Europe

How is the land laid out?

Europe comprises just under ten million square kilometers at the west end of the Eurasian land mass. To its northwest, the Atlantic Ocean meets the Arctic Ocean--at arbitrary lines. Furthest west is the island of Iceland¹ on the mid-Atlantic Ridge. Three island groups are found well north of the mainland: Svalbard,² above Norway;³ Franza-Iosifa⁴ Land⁵ north of the Barents⁶ Sea⁷ and New⁸ Land, which separates the Barents and Karskoye⁹ seas.

The east boundary follows the crests of the Ural'skiy¹⁰ Mountains¹¹ to the source of the Ural River, then follows that river to the Caspian¹² Sea.¹³

The south bound of the continent follows the northern border of the Transcaucasian republics, which is mostly the crests of the Great¹⁴ Cacuasian¹⁵ Mountains. Further west the continent fronts extensions of the Atlantic: the Black¹⁶ Sea, the Turkish Stratis and the Mediterranean Sea. It includes several large islands in the great sea: Corse,¹⁷ Sardinia,¹⁸ Sicilia,¹⁹ Kríti²⁰ and the tiny insular nation of Malta.²¹

Europe's west flanks the Atlantic proper. The British Isles²² hug close to the mainland.

In the northwest is the Scandanavian Peninsula, mountainous to the sea in the west, flat in the east.

Along the Mediterranean are three large peninsulas: the Iberian, much of which is plateaus and mountains; the Italian, which includes a central mountain chain; and the Balkan, which includes many mountain ranges and some plains, and separates the Black and Aegean seas from the Adriatic and Ionian ones.

There are two central ranges: the Alps²³ and, to their northeast, the Carpathians.²⁴ The Alps reach 4,800 meters at Mont Blanc.²⁵ Only the Greater Caucasus are higher: Mt. El'brus tops 5,400 meters.

A vast lowland, often very flat, stretches from the northeast of France to the Urals. There are interruptions, which are mostly leftovers from glaciation: moraines and lakes.²⁶ The lowlands are bounded west and south by hillier country or plateaus: in France, Germany,²⁷ Poland,²⁸ Belarus,²⁹ the Ukraine,³⁰ and in two Russian features: the Central³¹ Russian³² Heights³³ northeast of the Ukraine, and the Pre-Volga³⁴ Heights west of the Volga River and east of the Central Russian Heights.

Europe's longest river, the Volga, and its third longest, the Ural, empty into the Caspian Sea. Europe's seventh and eighth longest, the Kama and the Oka, are tributaries of the Volga. Three of Europe's ten largest lakes are reservoirs formed by damming the Volga.³⁵

Europe's second, fourth, fifth and ninth longest rivers all flow into the Black Sea or its extension, the Azovskoye³⁶ Sea. These are the Danube,³⁷ the Dnepr,³⁸ the Don and the Dniestr.³⁹

Europe's remaining two longest rivers, the Pechora,⁴⁰ ranked sixth, and the Northern⁴¹ Dvina, ranked tenth, both flow into the Barents Sea's extensions, the White⁴² and Pechorskoye⁴³ seas. Many shorter rivers are of world commerical importance and flow into the Baltic, North or Mediterranean seas, or into the Atlantic proper.

Who lives there?

In 1995, over 700 million lived here.⁴⁴ Given birth rates lower than replacement in several countries and de-population in Russia, the numbers are probably similar today.

Majority languages or groups are Icelandic in Iceland; spoken Norwegian in Norway; Swedish in Sweden;⁴⁵ Finnish in Finland; and Russian in all larger parts of European Russia. The exception⁴⁶ there is Bashkortostan, where Russian speakers are only a plurality, and no majority exists. Russian majorities probably extend into European West⁴⁷ Kazakhstan Province of Kazakhstan,⁴⁸ but European Atyrau⁴⁹ speaks Kazakh.

Elsewhere, majority languages or groups are English in the British Isles; Spanish in Iberia; French in France; High German in Germany;⁵⁰ the Indo-European Group in the statistical group that includes Austria,⁵¹ Switzerland,⁵² the Czech⁵³ Republic and Slovakia;⁵⁴ Italian in Italy;⁵⁵ Polish in Poland;⁵⁶ Magyar in Hungary;⁵⁷ Belarusan in Belarus; Ukranian in the Ukraine; Romanian in Romania;⁵⁸ Serbian⁵⁹ in Serbia⁶⁰ and Montenegro;⁶¹ Bulgarian in Bulgaria;⁶² Greek in Greece;⁶³ and Turkish in European Turkey.⁶⁴

Europe is overwhelmingly Christian.⁶⁵ Significant branches are Lutheran Protestant (Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland); Orthodox (in European Russia⁶⁶, excluding Bashkortostan and smaller areas; and in Belarus; the Ukraine; Romania; Moldavia; Serbia; Montenegro;⁶⁷ Bulgaria and Greece); Anglican Protestant (the United Kingdom⁶⁸); and Roman Catholic (France, Iberia, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Croatia and Slovenia.⁶⁹ Germany⁷⁰ is also Christian. It is not clear if Christians or Sunni Moslems are the majority (or majority background) in European West Kazakhstan Province. Sunni Moslems are clearly the majority in Bashkortostan, European Atyrau Province and European Turkey, as well as other small places.

