South Europe
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[edit] South Europe
The countries of Southern Europe were once great empires, but most have lost the glories of past positions and are struggling to advance into the modern global economy.
The individual countries are fairly small and many are landlocked. Small amounts of oil and rare metals can be found, but resources like timber, water, and metals are more common. Many of these countries sit on key trade routes between Europe and Asia. Most have suffered from air and water pollution. Nearly all have experienced severe earthquakes and continue to be at risk.
Although most of the governments are stable, many are barely so. Albania and the states of the former Yugoslavia have recently endured sharp wars and are still trying to rebuild. Spain is still dealing with the Basque separatist movement. Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain are older countries trying to come to grips with new economic and political realities. Crime and corruption are present everywhere. Albania is struggling with the drug trade.
Economically, all of these nations have seen better days. Southern Europe’s GNP is just slightly greater than Northern Europe’s, even though it has half again as many people. Poverty and unemployment are widespread, with up to a quarter of some countries living below the poverty line. Most of the countries are, to some degree, dependent on tourism. The former members of Yugoslavia are still rebuilding after war. Aid from the European Union forms a small but significant minority of national budgets. Sporadic violence still causes many investors to be skittish.
Christianity came to the region in the first century after Christ. Christianity has had a long and rich history here, but today many of those who profess to be Christians are highly nominal in their faith.
[edit] Statistics for the Eleven Countries of Southern Europe
| Name | P ‘00 | P ‘25 | C ‘00 | % | C ‘25 | % | 75-00 | 00-25 | Issues affecting the future | |
| Albania | 3.1 | 3.5 | 1.1 | 37% | 1.6 | 47% | + + | + + | Widespread poverty, unemployment, crime, corruption, drugs. | |
| Bosnia-Herzegovina | 3.8 | 3.7 | 1.4 | 35% | 1.2 | 32% | + - | - - | War, reconstruction, poverty, unemployment, black market. | |
| Croatia | 4.5 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 91% | 4.0 | 93% | + - | - + | War, reconstruction, growing economy, unemployment. | |
| Greece | 11.0 | 11.2 | 10.2 | 93% | 10.3 | 93% | + - | + - | Turkey tensions, EU aid, immigrant workers, unemployment. | |
| Holy See | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 100% | 0.0 | 100% | - - | - - | Seat of the Catholic Church. | |
| Italy | 57.7 | 56.3 | 47.4 | 82% | 44.6 | 79% | + - | - - | Illegal immigration, crime, corruption, unemployment, rich/poor gap. | |
| Macedonia | 2.0 | 2.0 | 1.3 | 64% | 1.3 | 65% | + - | + + | Kosovo, economy, poverty, unemployment, grey market. | |
| Portugal | 10.2 | 10.9 | 9.4 | 92% | 9.9 | 91% | + - | + - | Stable but poor, unemployment, competition with Asia. | |
| Serbia | 10.5 | 10.2 | 7.0 | 66% | 7.2 | 71% | + + | - + | Politics, ethnic tensions, poverty, unemployment, sporadic violence. | |
| Slovenia | 2.0 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 91% | 1.7 | 92% | + - | - + | Stable, moderately wealthy, few Protestants. | |
| Spain | 40.7 | 44.2 | 37.5 | 92% | 39.7 | 90% | + - | + - | Growing economy, tensions over social changes, unemployment. |
[edit] Key to the above charts:
P’00 - Population, AD 2000 P’25 - Population, AD2025 C’00 - Christianity, AD 2000 (followed by the percentage of the overall population) C’25 - Christianity, AD2025 projection, World Christian Database (followed by percentage of overall population) 75-00 - Growth rate. The first (+/-) indicates whether Christianity is growing or declining; the second (+/-) indicates whether it is growing faster or slower than the population (thus whether Christianity’s influence is growing or declining). (+-) means Christianity is growing, but not as fast as the population, and so is declining as a share of the country. 00-25 - Growth rate projected for AD2000-2025 Issues - A brief encapsulation of the issues affecting the growth of Christianity in the nation.
