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 unofficialy. Romance languages share a common background, all being descendants of Vulgar Latin. The countries not only have a sense of community 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 Macedonia, 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.
Population
The Latin Europeans are the people who inhabit all the areas covered by Latin Europe. They are termed as the Latins of Europe. However, it is sometimes only those in the Latin Arch who are seen as Latin European.
Ambiguities
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.
- 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) |
- | 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 (Unofficial) |
- | 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 Offical) |
Roman Catholic (98%) |
316 km² | 401,880 | $9,342,000,000 | Malta is referred to as part of Latin Europe due to the vast use of Italian, especially in the Media, with many television channels being in Italian. Also, many professions there require use of the language. In addition to this, althouh Maltese is a Semitic Language, the majority of Maltese vocabulary is Romance, having been imported from Italian, Sicilian, and French.[1][2] Almost all Maltese people are multilingual in Italian, English and Maltese, and these are all commonly interchanged in everyday conversation. | |
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 | 2,316,104 | $64,000,000,000 | - |
Vojvodina | Romanian (Co-Official) |
- | 21,506 km² | 2,031,992 | - | - | |
Timočka Krajina | Romanian (Unofficial) |
- | 7,130 km² | 284,112 | - | - | |
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: |
Spanish (Official) |
- | 504,030 km² | 40,448,191 | $1,362,000,000,000 |
Exceptions:
| |
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) |
- | 33,310 km² | 2,387,543 | - | - | |
Zakarpattia Oblast | Romanian (Unofficial) |
- | 12,777 km² | 1,241,887 | - | - | |
Chernivtsi Oblast | Romanian (Unofficial) |
- | 8,097 km² | 904,423 | - | - | |
Vatican City | Latin (Official) |
- | 0.44 km² | 821 | - | - |