Europe

Europe is a large peninsula[10] conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. Comprising the westernmost peninsulas of Eurasia,[11] it shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with both Africa and Asia. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and Asia to the east. Europe is commonly considered to be separated from Asia by the watershed of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Greater Caucasus, the Black Sea and the waterways of the Turkish Straits.[12]

Europe covers about 10.18 million km2 (3.93 million sq mi), or 2% of Earth's surface (6.8% of land area), making it the second-smallest continent (using the seven-continent model). Politically, Europe is divided into about fifty sovereign states, of which Russia is the largest and most populous, spanning 39% of the continent and comprising 15% of its population. Europe had a total population of about 745 million (about 10% of the world population) in 2021.[2][3] The European climate is largely affected by warm Atlantic currents that temper winters and summers on much of the continent, even at latitudes along which the climate in Asia and North America is severe. Further from the sea, seasonal differences are more noticeable than close to the coast.

European culture is the root of Western civilisation, which traces its lineage back to ancient Greece and ancient Rome.[13][14] The fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD and the subsequent Migration Period marked the end of Europe's ancient history, and the beginning of the Middle Ages. Renaissance humanism, exploration, art, and science led to the modern era. Since the Age of Discovery, started by Portugal and Spain, Europe played a predominant role in global affairs. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European powers colonised at various times the Americas, almost all of Africa and Oceania, and the majority of Asia.

The Age of Enlightenment, the subsequent French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars shaped the continent culturally, politically and economically from the end of the 17th century until the first half of the 19th century. The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century, gave rise to radical economic, cultural and social change in Western Europe and eventually the wider world. Both world wars took place for the most part in Europe, contributing to a decline in Western European dominance in world affairs by the mid-20th century as the Soviet Union and the United States took prominence.[15] During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the West and the Warsaw Pact in the East, until the Revolutions of 1989, Fall of the Berlin Wall and the Dissolution of the Soviet Union.

In 1949, the Council of Europe was founded with the idea of unifying Europe[16] to achieve common goals and prevent future wars. Further European integration by some states led to the formation of the European Union (EU), a separate political entity that lies between a confederation and a federation.[17] The EU originated in Western Europe but has been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The currency of most countries of the European Union, the euro, is the most commonly used among Europeans; and the EU's Schengen Area abolishes border and immigration controls between most of its member states, and some non-member states. There exists a political movement favouring the evolution of the European Union into a single federation encompassing much of the continent.

First map of the world according to Anaximander (6th century BC)

Clickable map of Europe, showing one of the most commonly used continental boundaries[26]
Key: blue: states which straddle the border between Europe and Asia;green: countries not geographically in Europe, but closely associated with the continent

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)
Depiction of Europa regina ('Queen Europe') in 1582
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
Paleolithic cave paintings from Lascaux in France (c. 15,000 BCE)
Stonehenge in the United Kingdom (Late Neolithic from 3000 to 2000 BCE)
The Parthenon in Athens (432 BCE)
Animation showing the growth and division of the Roman Empire (years CE)
Charlemagne's empire in 814:      Francia,      Tributaries
Viking raids and division of the Frankish Empire at the Treaty of Verdun in 843
The maritime republics of medieval Italy reestablished contacts between Europe, Asia and Africa with extensive trade networks and colonies across the Mediterranean, and had an essential role in the Crusades.[95][96]
Tancred of Sicily and Philip II of France, during the Third Crusade (1189–1192)
The sacking of Suzdal by Batu Khan in 1238, during the Mongol invasion of Europe.
The School of Athens by Raphael (1511): Contemporaries, such as Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci (centre), are portrayed as classical scholars of the Renaissance.
Habsburg dominions in the centuries following their partition by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. The principal military base of Philip II in Europe was the Spanish road stretching from the Netherlands to the Duchy of Milan.[144]
The national boundaries within Europe set by the Congress of Vienna
Marshall's Temple Works (1840), the Industrial Revolution started in Great Britain
Map of European colonial empires throughout the world in 1914.
Map depicting the military alliances of the First World War in 1914–1918
Serbian war efforts (1914–1918) cost the country one quarter of its population.[191][192][193][194][195]
Nazi Germany began the devastating Second World War in Europe by its leader, Adolf Hitler. Here Hitler, on the right, with his closest ally, the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, in 1940
The "Big Three" at the Yalta Conference in 1945; seated (from the left): Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin
The Schuman Declaration led to the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community. It began the integration process of the European Union (9 May 1950, at the French Foreign Ministry).
Flag of Europe, adopted by the Council of Europe in 1955 as the flag for the whole of Europe[218]
Map of populous Europe and surrounding regions showing physical, political and population characteristics, as per 2018
Biomes of Europe and surrounding regions: tundraalpine tundrataigamontane foresttemperate broadleaf forestmediterranean foresttemperate steppedry steppe
                       
