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For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation).
World map showing the location of Europe.
A satellite composite image of Europe

Template:Europe Labelled Map

Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. Physically and geologically, Europe is the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, west of Asia. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea, to the southeast by the Caucasus Mountains and the Black Sea and the waterways connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. To the east, Europe is generally divided from Asia by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, and by the Caspian Sea.

Europe is the world's second-smallest continent in terms of area, covering about 10,180,000 square kilometres (3,930,000 sq mi) or 2.0% of the Earth's surface. The only continent smaller than Europe is Australia. It is the third most populous continent (after Asia and Africa) with a population of 710,000,000 or about 11% of the world's population. However, the term continent can refer to a cultural and political distinction or a physiographic one, leading to various perspectives about Europe's precise borders, area and population. Of Europe's 48 countries, Russia is its largest by area and population, while the Vatican is the smallest. Europe is the birthplace of the European Union, a union founded in 1993 (but the roots of which date back to the 1950s) to enhance political, economic, and social co-operation and integration; currently, it comprises twenty-seven member states.

Etymology

Look up Europe in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

In ancient Greek mythology, Europa was a Phoenician princess who was abducted by Zeus in bull form and taken to the island of Crete, where she gave birth to Minos, Rhadamanthus and Sarpedon. For Homer, Europe (Greek: Template:Polytonic Eurṓpē; see also List of traditional Greek place names) was this mythological queen of Crete, not a geographical designation. Later Europa stood for mainland Greece, and by 500 BC its meaning had been extended to lands to the north.

In etymology one theory suggests the name Europe is derived from the Greek words meaning broad (eurys) and face (opsis)—broad having been an epithet of Earth itself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion; see Prithvi (Plataia). A minority, however, suggest this Greek popular etymology is really based on a Semitic word such as the Akkadian erebu meaning "to go down, set",[1] cognate to Phoenician 'ereb "evening; west" and Arabic Maghreb, Hebrew ma'ariv. (see also Erebus).

The majority of major world languages use words derived from "Europa" to refer to the continent—e.g. Chinese uses the word Ōuzhōu (歐洲), which is an abbreviation of the transliterated name Ōuluóbā zhōu (歐羅巴洲). However, for centuries, the Turks used the term Frengistan (land of the Franks) in referring to Europe.[2]

History

Main article: History of Europe
See also: Medieval demography

The origins of Western democratic and individualistic culture are often attributed to Ancient Greece: these Greek political ideals were rediscovered in the late 18th century by European philosophers and idealists. Another major influence on Europe came from the Roman Empire which left its mark on law, language and government. It also saw the legitimization of Christianity after three centuries of imperial persecution.

After the decline of the Roman Empire, Europe entered a long period of changes arising from what is known in America as the Age of Migrations. That period has been known as the "Dark Ages" to Renaissance thinkers. Isolated monastic communities in Ireland, Scotland and elsewhere carefully safeguarded and compiled written knowledge accumulated previously.

During this time, the western part of the Roman Empire was 'reborn' as the Holy Roman Empire, later called Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. The eastern part of the Roman Empire became known in the west as the Byzantine Empire. The 'Byzantines' themselves still called themselves Template:Polytonic Basileia tōn Romaiōn—the Empire of the Romans. In 1453, when the Ottoman Empire conquered the Byzantine capital Constantinople, the Byzantine Empire ceased to exist, with a small hold out state of Trebizond which lasted until 1461.

Map of Europe made by Gerardus Mercador

The Renaissance and the New Monarchs marked the start of an Age of Discovery, a period of exploration, invention, and scientific development which had its roots in Italy. In the 15th century, Portugal opened the age of discoveries, soon followed by Spain. They were later joined by France, the Netherlands and England in building large colonial empires with vast holdings in Africa, the Americas, and Asia.

