Demographics of Europe

The population growth/decline of European countries

The Demographics of Europe refers to the changing number and make-up of the population of Europe.

Since the Renaissance, Europe has had a dominating influence in culture, economics and social movements in the world. Even today, the USA is heavily influenced by the ideas and ideals of its European Founding Fathers. 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 ageing 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, two European countries (currently The Netherlands and Switzerland) have allowed a limited form of voluntary euthanasia. It remains to be seen how much demographic impact this may have.

In 2003, the population of Europe was estimated to be 799,466,000, or about one-eighth 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 Asia) the population has grown far more quickly - a population explosion.

Total population

Current population of European countries

In 2005, the population of Europe was 728 million or 11% of the world population. It has been growing from 500 million after the World War II to the present size of more than 700 million. The United Nations Population Division estimates that Europe's population peaked in early 00's and is now on the decline (see table below).

Year	Population in Thousands
1950	547,405
1960	604,406
1970	655,862
1980	692,435
1990	721,390
2000	728,463
2005	728,389
2010	725,786
2020	714,959
2030	698,140
2040	677,191
2050	653,323

Historic, current and estimated future population according to UNPP, 2004 Revision:

Age

Perhaps mirroring its declining population growth, European countries tend to have older populations overall. European countries had nine of the top ten highest median ages in national populations in 2005. Only Japan had an older population.

Race and ethnicity

Most Europeans are white caucasian. See example below of two european children.

Two european children.

Two european children.

Religion

Main article: Religion in Europe

Religion in Europe spans approximately 50,000 years of human settlement on the continent. It has developed from the earliest prehistoric spirituality via the Ancient Greek, Roman and Nordic faiths to the spread of the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Europe has a rich and diverse religious history, and its various faiths have been a major influence on European art, culture, philosophy and law. In modern times, the overwhelming majority of religious Europeans are Christian, of which nearly half are Catholic; the second-largest religion in Europe is Islam, followed by Judaism. Europe also has the largest number and proportion of agnostics and atheists in the Western world.

Language

Europe has 30-40 major languages depending on defintion. The BBC states that there are 40 main European languages [1]. The European Union (EU), which currently excludes Norway and many eastern European countries, recognises 20 official languages as of 2006 [2]. According to the same source, the five most natively spoken languages in the EU are (percentage of total European population, see [3] for full list):

1. 24% German
2. 16% French
3. 16% English
4. 16% Italian
5. 11% Spanish

These figures change slightly when foreign language skills are taken into account. The list below shows the top five European languages ordered by total number of speakers in the EU (see [4] for full list):

1. 47% English
2. 32% German
3. 28% French
4. 18% Italian
5. 15% Spanish

This makes German the most frequently spoken native language and English the most frequently spoken language overall in the European Union. If the EU is being extended to becomes more similar to geographical definitions of Europe this situation might change. In that case, Russian as a foreign language and Turkish as a native language will be contenders for major languages in Europe.

Foreign language skills

Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Denmark, Malta, Sweden, Slovenia, Belgium, and Finland are the EU countries with the most foreign language skills. This refers to all foreign languages. English is spoken most frequently in Malta, Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands. Norway is probably also in the top group, but was not included in the study since it is not part of the EU. The largest countries in Europe have the following percentages of English language skills: 44% Germany, 32% France, 28% Italy, 22% Poland, 18% Spain. The countries with the least foreign language skills are the UK, Ireland, and Portugal. (All values are taken from the Eurobarometer study of 2001 [5] and summarised here [6])

Extinct and endangered languages

Many languages have become extinct in Europe and the process is continuing. Languages that are already rated as extinct by the UNESCO Red Book include Old Prussian, Cornish, and two Jewish languages. Nearly extinct and seriously endangered languages include several Sami languages and regional Jewish languages, Frisian, and Breton. [7]

See also

• Area and population of European countries
• European Union Statistics
• Largest European metropolitan areas
• Largest urban areas of the European Union
• Largest cities of the European Union by population within city limits