Europe

Map of Europe

The languages of Europe

Europe regional division

Europe history; 1000.

The Simple English Wiktionary has a definition for: Europe.

Europe is a continent. It is the western part of Eurasia. It is separated from Asia by the Ural Mountains in Russia and the Bosporus strait in Turkey.

Europe is surrounded by water on three sides. On the west is the Atlantic Ocean. To the north is the Arctic Ocean. The Mediterranean Sea separates Southeastern Europe from Africa.

There are more than 50 countries in Europe. Most of these countries are members of the European Union.

Europe covers about 10,180,000 square kilometres (3,930,000 square miles). This is 2% of the Earth's surface (6.8% of its land area).

As of 2015, about 740 million people lived in Europe. This was about 11% of the world's population.^[1]

Europe is a major tourist attraction. People come from all over the world to see its many World Heritage Sites and other attractions.

Origin of Name[change | change source]

Europe is named after a person in Greek mythology called "Europa." The myth says that Zeus kidnapped Europa and took her to Crete.

The name "Europa" was later used to describe Greece. Then, as the rest of modern-day Europe started to have cities and empires, the entire area West of the Ural Mountains came to be called "Europa."

History[change | change source]

Main article: History of Europe

The history of Europe is long and has many turns. Many great countries originated from Europe. Greek mythology and the beginning of western civilization came from European nations.

Some of the major periods in European history have been:

Pre-historic (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic): 2,600,000 years ago (BCE) to 5000 BCE
Ancient Greek Civilisation (Minoan, Classical, Hellenistic): 3000 BCE to 100 BCE
Roman Civilisation
Medieval Civilisation (Early, High, Late): 400 CE to 1500 CE
Early Modern Era (Renaissance, Reformation, Age of Discovery, French Revolution, and Napeoleonic Wars): 1500-1800
Industrialisation: 1800-1914
World War I: 1914-1918
Interwar Period: 1918-1939
World War II: 1939-1945
Cold War: 1945-1989
Contemporary era: 1989-2008^[source?]
Post-Contemporary era: 2009-2011

Regions and countries[change | change source]

Andreas M. Kaplan describes modern Europe as a continent where many different cultures live closely together, "embracing maximum cultural diversity at minimal geographical distances".^[2]

There are several major regions of Europe:

Within these regions, there are more than 50 independent European countries. The largest is the Russian Federation, which covers 39% of Europe.

The European city with the largest population is Istanbul. The country with the largest population is the Russian Federation. About 15% of Europeans live in Russia.

Two European countries, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, are on islands called the British Isles.

Climate[change | change source]

Most of Europe lies in temperate climate zones.

However, there are many different climates throughout Europe. For example, during the winter, it may be snowing and -30 degrees Celsius for 4-5 months in Finland. Yet it may be much warmer, with no snow at all except on high mountains, in Spain.

European Union[change | change source]

Main article: European Union

The European Union is a confederation of 28 European countries. These countries agree to follow common laws so that their citizens can move and trade in EU countries almost the same as they do in their own. Nineteen of these countries also share the same type of money: the euro.