Latin Europe
Latin Europe
European countries with a Romance language.
Countries | 22: See table |
---|---|
Area | 1,879,088.81 km² |
Population | 217,054,426 |
GDP (PPP) | $6,530,900,594,226 |
Languages |
and other Romance languages |
Religions | |
Time Zones | GMT -1:00 (Azores, Portugal) to GMT +2:00 (Romania / Moldova) |
Latin Europe, also known as the Romance-speaking nations of Europe, is a region of Europe which is said to have several cultural aspects in common including the use of a Romance language officially, co-officially, or unofficially. Romance languages share a common background, all being descendants of Vulgar Latin. The countries not only have a sense of community [citation needed] with regards to Latin Languages, but share Roman Catholicism as the prevalent religion, with the exceptions of the eastern division of the region, including Romania and the Republic of Moldova, where Eastern Orthodoxy is dominant. Also, the majority of all countries of Latin Europe have status within the Latin Union (which also includes non-European countries in the Americas, Asia, and Africa).
Language
Latin languages (often referred to as Romance languages) are a branch of the Indo-European language family, comprising all the languages that descend from Latin, the language of the Roman Empire. They have more than 700 million native speakers worldwide, mainly in the Americas, Europe, and Africa, as well as in many smaller regions scattered through the world.
All Romance languages descend from Vulgar Latin, the language of soldiers, settlers and merchants of the Roman Empire, which was somewhat different from the Classical Latin of the Roman literati. As a result, the group shares several linguistic features that set it apart from other Indo-European branches.
Latin European peoples are those who speak Romance languages, descended from Vulgar Latin, spread during the time of the Roman Empire. They are otherwise ethnically and culturally diverse. The Latin European peoples include:
- French people
- Italian people
- Andorran people
- Gibraltarian people
- Spanish people (see: Nationalisms and regionalisms of Spain)
- Portuguese people
- Vlachs
The Latin Europeans are the people who inhabit all the areas covered by Latin Europe.[citation needed] They are termed as the Latins of Europe.[citation needed] However, it is sometimes only those in the Latin Arch who are seen as Latin European.[citation needed]
Religion
Of the entire region of Latin Europe Roman Catholicism represents 80% of the population. In Romania and Moldova, the dominant religion is Eastern Orthodoxy.
- Andorra, predominantly Roman Catholic - see Religion in Andorra.
- Belgium, Wallonia is predominantly Roman Catholic - see Religion in Belgium.
- France, 51% identified as Catholics - see Religion in France.
- Italy, predominantly Roman Catholic - see Religion in Italy.
- Luxembourg, predominantly Roman Catholic - see Religion in Luxembourg.
- Malta, predominantly Roman Catholic - see Religion in Malta.
- Moldova, predominantly Eastern Orthodoxy - see Religion in Moldova.
- Monaco, Roman Catholicism is the official religion - see Religion in Monaco.
- Romania, predominantly Eastern Orthodoxy - see Religion in Romania.
- Portugal, predominantly Roman Catholic - see Religion in Portugal.
- San Marino, predominantly Roman Catholic - see Religion in San Marino.
- Spain, predominantly Roman Catholic - see Religion in Spain.
- Switzerland, Catholicism and Protestantism - see Religion in Switzerland.
- Vatican City, 100% Roman Catholic - see Religion in the Vatican City.
Countries
Romance Languages Used | Religion | Area | Population | GDP (PPP) of whole country | Comments | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Andorra | Catalan (Official) |
Roman Catholic | 468 km² | 71,822 | $2,770,000,000 | - | |
Belgium | Total (out of included areas) | French (Regionally Official) (Regionally Co-Official) |
Roman Catholic | 17,005 km² | 4,407,705 | $316,200,000,000 | - |
Wallonia | French (Official) |
- | 16,844 km² | 3,376,490 | - | - | |
Brussels | French (Co-Official) |
- | 161 km² | 1,031,215 | - | - | |
Croatia | Total (out of included areas) | Italian (Regionally Official) |
Roman Catholic (85%) | 2.82 km² | 206,344 | $69,440,000,000 | - |
Istria county | Italian (Official) Istriot (Regional) Istroromanian (Regional) |
- | 2.82 km² | 206,344 | - | - | |
France | French (Official) |
Roman Catholic | 551,695 km² | 61,875,822 | $1,871,000,000,000 |
Exceptions:
| |
Gibraltar | Spanish (Unofficial) |
Roman Catholic | 6.8 km² | 28,875 | $769,000,000 | As a British overseas territory, it has a sole official language of English even though the vast majority of the population is bilingual together with Spanish. In addition to this the majority of Gibraltarians speak Llanito (an Andalusian Spanish-based creole unique to Gibraltar) as their vernacular. | |
