24
499 people per square kilometre. The UK dominates this category with fourteen such regions,
followed by Italy with seven and Belgium with four.
There are seventeen adjacent regions A2, with urban centres where the population density lies
between 50 and 99 people per square kilometre. Finally, the data reveals seven adjacent regions A3
with one or more urban areas, each with population densities less than 50,000. These regions can
become potential growth regions because of their connectivity to a core region.
5.1.3 Periphery Regions
In the European geographic common market, there are eighty-one periphery regions
subdivided into sixty-eight continental and thirteen island periphery regions. Of the sixty-eight
continental periphery regions P1 that border on an adjacent region, more than half have urban areas
with a population density greater than 100, but less 500 people per square kilometre. France dominates
this category with twelve such regions, followed by Austria with half as many. Of Denmark’s six
periphery regions P2, one or more urban centres have a population density exceeding 50, but less than
100 people per square kilometre. Of the ten P3 periphery regions, with an urban population density
great than 20 but less than 50 thousand people per square kilometre, four are found in Ireland. Finally,
the six P4 periphery regions, with urban population densities less than 20 thousand people per square
kilometre, consist of the two adjacent periphery regions of Ita-Suomi and Pohjois-Suomi in Northern
Finland, the three adjacent peripheral regions of Norra Mellansverige, Mellersta Norrland, and Ovre
Norrland, that stretch into Northern Sweden; the Scottish Highlands, and the Islands in the UK. It is
significant to note that in pre-integrated Europe, France had the largest number of periphery regions in
the EU.15
5.1.4 Island Periphery Regions
In total, there are thirteen peripheral-island-regions under EU administration. Of these, eight
have urban centres IP1 with total populations of 100,000 or more. The second set of peripheral-island-
15 Periphery regions are predominantly agricultural, which explains France’s policy position in the EU Common Agricultural
Policy discussions.