Europe

Map of Europe

The languages of Europe

Europe history; 1000.

Europe is the western part of the continent of Eurasia, often thought of as its own continent. It is separated from Asia by the Ural Mountains in Russia and the Bosporus strait in Turkey.

Europe is bordered by water on three sides. On the west is the Atlantic Ocean. To the north is the Arctic Ocean. The Mediterranean Sea separates Southeastern Europe from Africa. On the eastern border of Europe are the Ural River and Ural Mountains.

There are at least 44 countries in Europe (the European identities of 5 transcontinental countries: Cyprus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkey are disputed). Most of these countries are members of the European Union.

Europe covers about 10,180,000 square kilometers (3,930,000 square miles). This is 2% of the Earth's surface (6.8% of its land area).

As of 2017, about 510 million people lived in Europe.^[1]

Europe contains the world's second most-active volcano, which is Mount Etna that is currently the most-active volcano in the continent.

Europe is a major tourist attraction. People come from all over the world to see its many World Heritage Sites and other attractions.

Origin of name

Europe is named after a princess in Greek mythology called "Europa." The myth says that Zeus kidnapped Europa and took her to Crete, where she became the mother of King Minos (from whom Europe’s first civilization gets its name, the Minoans).

The name "Europa" was later used to describe Greece. Then, as the rest of modern-day Europe started to have cities and empires, the entire area West of the Ural Mountains came to be called "Europa".

History

Main page: History of Europe

The history of Europe is long and has many turns. Many great countries originated from Europe. Greek mythology and the beginning of western civilization came from European nations.

Some of the major periods in European history have been:

Ancient Greece (Minoan, Mycenaean, Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic): c.2000 BC to 146 BC
Ancient Rome (Roman kingdom, Roman Republic and Roman Empire): 753BC-476
Middle Ages (Early, High, Late): 476 to 1492
Early Modern Era (Renaissance, Reformation, Age of Discovery, Enlightenment): 1492-1789
19th Century, 20th Century and 21st Century (French Revolution, Napoleonic Wars, Industrial Revolution, Colonialism, World War 1, October Revolution, World War 2, Cold War): 1789-present.

Regions and countries

Andreas M. Kaplan describes modern Europe as a continent where many different cultures live closely together, "embracing maximum cultural diversity at minimal geographical distances".^[2]

There are several major regions of Europe:

Within these regions, there are up to 48 independent European countries (with the identities of 5 transcontinental countries being disputed). The largest is the Russian Federation, which covers 39% of Europe.

The European city with the largest population is Istanbul. The country with the largest population is the Russian Federation. About 15% of Europeans live in Russia.

Two European countries, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, are on islands called the British Isles.

Climate

Most of Europe lies in temperate climate zones.

However, there are many different climates throughout Europe. For example, during the winter, it may be snowing and -30 degrees Celsius for 4–5 months in Finland. Yet it may be much warmer, with no snow at all except on high mountains, in Spain.

European organizations

European Union

Main page: European Union

The European Union is a confederation of 27 European countries. These countries agree to follow common laws so that their citizens can move and trade in EU countries almost the same as they do in their own. Twenty of these countries also share the same type of money: the euro.

List of widely-recognised independent European countries

Albania
Andorra
Armenia Geographically in Europe and Asia
Austria EU member state
Azerbaijan Geographically in Europe and Asia
Belarus
Belgium EU member state
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria EU member state
Croatia EU member state
Czech Republic EU member state
Cyprus EU member state, geographically in Europe and Asia
Denmark EU member state
Estonia EU member state
Finland EU member state
France EU member state
Georgia Geographically in Europe and Asia
Germany EU member state
Greece EU member state
Greenland Geographically in Europe and North America
Hungary EU member state
Iceland
Ireland EU member state
Italy EU member state
Kazakhstan Geographically in Europe and Asia
Kosovo (not fully recognised as independent by other European countries)
Latvia EU member state
Liechtenstein
Lithuania EU member state
Luxembourg EU member state
Malta EU member state
Moldova
Monaco
Montenegro
Netherlands EU member state
North Macedonia
Norway
Poland EU member state
Portugal EU member state
Romania EU member state
Russia
San Marino
Serbia
Slovakia EU member state
Slovenia EU member state
Spain EU member state
Sweden EU member state
Switzerland
Turkey Geographically in Europe and Asia
Ukraine
United Kingdom
Vatican City

Europe Media

Europe orthographic Caucasus Urals boundary (with borders)
Europe orthographic Caucasus Urals boundary
First map of the world according to Anaximander (6th century BCE)
A medieval T and O map printed by Günther Zainer in 1472, showing the three continents as domains of the sons of Noah – Asia to Sem (Shem), Europe to Iafeth (Japheth) and Africa to Cham (Ham)
EuropaPrimaParsTerraeinFormaVirginis
A New Map of Europe According to the Newest Observations (1721) by Hermann Moll draws the eastern boundary of Europe along the Don River flowing south-west and the Tobol, Irtysh and Ob rivers flowing north.
1916 political map of Europe showing most of Moll's waterways replaced by von Strahlenberg's Ural Mountains and Freshfield's Caucasus Crest, land features of a type that normally defines a subcontinent
Last Glacial Maximum refugia, c. 20,000 years ago* Solutrean culture* Epigravettian culture
Paleolithic cave paintings from Lascaux in France (c. 15,000 BCE)
Stonehenge in the United Kingdom (Late Neolithic from 3000 to 2000 BCE)