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Latin Europe

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Latin Europe

European countries with a Romance language.

   Official or Co-Official (whole) language
   Official or Co-Official (regional) language
   Unofficial (whole) language
   Unofficial (regional) 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

Distribution of major Romance languages:

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:

European countries with a Romance language.
Blue: Official language.
Green: Co-official or regionally official language.
Red: "Unofficial whole" language usage.
Yellow: Significant unofficial regional language.
Romance languages, 20th c.

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.

Countries

Latin Europe
  Romance Languages Used Religion Area Population GDP (PPP) of whole country Comments
Andorra Andorra Catalan
(Official)
Roman Catholic 468 km² 71,822 $2,770,000,000 -
Belgium 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 Wallonia French
(Official)
- 16,844 km² 3,376,490 - -
Brussels Brussels French
(Co-Official)
- 161 km² 1,031,215 - -
Croatia 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 France French
(Official)
Roman Catholic 551,695 km² 61,875,822 $1,871,000,000,000

Exceptions:

  • Alsace-Moselle and French Flanders have mostly Germanic roots; their languages are still used by the frontier workers (more than 40% for some places[2]).
  • Brittany is considered as a "Celtic nation", but in Eastern Brittany only French is spoken today.
  • Pays Basque shows a Basque identity, even if Basque language is spoken by few.
Gibraltar 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 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 Italy Italian
(Official)
Roman Catholic 301,318 km² 59,337,888 $1,888,000,000,000

Exceptions:

Jersey 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 Luxembourg French
(Co-Official)
Roman Catholic
(87%)
2,586.4 km² 480,222 $32,600,000,000 -
North Macedonia Macedonia Aromanian
(Unofficial)
Eastern Orthodox
(64.7%)
25,713 km² 2,055,915 $16,940,000,000 -
Malta 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 Moldova Moldovan (Romanian)
(Official)
Eastern Orthodox
(95.5%)
33,843 km² 4,320,490 $9,999,000,000 -
Monaco Monaco French
(Official)
- 1.95 km² 32,671 $976,000,000 -
Portugal Portugal

including the archipelagos:
Madeira Madeira
Azores Azores

Portuguese
(Official)
Roman Catholic
(84%)
92,345 km² 10,642,836 $232,000,000,000 -
Romania Romania Romanian
(Official)
Eastern Orthodox
(86.7%)
238,392 km² 22,276,056 $256,900,000,000

Exceptions:

San Marino San Marino Italian
(Official)
- 61 km² 29,615 $904,000,000 -
Serbia 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 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 Spain

including:
Canary Islands Canary Islands
Balearic Islands Balearic Islands
Ceuta Ceuta
Melilla Melilla

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 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 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 Vatican City Italian
(de facto)
- 0.44 km² 821 - -

See also

References

  1. ^ 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
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ Much of the Maltese language comes from other European Languages. Retrieved on 2007-11-22.
  4. ^ Malta is sometimes included, as its language relies heavily on Italian imports. Retrieved on 2007-11-22.