Regions of Europe
is often divided into regions and subregions based on geographical, cultural or historical factors. Since there is no universal agreement on Europe's regional composition, the placement of individual countries may vary based on criteria being used. For instance, the Balkans is a distinct geographical region within Europe, but individual countries may alternatively be grouped into Central, Eastern, Southeastern, or Southern Europe.
Regional affiliation of countries may also evolve over time. Malta was considered an island of North Africa for centuries, but is now considered a part of Southern Europe. The exact placement of the Caucasus has also varied since classical antiquity and is now regarded by many as a distinct region within or partly in Europe. Greenland, and partially Iceland, is geographically a part of North America but has been politically and culturally influenced by Northern European countries for more than a millennium. As such, several regions are often included as belonging to a Greater Europe, including Anatolia, Cyprus, the South Caucasus, Siberia, Asian Kazakhstan, Greenland, as well as the overseas territories of EU member states.
Subregions
Groupings by compass directions are the hardest to define in Europe, since there are a few calculations of the midpoint of Europe, and the pure geographical criteria of "east" and "west" are often confused with the political meaning these words acquired during the Cold War era.Some typical geographical subregions of Europe include:
- Central and Eastern Europe
- * Central Europe
- * Eastern Europe
- Northern Europe
- * Fennoscandia
- * Baltic region
- * Northwestern Europe
- Southern Europe
- * Italy
- * Southeast Europe
- * Iberian Peninsula
- Western Europe
- * Northwestern Europe
- * Benelux
Common geopolitical subregions of Europe include:
Two Europes
- Old Europe and New Europe
- Eastern Europe
- East-Central Europe
- '''Western Europe'''
Historical divisions
- Greek East and Latin West: those parts that fell into the eastern and Western Roman Empires.
- Catholic and Eastern Orthodoxy in Europe: those parts on either side of the Great Schism.
- After Reformation: countries of Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity
- * Protestant and Catholic Europe: those parts that, in the main, left the Catholic Church during the Reformation contrasted with those that did not.
- Communist Europe, Capitalist Europe : those parts on either side of the Iron Curtain and third world countries.
Contemporary
Economic and political
- European Union
- EU Med Group
- Eurozone
- European Free Trade Association
- Central European Free Trade Agreement
- Schengen Area
- European Union Customs Union
- Eurasian Economic Union
- Commonwealth of Independent States Free Trade Area
- '''Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation'''
Other political
- Council of Europe
- Eastern European Group
- Eastern Partnership and the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly
- European Political Community
- OECD Europe countries
- Central European Initiative
- Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations
- Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
- Visegrád Group
- Centrope
- Middleeuropean Initiative
- '''Three Seas Initiative'''
Geographical
Peninsulas
- Apennine Peninsula
- Balkan Peninsula
- Fennoscandian Peninsula
- Iberian Peninsula
- Jutland Peninsula
- '''Scandinavian Peninsula'''
Regional
- Atlantic Europe
- * United Kingdom, Ireland, Iceland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, France, western Scandinavia and Germany.
- Alpine countries
- Balkans region
- Baltic Rim region
- British Isles
- Carpathian states
- Caucasus
- Channel Islands
- Low Countries
- Nordic countries
- Danubian countries
- Dinaric Alps
- Macaronesia
- Mediterranean countries
- Black Sea region
- '''Caspian Sea region'''
Other groupings
- Blue Banana: 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.