The alcohol belts of Europe are regions in Europe which are considered to be divided by association with either beer, wine or spirits (see distilled beverage).
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Being an informal term, the "vodka belt" has no established definition. However, the general definition tends to include the following states:
Some scholars consider Mongolia to be a vodka belt country. Northern Germany may be in the Vodka belt as well. The German clear grain distilled liquor Korn is a type of vodka. However, it is drunk just as one of many other varieties of liquors while beer is the main alcoholic beverage. Northern Scotland is sometimes included in the list under a more general heading of a "spirit belt" (the prevalent alcoholic drink in northern Scotland is not vodka, but a differently flavoured distilled spirit: whisky).
The few EU countries of the Vodka Belt produce over 70% of the EU's vodka.[1]
The southern boundary of the "vodka belt" roughly corresponds to -2°C January isotherm. With the exception of Ukraine and some regions of southern Russia, cultivation of grapes is impossible or very difficult in the Vodka belt.
In his book about the Soviet Union[3], Alex de Jonge elaborates on his concept of "geoalcoholics". In particular, he explains Russian peculiarities by their belonging to the vodka belt and the absence of the beer belt in the Soviet Union. Other than the prevalent hard liquor, the vodka belt is also characteristic of higher occurrence binge drinking pattern compared to the rest of Europe.[4]
However, in many countries historically belonging to the Vodka Belt, vodka has been supplanted by beer as the alcoholic drink of choice. Residents of Finland and Sweden consume twice as much beer as vodka (in terms of pure alcohol).[5] The Polish Beer-Lovers' Party (which won 16 seats in the Sejm in 1991) was founded on the notion of fighting alcoholism by a cultural abandonment of vodka for beer. And indeed in 1998, beer surpassed vodka as the most popular alcoholic drink in Poland.[6] In Russia, annual consumption of beer has grown from 12 litres per capita in 1995 to 67 litres in 2006 (but still remains lower than consumption of vodka).
The term has been generating much buzz since 2006 in relating to the "vodka war"[7] within the European Union about the standardisation of vodka: the Vodka Belt countries insist that only spirits produced from grains and potato must be allowed to be branded as "vodka", according to the long established traditions of its production, a brand protection similar to the "protected designation of origin".[1] [8][9] The "Schnellhardt compromise", proposed by Horst Schnellhardt, suggests that vodkas from other than cereals, potatoes and molasses, should be labeled to say "Vodka produced from..."[7]
The "beer belt" is the territory covered by countries in Europe where beer is historically the most popular alcoholic beverage.[10] The beer belt is located to the southwest of the vodka belt and to the northeast of the wine belt.[11][12]
The beer belt includes Belgium, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, the northern and eastern cantons of Switzerland and the French regions of Alsace, Lorraine and Nord-Pas-de-Calais and the départment of Ardennes[13]. There is quite a bit of overlap in these French regions, as well as in southwestern Germany and parts of Austria, due to the considerable consumption and/or cultivation of wine there, and Poland is also a part of the Vodka belt.
Historically, beer became the main alcoholic beverage in regions with a smaller Roman Empire influence and with cooler climates where cereals are the main agricultural product.
The "wine belt" is the territory covered by countries in Europe where wine is historically the most popular alcoholic beverage. The wine belt is located to the south of the beer belt and the vodka belt.[11][12][14][15] The wine belt has been variously defined as approximately between 41° - 44°N[16], 30° - 50°N,[17] and 35° - 50/51°N.[18] Countries in the wine belt include Spain, Portugal, Italy, Hungary, Moldova, Georgia, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Bulgaria, Czechia, San Marino, Switzerland, Romania, Poland and France. Slovenia is in the wine belt, but most of the country apart from the eastern parts overlaps with Beer Belt as well. Additionally, South-West England (if one classes cider as a wine analogue), parts of the Low Countries, southwestern Germany and parts of Austria could be considered to lie either within the belt or within an overlap region.[13]
The wine belt is bounded by a string of Islamic countries from the south (the Maghreb) and east (Turkey and Azerbaijan), where consumption of alcohol was often incompatible with social norms (see Alcohol in Islam) and which, therefore, can be thought to comprise an "abstinence belt" depending on one's piousness. Alcohol consumption in southern Wine Belt countries such as Spain and Italy (11.6 and 10.6 liters of alcohol per capita, per year, as of 2005) sharply contrasts with estimated consumption south of Mediterranean: 1.5 liters/capita/year in Morocco, 1.0 liter in Algeria, 0.1 liter in Libya, and 0.4 liters in Egypt.[19] Arrack distilled from date palm sap was considered by some Muslims as a loophole in the prohibition against alcohol because it is neither made from grain nor fruit, and therefore not mentioned by name in the Qur'an, thus allowing its consumption. Prior to the arrival of Islam in those countries, most of them were wine-consuming; the exception was Egypt and Mesopotamia, where (merissa) beer predominated (on account of large production of grains). Grapes continue to be cultivated in many of these countries; for example, Egypt ranks 13th in the world by grape production (as of 2009), and produces 1.5 million metric tons of grapes per year - almost as much as Australia. However, most of these are table grapes, and only a tiny part of the total harvest is used to produce wine.
A liquor distilled from wine and flavoured with spices and herbs is known as Arrack, Arak, or Rakı and Arraki (in Sudan). This Arrak belt extends into the southern mediterranean and even France. Ouzo, Absinth, Sambuca, Mastika, and Pastis are very similar to Arrack and may be considered types of Arrack. The term Arrack is also used for distilled liquors from India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Malaysia. These are made from palm sap instead of grains or grapes. For this see Arrack. The method of tapping date palms and destilling the fermented sap (toddy) also origins from the Middle East and Egypt where it was used in areas unsuitable for grape cultivation.