Regions of Europe

Europe is often divided into regions based on geographical, cultural or historical criteria. Some common divisions are as follows.

Directional divisions

Groupings by compass directions are the hardest to define in Europe, since there are a few calculations of the midpoint of Europe (among other issues), and the pure geographical criteria of "east" and "west" are often confused with the political meaning these words acquired during the Cold War Era.

There are also physical geographic regions such as the central up-lands and the European plain.

The geographic scheme in use by the United Nations created for internal use by the statistics division includes all of the above divisions, save Central Europe.

Historical divisions

Europe can be divided along many differing historical lines, normally corresponding to those parts that were inside or outside a particular cultural phenomenon, empire or political division. The areas varied at different times, and so it is arguable as to which areas fell into a big black hole of darkness and shadows(e.g. are Germany or Britain to be considered Roman Europe as they were only partly the lands of the Empire, and for a brief period, or are the countries of the former communist Yugoslavia to be considered part of Eastern Bloc since it was not in the Warsaw Pact).

Contemporary

Council of Europe Schengen Area European Free Trade Association European Economic Area Eurozone European Union European Union Customs Union Agreement with EU to mint euros GUAM Central European Free Trade Agreement Nordic Council Baltic Assembly Benelux Visegrád Group Common Travel Area Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Union State Switzerland Iceland Norway Liechtenstein Sweden Denmark Finland Poland Czech Republic Hungary Slovakia Greece Estonia Latvia Lithuania Belgium Netherlands Luxembourg Italy France Spain Austria Germany Portugal Slovenia Malta Cyprus Ireland United Kingdom Croatia Romania Bulgaria Turkey Monaco Andorra San Marino Vatican City Georgia Ukraine Azerbaijan Moldova Armenia Russia Belarus Serbia Albania Montenegro Macedonia Bosnia and Herzegovina Kosovo (UNMIK) Kazakhstan
A clickable Euler diagram showing the relationships between various multinational European organisations and agreements.

Economic and political

EU countries and European countries outside or not in close partnership with the organisation
countries that are a part of the political and economic bloc.
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Countries that have adopted the Euro as their currency.
Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain.
a free trade organisation that operates in parallel with – and is linked to – the European Union (EU).
Liechtenstein, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.
a free trade agreement in the Balkans linked to the EU.
Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro and Serbia.
a borderless zone created by the Schengen Agreements.
Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Norway, Iceland and Switzerland, which by separate agreements fully apply the provisions of the Schengen acquis.
is a customs union which consists of all the member states of the European Union (EU) and some neighbouring countries.
Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the UK.
is a political and economic union of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia
is free trade agreement among 8 countires: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Moldova and Armenia.

Other political

European countries that are a part of the OECD
Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal,Slovenia, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom
A forum of regional cooperation.
Albania, Austria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine
A Central European group representing a cooperation alliance since 14th century.
Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary
an Interreg IIIA project to establish a multinational region in the Central Europe encompassing four European countries: Slovakia, Austria, Hungary and Czech Republic.

Geographical

Peninsulas

The Balkan peninsula is located in southeast Europe and is generally considered to comprise the following countries:
Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia , Greece, Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania (some parts), Serbia, Slovenia (depending on the definition) and Turkey (European part)
Located in southwestern Europe this peninsula contains Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar, and Andorra
Located in the south of Europe, the Italian peninsula contains the states of Italy, San Marino and the Vatican City
Located in the north of Europe, Sweden, Norway, and part of Finland.

Regional

Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania
Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg
the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Republic of Ireland
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and the North Caucasus
Guernsey, Jersey
Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Iceland
The states which have the Alps as a prominent part of their geography.
Austria, Switzerland (Swiss Alps), Liechtenstein, Slovenia, Germany (Bavaria), France, and Italy.
The states that lie along the River Danube.
Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Ukraine.
Overlaps with the Balkans.
Mediterranean nations are the European countries on the Mediterranean Basin:
Portugal, Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, and Malta and the British territory of Gibraltar

Religious groupings

Catholic majority countries, including Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech republic, France, South and Western Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Southern Netherlands Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain.
Orthodox majority countries, including Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine.
Protestant majority countries, including Denmark, Finland, North and Eastern Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Northern Netherlands Norway, Sweden
Muslim majority countries, including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Turkey

Other groupings

Describing the concentration of the wealth/economic productivity of Europe in a banana-shaped band running from north west England, London, through Benelux, eastern France, western Germany to northern Italy.

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