Latin Europe

Latin Europe

European countries with a Romance language.

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 Fact|date=May 2008 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

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300px|left|thumb|Distribution of major Romance languages:">col-endLatin 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:

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thumb|400px|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.
*French people
**Walloons
**French Swiss
*Italian people
** Swiss Italians
** Corsican Italian
*Andorran people
*Gibraltarian people
*Spanish people (see: Nationalisms and regionalisms of Spain)
**Andalusian people
**Asturian people
**Aragonese people
**Canarian people
**Cantabrian people
**Castilian people
**Catalan people
**Galician people
**Leonese people
**Valencian people
*Portuguese people
*Romanian people
**Aromanians
**Istro-Romanians
**Megleno-Romanians
**Dacoromanians
***Transylvanians [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]

The Latin Europeans are the people who inhabit all the areas covered by Latin Europe.Fact|date=March 2008 They are termed as the Latins of Europe.Fact|date=March 2008 However, it is sometimes only those in the Latin Arch who are seen as Latin European.Fact|date=March 2008

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

ee also

*Latin Africa
*Latin America
*Latin Arch
*Latin Union
*Mediterranean Union

References