Southern Europe

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This Source

Southern Europe or sometimes Mediterranean Europe is a region of the European continent.

The term can have four definitions:

geographical
political
climatic
linguistic

Geographical definition

Geographically, Southern Europe would be the south 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. Countries geographically considered part of Southern Europe include:

Iberian Peninsula

(including: and .)
(including: , , and .)

Southern France

(including: )

Italian peninsula

(including: , and .)

Mediterranean Sea

Balkan Peninsula

(including: Aegean Islands, Crete and Ionian Islands.)

Political definition

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:

(including: Aegean Islands, Crete and Ionian Islands.)
(including: , and .)
(including: and .)
(including: , , and .)

Climatical definition

Southern Europe's climate is that of the Mediterranean climate, which has become a typically known characteristic of the area.

The Mediterranean area presents similar landscapes throughout, including:

dry hills
small plains
pine forests
olive trees

The area which is considered climatically Southern Europe is:

(coasts)
(coasts)
(southeast coast, and the island of Corsica)
(except the Po River plain and Alps region)
(northeast and southern two-thirds)
(southern half and eastern coast)

Linguistic definition

Countries lingustically included in Latin Europe are often associated with Southern Europe, especially Southwest Europe (see Latin Arch).

Countries included in the linguistic definition of Southern Europe include:

(In , where French is spoken.)
(Bordering Romania, and speaking Romanian language.)
(Including: and .)
(Including: , , and .)
(Regions where French, Italian and Romansh is spoken.)

Notes

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia © 2001-2006 Wikipedia contributors (Disclaimer)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Thursday March 13, 2008 at 09:22:03 PDT (GMT -0700)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation