Southern European Countries 2024

Believe it or not, Southern Europe is a region of the continent of Europe. Crazy, right? In all seriousness, there are nineteen countries in Southern Europe. In alphabetical order, these countries are Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Greece, Italy, Kosovo, Malta, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Portugal, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, and Vatican City.

Southern Europe is, as you most likely guessed, the most southern region of Europe. As the seventh largest continent in the world, Europe is broken down into a total of four regions. They are incredibly self-explanatory and obvious, but for total clarification, these regions include Northern Europe, Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, and Western Europe. The continent is too small to really classify any countries as being parts of a centralized region, hence the fact that Europe only has four regions. After all, Europe is the smallest continent out of all seven on Earth, so it makes sense.

In total, the southernmost region of Europe is home to over one hundred fifty-one people. With a population size of about 151,747,580 people, all of whom reside in a total of fourteen different countries, Southern Europe encompasses roughly two percent of the entire global population. This is actually a pretty impressive ranking given the fact that most regions, countries, and territories around the world make up one percent or less of the world's population. In terms of population sizes alone, Southern Europe is the third largest region on Earth, trailing right behind Eastern Europe in first place and Western Europe in second.

Just to put Southern Europe into perspective, in relation to the other three regions of Europe, here are the four European subregions, accompanied by their most recent population estimations: Eastern Europe with 291,391,709 people, Western Europe with 194,663,999 people, Southern Europe with 151,728,253 people and Northern Europe with 105,318,639 people.

Southern Europe is home to some impressively populated and dense cities. The top ten largest urban areas in Southern Europe, in order of population size, are: Instanbul, Turkey (8,963,431); Madrid, Spain (6,171,000); Milan, Italy (5,257,000); Barcelona, Spain (4,693,000); Rome, Italy (3,906,000); Naples, Italy (3,706,000); Athens, Greece (3,484,000); Lisbon, Portugal (3,075,000); Porto, Portugal (1,900,524); and Valencia, Spain (1,570,000).

The most common languages in Southern Europe include Italian, Spanish, Serbian, Croatian, Greek, Turkish, Portuguese, and Catalan. Many of the languages in this region of Europe are Romance languages, meaning they either descended from Latin roots or they were spoken at the time Latin was still prevalent, since the Latin language is now considered a dead language. Lesser common languages in Southern Europe include Galician, Occitan, Hellenic, Albanian, Slovenian, Macedonian, Maltese, and Basque. Now, let’s go more in-depth on three of the nineteen Southern European countries, talking about traits like population, total area, borders, and the likes.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Southern European country of Bosnia and Herzegovina has over three million people living within its borders. The estimated population of Bosnia and Herzegovina is about 3,502,035 people, and there are roughly 19,691 square miles of land shared between everyone who lives in this Southern European nation. Despite having a relatively large population, Bosnia and Herzegovina is currently experiencing a slow-moving decline in overall population. The country's population density is about one hundred seventy-eight people per square mile, which is a value that should continue to lower as more and more people leave Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Greece

As a Southern European country, Greece is noted as having a population of 11,127,189 people as of 2019. The total population of Greece is roughly 0.14% of the world's population, and as a result, Greece ranks as the eighty-fifth most populous nation on Earth. With a total area of about 49,769 square miles, Greece has a population density of two hundred twenty-four people for every square mile within the country's borders.

North Macedonia

The Republic of North Macedonia is located on the Balkan Peninsula, and it was not always a country, believe it or not. In 1991, the country of Yugoslavia was divided into different countries, including Croatia and North Macedonia. The country is sometimes still regarded as being called the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, which was a sort of unwanted title that the government officials were semi-forced into agreeing upon, but eventually, North Macedonia was able to shake the "Former Yugoslav" aspect of the name. Now, the country is either called North Macedonia for short, or the Republic of North Macedonia in official settings. The country of North Macedonia has a population of about 2,086,561 people. Compared to the rest of the world, New Macedonia is the one hundred forty-eighth largest country on Earth. It comprises about 0.03% of everyone in the world, and the country's population rises by about 0.08% every year.