European languages and ethnic groups 4
Introduction – the roots of European languages 4
1. Indo-Europeans 4
Map 2: Possible origin of Proto-Indo-Europeans 4
Map 3: Indo-European tribes 4
Map 4: Dispersion of Indo-Europeans 4
II. European languages and ethnic groups at present 5
1.The Romance languages area in Europe 5
2.2. The Celtic Languages 7
Ewa Glezman (Editor), Anna Dzienis, Jakub Nowacki, Tomasz Kula 10
Multilingual countries in Europe 10
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg 10
The Spanish languages that are officially recognized by the Statutes of the Autonomous Communities are: Euskera (País Vasco and Navarra), Gallego (Galicia), Catalan (Cataluna and Islas Baleares) and Comunidad Valenciana where, as stated at the Dictionary of the Real Academia, this variety of Catalan is called Valenciano. Other Statutes give special protection for the following Spanish languages: Bable in Asturias and the linguistic diversity in Aragón. 13
Castilian 13
Catalan 13
INSTITUT D'ESTUDIS CATALANS, Carme, 47, 08071 BARCELONA (Spain) 13
REAL ACADEMIA GALLEGA, Tabernas, 11, 15071 La Coruna (Spain) 13
REAL ACADEMIA DE LA LENGUA VASCA-EUSKALTZAINDIA, Arbieto, 3, 48071 Bilbao (Vizcaya), (Spain) 13
The Balkans. 16
The Background, the War and the Split 16
THE BALKANS BEFORE THE RISE OF THE YUGOSLAV FEDERATION (UNTIL 1918) 17
FROM THE ECONOMIC TO POLITICAL CRISIS (1980-1989) 19
MARCH TOWARDS WAR (1989-1991) 19
Agata Bzyl, Marta Kowalczyk, Jakub Maczel 25
The Flemish-Waloon Conflict in Belgium 25
Historical Background of the conflict 25
Background of the conflict 26
HUNGARY 30
HUNGARIAN CUSINE 32
The Hungarians are hospitable people, always ready to offer guests delicious food and excellent wines. The country's unique cuisine has influences from the Central Asian Magyar founders of the nation, Turks, Germans, French, Austrians, Czechs, Slovaks, Serbians, and Croatians. The simple agrarian and shepherd lifestyles of the Great Hungarian Plain and mountains have also helped to shape the country's unique dishes. While many popular restaurants in Hungary have adapted their cooking to today's lighter style of eating, traditional Hungarian cuisine is for those with hearty appetites. 32
Italy 33
Abruzzo and Molise 36
Umbria and Marche 36
Calabria and Basilicata 36
Apulia 36
Sicilia 36
Piedmont 36
Liguria 36
Lombardy 36
Friuli – Venezia Giulia 36
Trident –Alto Adige 36
Emilia –Romagna 36
Lazio 36
The Scandinavian Nations 37
The Links. The Split. Egalitarian Approach. 37
SWITZERLAND - SWISS CONFEDERATION 46
Languages 46
Federal Assembly 47
Bundesrat 47
“Magic formula” 48
Districts 48
Municipalities 48
The rule of subsidarity 48
Differences within Switzerland 48
CHAPTER III. Switzerland’s foreign policy 49
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs 49
The role of Federal Department of Foreign Affairs 49
RELIGIONS IN EUROPE 50
MAIN RELIGIONS IN EUROPE 52
PAGANISM AND LOCAL FAITHS 54
Education in Europe 55
European holidays 58
Introduction 58
1.Cross-country overview of Christmas traditions (Bartosz Pustuł) 58
1.1.Armenia – Christmas celebrated three times! 59
1.2.Austria – home of “Silent Night” 59
1.3.Bulgaria – pat me with a stick and happy I shall be! 59
1.4.Czech Republic – beware, death is coming... 59
1.5.Denmark – candles and joy 59
1.6.Finland – home of Santa. 59
1.7.France – no reindeers please, just donkeys! 59
1.8.Germany – Tannenbaum’s homeland 59
1.9.Greece – pig slaughter and freezing divers. 60
1.10.Hungary – complex chair 60
1.11.Iceland – 13 Santas... 60
1.12.The Netherlands – Santa comes from Spain! 60
1.13.Scotland – short tradition of Christmas. 60
1.14.Spain 60
1.15.Ukraine 60
1.16.Wales – carol contest. 60
2.Selection of European customs and holidays 61
2.1.April Fool’s Day – Prima Aprilis (Anna Radecka) 61
2.2.La Tomatina. 61
2.3.”San Fermin – Running of the Bulls” 62
2.4.St. Patrick’s Day – March 17. (Mateusz Homa) 63
2.5.St. Lucia Day – December 13 63
2.6.Guy Fawkes Day – “Remember, remember the 5th of November” 63
2.7.Oktoberfest 64
European Alcohols 65
SPAIN 67
PORTUGAL 68
LUXEMBOURG 68
HUNGARY 68
ROMANIA & BULGARIA 68
SWITZERLAND 68
AUSTRIA 68
UNITED KINGDOM 69
THE FORMER USSR 69
SPIRITS 71
SPIRIT DRINKING COUNTRIES 71
The countries in which the spirit consumption is still dominant are these of Eastern Europe, such as Poland, Slovakia, Russia, Belarus, and the Baltic States (Table S1). Many traditionally spirit drinking countries of Northern Europe have switched to beer over the last few years, however we decided to include Norway, Finland, Sweden and the Netherlands into this category because of their long tradition in spirit drinking. The consumption of spirits was rather stable until the 70s and has been on the decline since then. From the non-spirit drinking countries, it is the Greeks, the French & the Spanish who consume most spirits. It is worth mentioning that in Eastern Europe there is practically one type of spirit, while the spirits of Western Europe are much more diversified. 71
As far as spirits production is concerned, Russia leads the way in Europe, followed – surprisingly – by the United Kingdom and then the Ukraine, Germany and France (Table S2). It must be pointed out, however, that a lot of spirits are manufactured illegally or at home due to high excise tax. 71
VODKA 71
WHISKY 72
Irish whiskey 72
Other whiskies 73
GIN 73
Dry gin 73
BRANDY 73
Cognac 73
Armagnac 74
Other grape brandies 74
Fruit brandies 74
The last group of alcohols consumed throughout Europe comprises all the beverages that cannot be classified in neither of the described gruoups. The variety of kinds here is enormous so we could only point out the best known and most often consumed ones. The three biggest subgroups here are aperitifs, liqueurs and dessert wines. Let’s start with aperitifs. 74
APERITIFS 74
The word ‘aperitif’ derives from the Latin aperire - to open. It is as an ‘opener’ to the appetite that aperitifs are usually taken, therefore every kind of alcohol may be an aperitif but there are some special and unique ones worth mentioning. 74
Małgorzata Miko, Michał Dąbrowski, Paweł Zagrajek 76
European cuisine 76
Introduction. 76
I. Scandinavian cuisine 76
The role of religion. 78
Film Festivals in Europe 82
Introduction 82
Małgorzata Czoch, Łukasz Momot 86
LIFE IN IBIZA 86
ORGANISED CRIME IN EUROPE 88
'Ndrangheta 90
Terrorism in Europe 93
Tourism in Europe 95
FRANCE 98
Moominworld 103
WOMEN IN EUROPE 103
1. INTRODUCTION 103
5. VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN 107
Check Your Knowledge 108