Guernsey | French (Unofficial) |
- | 78 km² | 65,573 | $2,590,000,000 | Guernsey and Jersey both have various use of French and Norman language, although admittedly in decline. | |
Italy | Italian (Official) |
Roman Catholic | 301,318 km² | 59,337,888 | $1,888,000,000,000 |
Exceptions:
| |
Jersey | French (Co-official) |
- | 116 km² | 89,300 | $5,100,000,000 | Jersey and Guernsey both have various use of French and Norman language, although admittedly in decline. In the case of Jersey, this includes Jersey Law French, and Jerriais, and in the case of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, there is also law French there, in addition to Guernesais and Sercquais. French was an official language of Alderney of Guernsey until the late 1960s. | |
Luxembourg | French (Co-Official) |
Roman Catholic (87%) |
2,586.4 km² | 480,222 | $32,600,000,000 | - | |
Macedonia | Aromanian (Unofficial) |
Eastern Orthodox (64.7%) |
25,713 km² | 2,055,915 | $16,940,000,000 | - | |
Malta | Italian (Unofficial) (Previously Official) |
Roman Catholic (98%) |
316 km² | 401,880 | $9,342,000,000 | Although Maltese is a Semitic Language, a good portion of Maltese vocabulary is Romance, having been imported from Italian, Sicilian, and French.[3][4] | |
Moldova | Moldovan (Romanian) (Official) |
Eastern Orthodox (95.5%) |
33,843 km² | 4,320,490 | $9,999,000,000 | - | |
Monaco | French (Official) |
- | 1.95 km² | 32,671 | $976,000,000 | - | |
Portugal |
Portuguese (Official) |
Roman Catholic (84%) |
92,345 km² | 10,642,836 | $232,000,000,000 | - | |
Romania | Romanian (Official) |
Eastern Orthodox (86.7%) |
238,392 km² | 22,276,056 | $256,900,000,000 |
Exceptions:
| |
San Marino | Italian (Official) |
- | 61 km² | 29,615 | $904,000,000 | - | |
Serbia | Total (out of included areas) | Romanian (Regionally Co-Official) (Regionally Unofficial) |
- | 28636 km² | 60,000 (est.) | $64,000,000,000 | - |
Vojvodina | Romanian (Co-Official) |
Eastern Orthodox | 21,506 km² | 29,512 | - | - | |
Timočka Krajina | Romanian (Unofficial) |
Eastern Orthodox | 7,130 km² | 25,000 (est.) | - | - | |
Slovenia | Total (out of included areas) | Italian (Regionally Official) |
- | 384.4 km² | 78,846 | $47,841,000,000 | - |
Piran | Italian (Official) |
- | 44.6 km² | 16,758 | - | - | |
Izola | Italian (Official) |
- | 28.6 km² | 14,549 | - | - | |
Koper | Italian (Official) |
- | 311.2 km² | 47,539 | - | - | |
Spain including: |
Total (out of included areas) | Spanish (Official) Catalan (Regionally Co-Official) Galician (Regionally Co-Official) |
- | 504,030 km² | 46,087,191 | $1,362,000,000,000 |
Exceptions:
|
Catalonia | Catalan (Co-Official) | ||||||
Valencia | Catalan (officially called Valencian) (Co-Official) | ||||||
Balearic Islands | Catalan (Co-Official) | ||||||
Galicia | Galician (Co-Official) | ||||||
Switzerland | Total (out of included areas) | Italian (Regionally Official) (Regionally Co-Official) French (Regionally Official Reginally Co-Official) Romansh (Regionally Co-Official) |
- | 27906 km² | 3,353,597 | $296,200,000,000 | - |
Graubünden | Italian (Co-Official) Romansh (Co-Official) |
- | 7,105 km² | 187,920 | - | ||
Berne | French (Co-Official) |
- | 5,959 km² | 958,897 | - | - | |
Fribourg | French (Co-Official) |
- | 1,671 km² | 258252 | - | - | |
Valais | French (Co-Official) |
- | 5,224 km² | 294,608 | - | - | |
Vaud | French (Official) |
- | 3212 km² | 657,700 | - | - | |
Neuchâtel | French (Official) |
- | 803 km² | 168,912 | - | - | |
Geneva | French (Official) |
- | 282 km² | 433,235 | - | - | |
Jura | French (Official) |
- | 838 km² | 69,222 | - | - | |
Ticino | Italian (Official) |
- | 2,812 km² | 324,851 | - | - | |
Ukraine | Total (out of included areas) | Romanian (Regionally Unofficial) |
- | 54,184 km² | 4,533,853 | $364,300,000,000 | A small southern part of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast also unofficially speaks Romanian. |
Odessa Oblast | Romanian (Unofficial) |
Eastern Orthodox | 33,310 km² | 2,387,543 | - | - | |
Zakarpattia Oblast | Romanian (Unofficial) |
Eastern Orthodox | 12,777 km² | 1,241,887 | - | - | |
Chernivtsi Oblast | Romanian (Unofficial) |
Eastern Orthodox | 8,097 km² | 904,423 | - | - | |
Vatican City | Italian (de facto) |
- | 0.44 km² | 821 | - | - |
See also
References
- ^ Richmond, Yale. From Da to Yes: Understanding the East Europeans, p. 130 ("The vast majority of Transylvanians are ethnic Romanians"). Intercultural Press (1995), ISBN 1877864307
- ^ RGP 1999 (exploitation principale), Fichiers SAPHIR, INSEE Alsace Template:FrTransclusion error: {{En}} is only for use in File namespace. Use {{langx|en}} or {{in lang|en}} instead.
- ^ Much of the Maltese language comes from other European Languages. Retrieved on 2007-11-22.
- ^ Malta is sometimes included, as its language relies heavily on Italian imports. Retrieved on 2007-11-22.