Cities

There are many cities or metropolitan areas with a million or more people. See the lists of German, Danish, Dutch and Belgian cities, British and Irish cities, Ukrayina (the Ukraine) cities, Romanian and Moldavian cities, Austrian, Swiss, Czech and Slovak cities, Euro-Russian cities, Polish cities, French cities, Spanish cities, Portuguese cities, Italian cities and Hungarian, Slovenian, Croatian and Bosnian cities. Cities with more than ten million residents are Moskva (Moscow, on the Euro-Russian list), Paris, London* (on the British list), the bi-continental city of İstanbul, and the Rhein-Ruhr metropolitan area (on the German list). The rest are listed below:

Name	Nation
Άθήνα (Athéna)*	Greece
Belgrade*	Serbia
Budapest*	Hungary
Helsinki*	Finland
Minsk*	Belarus
Riga*	Latvia71
Sofiya*	Bulgaria
Stockholm*	Sweden

An asterisk by a name marks a national capital.
An underlined nation indicates the most important nation, when there are two or more.

Nations

Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia
Andorra⁷³
Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia⁷⁴
Belarus
België (Belgique or Belgium), Danmark (Denmark), Deutschland (Germany), Luxembourg (Luxemburg or Lëzebuerg) and Nederland (the Netherlands)
Bosna and Hercegovina (Bosnia and Herzevovina), Hrvatska (Croatia), Magyarország (Hungary) and Slovenija (Slovenia)⁷⁵
Bulgaria
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania⁷⁶
Finland
France⁷⁷
Ελλάς (Ellás)
Iceland
Éire (Ireland) and the United Kingdom
Italy, Malta⁷⁸
Moldavia, România and Приднестровская Молдавская Республика (Pridnestrovskaja Moldavskaja Respublika or Transnistria)
Norway
Polska (Poland)
Sweden
Україна (Ukrayina or the Ukraine)

Parts of Nations

West Qazaqstan Province of Qazaqstan, west of the Ural River
Atyrau Province of Qazaqstan, west of the Ural River
Portugal, excluding the Madeira and Azore Islands; Spain, excluding the Canary Islands and the African presidios⁷⁹
Northwest Federal District of Россия (Rossija or Russia)
Central Federal District of Россия (Rossija or Russia)
Southern and North Kavkavsky Federal Districts of Россия (Rossija or Russia)
Volga Federal District of Россия (Rossija or Russia), except for easternmost Orenburg Oblast
Ural Federal District of Россия (Rossija or Russia), west of the Ural Mountains
Крым (Krym or Crimea; part of Россия (Rossija or Russia) as of mid 2014
Turkish Thrace

Possessions

Corsica (Corse)
Faeroe Islands, the Isle of Man
Gibraltar
Guernsey, Jersey
Svalbard

