Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting the Black and Aegean Seas.
Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Black Sea and connected waterways to the southeast. Yet the borders of Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are somewhat arbitrary, as the primarily physiographic term "continent" can incorporate cultural and political elements.
Europe is the world's second-smallest continent by surface area. Of Europe's approximately 50 states, Russia is by far the largest by both area and population, taking up 40% of the continent (although the country has territory in both Europe and Asia), while Vatican City is the smallest. Europe is the third-most populous continent after Asia and Africa.
The idea of a European "continent" is prevalent but not universally held. Some geographical texts refer to a Eurasian continent, or to a European subcontinent, given that Europe is not surrounded by sea and its southeastern border has always been vaguely defined, and disputed.
In terms of shape, Europe is a collection of connected peninsulas and nearby islands. The two largest peninsulas are "mainland" Europe and Scandinavia to the north, divided from each other by the Baltic Sea. Three smaller peninsulas—Iberia, Italy and the Balkans—emerge from the southern margin of the mainland. The Balkan peninsula is separated from Asia by the Black and Aegean Seas. Italy is separated from the Balkans by the Adriatic Sea, and from Iberia by the Mediterranean Sea, which also separates Europe from Africa. Eastward, mainland Europe widens much like the mouth of a funnel, until the boundary with Asia is reached at the Ural Mountains and Ural River (or, less commonly, the Este River), the Caspian Sea and Caucasus Mountains.
Land relief in Europe shows great variation within relatively small areas. The southern regions are mountainous, while moving north the terrain descends from the high Alps, Pyrenees and Carpathians, through hilly uplands, into broad, low northern plains, which are vast in the east. An arc of uplands also exists along the northwestern seaboard, beginning in the western British Isles and continuing along the mountainous, fjord-cut spine of Norway.
This description is simplified. Sub-regions such as Iberia and Italy contain their own complex features, as does mainland Europe itself, where the relief contains many plateaus, river valleys and basins that complicate the general trend. Iceland and the British Isles are special cases. The former is a land unto itself in the northern ocean which is counted as part of Europe, while the latter is upland areas that were once joined to the mainland until rising sea levels cut them off.
Geography of Europe
Europe is a peninsula that makes up the western fifth of the Eurasian landmass . Its maritime borders are made up of the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Mediterranean, Black, and Caspian Seas to the south Land relief in Europe shows great variation within relatively small areas. The southern regions are more mountainous, while moving north the terrain descends from the high Alps, Pyrenees, and Carpathians, through hilly uplands, into broad, low northern plains, which are vast in the east. This extended lowland is known as the Great European Plain, and at its heart lies the North German Plain. An arc of uplands also exists along the north-western seaboard, which begins in the western parts of the islands of Britain and Ireland, and then continues along the mountainous, fjord-cut spine of Norway.
This description is simplified. Sub-regions such as the Iberian Peninsula and the Italian Peninsula contain their own complex features, as does mainland Central Europe itself, where the relief contains many plateaus, river valleys and basins that complicate the general trend. Sub-regions like Iceland, Britain, and Ireland are special cases. The former is a land unto itself in the northern ocean which is counted as part of Europe, while the latter are upland areas that were once joined to the mainland until rising sea levels cut them off.
Some of Europe's major mountain ranges are:
• Ural Mountains, used to separate Europe and Asia
• Caucasus Mountains, which also separate Europe and Asia, and are the namesake of the Caucasian race
• Carpathian Mountains, a major mountain range in Central and Southern Europe
• Alps, the famous mountains known for their spectacular slopes
• Apennines, which run through Italy
• Pyrenees, the natural border between France and Spain
• Cantabrian Mountains, which run across northern Spain
• Scandinavian Mountains, a mountain range which runs through the Scandinavian Peninsula, includes the Kjølen mountains
• Dinaric Alps, a mountain range in the Balkans
• Balkan mountains, a mountain range in central Balkans
• Scottish highlands (cairngorms, a 'low level' mountain range, in northern and central Scotland.
