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The culture of Europe might better be described as a series of overlapping cultures. Whether it is a question of West as opposed to East; Christianity as opposed to Islam; many have claimed to identify cultural fault lines across the continent. There are many cultural innovations and movements, often at odds with each other, such as Christian proselytism or Humanism. Thus the question of "common culture" or "common values" is far more complex than it seems.
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Religion
Christianity being the dominant feature in shaping European culture for at least the last 1700 years. Modern philosophical thought has very much been influenced by Christian philosophers such as St Thomas Aquinas and Erasmus.
The most popular religions of Europe are the following:
- Christianity
- Roman Catholicism: Countries or areas with significant Catholic populations are Portugal, Spain, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, south Netherlands, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Northern Ireland, south Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Malta, Austria, Hungary,Slovenia, Croatia, the Croatian parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, west Ukraine, Romania, parts of Russia, Latgale region in Latvia, and Lithuania. There are also large Catholic minorities in England and Wales.
- Orthodox Christianity: The countries with significant Orthodox populations are Albania, Armenia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland (Karelia), Georgia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine.
- Protestantism: Countries with significant Protestant populations include Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, the UK, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. There are significant minorities in France, Czech Republic, Hungary, and indeed small minorities in most European Countries.
- Islam: Countries with significant Muslim population are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia (especially in Kosovo), several republics of Russia, Crimea in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Also, as of 2005, about 5% of the EU identify themselves as Muslims, with many Muslim immigrants in Germany, the UK, Benelux, Sweden and France.
Other minor religions exist in Europe, some brought by migrants, including:
- Judaism, mainly in France, UK and Russia.
- Hinduism, mainly among Indian immigrants in the UK.
- Buddhism, thinly spread throughout Europe, yet it is in Kalmykia, Russia
- Indigenous European pagan traditions and beliefs, many countries.
- Rastafari, communities in the UK, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and elsewhere.
- Sikhism and Jainism, both mainly among Indian immigrants in the UK.
- Voodoo, mainly among black Caribbean and West African immigrants in the UK and France.
- Traditional African Religions (including Muti), mainly in the UK and France.
Millions of Europeans profess no religion or are atheist or agnostic. The largest non-confessional populations (as a percentage) are found in Sweden, the Czech Republic and France although most former communist countries have significant non-confessional populations. Attendance at church is a minority activity in most Western European countries - as an example, the Church of England attracts around 1 million worshippers on a Sunday [1], which corresponds to about 2% of the population of England.
Official religions
A number of countries in Europe have official religions, including Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, Vatican City (Catholic); and Greece (Eastern Orthodox), Denmark, Iceland and Norway (Lutheran). In Switzerland, some cantons are officially Catholic, others Reformed Protestant. Some Swiss villages even have their religion as well as the village name written on the signs at their entrances. In Bulgaria, an article in the constitution defines Eastern Orthodox Christianity as the country's "traditional religion".
Georgia has no established church, but the Georgian Orthodox Church enjoys "de facto" privileged status. In Finland, both Finnish Orthodox Church and Lutheran church are official. Russia recognises Eastern Orthodoxy, Islam, Buddhism and Judaism as all "traditional"citation needed (with three states, Kalmykia, Buryatia and Tuva, officially Buddhistcitation needed). England, a part of the UK, has Anglicanism as its official religion. Scotland, another part of the UK, has
Sport
Europe's influence on sport is enormous. Indeed, it is difficult to think of a modern sport, apart from basketball and related sports, that does not have its origins in Europe. European sports include:
- Association football, which has contested origins between England and Italy. What is uncontestable is that the oldest association is The Football Association of England (1863) and the first international match was between Scotland and England (1872). It is now the world's most popular sport and is played throughout Europe.
- Rugby League and Rugby Union which both have similar origins to football. Rugby Union is the older of the two codes and has rules that date from 1845 (see articles: History of rugby league and History of rugby union). They acrimoniously split in the late 19th century over the treatment of injured players. Rugby league gradually changed its laws over the next century with the end result that today both sports have little in common, apart from the basics. They have both been carried abroad by colonization, particularly to many former British colonies. American football and Canadian Football are derivatives of rugby.
