Editing Southern Europe (section)

== History ==

Southern Europe contained several early centres of Mediterranean settlement, trade, government, and maritime activity. Ancient Greek communities developed around the Aegean Sea and established colonies across the Mediterranean. Rome later expanded from the Italian Peninsula and made Southern Europe part of a wider political and transport system centred on the [[Roman Empire]].

After the division and decline of Roman authority, the region developed through separate kingdoms, republics, empires, city-states, and religious territories. The eastern Mediterranean remained under Byzantine influence for centuries. Ottoman expansion later affected the Balkans and Greece. The Iberian and Italian peninsulas developed through competing monarchies, maritime republics, local principalities, and church territories.

Italian cities became major centres of commerce, banking, art, administration, and Mediterranean shipping. The political unification of most of the Italian Peninsula created the [[Kingdom of Italy]] on 17 March 1861. The kingdom continued until 18 June 1946, when the Italian Republic replaced the monarchy.<ref name="kingdom-italy-history"/>

During the twentieth century, Southern Europe was affected by dictatorship, occupation, civil conflict, changes of government, and the two world wars. Post-war reconstruction was followed by industrial growth, urban expansion, tourism development, and closer economic cooperation between European states.