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42-461: The Natural Park is characterized by its rugged and dramatic landscapes, featuring deep river valleys, steep cliffs, and rocky outcrops. The park’s topography is the result of millions of years of erosion by the Douro River , creating a stunning and diverse natural environment. This Portugal location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to

84-590: A protected area in Europe is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Douro River The Douro ( UK : / ˈ d ʊər oʊ , ˈ d ʊər uː / , US : / ˈ d ɔːr uː , ˈ d ɔːr oʊ / , Portuguese: [ˈdo(w)ɾu] , Mirandese : [ˈdowɾʊ] ; Spanish : Duero [ˈdweɾo] ; Latin : Durius ) is the largest river of the Iberian Peninsula by discharge. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in

126-835: A mild, generally humid climate, influenced by the North Atlantic Current . Western Europe is a heatwave hotspot, exhibiting upward trends that are three-to-four times faster compared to the rest of the northern midlatitudes. Western European languages mostly fall within two Indo-European language families: the Romance languages , descended from the Latin of the Roman Empire ; and the Germanic languages , whose ancestor language ( Proto-Germanic ) came from southern Scandinavia . Romance languages are spoken primarily in

168-485: A prosperous tourist industry has developed based on river excursions from Porto to points along the Upper Douro valley. The Douro railway line ( Linha do Douro ) was completed in 1887; it connects Porto, Rio Tinto, Ermesinde, Valongo, Paredes, Penafiel, Livração, Marco de Canaveses, Régua, Tua and Pocinho. Pocinho is near the very small city of Foz Côa, which is close to Côa Valley Paleolithic Art site. This

210-735: Is a multilingual thesaurus maintained by the Publications Office of the European Union . In this thesaurus, the countries of Europe are grouped into sub-regions. The following countries are included in the sub-group Western Europe: The Western European and Others Group is one of several unofficial Regional Groups in the United Nations that act as voting blocs and negotiation forums. Regional voting blocs were formed in 1961 to encourage voting to various UN bodies from different regional groups. The European members of

252-779: Is a system devised by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) which divides the countries of the world into regional and subregional groups, based on the M49 coding classification . The partition is for statistical convenience and does not imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories. In the UN geoscheme, the following countries are classified as Western Europe: The CIA classifies seven countries as belonging to "Western Europe": The CIA also classifies three countries as belonging to "Southwestern Europe": EuroVoc

294-824: Is cognate with modern Breton dour and Cornish dur "water" and results from a later typical Brittonic evolution of *dubro- , unknown in the Continental Celtic languages . The possible origin is the hydronymic root *dur- , which is Pre-Indo-European or Pre-Celtic . Albert Dauzat linked this river name to a Pre-Celtic hydronymic root *dor- , which is well attested in Western Europe : in France Doire , Doron , Douron, etc. and in Italy Dora , etc. The meaning of this element is, however, unknown. A folk-etymological derivation suggests that

336-569: Is considered important to the archaeological pre-historic patrimony, and it has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site . Fifteen dams have been built on the Douro to regulate the water flow, generate hydroelectric power , and allow navigation through locks . Beginning at the headwaters, the first five dams are in Spain: Cuerda del Pozo , Los Rábanos , San José , Villalcampo and Castro Dams . The next five downstream are along

378-753: The Aldeadávila Dam impounds the river, there are protected areas: the International Douro Natural Park (on the Portuguese side) and the Arribes del Duero Natural Park (on the Zamoran margin). The Douro fully enters Portuguese territory just after the confluence with the Águeda River ; once the Douro enters Portugal, major population centres are less frequent along the river. Except for Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia at

420-843: The Carolingian Empire in the west, and in particular the Great Schism between Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism , enhanced the cultural and religious distinctiveness between Eastern and Western Europe. After the conquest of the Byzantine Empire , center of the Eastern Orthodox Church, by the Muslim Ottoman Empire in the 15th century, and the gradual fragmentation of the Holy Roman Empire (which had replaced

462-584: The Carolingian Empire ), the division between Roman Catholic and Protestant became more important in Europe than that with Eastern Orthodoxy. In East Asia , Western Europe was historically known as taixi in China and taisei in Japan, which literally translates as the " Far West ". The term Far West became synonymous with Western Europe in China during the Ming dynasty . The Italian Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci

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504-571: The Douro Valley in Portugal, long devoted to vineyards , has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site . The wine was taken downriver in flat-bottom boats called rabelos , to be stored in barrels in cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia , just across the river from Porto . Nowadays port is transported there in tanker trucks. In the 1960s and 1970s, dams with locks were built along

546-793: The East–West Schism divided Christianity into Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity . This split Europe in two, with Western Europe primarily under the Catholic Church , and Eastern Europe primarily under the Eastern Orthodox Church . Ever since the Reformation in the 16th century, Protestantism has also been a major denomination in Europe, with Eastern Protestant and Eastern Catholic denominations also emerging in Central and Eastern Europe . During

588-736: The Industrial Revolution , the concepts of " Eastern Europe " and "Western Europe" were more regularly used. The distinctiveness of Western Europe became most apparent during the Cold War , when Europe was divided for 40 years by the Iron Curtain into the Western Bloc and Eastern Bloc , each characterised by distinct political and economical systems. Prior to the Roman conquest, a large part of Western Europe had adopted

630-487: The Ribera del Duero wine region. Sheep rearing is also still important. The drainage basin borders those of Miño to the north, Ebro to the east, and Tajo to the south. For 112 kilometres (70 mi), the river forms part of the border between Spain and Portugal , in a region of narrow canyons . It formed a historical barrier to invasions, creating a cultural/linguistic divide. In these isolated areas, in which

672-811: The Roman Empire . The Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire controlled the two divergent regions between the 3rd and the 5th centuries. The division between these two was enhanced during late antiquity and the Middle Ages by a number of events. The Western Roman Empire collapsed , starting the Early Middle Ages . By contrast, the Eastern Roman Empire, mostly known as the Greek or Byzantine Empire , survived and even thrived for another 1000 years. The rise of

714-841: The U.S. President , Franklin D. Roosevelt , and the Premier of the Soviet Union , Joseph Stalin . Post-war Europe was divided into two major spheres: the Western Bloc , influenced by the United States , and the Eastern Bloc , influenced by the Soviet Union . With the onset of the Cold War, Europe was divided by the Iron Curtain . This term had been used during World War II by German Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels and, later, Count Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk in

756-833: The United Kingdom . It was further revisited in 1954 at the Paris Conference , when the Western European Union was established. It was declared defunct in 2011 after the Treaty of Lisbon , and the Treaty of Brussels was terminated. When the Western European Union was dissolved, it had 10 member countries. Additionally, it had 6 associate member countries, 7 associate partner countries and 5 observer countries. The United Nations geoscheme

798-521: The - b -, of which there remains no trace, would not have disappeared, as evidenced by place-names derived from Gaulish *dubron (plural dubra ), such as French Douvres and English Dover (3rd/4th-century Dubris ; Douvres in French), Spanish Dobra, German Tauber ( Dubra-gave 807), and Gaelic/ Old Irish dobur "water" and river name Dobhar in Ireland and Scotland. Modern Welsh dŵr "water"

840-606: The CIA classification a little more liberally and including "South-Western Europe", would give the following calculation of Western Europe's population. The Hague is the seat of government The climate of Western Europe varies from Mediterranean in the coasts of Italy , Portugal and Spain to alpine in the Pyrenees and the Alps . The Mediterranean climate of the south is dry and warm. The western and northwestern parts have

882-667: The Douro River are Valladolid and Zamora in Spain, and Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia in Portugal. The latter two are located at the mouth of the Douro at the Atlantic Ocean. In Portugal, the Douro flows through the districts of Bragança , Guarda , Viseu , Vila Real , Aveiro and Porto . Porto is the main hub city in northern Portugal. Its historic centre has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its significant architecture and history. These reaches of

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924-431: The Douro have a mesoclimate allowing for cultivation of olives , almonds , and especially grapes , which are important for making port . The region around Pinhão and São João da Pesqueira is considered to be the centre of port, with its quintas (or farms/estates) that extend along the steep slopes of the river valleys. In the 21st century, many of these are owned by multinational, reputed wine companies. Recently,

966-553: The Iberian Peninsula after the Tagus and Ebro . Its total length is 897 kilometres (557 mi), of which only sections of the Portuguese section, being below a fall/rapids line, are naturally navigable, by modest rivercraft. The Douro River basin encompasses an area of approximately 97,290 square kilometres. In its Spanish section, the Douro crosses the great Castilian meseta and meanders through five provinces of

1008-524: The Portuguese-Spanish border; the first three are owned and operated by Portugal: ( Miranda , Picote and Bemposta Dams ), while the next two belong to Spain: ( Aldeadávila and Saucelle Dams ). The Douro's last five dams are in Portugal, and allow for navigation: Pocinho , Valeira , Régua , Carrapatelo , and Crestuma–Lever dams. Vessels with a maximum length of 83 metres (272 ft) and width of 11.4 metres (37 ft) can pass through

1050-660: The Spanish province of Soria , meanders briefly south, then flows generally west through the northern part of the Meseta Central in Castile and León into northern Portugal . Its largest tributary (carrying more water than the Douro at their confluence) is the right-bank Esla . The Douro flows into the Atlantic Ocean at Porto , the second largest city of Portugal. The scenic Douro railway line runs close to

1092-572: The ancient Mediterranean world, the Roman Empire (both Western and Eastern ), and medieval " Christendom ". Beginning with the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery , roughly from the 15th century, the concept of Europe as "the West " slowly became distinguished from and eventually replaced the dominant use of "Christendom" as the preferred endonym within the area. By the Age of Enlightenment and

1134-588: The autonomous community of Castile and León : Soria , Burgos , Valladolid , Zamora , and Salamanca , passing through the towns of Soria , Almazán , Aranda de Duero , Tordesillas , and Zamora . The most important tributaries in this region are the Pisuerga , passing through Valladolid , and the Esla , which passes through Zamora . This region is generally semi-arid plains, with wheat and in some places, especially near Aranda de Duero , with vineyards , in

1176-585: The fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. West Germany peacefully absorbed East Germany , in the German reunification . Comecon and the Warsaw Pact were dissolved, and in 1991, the Soviet Union ceased to exist. Several countries which had been part of the Soviet Union regained full independence. In 1948 the Treaty of Brussels was signed between Belgium , France , Luxembourg , the Netherlands and

1218-620: The five locks . The highest lock, at Carrapatelo Dam, has a maximum lift of 35 metres (115 ft). The waters of Pocinho lake reach 125 metres (410 ft) above sea level. Unannounced releases of water from upstream Spanish dams occasionally causes navigation issues in these locks. Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe . The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to

1260-574: The four decades of the Cold War , the definition of East and West was simplified by the existence of the Eastern Bloc . A number of historians and social scientists view the Cold War definition of Western and Eastern Europe as outdated or relegating. During the final stages of World War II , the future of Europe was decided between the Allies in the 1945 Yalta Conference , between the British Prime Minister , Winston Churchill ,

1302-551: The group are: In addition, Australia , Canada , Israel and New Zealand are members of the group, with the United States as observer. Using the CIA classification strictly would give the following calculation of Western Europe's population. All figures based on the projections for 2018 by the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs . Using

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1344-747: The last days of the war; however, its use was hugely popularised by Winston Churchill, who used it in his famous "Sinews of Peace" address on 5 March 1946 at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri : From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe . Warsaw , Berlin , Prague , Vienna , Budapest , Belgrade , Bucharest and Sofia ; all these famous cities and

1386-431: The name comes from the Portuguese or Spanish term for "golden". In Roman times, the river was personified as a god, Durius . Part of the drainage basin might have been severely depopulated in the 8th century. According to Claudio Sánchez-Albornoz this was a deliberate act by Alfonso I of Asturias for the defence of his Kingdom , which led the area to be named Repoblación . The Douro vinhateiro (vine-land) of

1428-479: The newly developed La Tène culture . As the Roman domain expanded, a cultural and linguistic division appeared between the mainly Greek -speaking eastern provinces, which had formed the highly urbanised Hellenistic civilisation , and the western territories, which in contrast largely adopted the Latin language. This cultural and linguistic division was eventually reinforced by the later political east–west division of

1470-401: The northern half of the Meseta Central . The latter includes wine producing areas such as the Ribera del Duero DOP. The Latin name Durius might have been a Celtic name before the overwhelming Romanization of Iberia. If so, the Celtic root could have been *dubro- (in that family of languages the final vowel sound often changes with context, as in Latin). However, were that the case,

1512-528: The populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject, in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and in some cases increasing measure of control from Moscow. Although some countries were officially neutral , they were classified according to the nature of their political and economic systems. This division largely defines the popular perception and understanding of Western Europe and its borders with Eastern Europe . The world changed dramatically with

1554-408: The protection of regional and minority languages are recognised political goals in Western Europe today. The Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the Council of Europe's European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages set up a legal framework for language rights in Europe. Western Europe is one of the richest regions of the world. Germany has

1596-583: The river mouth, the only population centres of any note are Foz do Tua, Pinhão and Peso da Régua . Tributaries here are small, merging into the Douro along the canyons; the most important are Côa , Tua , Sabor , Corgo , Tavora , Paiva , Tâmega , and Sousa . None of these small, fast-flowing rivers is navigable. Major Spanish riverside towns include Soria , Almazán , Aranda de Duero , Tordesillas , Zamora and major Portuguese towns include Miranda do Douro , Foz Côa , Peso da Régua , Lamego , Vila Nova de Gaia , and Porto . The most populous cities along

1638-417: The river, allowing river traffic into the upper regions in Spain and along the border. In 1998, Portugal and Spain signed the Albufeira Convention, an agreement on the sharing of trans-boundary rivers to include the Douro, Tagus and Guadiana . The convention superseded an agreement on the Douro, signed in 1927, that was expanded in 1964 and 1968 to include tributaries. It is the third-longest river in

1680-419: The river. Adjacent areas produce port (a mildly fortified wine) and other agricultural produce. A small tributary of the river has the Côa Valley Paleolithic Art site which is considered important to the archaeological pre-historic patrimony, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site . Within Spain, it flows through the middle of the autonomous community of Castile and León , with the basin spanning through

1722-430: The southern and central part of Western Europe, Germanic languages in the northern part (the British Isles and the Low Countries ), as well as a large part of Northern and Central Europe . Other Western European languages include the Celtic group (that is, Irish , Scottish Gaelic , Manx , Welsh , Cornish and Breton ) and Basque , the only currently living European language isolate . Multilingualism and

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1764-451: Was one of the first writers in China to use the Far West as an Asian counterpart to the European concept of the Far East . In Ricci's writings, Ricci referred to himself as "Matteo of the Far West". The term was still in use in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Christianity is the largest religion in Western Europe. According to a 2018 study by the Pew Research Center , 71.0% of Western Europeans identified as Christians. In 1054,

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