Footnotes

1. Island in Icelandic.
2. Spitzbergen is the group's biggest, and Europe's fifth biggest island.
3. Norge in Norwegian.
4. Also called Franz Josef.
5. Zemlya or zeml'a in transliterated Russian.
6. Transliterated from Russian as Barentsevo or Barentcevo.
7. More in transliterated Russian.
8. Novaya or novaja in transliterated Russian. The North Island is Europe's fourth largest, South Island, its sixth.
9. Also transliterated from Russian as Karskoje. Also called Kara.
10. Also transliterated from Russian as Ural'skije.
11. Gory or khrebet in transliterated Russian. North of the Urals I divide the continents at the bound between Nenets Autonomous Oblast and Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Oblast.
12. Transliterated from Russian as Kaspkyskoye or Kaspijskoje.
13. For statistical convenience, some would put all of Russia in Europe, and all of Turkey in Asia. More would put all of Kazakhstan in Asia.
14. Bolshoy or Bol'soj in transliterated Russian.
15. Kavkaz in transliterated Russian.
16. Chernoye in transliterated Russian.
17. Corsica in Italian. It is Europe's ninth largest.
18. Europe's eighth largest.
19. Sicily in English. Europe's seventh largest.
20. Crete in English. Europe's tenth largest.
21. Some also include Cyprus and the trans-Caucasian republics. I include them with Asia.
22. They include Britain, the world's eighth largest island and Europe's largest, and Ireland, Europe's third largest island.
23. Alpes in French, Alpi in Italian and Alpen in German.
24. Karpaty in Polish and Czech, Carpatii in Romanian.
25. White Mount in English.
26. Lakes Ladozhskoy (Ladozskoje with a diacritical on the z, Ladoga), Onezhskoye (Onezskoje with a diacritical on the z, Onega), Vanern, Chudskoye (Cudskoje with a diacritical on the c, Peipus) and Saimaa are among the glacial relics. Lakes Ladoszhskoye, Onezhskoye and Vanern, are, respectively, Europe's first, second and third largest. Lakes Chudskoye and Saimaa are in the top ten. Ozero is transliterated Russian for lake.
27. Deutschland in German.
28. Polska in Polish.
29. Also called Belarussia.
30. Ukrayina in Ukrainian.
31. Sredne in transliterated Russian.
32. Russkaya or Russkaja in transliterated Russian.
33. Vozvyshennost' or, with a diacritical on the s, vozvysennost' in transliterated Russian.
34. Privolzhskaya or, with a diacritical on the z, Privolzskaja in transliterated Russian.
35. The Rybinskoye (Rybinskoje), Kuybyshevskoye (Kujbysevskoje with a diacritical on the s) and Tsimlyanskoye (Ciml'anskoje with a diacritical on the C) reservoirs (vodokhranishche, vodochranisce with two diacriticals). Rybinskoye Reservoir is probably fourth ranked of Europe's lakes.
36. Also transliterated from Russian as Azovskoje. Also called Azov.
37. Donau in German; Dunaj in Slovak, Bulgarian and Ukrainian; Duna in Magyar; Dunav in Serbian and Dunarea in Romanian.
38. As transliterated from Russian. From Belarusan, it transliterates to Dnjapro, and to Dnipro from Ukrainian.
39. As transliterated from Moldavian. From Ukrainian, it transliterates Dnister.
40. Pecora, with a diacritical on the c, is an alternate transliteration from Russian.
41. Severnaya or Severnaja in transliterated Russian.
42. Beloje or beloye in transliterated Russian.
43. Pecorskoje, with a diacritical on the c, in an alternate transliteration from Russian.
44. The New International Atlas (Rand McNally & Co., 1999), World Information Table.
45. Sverige in Swedish.
46. A qualified exception exists for the statistical grouping of the Baltic states with Pskov and Kaliningrad oblasts. There, Indo-European languages constitute a majority, but no more precise generalization prevails throughout.
47. Batis in Kazakh.
48. Officially Qazagstan. Also spelled Kazakstan or Kazachstan.
49. Also spelled Atirau.
50. Belgium (België, Belgique), the Netherlands (Nederland), Luxembourg and Denmark (Danmark) are statistically grouped with Germany (Deutschland).
51. Osterreich in High German. It means Eastern Realm.
52. Schweiz in High German, Svizzera in Italian, Suisse in French and Helvetia in some official contexts.
53. Cesko, with a diacritical on the c, in Czech.
54. Slovensko in Slovak.
55. Italia in Italian.
56. Polska in Polish.
57. Magyarorszag in Magyar. This is statistically grouped with Croatia (Hrvatska), Slovenia (Sloveniya, Slovenija) and Bosnia-(Bosna-)Herzegovina.
58. Statistically grouped with Moldavia (Moldova).
59. Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian are separate names for the same language.
60. Srbija or Srbija in Serbian.
61. Statistically grouped with Albania (Shqiperi), Macedonia (Makedoniya, Makedonija) and Kosovo.
62. Strictly transliterated as Bâlgariya or Bâlgarija.
63. Elladha in modern, transliterated, Greek.
64. Türkiye in Turkish.
65. Or non-religious with a Christian background.
66. The statistical group of the Baltic states with Pskov and Kaliningrad oblasts has a Christian majority, but nothing more precise can be said throughout.
67. Serbia and Montenegro are statistically grouped with Albania and Kosovo.
68. Statistically grouped with the Republic of Ireland (Eire).
68. Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are statistically grouped with Switzerland.
69. Hungary, Croatia and Slovenia are statistically grouped with Bosnia-Herzogovina.
70. Statistically grouped with Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Denmark.
71. Or Latviya or Latvija.
72. España in Spanish.
73. Andorra (Andorre) is legally dependent on the French head of state and a Spanish prelate. It is de facto independent.
74. Liechtenstein is considered by many to be independent of Switzerland, but it is a de facto dependency.
75. Bosna and Hercegovina is Bosna i Hercegovina in Bosnian and Croatian, which is written as Босна и Хереговина in Serbian.
76. Estonia is Eesti in Estonian. Lithuania is Lieutuva in Lithuanian.
77. Monaco is considered by many as independent of France, but is a de facto dependency.
78. San Marino and the Vatican (Vaticano) City are considered by many as independent of Italy, but they do not have unconstrained sovereignty.
79. I count the Madeira and Azores (Acores) Islands with Africa; others would put all of Portual in Europe. I count the Canary (Canarias) Islands with Africa; others would put them with Europe; all agree that Ceuta and Melilla (the presidios) are in Africa.