Southern Europe

From Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia written in simple English for easy reading.

The southern half of Europe is shown in shades of red.

Southern Europe is a region of the European continent. Most people see Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece and over all the Mediterranean countries of the European continent as parts of Southern Europe. Very often the South of France is also included.

1 Geographical definition
2 Geopolitical definition of the United Nations
3 Climatical definition
4 Linguistic and cultural definition
5 List of countries

[edit] 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 mountains are a physical barrier between Italy and the rest of Europe.

[edit] Geopolitical definition of the United Nations

The definition of continental subregions in use by the United Nations.

For its official works and publications, the United Nations Organization has its own special definition of regions. As it counts always the whole state Corsica as part of France is not part of Southern European but Italian Tyrol belongs to it as it is part of Italy..

[edit] Climatical definition

The climatic definition of southern Europe would be similar to the areas of Mediterranean climate. The Mediterranean climate is often thought to be a typical characteristic of Southern Europe.

[edit] Linguistic and cultural definition

Linguistical definition of south Europe. Latin Europe in blue, Balkan region (south Slavic countries: former-Yugoslavia + Bulgaria), Albania and Greece in green.

Countries of Latin Europe are often associated with the concept of Southern Europe, especially Southwest Europe. Greece and the Balkan nations are often associated with them in the concept of Southern Europe, especially Southeast Europe.