Latin Europe is the part of Europe in which Romance languages are the national language or are significantly used. Countries or areas in which such language is officially recognized and/or de facto spoken as a minority language are sometimes included, such as with regards to Malta and the Italian Language. Their languages share a common background, all being descendants of Vulgar Latin.

Countries and territories

The heart of Latin Europe is situated in southwestern Europe and comprises four countries around the northwestern Mediterranean Basin (also known as the Latin Arch): Italy, France, Spain (including the Canary Islands) and Portugal (including the archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores). During the Middle Ages modern day Germany would be included in this list. These countries have Roman Catholicism as the prevalent religion. This definition, in a larger sense, also includes smaller political entities of Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City (all of these states are members of the Latin Union except the Holy See that has permanent observer status), along with adjacent Wallonia (in Belgium), Romandy and Italian- and Romansh-speaking Switzerland. Istria county in Croatia and Italian-speaking municipalities of Slovenia, often seen linguistically and culturally integral with neighbouring Italy. On the other hand, in particular contexts, the usage of "Latin Europe" may well be ambiguous such as inclusion of Israel. Template:PDFlink

Romania and Moldova both speak Romanian, a Romance language but are located far from the core of Latin Europe, surrounded by "Slavic Europe" and Hungary. However, these countries have shown conscious enthusiasm for recognition as parts of Latin Europe, historically expressed in official regulation of Latin Romanian script in 1860, Romanian spelling reform in 1993, and installation of the Latin script for the Romanian language in Moldova. Both of these countries are, currently, full members of the Latin Union, and Romanian is an official language of that organisation. Dalmatia, with its own (now extinct) Romance language Dalmatian, may also be mentioned.

Linguistically speaking the first mentioned languages (Spanish, French, Italian, Catalan and Portuguese), as well as Dalmatian, belong to the western branch of the Romance languages, while Romanian and Aromanian (speaken in the southern part of the Balkan peninsula) belong to the eastern branch.

Exceptions

Note that some parts of the countries on the map have non-Romance languages and cultural traits distinct from most of Latin Europe:

• Alsace-Moselle and French Flanders in France have mostly Germanic roots
• South Tyrol in Italy is a predominantly German-speaking area, with German as an official language alongside Italian
• Brittany in France is considered as a "Celtic nation"
• Some parts of the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia are Slovenian-speaking, with Slovenian having the status of official language alongside Italian and Friulian
• Basque is a co-official language in the autonomous regions of Basque Country and parts of Navarre in Spain. The neighbouring French region of Pays Basque shows a Basque identity, even if Basque language is spoken by few.
• Transylvania in Romania, in addition to its Romanian-speaking majority, is also home to a substantial Hungarian minority. In fact, Transylvania's Székely Land has a Hungarian majority.
• Malta is sometimes referred to as part of Latin Europe, gathering that very large chunks of the language were imported from Italian, French, and English^[1], even though Maltese is often regarded as a Semitic Langauge^[2]. In addition to this, the majority of media content that Malta receives is actually in Italian, with Malta being too small an island and economy to host considerable inputs for themselves on this matter. Many people are bilingual in Italian and English in Malta, and these are all commonly interchanged in everyday conversation.

Although very much in decline, French and Norman language have some official status in the Channel Islands. 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 until the late 1960s.

As a British overseas territory, Gibraltar's sole official language is English even though the vast majority of the population is bilingual together with Spanish.

Aromanian is an official language in Macedonia and is also taught to pupils in schools in Albania.

Political divisions

Latin Europe is politically divided into the following Countries, Dependent territorys or Autonomous area:

Spanish territories claimed by other countries:

• Morocco claims the Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla and some isles plazas de soberanía off the northern coast of Africa.
• Portugal does not recognise Spain's sovereignty over the territory of Olivença/Olivenza.

Other claimed territories by other countries:

• Spain claims sovereignty over the British overseas territory of Gibraltar.

Population

Monica Bellucci
		Javier Bardem
Notable Latin Europeans

Demographics

In all of Latin Europe, the original European inhabitants make up the largest segment of the population, with sizable minorities in each country.

