Proper noun

Europe

1. A political entity; the European Union.
2. A continent north of Africa, west of Asia and east of the Atlantic Ocean.

Derived terms

• Central Europe
• Eastern Europe
• European

• Northern Europe
• Southern Europe
• Western Europe

Related terms

• Eurabia
• Eurasia
• Euro
• Euro-
• Europa

Europe (/ˈjʊərəp/ YOOR-əp or /ˈjɜrəp/ YUR-əp) is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus region (Specification of borders) and the Black Sea to the southeast. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean and other bodies of water to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Black Sea and connected waterways to the southeast. Yet the borders for Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are somewhat arbitrary, as the term continent can refer to a cultural and political distinction or a physiographic one.

Europe is the world's second-smallest continent by surface area, covering about 10,180,000 square kilometres (3,930,000 sq mi) or 2% of the Earth's surface and about 6.8% of its land area. Of Europe's approximately 50 states, Russia is the largest by both area and population (although the country covers both Europe and Asia), while the Vatican City is the smallest. Europe is the third-most populous continent after Asia and Africa, with a population of 731 million or about 11% of the world's population. However, according to the United Nations (medium estimate), Europe's share may fall to about 7% by 2050. In 1900, Europe's share of the world's population was 25%.

Europe, in particular Ancient Greece, is the birthplace of Western culture. It played a predominant role in global affairs from the 16th century onwards, especially after the beginning of colonialism. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European nations controlled at various times the Americas, most of Africa, Oceania, and large portions of Asia. Both World Wars were largely focused upon Europe, greatly contributing to a decline in Western European dominance in world affairs by the mid-20th century as the United States and Soviet Union took prominence. During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the west and the Warsaw Pact in the east. European integration led to the formation of the Council of Europe and the European Union in Western Europe, both of which have been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Europe is one of the traditional seven political continents, and a peninsular sub-continent of the geographic continent Eurasia.

Contents

• 1 Sourced
  • 1.1 Divisions of Europe
  • 1.2 Europe as a declining continent
  • 1.3 Unification of Europe
  • 1.4 Politics of Europe
  • 1.5 Definitions of Europe by geography or culture
  • 1.6 Europe and the World
  • 1.7 Reaction to European Constitution

Sourced

Divisions of Europe

• I have ever deemed it fundamental for the United States never to take active part in the quarrels of Europe. Their political interests are entirely distinct from ours... They are nations of eternal war.
  • Thomas Jefferson

• Whoever lights the torch of war in Europe can wish for nothing but chaos.
  • Adolf Hitler

• You know what the funniest thing about Europe is? It’s the little differences.
  • Quentin Tarantino

From Wikiquote under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Sun Jul 18 09:55:12 2010