After the age of discovery, the ideas of democracy took hold in Europe. Struggles for independence arose, most notably in France during the period known as the French Revolution. This led to vast upheaval in Europe as these revolutionary ideas propagated across the continent. The rise of democracy led to increased tension within Europe on top of the tension already existing due to competition within the New World. The most famous of these conflicts happened when Napoleon Bonaparte rose to power and set out on a conquest, forming a new French Empire, which soon collapsed. After these conquests Europe stabilised, but the old foundations were already beginning to crumble.

The Industrial Revolution started in Great Britain in the late 18th century, leading to a move away from agriculture, much greater general prosperity and a corresponding increase in population. Many of the states in Europe took their present form in the aftermath of World War I. From the end of World War II through the end of the Cold War, Europe was divided into two major political and economic blocks: Communist nations in Eastern Europe and Capitalist countries in Southern Europe, Northern Europe and Western Europe. Disintegration of the Iron Curtain and Eastern Block accelerated in 1989 with the fall of the Berlin Wall, culminating in the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

File:European flag in the wind.jpg
The Council of Europe created in 1955 a flag for itself and for all of Europe. Today the flag is mostly associated with the European Union. It has multiple roles, and varying legitimacy for the role as an official flag for the continent as a whole

European integration has been a theme in European politics since the end of the first World War, and has accelerated since the end of the Cold War. Against the background of the devastation and suffering during the second World War as well as the need for reconciliation after the war, the idea of European integration led to the creation of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg in 1949, which produced in 1950 the European Convention on Human Rights with its European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, former communist countries in central and eastern Europe were able to accede to the Council of Europe, which now comprises all 47 states in Europe with the exception of Belarus due to its non-democratic government. In 1951, a few European states agreed to confer powers over their steel and coal production to the European Coal and Steel Community in Luxembourg. This transfer of national powers to a "Community" to be exercised by its Commission was paralled under the 1957 Treaties of Rome establishing the European Atomic Energy Community and the European Economic Community in Brussels. The present European Union, the successor to the European Communities, has enlarged from 6 original founding members to 27 today. The European Union has developed from a trade-oriented organisation into one resembling a confederation in a number of respects. The European Union, or EU, describes itself as a family of democratic European countries, committed to working together for peace and prosperity. The organisation oversees co-operation among its members in diverse areas, including trade, the environment, transport, security, science, education and employment. Human rights and democracy remain the domain of the Council of Europe, thus extending these standards to the whole of Europe.

European membership of NATO has also increased since the end of the Cold War, with the admission of a number of eastern European countries.

Geography and extent

Main article: Geography of Europe
Political map (neighbouring countries in Asia and Africa also shown)

Physiographically, Europe is the northwestern constituent of the larger landmass known as Eurasia, or Africa-Eurasia: Asia occupies the eastern bulk of this continuous landmass and all share a common continental shelf. Europe's eastern frontier is now commonly delineated by the Ural Mountains in Russia. The first century AD geographer Strabo, [3], took the Tanais River to be the boundary, as did early Judaic sources. The southeast boundary with Asia is not universally defined. Most commonly the Ural or, alternatively, the Emba River serve as possible boundaries. The boundary continues to the Caspian Sea, the crest of the Caucasus Mountains or, alternatively, the Kura River in the Caucasus, and on to the Black Sea; the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles conclude the Asian boundary. The Mediterranean Sea to the south separates Europe from Africa. The western boundary is the Atlantic Ocean; Iceland, though nearer to Greenland (North America) than mainland Europe, is generally included in Europe. There is ongoing debate on where the geographical centre of Europe is. For detailed description of the boundary between Asia and Europe see transcontinental nation.

Due to sociopolitical and cultural differences, there are various descriptions of Europe's boundary; in some sources, some territories are not included in Europe, while other sources include them. For instance, geographers from Russia and other post-Soviet states generally include the Urals in Europe while including Caucasia in Asia. Similarly, numerous geographers consider Azerbaijan's and Armenia's southern border with Iran and Turkey's southern and eastern border with Syria, Iraq and Iran as the boundary between Asia and Europe because of political and cultural reasons. Also, despite being very close to Asia, Cyprus Island is often included in Europe due the same considerations.

Physical geography

Land relief in Europe shows great variation within relatively small areas. The southern regions, however, 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 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.

Biodiversity

Biogeographic regions of Europe

Having lived side-by-side with agricultural peoples for millennia, Europe's animals and plants have been profoundly affected by the presence and activities of man. With the exception of Fennoscandia and northern Russia, few areas of untouched wilderness are currently found in Europe, except for various national parks.

The main natural vegetation cover in Europe is mixed forest. The conditions for growth are very favourable. In the north, the Gulf Stream and North Atlantic Drift warm the continent. Southern Europe could be described as having a warm, but mild climate. There are frequent summer droughts in this region. Mountain ridges also affect the conditions. Some of these (Alps, Pyrenees) are oriented east-west and allow the wind to carry large masses of water from the ocean in the interior. Others are oriented south-north (Scandinavian Mountains, Dinarides, Carpathians, Apennines) and because the rain falls primarily on the side of mountains that is oriented towards sea, forests grow well on this side, while on the other side, the conditions are much less favourable. Few corners of mainland Europe have not been grazed by livestock at some point in time, and the cutting down of the pre-agricultural forest habitat caused disruption to the original plant and animal ecosystems.

Eighty to ninety per cent of Europe was once covered by forest. It stretched from the Mediterranean Sea to the Arctic Ocean. Though over half of Europe's original forests disappeared through the centuries of deforestation, Europe still has over one quarter of its land area as forest, such as the taiga of Scandinavia and Russia, mixed rainforests of the Caucasus and the Cork oak forests in the western Mediterranean. During recent times, deforestation has been slowed and many trees have been planted. However, in many cases monoculture plantations of conifers have replaced the original mixed natural forest, because these grow quicker. The plantations now cover vast areas of land, but offer poorer habitats for many European forest dwelling species which require a mixture of tree species and diverse forest structure. The amount of natural forest in Western Europe is just 2–3% or less, in European Russia 5–10%. The country with the smallest percentage of forested area (excluding the micronations) is Iceland (2%), while the most forested country is Finland(72%).

In temperate Europe, mixed forest with both broadleaf and coniferous trees dominate. The most important species in central and western Europe are beech and oak. In the north, the taiga is a mixed spruce-pine-birch forest; further north within Russia and extreme northern Scandinavia, the taiga gives way to tundra as the Arctic is approached. In the Mediterranean, many olive trees have been planted, which are very well adapted to its arid climate; Mediterranean Cypress is also widely planted in southern Europe. The semi-arid Mediterranean region hosts much scrub forest. A narrow east-west tongue of Eurasian grassland (the steppe) extends eastwards from Ukraine and southern Russia and ends in Hungary and traverses into taiga to the north.

Main article: Fauna of Europe

Glaciation during the most recent ice age and the presence of man affected the distribution of European fauna. As for the animals, in many parts of Europe most large animals and top predator species have been hunted to extinction. The woolly mammoth was extinct before the end of the Neolithic period. Today wolves (carnivores) and bears (omnivores) are endangered. Once they were found in most parts of Europe. However, deforestation caused these animals to withdraw further and further. By the Middle Ages the bears' habitats were limited to more or less inaccessible mountains with sufficient forest cover. Today, the brown bear lives primarily in the Balkan peninsula, Scandinavia, and Russia; a small number also persist in other countries across Europe (Austria, Pyrenees etc.), but in these areas brown bear populations are fragmented and marginalised because of the destruction of their habitat. In addition, polar bears may be found on Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago far north of Scandinavia. The wolf, the second largest predator in Europe after the brown bear, can be found primarily in Eastern Europe and in the Balkans, with a handful of packs in Spain and Scandinavia.

Other important European carnivores are Eurasian lynx, European wild cat, foxes (especially the red fox), jackal and different species of martens, hedgehogs, different species of reptiles snakes (vipers, grass snake…), different birds (owls, hawks and other birds of prey).

Important European herbivores are snails, amphibian larvae, fish, different birds, and mammals, like rodents, deer and roe deer, boars, and living in the mountains, marmots, steinbocks, chamois among others.

Sea creatures are also an important part of European flora and fauna. The sea flora is mainly phytoplankton. Important animals that live in European seas are zooplankton, molluscs, echinoderms, different crustaceans, squids and octopuses, fish, dolphins, and whales.

Biodiversity is protected in Europe through the Council of Europe Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern Convention), which has also been signed by the European Community as well as non-European states.

Demographics

Main articles: Demographics of Europe and Aging of Europe
The population growth/decline of European countries

Since the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery, Europe has had a major influence in culture, economics and social movements in the world. European demographics are important not only historically, but also in understanding current international relations and population issues.

Some current and past issues in European demographics have included religious emigration, race relations, economic immigration, a declining birth rate and an aging population. In some countries, such as the Republic of Ireland and Poland, access to abortion is currently limited; in the past, such restrictions and also restrictions on artificial birth control were commonplace throughout Europe. Furthermore, three European countries (The Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland) have allowed a limited form of voluntary euthanasia for some terminally ill people.

In 2005 the population of Europe was estimated to be 728 million according to the United Nations, which is slightly more than one-ninth of the world's population. A century ago Europe had nearly a quarter of the world's population. The population of Europe has grown in the past century, but in other areas of the world (in particular Africa and Asia) the population has grown far more quickly.[4] According to UN population projection (medium variant), Europe's share will fall to 7% in 2050, numbering 653 million.[5] Within this context, significant disparities exist between religions in relation to fertility rates. The average number of children per female of child bearing age is 1.38. According to some sources,[6][7] this rate is higher among Muslims. In 2005 the EU had an overall net gain from immigration of 1.8 million people, despite having one of the highest population densities in the world. This accounted for almost 85% of Europe's total population growth.[8]

Political geography

Territories and regions

See also: Demographics of Europe
File:Location-Europe-UNsubregions.png
Regions of Europe as delineated by the United Nations (other categorisations may vary):
  Northern Europe
  Western Europe
  Eastern Europe
  Southern Europe

The countries in this table are categorised according to the scheme for geographic subregions used by the United Nations, and data included are per sources in cross-referenced articles. Where they differ, provisos are clearly indicated.

According to different definitions, such as consideration of the concept of Central Europe, the following territories and regions may be subject to various other categorisations.

Name of region[9] and
territory, with flag 		Area
(km²) 		Population
(1 July, 2002 est.) 		Population density
(per km²) 		Capital
Eastern Europe:
Belarus Belarus 207,600 10,335,382 49.8 Minsk
Bulgaria Bulgaria 110,910 7,621,337 68.7 Sofia
Czech Republic Czech Republic 78,866 10,256,760 130.1 Prague
Hungary Hungary 93,030 10,075,034 108.3 Budapest
Moldova Moldova[10] 33,843 4,434,547 131.0 Chişinău
Poland Poland 312,685 38,625,478 123.5 Warsaw
Romania Romania 238,391 21,698,181 91.0 Bucharest
Russia Russia[11] 3,960,000 106,037,143 26.8 Moscow
Slovakia Slovakia 48,845 5,422,366 111.0 Bratislava
Ukraine Ukraine 603,700 48,396,470 80.2 Kiev
Northern Europe:
Åland Åland (Finland) 1,552 26,008 16.8 Mariehamn
Denmark Denmark 43,094 5,368,854 124.6 Copenhagen
Estonia Estonia 45,226 1,415,681 31.3 Tallinn
Faroe Islands Faroe Islands (Denmark) 1,399 46,011 32.9 Tórshavn
Finland Finland 336,593 5,157,537 15.3 Helsinki
Guernsey Guernsey[12] 78 64,587 828.0 St Peter Port
Iceland Iceland 103,000 307,261 2.7 Reykjavík
Republic of Ireland Ireland 70,280 4,234,925 60.3 Dublin
Isle of Man Isle of Man[13] 572 73,873 129.1 Douglas
Jersey Jersey[14] 116 89,775 773.9 Saint Helier
Latvia Latvia 64,589 2,366,515 36.6 Riga
Lithuania Lithuania 65,200 3,601,138 55.2 Vilnius
Norway Norway 324,220 4,525,116 14.0 Oslo
Norway Svalbard and Jan
Mayen Islands (Norway) 		62,049 2,868 0.046 Longyearbyen
Sweden Sweden 449,964 9,090,113 19.7 Stockholm
United Kingdom United Kingdom 244,820 61,100,835 244.2 London
Southern Europe:
Albania Albania 28,748 3,544,841 123.3 Tirana
Andorra Andorra 468 68,403 146.2 Andorra la Vella
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina 51,129 4,448,500 77.5 Sarajevo
Croatia Croatia 56,542 4,390,751 77.7 Zagreb
Gibraltar Gibraltar (UK) 5.9 27,714 4,697.3 Gibraltar
Greece Greece 131,940 10,645,343 80.7 Athens
Italy Italy 301,230 58,751,711 191.6 Rome
North Macedonia Macedonia 25,333 2,054,800 81.1 Skopje
Malta Malta 316 397,499 1,257.9 Valletta
Montenegro Montenegro[15] 13,812 616,258 44.6 Podgorica
Portugal Portugal[16] 91,568 10,084,245 110.1 Lisbon
San Marino San Marino 61 27,730 454.6 San Marino
Serbia Serbia[17] 88,361 9,663,742 109.4 Belgrade
Slovenia Slovenia 20,273 1,932,917 95.3 Ljubljana
Spain Spain 504,851 45,061,274 89.3 Madrid
Vatican City Vatican City 0.44 900 2,045.5 Vatican City
Western Europe:
Austria Austria 83,858 8,169,929 97.4 Vienna
Belgium Belgium 30,510 10,274,595 336.8 Brussels
France France[18] 547,030 59,765,983 109.3 Paris
Germany Germany 357,021 83,251,851 233.2 Berlin
Liechtenstein Liechtenstein 160 32,842 205.3 Vaduz
Luxembourg Luxembourg 2,586 448,569 173.5 Luxembourg
Monaco Monaco 1.95 31,987 16,403.6 Monaco
Netherlands Netherlands[19] 41,526 16,318,199 393.0 Amsterdam
Switzerland Switzerland 41,290 7,507,000 176.8 Bern
Central Asia:
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan[20] 150,000 600,000 4.0 Astana
Western Asia:[21]
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan[22] 7,110 175,200 24.6 Baku
Georgia (country) Georgia[23] 2,000 37,520 18.8 Tbilisi
Turkey Turkey[24] 24,378 11,044,932 453.1 Ankara
Total 10,176,246[25] 709,608,850[26] 69.7

See Also: List of European countries by population


Economy

Main article: Economy of Europe
European nations by GDP per capita in 2002

As a continent, the economy of Europe is currently the largest on Earth. The European Union, or EU, an intergovernmental body composed of most of the European states, is one of the two largest in the world. Of the member states in the EU, Germany has the largest national economy. Thirteen EU countries share a common unit of currency, the euro. Major economic sectors in Europe include agriculture, manufacturing, and investment. The majority of the EU's trade is with the United States, China, India, Russia and non-member European states.

Languages and cultures

Main article: Languages of Europe
See also: Eurolinguistics

There are several linguistic groups widely recognised in Europe. These sometimes (but not always) coincide with cultural and historical connections between the various nations, though in other cases religion is considered a more significant distinguishing factor.

Multiligualism and the protection of regional and minority languages are recognised 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.

Romance languages

Main article: Latin Europe

Romance languages are spoken more or less in south-western Europe, as well as Romania and Moldova which are situated in Eastern Europe. This area consists of: Andorra, Italy, Portugal, France (excluding parts of Nord and Alsace), Spain, Romania, Moldova, French-speaking Belgium (Wallonia, partly Brussels), French-speaking Switzerland (Romandy), Italian-speaking Switzerland, Italian-speaking Croatia (part of Istria), and Romansch-speaking Switzerland. All Romance languages are principally derived from the Roman language, Latin, as designated.

Germanic languages

Main article: Germanic Europe

Germanic languages are spoken more or less in north-western Europe and some parts of central Europe. This region consists of: Norway, Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Dutch-speaking Belgium (Flanders, partly Brussels and the German-speaking areas east of Wallonia), Austria, Hungary (the City of Sopron), Slovakia (Bratislava; former "Pressburg"), Liechtenstein, 68-74% of Switzerland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Luxemburg, Poland (areas in Silesia), Pomerania, East Prussia, France (Alsace-Lorraine, and Nord-Pas de Calais), the Swedish-speaking municipalities of Finland, and the Alto Adige and South Tirol in Italy.

Slavic languages

Main article: Slavic Europe

Slavic languages are spoken in Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. This area consists of: Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, regions of Saxony and Brandenburg in Germany (Sorbs), the Republic of Macedonia, Northern Greece, Montenegro, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, the territory of Transnistria, and Ukraine.

Uralic languages

The Uralic languages are divided into three main groups, two of which have representatives in Europe. The Finno-Permic languages are spoken in Finland, Estonia, and parts of Sweden, Norway, Latvia, and European Russia while the Ugric languages are spoken in Hungary and parts of Romania, Slovakia, Serbia, Ukraine, and Siberian Russia. These two groups comprise the Finno-Ugric branch of the Uralic language family.

Turkic languages

Turkic languages are spoken as the main language in Turkey and Azerbaijan and as a minority language in parts of Cyprus, Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, Russia, Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Ukraine, the Caucasus, and in Turkish diaspora communities in several other European countries (most notably Germany, Sweden, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands).

Baltic languages

Baltic languages are spoken in Lithuania and Latvia. Estonia's national language is part of the Finno-Ugric family even though it is a Baltic state geographically.

Celtic languages

Main article: Celtic nations

The Celtic languages once stretched across western and central Europe and into Anatolia, but today they are largely limited to the western fringe of the so-called Celtic nations: Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany. The Continental Celtic languages, including Gaulish and Celtiberian, died out by the sixth century; only the Insular Celtic languages—the Goidelic languages (Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Manx) and the Brythonic languages (Welsh, Breton, Cornish)—have survived into modern times.

Other languages

Outside of these seven main linguistic groups one can find:

Religions

Main article: Religion in Europe
Predominant religions in Europe
  Roman Catholicism
  Protestantism
  Orthodox Christianity
  Sunni Islam
  Shi'a Islam

The most prevalent religions of Europe are the following:

Other religions are practiced by smaller groups in Europe, including:

Millions of Europeans profess no religion or are atheist, agnostic or humanist. The largest non-confessional populations (as a percentage) are found in the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the former soviet countries of Belarus, Estonia, Russia and Ukraine, although most former communist countries have significant non-confessional populations.

Official religions

A number of countries in Europe have official religions, including Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, the Vatican City (Catholic), Greece (Eastern Orthodox), Denmark, Iceland, and Norway (Lutheran). In Switzerland, some cantons are officially Catholic, others Reformed Protestant. Some Swiss villages even have their religion as well as the village name written on the signs at their entrances.

Georgia has no established church, but the Georgian Orthodox Church enjoys de facto privileged status. In Finland, both the Finnish Orthodox Church and the Lutheran Church are official. England, a part of the UK, has Anglicanism as its official religion. Scotland, another part of the UK, has Presbyterianism as its national church, but it is no longer "official", and in Sweden, the national church is Lutheranism, but it is also no longer "official". Azerbaijan, France, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain and Turkey are officially "secular".

See also

Lists and tables

General
Demographics
Economics
Politics

Notes

  1. ^ "Etymonline: European". Retrieved 2006-09-10.
  2. ^ Davidson, Roderic H. (1960). "Where is the Middle East?". Foreign ĆAffairs. 38: p. 665–675. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |journal= (help)
  3. ^ Strabo Geography 11.1
  4. ^ UNPP, 2004 Revision World Population Prospects: The 2004 Revision Population Database. United Nations Population Division, 2005. Last accessed October 25, 2006.
  5. ^ http://esa.un.org/unpp/p2k0data.asp
  6. ^ Brookings Institute Report
  7. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4385768.stm
  8. ^ Europe: Population and Migration in 2005
  9. ^ Continental regions as per UN categorisations/map. Depending on definitions, various territories cited below may be in one or both of Europe and Asia, Africa, or Oceania.
  10. ^ Includes Transnistria, a region that has declared, and de facto achieved, independence; however, it is not recognised de jure by sovereign states.
  11. ^ Russia is generally considered a transcontinental country in Eastern Europe (UN region) and Asia, with European territory west of the Ural Mountains and both the Ural and Emba rivers; population and area figures are for European portion only.
  12. ^ Guernsey is a crown dependency affiliated with the United Kingdom.
  13. ^ Isle of Man is a crown dependency affiliated with the United Kingdom.
  14. ^ Jersey is a crown dependency affiliated with the United Kingdom.
  15. ^ Montenegro declared independence from the union of Serbia and Montenegro on 3 June 2006.
  16. ^ Figures for Portugal include the Azores west of Portugal but exclude the Madeira Islands, west of Morocco in Africa.
  17. ^ Figures for Serbia include Kosovo and Metohia, a province administrated by the UN (UNMIK) as per Security Council resolution 1244.
  18. ^ Figures for France include only metropolitan France: some politically integral parts of France are geographically located outside Europe.
  19. ^ Netherlands population for July 2004. Population and area details include European portion only: Netherlands and two entities outside Europe (Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles, in the Caribbean) constitute the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Amsterdam is the official capital, while The Hague is the administrative seat.
  20. ^ Kazakhstan is sometimes considered a transcontinental country in Central Asia (UN region) and Eastern Europe, with European territory west of the Ural Mountains and both the Ural and Emba rivers; area figures are for European portion out of total.
  21. ^ Armenia and Cyprus are sometimes considered transcontinental countries: both are physiographically in Western Asia but have historical and sociopolitical connections with Europe.
  22. ^ Azerbaijan is often considered a transcontinental country in Western Asia (UN region) and Eastern Europe; population and area figures are for European portion (north of the crest of the Caucasus and the Kura River) out of total. This excludes the exclave of Nakhchivan and Nagorno-Karabakh (a region that has declared, and de facto achieved, independence; however, it is not recognised de jure by sovereign states).
  23. ^ Georgia is often considered a transcontinental country in Western Asia (UN region) and Eastern Europe; population and area figures are for European portion (north of the crest of the Caucasus and the Kura River) out of total. Also includes Abkhazia and South Ossetia, two regions that have declared, and de facto achieved, independence; however, they are not recognised de jure by sovereign states.
  24. ^ Turkey is generally considered a transcontinental country in Western Asia (UN region) and Southern Europe: the region of Rumelia (Trakya)—which includes the provinces of Edirne, Kırklareli, Tekirdağ, and the western parts of the Çanakkale and Istanbul Provinces—is west and north of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles; population and area figures are for European portion (including all of Istanbul) out of total population.
  25. ^ The total area figure includes only European portions of transcontinental countries.
  26. ^ The total population figure includes only European portions of transcontinental countries.
  27. ^ [1]

ru-sib:Европа

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