LECTURE: What is a “region” in the European context?

What is a “region”?

We can divide the earth into numerous areas (territories, spatial units, etc.). These areas or “regions” can be defined in numerous terms: directional, geographical, historical, cultural, administrative, political and economic.

“Region” refers then to an area that has ONE or MORE of the following defining characteristics:

• a location relative to another (it is in the “West” of Europe for example);
• a particular landscape (which makes it different from other landscapes);
• a degree of physical separateness from other areas (an island for example);
• a particular history (often, man-made features - old or recent - give the landscape its character);
• a people with a sometimes quite strong sense of identity (often with a dialect and cultural practices and values that set it apart);
• a degree of political, economic and/or administrative autonomy from a bigger (dominant) area in which it is situated (e.g. Scotland is a “country” within the United Kingdom);
• a population which wants a greater degree of autonomy from a bigger area in which it is situated (e.g. Catalonia);
• a political and administrative jurisdiction (often dependent on a jurisdiction that is bigger and that has power over it), i.e. it is a territory over which an authority exercises its power (e.g. the Conseil Régional d’Auvergne, which is less powerful than the French State);
• administrative boundaries (these are changeable).

“Region” is a term that can be used precisely, but a “region” is often loosely defined to cover a vague reality: an area of indefinite size with no clearly defined boundaries inhabited by a people with a nebulous notion of common history and cultural identity (for example: “Auvergne” can refer to the administrative unit called a “Région” as well as to a rather nebulous part of central France with a particular landscape and a people with some shared cultural practices).

“Regions” in the context of Europe

In Europe, “region” can refer to a part of the Continent according to its compass direction: Northern, Southern, Eastern, Western, or Central Europe.

It can also refer to historical divisions, for example “Communist (Eastern) Europe” versus “Capitalist (Western) Europe” during the Cold War period.

In geographical terms a “region” is a particular area that has:

• physical characteristics (which differentiate it from other areas);
• human-impact characteristics (i.e. that result from how humans have adapted to or changed their environment to meet their needs and wants).

(“Regional geography” is the discipline that studies (describes) regions of all sizes across the Earth).

The geographic regions of Europe (cf. GAME) as defined by their physical characteristics are:

• Alpine countries: the Alps are in parts of Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Slovenia, Germany, France, and Italy.
• Apennine Peninsula: Italy, San Marino, Vatican City
• Balkan Peninsula: includes all or part of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey
• Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania
• Benelux: Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg (aka the Low Countries)
• British Isles: United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man (+ Guernsey, Jersey?)
• Carpathian Mountains: mostly in Romania
• Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, North Caucasus
• Danube countries: the River Danube flows through Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Ukraine
• Dinaric Alps: in the Balkans
• Great European Plain: Poland, Germany, France
• Iberian Peninsula: Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar, Andorra
• Iceland
• Mediterranean countries: European countries along the Mediterranean Basin are Portugal, Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Malta
• Nordic countries: Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Denmark, plus Iceland?
• Pyrenees Mountains: between Spain and France
• Russian Plain: covering Eastern Europe and Western Russia
• Scandinavia (Scandinavian Peninsula): Sweden, Norway, Denmark

Political/economic regions of Europe:

“Region” can also refer, in the European context, to the territory of a political/economic group, for example:

• The region made up of the 28 European Union countries (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). Cf. GAMES
• The region made up of the 17 Eurozone countries have the Euro as their common currency: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. Cf. GAMES
• The Schengen Area is a region within Europe with no internal borders made up of 25 countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland.

Other groups

There are other pan-European groupings, economic, political, but also in other domains. The “region” covered by a group is made up of its members (often States). Examples are:

• Council of Europe (defense of human rights);
• Europa Nostra (lobbying on heritage issues);
• Eurocities (association of European city leaders);
• European Students’ Union (umbrella organization of 39 national associations).

Three major regions

Contemporary Europe is sometimes divided up into three major regions, very broadly defined according to their geographical location, economic power, and cultural particularities:

• North-West Europe: characterized by having the first member countries of the EU, the most powerful agricultural, industrial, business and financial infrastructure, and command centers of international importance (London, Paris, Frankfurt). Population density is high, as are standards of living.
• Mediterranean Europe: characterized by indebted States, small to medium-sized businesses, and an active parallel economy. Economic and demographic growth is slow.
• Central and Eastern Europe: poor former Communist countries with slow demographic growth, recently integrated to the EU. EU businesses make use of the cheap labor force and these countries benefit from EU Regional Policy funds.

“Blue banana”

Europe can also be divided into central (dominant), dependent, and peripheral regions according to economic, political and demographic criteria:

• The dominant region is the densely populated and wealthy “blue banana” from Manchester to Milan with a strong concentration of decision-making centers (major urban zones).
• The dependent regions are close to the “blue banana”;
• The peripheral regions are further away (cf. map and page 103 of the Terminale textbook).

Other criteria to define a “region” in the European context

Europe can be divided into regions according to various other criteria such as:

• Population (number of people within an area determines a statistical and administrative “level” in the NUTS, i.e. the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics);
• Wealth: rich and poor regions (NUTS levels can be used to show disparities of wealth, cf. document 1, page 102 of the Terminale textbook);
• Political and administrative authority: the term "region" refers to a territorial authority existing at the level immediately below that of the central government, with its own political representation in the form of an elected regional assembly (sub-national authorities include regions, counties, provinces, municipalities and cities);
• Cross-border regions (territories that are in two countries at once) are an initiative of the EU, they are called “Euroregions” (e.g. the Biharia Euroregion which is in both Hungary and Romania); the purpose of these regions is to stimulate trans-national cooperation between two member states of the EU.