Western Europe

• see also:
  • geography, travel and leisure main index
  • Europe
  • World Airport Guide

Western Europe:

• defined here as the countries on the western aspect of continental Europe (which incidentally are mainly Catholic) including:
  • the Low Countries - Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg - mainly flat, low lying lands
  • France
  • Monaco
  • Spain
  • Portugal

Netherlands:

• capital: Amsterdam
• area:  41,532m sq.km
• pop:  15.9m (2000)
• govt: constitutional monarchy
• currency: euro
• language: Dutch; English
• religion: Catholic 34%, Dutch reformed Christian 20%, Muslim 3%
• geography:

Belgium:

• capital: Brussels
• area:  30,510m sq.km
• pop:  10.2m (2000)
• govt: constitutional monarchy
• currency: euro
• language: Flemish 57%, 33% French & German
• religion: Catholic 75%
• geography:

Luxembourg:

• capital: Luxembourg
• area:  2,586 sq.km
• pop:  0.44m (2000)
• govt: constitutional monarchy
• currency: euro
• language: French, German, Luxembourgian, English
• religion: Catholic 97%
• geography:

France:

• capital: Paris
• area:  547,030 sq.km
• pop:  59.3m (2000)
• govt: republic
• currency: euro
• language: French
• religion: Catholic 90%
• geography:
• France is divided into 22 regions
• see France for details

Monaco:

• capital: Monte Carlo
• area:  2 sq.km
• pop:  0.03m (2000)
• govt: hereditary monarchy
• currency: French franc
• language: French, Italian, English, Monegasque
• religion: Catholic 95%
• geography:

Spain:

• capital: Madrid
• area:  504,750 sq.km
• pop:  40m (2000)
• govt: constitutional monarchy
• currency: euro
• language: Castilian Spanish, Catalan, Galician, Basque
• religion: Catholic 90%
• geography:
  • occupying most of the south-western peninsula, bordered to the north by France along the Pyrenees mountain range and to the west by Portugal
  • at its southern tip lies Gibraltar (a UK dependent territory) and the Strait of Gibraltar - the 13km wide entrance of the Mediterranean sea to the Atlantic Ocean
  • it is bordered to the south & east by the Mediterranean Sea along the coastlines of:
    • Costa del Sol in the south
    • Costa Blanca
    • Gulf of Valencia with its Balearic Islands:
      • Majorca
      • Minorca
      • Ibiza
      • Formentera
    • Costa Brava in its north-east corner
  • its south-west coast is the Gulf of Cadiz in the Atlantic Ocean
  • its north-west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean and forms part of the Bay of Biscay
  •  

Portugal:

• capital: Lisbon
• area:  92,391 sq.km
• pop:  10m (2000)
• govt: parliamentary democracy
• currency: euro
• language: Portugese
• religion: Catholic 97%
• geography: