Originally Answered: Why is northern Europe so different than southern Europe? ...Is it really? The way I see it, it's a continuum. Rent a car in Copenhagen and drive south to Seville: at which point did you cross from "Northern" to "Southern"? read more
So a first historical point is that the countries that fell under the influence of the Roman Empire (including Spain, Italy and, to a lesser degree, France) tend to be more hierarchical than the rest of Western Europe. read more
In Northern Europe, it’s much colder than Southern Europe. They all speak different languages, and have different cultures. Northern countries are mostly more industrialized than Southern countries. Southern countries depend a lot on warm weather tourism industry. They are (somewhat) lower on an economic scale. I’m not sure what you are looking for. read more