Western Europe

WE , FROM HERE WILL

GUIDE YOU
THROUGH THE
GLORIOUS TOUR OF

WESTERN
EUROPE

Portug
al

France

Spain

Weste
rn
Europ
Germa e
Italy
ny

INTRODUCTIO
N
HISTORY

LOCATION
CLIMATE

INDEX

POPULATI
ON
CULTURE
ECONOM
Y
GOVERNME
NT

FAST
FACTS

TOURIST
SPOTS

INTRODUCTION
Western Europeis a loose term for the collection of
countries in the westernmost region ofEurope,

This definition iscontext-dependentand carries

culturalandpoliticalconnotations.
Another definition was created during theCold Warand
used to describe the non-Communist states of Europe
that were allied with the United States to some degree.

Countries described as Western European are

invariablyhigh-incomedeveloped countries,
characterized bydemocraticpolitical
systems,mixed economies combining thefree
marketwith aspects of thewelfare state, and
most are members ofNATOand theEuropean
Union.
TheUnited Nations(UN) Statistics Division
considers Western Europe to consist of just nine
countries

COLD
WAR
HISTORY
OF
WESTERN
EUROPE

CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY
AsRomandomain expanded, a cultural and linguistic
division appeared between the mainlyGreek-speaking
eastern provinces which had formed the highly
urbanizedHellenistic civilization. In contrast, the
western territories largely adopted theLatin language.
This cultural and linguistic division was eventually
reinforced by the later political east-west division of
theRoman Empire.
The division between these two was enhanced
duringLate Antiquityand theMiddle Agesby a number
of events. TheWestern Roman Empirecollapsed starting
theEarly Middle Ages. By contrast, the Eastern Roman
Empire, mostly known as the Greek orByzantine Empire,
managed to survive and even to thrive for another 1000
years. The rise of theFrankish Empire in the west, and in
particular theGreat Schismthat formally dividedEastern

 The conquest of the Byzantine Empire, center of

theEastern Orthodox Church, by theMuslimOttoman
Empirein the 15th century, and the gradual
fragmentation of theHoly Roman Empire led to a
change of the importance ofRoman
Catholic/Protestantvs.Eastern Orthodoxconcept in
Europe.
Western Europe's significant historical events include
theRenaissance, theProtestant ReformationbyMartin
Lutherand theCounter-Reformationof theCatholic
Church, theAge of Enlightenment, theFrench
Revolutionand theIndustrial Revolution. world war
one and two came before the cold war.

COLD WAR
During the final stages of World War II the future of
Europe was decided between theAlliesin the 1945Yalta
Conference, between theBritish Prime MinisterWinston
Churchill,U.S. PresidentFranklin Delano Roosevelt, and
the Premier of theSoviet Union,Joseph Stalin.
Post-war Europe would be divided into two major
spheres:the West, influenced by the United States, and
theEastern Bloc, dominated by the Soviet Union. With the
onset of the Cold War, Europe was divided by theIron
Curtain.
This term had been used duringWorld War IIby
GermanPropaganda MinisterJoseph Goebbelsand later
CountLutz Schwerin von Krosigkin the last days of the
war; however, its use was hugely popularised by Winston
Churchill, who used it in his famous "Sinews of Peace"

 FromStettinin theBaltictoTriestein
theAdriaticaniron curtainhas descended across the
Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the
ancient states of CentralandEastern
Europe.Warsaw,Berlin,Prague,Vienna,Budapest,Belgra
de,BucharestandSofia; all these famous cities and the
populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet
sphere, and all are subject, in one form or another, not
only to Soviet influence but to a very high and in some
cases increasing measure of control fromMoscow.
Although some countries were officiallyneutral, they
were classified according to the nature of their political
and economical systems. This division has largely defined
the popular perception and understanding of Western
Europe and its borders with Eastern Europe till this day.

LOCATION
Western Europe seen from south with the Iberian
Peninsula on the left and Italy on the right. The
British Isles and Scandinavia can be seen in the far
background and the northern part.
View:

Western Europe

Location:

Lon 3.37
Lat 21.388

Altitude:
Direction:

2829 km
6

Camera
Angle:

30

CLIMA
Western Europe experiences temperate, continental
TE
nature and maritime climate.
Climate of Western Europe is strongly
conditioned by Gulf stream which warms it
to levels unattainable at similar latitudes on
other continents.
Prevailing westerlies(conditioned by theAzores
High) bring rain from theAtlantic oceanto the west

POPULATION
Country

Populatio
n
(2009)

France

64,351,000

60,537,977 3,813,023

82,002,356

82,163,475

10,627,250

Germany
Portugal
Italy
Spain

Populatio
n
(2000)

+/- in
populatio
n

%age
change

capital

6.03%

Paris

-161,119

-0.11%

Berlin

10,195,014

432,236

4.17%

Lisbon

60,053,442

56,923,524

3,129,918

5.32%

Rome

46,661,950

40,049,708

6,612,242

12.71%

Madrid

CULTURE
Culture of western Europe and culture of other
regions of Europe can be described same.
The foundation of European culture was:
Laid by the Greeks
Strengthened by the Romans
Stabilized by Christianity
reformed and modernized by the fifteenthcenturyRenaissance
Reformed and Globalized by successive
European Empires including Muslim Ottoman
Turks

Philosophy, Islamic mysticism, Christian and

secularhumanism were wider range of culture.
Enlightenment,naturalism,romanticism,science,d
emocracy, andsocialism were developed because of
rational thinking.

Because of its global connection, the European

culture ultimately influence other trends of culture
too
Thus European Culture became global culture.

ECONOMY
HERE IS A LIST OF COUNTRIES OF WESTERN
EUROPE SHOWING THE ECONOMY STATUS FORM
HIGHER TO LOWER CLICK ON EACH TO SEE.

GERMANY
FRANCE
ITALY
SPAIN
PORTUG
AL

ITALY
Italyhas acapitalisteconomy with high
GDP per capita and developed
infrastructure. According to both
theInternational Monetary Fundand
theWorld Bank, in 2009 Italy was
theseventh-largesteconomy in the world
and the fourth-largest in Europe. Italy is
member of theGroup of Eight(G8)
industrialised nations, theEuropean
Unionand theOECD.

GERMANY
Germanyis the largest national
economy inEurope, thefourth-largest by
nominal GDPin the world, andfifth by
GDP in 2008.Since the age
ofindustrialisation, the country has been
a driver, innovator, and beneficiary of an
ever more globalised
economy.Germanyis theworld's second
largest exporterwith $1.120 trillion
exported in 2009 (Eurozonecountries are
included).Exports account for more than
one-third of national output.

FRANCE
France is the world'sfifth largestand
wealthiest economy.It isthe second
largest economyinEurope(behind its
main economic partnerGermany). France's
economy entered the 2008-2009 recession
later and left it earlier than most
comparable economies, only enduring four
quarters of contraction. As of September
2010, France's economy has been growing
continuously since the second quarter
2009.

SPAIN
Theeconomy of Spainis theninthlargest economy in the world, based on
nominal GDP comparisons, and the fifthlargest in Europe.It is regarded as the
world's15th most developed country. Until
2008 theeconomyofSpainhad been
regarded as one of the most dynamic
within the EU, attracting significant
amounts of foreign investment.Spain's
economy had been credited with having
avoided the virtual zero growth rate of
some of its largest partners in the EU.In
fact, the country's economy had created

PORTUGAL
TheEconomy ofPortugalis ahigh
incomemixedeconomy. TheGlobal
Competitiveness Report 2008-2009
edition placed Portugal in the 43rd
position out of 134 countries and
territories

THUS ENDS
OUR TOUR