The following are the longest rivers in Europe alongside their approximate lengths:
1. Volga - 3,690 km (2,290 mi)
2. Danube - 2,860 km (1,780 mi)
3. Ural - 2,428 km (1,509 mi)
4. Dnieper - 2,290 km (1,420 mi)
5. Don - 1,950 km (1,210 mi)
6. Pechora - 1,809 km (1,124 mi)
7. Kama - 1,805 km (1,122 mi)
8. Oka - 1,500 km (930 mi)
9. Belaya - 1,430 km (890 mi)
10. Tisza - 1,358 km (844 mi)
11. Dniester - 1,352 km (840 mi)
12. Rhine - 1,236 km (768 mi)
13. Elbe - 1,091 km (678 mi)
14. Vistula - 1,047 km (651 mi)
15. Tagus - 1,038 km (645 mi)
16. Daugava - 1,020 km (630 mi)
17. Loire - 1,012 km (629 mi)
18. Ebro - 960 km (600 mi)
19. Nemunas - 937 km (582 mi)
20. Sava - 933 km (580 mi)
21. Oder - 854 km (531 mi)
22. Rhône - 815 km (506 mi)
23. Seine - 776 km (482 mi)
24. Mureș - 761 km (473 mi)
25. Prut - 742 km (461 mi)
26. Po - 682 km (424 mi)
27. Olt - 615 km (382 mi)
28. Glomma - 604 km (375 mi)
29. Siret - 559 km (347 mi)
30. Neris - 510 km (320 mi)
31. Maritsa - 480 km (300 mi)
32. Vltava - 430 km (270 mi)
33. Ialomița - 417 km (259 mi)
34. Vah - 406 km (252 mi)
35. Vardar - 388 km (241 mi)
36. Shannon - 386 km (240 mi)
37. Someș - 376 km (234 mi)
38. Morava - 353 km (219 mi)
Economy of Europe
As a continent, the economy of Europe is currently the largest on Earth and it is the richest region . It was one of several regions where wealth surpassed its precrisis year-end peak. As with other continents, Europe has a large variation of wealth among its countries. The richer states tend to be in the West; some of the Eastern economies are still emerging from the collapse of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia.
The European Union, an intergovernmental body composed of 28 European states, comprises the largest single economic area in the world. 16 EU countries share the euro as a common currency. Five European countries rank in the top ten of the world's largest national economies in GDP (PPP). There is huge disparity between many European countries in terms of their income. The richest in terms of GDP per capita is Monaco and the poorest is Moldova
In early 2010 fears of a sovereign debt crisis developed concerning some countries in Europe, especially Greece, Ireland, Spain, and Portugal. As a result, measures were taken especially for Greece by the leading countries of the Eurozone.
Europe's agricultural sector is in general highly developed. The process of improving Central Europe's agriculture is ongoing and is helped by the accession of Central European states to the EU. The agricultural sector in Europe is helped by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which provides farmers with a minimal price for their products and subsidizes their exports, which increases competitiveness for their products. Europe has a thriving manufacturing sector, with a large part of the world's industrial production taking place in Europe. According to Fortune Global 500, 195 of the top 500 companies are headquartered in Europe. The main products in European industry are bicycles, rail, machinery, marine, aerospace equipment, food, chemical and pharmaceutical goods, journalism, software and electronics.
Languages of Europe
European languages mostly fall within three Indo-European language groups: the Romance languages, derived from the Latin of the Roman Empire; the Germanic languages, whose ancestor language came from southern Scandinavia; and the Slavic languages.
Romance languages are spoken primarily in south-western Europe as well as in Romania and Moldova, in Central or Eastern Europe. Germanic languages are spoken in Northern Europe, the British Isles and some parts of Central Europe. Slavic languages are spoken in Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe.
Many other languages outside the three main groups exist in Europe. Other Indo-European languages include the Baltic group (that is, Latvian and Lithuanian), the Celtic group (that is, Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Manx, Welsh, Cornish, and Breton, Greek, Armenian, and Albanian. In addition, a distinct group of Uralic languages (Estonian, Finnish, and Hungarian) is spoken mainly in Estonia, Finland, and Hungary, while Kartvelian languages (Georgian, Mingrelian, and Svan), are spoken primarily in Georgia. Maltese is the only Semitic language that is official within the EU, while Basque is the only European language isolate. Turkic languages include Azerbaijani and Turkish, in addition to the languages of minority nations in Russia.
Multilingualism and the protection of regional and minority languages are recognized political goals in Europe today. The Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the Council of Europe's European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages set up a legal framework for language rights in Europe.
Religion
Historically, religion in Europe has been a major influence on European art, culture, philosophy and law. The largest religion in Europe is Christianity, with 76.2% of Europeans considering themselves Christians, including Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Protestant Churches. Following these is Islam concentrated mainly in the south east (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, North Cyprus, Turkey and Azerbaijan). Other religions, including Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism are minority religions (though Tibetan Buddhism is the majority religion of Russia's Republic of Kalmykia). The 20th century saw the revival of Neopaganism through movements such as Wicca and Druidry.
Europe has become a relatively secular continent, with an increasing number and proportion of irreligious, atheist and agnostic people, actually the largest in the Western world. There are a particularly high number of self-described non-religious people in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Sweden, Germany (East), and France.
