The primary cause of the fall of the Roman Empire is often attributed to a combination of internal weaknesses and external pressures. Internally, the empire faced economic decline, political corruption, and social unrest, while external threats included invasions by various barbarian tribes such as the Visigoths, Vandals, and Huns. The division of the empire into Eastern and Western regions also weakened its coherence. The Western Roman Empire officially fell in 476 CE when the last Roman emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed, marking the end of centuries of Roman dominance in the Mediterranean.