- The discus throw, javelin throw and shot put have their origins in ancient Greece. The Olympics, both ancient and modern, have their origins too in Europe, and have a massive influence globally.
- Field Hockey as a modern game began in 18th Century England with Ireland having the oldest federation. It is popular in Western Europe, the Indian subcontinent, Australia and East Asia. Ice Hockey, popular in Europe and North America may derive from this sport.
- Golf, one of the most popular sports in Europe, Asia and North America, has its origins in Scotland, with the oldest course being at Musselburgh.
- Tennis and related games such as Table Tennis derive from the game Real Tennis which is from France. It is popular throughout the world.
- Handball, which is popular in Europe and elsewhere, has its origins in antiquity. The modern game is from northern Europe with Germany having been involved in both the first women's and men's internationals.
- Cycling, which is immensely popular as a means of transport has most of its sporting adherents in Europe, particularly Western Europe. The Tour de France is the world's most watched live annual sporting event. The bicycle itself is probably from France (see History of the bicycle).
- Cricket has its origins in south east England. It is not so popular in Europe, being played only in northwest Europe, mainly England. It is however very popular worldwide, especially in Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the Indian subcontinent.
In addition, Europe has numerous national or regional sports which do not command a huge international following outside of emigrant groups. These include:
- Gaelic football in Ireland, which influenced Australian rules football.
- Basque Pelota in parts of Spain and France, and which has been brought to the Americas by emigrants.
- Pétanque, Boules, Petanca, Calitx, Irish Road Bowling, Skittles, Bocce, and Bowls and others are variations of bowling games which are popular throughout western Europe and have been spread around the world.
- Hurling in Ireland.
- Shinty in Scotland, which influenced Ice Hockey in Canada (see also Shinny).
- Gaelic Handball (Ireland) which was taken to the USA in the form of American Handball.
- Trotting in southern Europe.
- Alpine Wrestling in Switzerland.
- Korfbal in The Netherlands and Belgium
- Rounders from Ireland now popular in northwest Europe from which Baseball derives.
- Bullfighting in Spain and Portugal
- Bandy in Russia
Some sporting organisations hold European Championships.
- UEFA
- Rugby League European Federation - European Nations Cup
- FIRA - Association of European Rugby
- European Rugby Cup (Club/Regional competition)
- European SC Championships
- Sport in the European Union
- Mitropa Cup
- IIHF
Philosophy
European philosophy is the most dominant strand of philosophy globally, and is central to philosophical enquiry in the Americas and much of the rest of the world. The origins are Judeo-Hellenic: Christian thought is a huge influence on many fields of European philosophy (as European philosophy has been on Christian thought too), sometimes as a reaction; the Greek schools of philosophy in antiquity provide the basis of philosophical discourse that extends to today.
Perhaps the most important single philosophical periods since the classical era were the Age of Reason and the Age of Enlightenment. There are many disputes as to its value and even its timescale. What is indisputable is that the tenets of reason and rational discourse owe much to René Descartes, John Locke and others working a the time.
Other important European philosophical strands include:
Music
One kind of music in Europe is Irish Folk. The Balver Hoehle is the home of the annual Irish Folk & Celtic Music. Rudolstadt is the host of a festival with Worldmusic. Important classical composers from Europe include Beethoven, Mozart and Bach.
Europe consists of many different genre's of music, ranging form pop, rap, hip'hop, r'n'b, dance, jazz, soul etc. Europe overlapps all the cultural movements of music, and is intertwined within itself. It is a whole world of music.
Festivals
Europe is home to many cultural festivals including the Oktoberfest beer festival (Germany), Cannes Film Festival (France) and music festivals such as Glastonbury (UK) and Benicassim (Spain).
European City of Culture
Each year since 1985 one or more cities across Europe are chosen as European Cities of Culture.
Symbols
See also
- Category:European culture
- European Capital of Culture
- Europeanisation
- Westernization
- Battles of macrohistorical importance involving invasions of Europe
- Europalia
- Romano-Germanic culture
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External links
- Eurolinguistix.com
- 12Star Culture - online European culture magazine
- The European Library gateway to Europe's national libraries