                       
Köppen-Geiger climate classification map for Europe.[237]
Surficial geology of Europe
Land use map of Europe with arable farmland (yellow), forest (dark green), pasture (light green) and tundra, or bogs, in the north (dark yellow)
Floristic regions of Europe and neighbouring areas, according to Wolfgang Frey and Rainer Lösch
Biogeographic regions of Europe and bordering regions
Once roaming the great temperate forests of Eurasia, European bison now live in nature preserves in Białowieża Forest, on the border between Poland and Belarus.[243][244]
European Political CommunityCouncil of EuropeSchengen AreaEuropean Free Trade AssociationEuropean Economic AreaEurozoneEuropean UnionEuropean Union Customs UnionInternational status and usage of the euroGUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic DevelopmentCentral European Free Trade AgreementNordic CouncilBaltic AssemblyBeneluxVisegrád GroupCommon Travel AreaOrganization of the Black Sea Economic CooperationUnion StateSwitzerlandIcelandNorwayLiechtensteinSwedenDenmarkFinlandPolandCzech RepublicHungarySlovakiaGreeceEstoniaLatviaLithuaniaBelgiumNetherlandsLuxembourgItalyFranceSpainAustriaGermanyPortugalSloveniaMaltaCyprusRepublic of IrelandUnited KingdomCroatiaRomaniaBulgariaTurkeyMonacoAndorraSan MarinoVatican CityGeorgia (country)UkraineAzerbaijanMoldovaArmeniaRussiaBelarusSerbiaAlbaniaNorth MacedoniaBosnia and HerzegovinaMontenegroUnited Nations Interim Administration Mission in KosovoSupranational European Bodies.svg
A clickable Euler diagram[file] showing the relationships between various multinational European organisations and agreements.
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GDP (PPP) per capita of European countries in 2021
     >$60,000     $50,000 - $60,000
     $40,000 - $50,000     $30,000 - $40,000
     $20,000 - $30,000     $10,000 - $20,000
Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
Eurozone (blue colour)
One of Kosovo's main economical sources is mining, because it has large reserves of lead, zinc, silver, nickel, cobalt, copper, iron and bauxite.[263] Miners at the Trepča Mines in Mitrovica, Kosovo in 2011.
Population growth in and around Europe in 2021[271]
Map showing areas of European settlement (people who claim full European descent)
Distribution of major languages of Europe

Religion in Europe according to the Global Religious Landscape survey by the Pew Forum, 2016[8]

  Christianity (76.2%)
  No religion (18.3%)
  Islam (4.9%)
  Buddhism (0.2%)
  Hinduism (0.2%)
  Folk religion (0.1%)
  Other religions (0.1%)
European megacities
Moscow
London
Paris
Istanbul[b]
Map purportedly displaying the European continent split along cultural and state borders as proposed by the German organization Ständiger Ausschuss für geographische Namen [de] (StAGN).
Football is one of the most popular sports in Europe. Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, the largest in Europe.