Europe is the second-smallest continent of the world, covering an area of 10.18 million square kilometers, which is only 6.8% of the Earth’s land surface or 2% of the total area. It is made up of 50 countries and has a population of 739.2 million.
Europe, which is one of the two continents that make up the super continent Eurasia, is bounded by the Arctic Ocean to its north, the Mediterranean Sea to its south, the Atlantic Ocean to its west, and the Black Sea to its southeast. Its border with Asia includes the Ural River, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Ural Mountain, and the Caucasus Mountain.
Western culture is believed to have originated in Europe, specifically in Ancient Greece. Europe was the place of several important historical events, such as the World War I from 1914 until 1918, the World War II from 1939 until 1945), the Cold War from 1947 until 1991, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It continues to play an influential role in today’s worldwide affairs.
Majority of the languages spoken in Europe are of the Indo-European languages origin. These are classified into several branches that include Albanian, Baltic, Germanic, Greek, Romance, and Slavic. Other notable branches are the Uralic, Hungarian, Estonian, Finnish, Turkic, Mongolic, Kartvelian, North Caucasian, Baltese, and Semitic languages.
Europe is divided into sub-regions: Western Europe, which include the countries Belgium, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and the United Kingdom; Eastern Europe, which is made up of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Viro, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine; Southern Europe, which consists of Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Macedonia, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Portugal, San Marino, Serbia, Spain, Turkey, and Vatican City; Central Europe, which includes Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Switzerland; and the Nordic Region, where Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark belong to.
