producing theColumbian Exchange.The combination of resource inflows from the New World and theIndustrial Revolutionof Great Britain, allowed a new economy based on manufacturing instead of subsistence agriculture.The period between 1815 and 1871 saw a large number of revolutionary attempts andindependence wars. Balkan nations began to regain independence from theOttoman Empire. Italy unified into a nation state. Thecapture of Romein 1870 ended thePapal temporal power.
The outbreak ofWorld War Iin 1914 was precipitated by the rise of nationalism in Southeastern Europe as theGreat Powerstook up sides. The Allies defeated theCentral Powersin 1918. During theParis Peace ConferencetheBig Fourimposed their terms in a series of treaties, especially theTreaty of Versailles. The Nazi regime underAdolf Hitlercame to power in 1933, and along withMussolini's Italysought to gain control of the continent by theSecond World War.
Following the Allied victory in the Second World War, Europe was divided by theIron Curtain. The countries in Eastern and Southeastern Europe were dominated by theSoviet Unionand becamecommunist states. The major non-communist southern European countries joined a US-led military alliance (NATO) and formed theEuropean Economic Communityamongst themselves. The countries in the Soviet sphere of influence joined the military alliance known as theWarsaw Pactand the economic bloc calledComecon.Yugoslaviawas neutral. The common attribute of the eastern countries is that all of them have experiences withsocialism, but nevertheless, the beginning of the 1990s was just roughly the same. For some of them becoming independent was the major challenge, while others needed to face with poverty and deep dictatorship also Economically, parallel with the political changes, and the democratic transition, – as a rule of law states – the previous command economies were transformed via the legislation into market economies, and set up or renewed the major macroeconomic factors: budgetary rules, national audit, national currency, central bank. Generally, they shortly encountered the following problems: high inflation, high unemployment, low economic growth and high government debt. By 2000 these economies were stabilized, and sooner or later between 2004 and 2013 some of them joined the European Union, and Slovenia introduced the euro.
Italy became a majorindustrialized countryagain, due to its post-wareconomic miracle. TheEuropean Union(EU) involved the division of powers, with tax, health, and education handled by the nation states, while the EU had charge of market rules, competition, legal standards and environmentalism. The Soviet economic and political system collapsed, leading to the end of communism in the satellite countries in 1989, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union itself in 1991. European Union expanded to subsequently include many of the formerly communist European countries –RomaniaandBulgaria(2007) andCroatia(2013).
TheGotthard, a major and direct transport axis between Northern and southern Europe, was completed in 2016 with theGotthard Base Tunnel.The Gotthard inscribes itself in a longhistory of transit across the Alps, which saw them progressively changing from an obstacle to a corridor between theNorth Seaand theMediterranean Sea.
The most widely spoken family of languages in southern Europe are theRomance languages, the heirs of Latin, which have spread from the Italian peninsula, and are emblematic of Southwestern Europe(See theLatin Arch.). By far the most common Romance languages in southern Europe areItalian(spoken by over 50 million people in Italy, southern Switzerland, Malta, San Marino, and Vatican City) andSpanish, which is spoken by over 40 million people in Spain, Andorra and Gibraltar. Other common Romance languages includePortuguese(spoken in Portugal and Andorra),French(spoken in France, Monaco, and theAosta Valleyin Italy),Catalan(spoken in eastern Spain, Andorra, Southwestern France, and theSardiniantown ofAlgheroin Italy),Galician(spoken in northwestern Spain),Mirandese(spoken in northeast Portugal), andOccitan, which is spoken in theVal d'Aranin Catalonia, in theOccitan Valleysin Italy and in southern France.
Slavic Languagesare spoken in several countries on theBalkans.Bulgarian language(Български език) is spoken inBulgaria(България).Bosnian-Serbian-Croatianis spoken in Kosovo, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Italy (inMolise).Slovenianis spoken in Slovenia, Italy (inFriuli-Venezia Giulia) and Croatia (inIstria) andMacedonianis spoken in North Macedonia.
TheHellenic languagesorGreek languageare widely spoken in Greece and Cyprus. Additionally, other varieties of Greek are spoken in small communities in parts of other European countries.
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.
There are other language groupings in southern Europe.Albanianis spoken in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Greece, Serbia, Croatia and Italy (particularly by theArbëreshë peopleinsouthern Italy).Malteseis aSemitic languagethat is the official language of Malta, descended fromSiculo-Arabic, but written in the Latin script with heavy Latin and Italian influences. TheBasque languageis spoken in theBasque Country, a region in northern Spain and southwestern France.Turkishis aTurkic languagethat is spoken in Turkey, Cyprus, Kosovo, Greece, North Macedonia and Bosnia, andGermanis spoken in Italy, particularly inSouth Tyrol.
The predominant religion in southern Europe isChristianity. 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 tothe historical break of the Churchinto the western half based inRomeand the eastern half based inConstantinople, different denominations of Christianity are prominent in different parts of Europe.Christiansin the western half of southern Europe — e.g., Portugal, Spain, Italy — are generallyRoman Catholic. Christians in the eastern half of southern Europe — e.g., Greece, Serbia and North Macedonia — are generallyEastern Orthodox.Islamis widely practiced in Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo and Turkey andNorthern Cyprus. Muslims are a significant minority in several countries of southern Europe- e.g., Greece, Italy, Spain.Judaismwas practiced widely throughout the European continent within the Roman Empire from the 2nd century.
In theCIA 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":
In addition,Andorra,Gibraltar,PortugalandSpainare classified as "Southwestern Europe", whileAlbania,Bosnia and Herzegovina,Bulgaria,Croatia,Montenegro,North Macedonia,Romania,SerbiaandTurkey(the part west of the Bosporus) are described as located in "Southeastern Europe".
EuroVocis a multilingual thesaurus maintained by thePublications Office of the European Union, giving definitions of terms for official use. In the definition of "southern Europe", the following countries are included:
The United Nations geoscheme is a system devised by theUnited Nations Statistics Division(UNSD) which divides the countries of the world intoregionalandsubregionalgroups, based on theM49 coding classification. The partition is for statistical convenience and does not imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories.
In the UN geoscheme, the following countries are classified as southern Europe:
as well as thedependent territory:
European Travel Commissiondivides the European region on the basis of Tourism Decision Metrics (TDM) model.
Countries which belong to the southern/Mediterranean Europe in this classification are:
Albania,Bosnia and Herzegovina,Croatia,Greece,Italy,Malta,Montenegro,North Macedonia,Portugal,Serbia,Slovenia,SpainandTurkey.