Southern Europe lies along the Mediterranean Sea, on three peninsulas you met in Islands and Peninsulas: the Iberian, the Italian and the Balkan. It has fifteen countries, from large Spain and Italy to the tiny Holy See.
Key idea
The Iberian Peninsula holds Spain, Portugal and tiny Andorra. The Italian Peninsula holds Italy and, inside it, San Marino and the Holy See (Vatican City); Malta is an island to the south. The Balkan Peninsula holds Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania and Greece.
Why it works
Six of the Balkan countries (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and North Macedonia) were once parts of one country, Yugoslavia, which broke apart in the 1990s and 2000s. That is why there are so many small countries in one corner of the map. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008; more than 100 UN members recognize it and many others, including Serbia, do not. It is not a UN member, so it is not counted among the fifteen.
Worked example: Along the Adriatic
Going down the east coast of the Adriatic Sea from Italy, which countries do you pass?
- Slovenia has a short coast at the top.
- Then the long coast of Croatia, with a tiny piece of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- Then Montenegro, then Albania.
Answer: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania.
Worked example: Countries inside Italy
Which two countries are completely surrounded by Italy?
- San Marino is a tiny country in north-central Italy.
- The Holy See's territory, Vatican City, is inside Rome.
Answer: San Marino and the Holy See (Vatican City).
Common mistake
The small countries that came from Yugoslavia are easy to lose. Go from northwest to southeast: Slovenia (next to Italy and Austria), Croatia (the crescent along the coast), Bosnia and Herzegovina (inside the crescent), Serbia (inland, east), Montenegro (small, on the coast), North Macedonia (inland, north of Greece).