Language

See Article: Latin peoples (linguistic) 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.

Religion

Of the entire region of Latin Europe Roman Catholicism represents 80% of the population and the Catholic Church's worldwide recorded membership at the end of 2005 was 1,114,966,000. In Romania and Moldova, the dominant religion is Eastern Orthodoxy.

France

A variety of religions are practised in France, as freedom of religion is a constitutional right, although some religious doctrines such as Scientology, Children of God, the Unification Church, and the Order of the Solar Temple are considered as cults. According to a January 2007 poll:^[3][4]

• 51% of people polled identified as being Catholics.
• 31% of those polled declared being agnostics or atheists. (Another poll ^[5] concluded that 27% identified as being atheists.)
• 10% of those polled identified as being from other religions or being without opinion.
• 4% identified as Muslim.
• 3% as Protestant.
• 1% as Jewish.

Italy

Roman Catholicism is by far the largest religion in the country. Although the Catholic Church is no longer officially the state religion, it still plays a role in the nation's political affairs, partly due to the Holy See's location in Rome. 87.8% of Italians identified as Roman Catholic [1], although only about one-third of these described themselves as active members (36.8%).

Other Christian groups in Italy include more than 700,000 Eastern Orthodox Christians [2], including 470,000 newcomers Template:PDFlink and some 180,000 Greek Orthodox, 550,000 Pentecostals and Evangelicals (0.8%), of whom 400,000 are members of the Assemblies of God, 235,685 Jehovah's Witnesses (0.04%) [3], 30,000 Waldensians [4], 25,000 Seventh-day Adventists, 22,000 Mormons, 15,000 Baptists (plus some 5,000 Free Baptists), 7,000 Lutherans, 5,000 Methodists (affiliated to the Waldensian Church) [5].

Romania

Romania is a secular state, thus having no national religion. The majority of the country's citizens are, however, members of the Romanian Orthodox Church, with 86.7% of the country's population identifying as Orthodox in the 2002 census. Other important religions include the Roman Catholicism (4.7%), Protestantism (3.7%), Pentecostal denominations (1.5%) and the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church (0.9%). Romania also has a small but historically significant Muslim minority, concentrated in Dobrogea, who are mostly of Turkish ethnicity and number 67,500 people. Based on the 2002 census data, there are also approximately 6,000 Jews and 23,105 people who are of no religion and/or atheist.

Portugal

Portuguese society is overwhelmingly Roman Catholic. Approximately 90% of the population consider themselves Roman Catholic,^[6] but only about one-third attend Mass and receive the sacraments regularly. Yet a larger number wish to be baptized, married in the Church, and receive Last Rites.

Spain

Roman Catholicism is the main religion in the country. About 76% of Spaniards self-identify as Catholics, about 2% with another religious faith, and about 19% identify as non-believers or atheists. A study conducted in October 2006 by the Spanish Centre of Sociological Investigations shows that from the 76% of Spaniards who identify as Catholics or other religious faith, 54% hardly ever or never go to church, 15% go to church some times a year, 10% some time per month and 19% every Sunday or multiple times per week. About 22% of the whole Spanish population attend religious services at least once a month.

Spain is also renowned in the world for its Holy Week traditions. Seville, Malaga and San Fernando in Cadiz, see the most glamorous celebrations, while those of Castilla y Leon see the more sombre and solemn events.

Malta

The Constitution of Malta provides for freedom of religion but establishes Roman Catholicism as the state religion.^[7] Freedom House and the World Factbook report that 98 percent of the population is Roman Catholic, making the nation one of the most Catholic countries in the world. The Template:PDFlink commissioned by the The Archdiocese of Malta reports that 52.6% of the population attends regular religious services. This is the highest rate of attendance in Europe.

Around 22% of the population is reported to be active in a church group, movement or community. Malta has the highest concentration of members per capita of the Neocatechumenal Way in the world, since it was introduced in the islands in 1973 by three Italian catechists, who started the first community in the Immaculate Conception Parish in Ħamrun.

The Patron Saints are Saint Paul, Saint Agata and Saint George Preca, known as Dun Ġorġ - the first Maltese saint, canonized on 3 June 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI.

Culture

French Culture is very rich and diverse, reflecting regional differences as well as the influence of immigration. France plays since centuries an important worldwide role as a cultural center, with Paris as a world center of high culture.

Italian Culture can be found in the Roman ruins remaining in much of the country, the precepts of the Roman Catholic Church, the spirit of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, the architecture. It can also be tasted in Italy's food.

Romanian Culture is rich and varied. Like Romanians themselves, it is fundamentally defined as the meeting point of three regions: Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and the Balkans, but cannot be fully included in any of them. The Romanian identity formed on a substratum of mixed Roman and quite possibly Dacian elements (although the latter is controversial), with many other influences. During late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, the major influences came from the Slavic peoples who migrated and settled in nearby Bulgaria, Serbia, Ukraine and eventually Poland and Russia; from medieval Greeks and the Byzantine Empire; from a long domination by the Ottoman Empire; from the Hungarians; and from the Germans living in Transylvania. Modern Romanian culture emerged and developed over roughly the last 250 years under a strong influence from Western culture, particularly French and German culture.

Portuguese Culture is rooted in the Latin culture of Ancient Rome, with a Celtiberian background (a mixture of pre-Roman Celts and Iberian). Portugal has a rich traditional folklore (Ranchos Folclóricos), with great regional variety.

Spanish Culture has roots in Celtiberian, Latin, and Semitic traditions, as well as Roman Catholicism, and an ongoing tension between the centralized state (dominated in recent centuries by Castile) and numerous regions and minority peoples. In addition, the history of the nation and its Mediterranean and Atlantic environment have played strong roles in shaping its culture.

Maltese Culture is a reflection of various cultures that have come into contact with the Maltese Islands throughout the centuries, including neighbouring Mediterranean cultures, and the cultures of the nations that ruled Malta for long periods of time prior to its independence in 1964.

Maltese cuisine is the result of a long relationship between the Islanders and the many foreigners who made Malta their home over the centuries. This marriage of tastes has given Malta an eclectic mix of Mediterranean cooking. Many popular Maltese specialities are Italian/Sicilian or Moorish in origin.

Music and dance

Spanish Folk Dance & Music: The best-known variety of Spanish folk music is probably flamenco such as well known dancer Belen Maya, a diverse genre created by Andalusian Roma. Flamenco has been known since at least the 1770s, and has been through several cycles of dwindling popularity and rebirth. The style has produced many of the most famous Spanish musicians, including singer Camarón de la Isla and guitarist Carlos Montoya. Outside of flamenco, regional Spanish folk music includes the distinct Basque trikitixa and accordion music, Galician and Asturian gaita (bagpipe) and Aragonese jota.

Fado (translated as destiny or fate) is a music genre which can be traced from the 1820s in Portugal, but probably with much earlier origins. It is characterized by mournful tunes and lyrics, often about the sea or the life of the poor. The music is usually linked to the Portuguese word saudade, a unique word with no accurate translation in any other language . (Home-sickness has an approximate meaning. It is a kind of longing, and conveys a complex mixture of mainly nostalgia, but also sadness, pain, happiness and love).

Portuguese Folk Dance: include: Circle dance, Fandango (of the Ribatejo region), Two Steps Waltz, Schottische (Chotiça), Corridinho (of the Algarve and Estremadura regions), Vira (of the Minho region), Bailarico, Vareirinha, Malhão, Vareira, Maneio, Vira de Cruz, Vira Solto, Vira de Macieira, Sapatinho, Tau-Tau, Ciranda, Zé que Fumas, Regadinho, O Pedreiro and Ó Ti Tirititi. There are also variations of these dances called the Xama-Rita in the Azores.

Economy

Capital Cities

See also

• Roman Empire
• Western Roman Empire
• Latin peoples (linguistic)
• Latin Right
• Latin Cup
• Romance copula
• Germanic Europe
• Slavic Europe
• South Europe
• Latin America

Template:Latin Europe

References