Southern Europe

Southern Europe is a southern region of Europe. it is also invited as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is essentially marked by Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of Southern Europe includes some or all of these countries and regions: Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Turkey East Thrace, Gibraltar, Greece, Italy, Kosovo, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Southern France, Spain, and Vatican City the Holy See.

Southern Europe is focused on the three peninsulas located in the extreme south of the European continent. These are the Iberian Peninsula, the Apennine Peninsula, and the Balkan Peninsula. These three peninsulas are separated from the rest of Europe by towering mountain ranges, respectively by the Pyrenees, the Alps and the Balkan Mountains. The location of these peninsulas in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, as alive as their mountainous reliefs, render them with very different set of climates mainly subtropical Mediterranean from the rest of the continent. So, the Sirocco hot wind that originates in the heart of the Sahara blows over Italy, 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(a) as the Mistral and the Tramontane. When the Mistral and the Tramontane are 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 instance of the rest of the Mediterranean. This same family 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 the Mediterranean world. The climate and cultures are therefore very specific.

Different methods can be used to define Southern Europe, including its political, economic, historical, and cultural attributes. Southern Europe can also be defined by its natural attaches — its geography, climate, and flora. Politically, nine of the Southern European countries take the EU Med Group. Southern Europe also generally corresponds to the European element of the Mediterranean Basin.

Religion

The predominant religion in Southern Europe is Christianity. 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 to the historical break of the Church into the western half based in Rome and the eastern half based in Constantinople, different denominations of Christianity are prominent in different parts of Europe.

  • Christians
    • in the western half of Southern Europe — e.g., Portugal, Spain, Italy — are loosely Roman Catholic. Christians in the eastern half of Southern Europe — e.g., Greece, Serbia and North Macedonia — are generally Eastern Orthodox. Islam is widely practiced in Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo and Turkey and Northern Cyprus. Muslims are a significant minority in several countries of Southern Europe- e.g., Greece, Italy, Spain.
  • Judaism
    • was practiced widely throughout the European continent within the Roman Empire from the 2nd century.