World map showing the location of Europe.
Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. Physically and geologically, Europe is the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, west of Asia. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea, to the southeast by the Caucasus Mountains and the Black Sea and the waterways connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. To the east, Europe is generally divided from Asia by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, and by the Caspian Sea.
Europe is the world's second-smallest continent in terms of area, covering about 10,180,000 square kilometres (3,930,000 sq mi) or 2.0% of the Earth's surface. The only continent smaller than Europe is Australia. It is the third most populous continent (after Asia and Africa) with a population of 710,000,000 or about 11% of the world's population. However, the term continent can refer to a cultural and political distinction or a physiographic one, leading to various perspectives about Europe's precise borders, area and population. Of Europe's 48 countries, Russia is its largest by area and population, while the Vatican is the smallest.
All European countries except Belarus, Kazakhstan and the Vatican City are members of the Council of Europe, an international organisation founded in 1949 and recognised by the United Nations, that sets uniform standards for human rights in member countries and operates the European Court of Human Rights.
A separate organisation, the European Union (EU), emerged in 1957 from various agreements on customs and tariffs between countries in Western Europe, and attained its current form in 1993. The EU is an economic, social, and political union which makes laws that are implemented in every member state with the primary purpose of enforcing the free movement of goods, people, services and capital between its twenty-seven member states.
Etymology
In ancient Greek mythology, Europa was a Phoenician princess who was abducted by Zeus in bull form and taken to the island of Crete, where she gave birth to Minos, Rhadamanthus and Sarpedon. For Homer, Europe (Greek: ฮ.แฝฯฯฯฮท Eurแนpฤ; see also List of traditional Greek place names) was this mythological queen of Crete, not a geographical designation. Later Europa stood for mainland Greece, and by 500 BC its meaning had been extended to lands to the north.
In etymology one theory suggests the name Europe is derived from the Greek words meaning broad (eurys) and face (opsis)โbroad having been an epithet of Earth itself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion; see Prithvi (Plataia). A minority, however, suggest this Greek popular etymology is really based on a Semitic word such as the Akkadian erebu meaning "to go down, set",[1] cognate to Phoenician 'ereb "evening; west" and Arabic Maghreb, Hebrew ma'ariv. (see also Erebus).
The majority of major world languages use words derived from "Europa" to refer to the continentโe.g. Chinese uses the word ลuzhลu (ๆญๆดฒ), which is an abbreviation of the transliterated name ลuluรณbฤ zhลu (ๆญ็พ
ๅทดๆดฒ). However, for centuries, the Turks used the term Frengistan (land of the Franks) in referring to Europe.[2]
History
-
- The Greek language, one of the oldest European languages spoken in Greece, Cyprus, and parts of Turkey, Albania, Georgia, Armenia and Italy, and in Greek diaspora communities in several other European countries (most notably Germany).
- The Ossetic language, an Iranian language spoken in North Ossetia-Alania and South Ossetia (or Ossetia, a region on the slopes of the Caucasus mountains on the borders of Russia and Georgia).
- The Armenian language, an Indo-European language is spoken in Armenia and around Eastern Europe with a variety of dialects.
- The North Caucasian, a group that includes ethnic groups throughout the Caucasus region (both North and South). North Caucasian languages are divided into two main branches: and Northwest Caucasian. This group includes Abkhaz, Chechens, Ingush, Bats, and a number of other smaller ethnic groups that reside in the Caucasus.
- The South Caucasian, or Kartvelian languages, a group that includes the Georgian language.
- The Maltese language, a heavily Romanticised Semitic language, descended from Maghrebi Arabic, is spoken in Malta. Unlike other Semitic languages, Maltese is written in the Roman alphabet.
- The Basque language is spoken in the Basque Country, i.e. parts of southern France and northern Spain.
- The Albanian language, which, like the Greek language, forms its own independent branch of the Indo-European language family with no close living relatives. Major Albanian-speaking communities outside Albania live in Kosovo (Serbia), the Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Greece, Turkey, and southern Italy.[27]
- The Mongolic branch of the Altaic phylum is represented in Europe by the Kalmyk language, which is spoken by the Kalmyk people in Kalmykia, a constituent republic of the Russian Federation.
Religions
-
- Christianity
- Roman Catholicism: Countries or areas with significant Catholic populations are Andorra, Austria, west Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, France, south and west Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latgale region in Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, south Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, central and south Switzerland, and Vatican City. There are also large Catholic minorities in Great Britain: England, Scotland, Wales and most European countries.
- Eastern-Rite Catholicism also known as "Uniatism", is found in western Ukraine, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Armenia, Hungary, the Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia, southern Italy (Sardinia and Sicily) and Corsica, France.
- Orthodox Christianity: The countries with significant Orthodox populations are Greece, Russia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Armenia, Serbia, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, easternmost Hungary, a small minority in Southern Italy, Kazakhstan, sizable minorities in Albania, Latvia and Lithuania, small minority in Poland, Finland (Karelia).
- Protestantism: Countries with significant Protestant populations include Denmark, Estonia, Finland, north and east Germany, Iceland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden; east, north and west Switzerland; and the United Kingdom. There are significant minorities in France, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Ireland, and a small minority in Poland.
- Islam: Countries with significant Muslim population are Albania, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Montenegro, several republics of Russia, Serbia, Turkey, Crimea in Ukraine, and, from Western Europe, France. [28]
Other religions are practiced by smaller groups in Europe, including:
- Judaism primarily in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia. At one time Judaism was practiced widely throughout the European continent, though it has dwindled in numbers since the expulsion, extermination, and exodus of Jews during the later portion of the second millennium.
- Hinduism mainly among Indian immigrants in the United Kingdom. In 1998 there were an estimated 1,382,000 Hindu adherents in Europe alone [2].
- Buddhism thinly spread throughout Europe.
- Indigenous European pagan traditions and beliefs, many countries (a fast-growing neopagan movement in France, Germany, Ireland and United Kingdom is noted), and one neopagan faith Asatru recognized as a minority religion in Iceland (since 1973), Norway and Sweden.
- Rastafari, communities in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and elsewhere.
- Sikhism and Jainism, small membership rolls, both mainly among Indian immigrants in the United Kingdom.
- Voodoo, mainly among black Caribbean and West African immigrants in the United Kingdom and France.
- Traditional African Religions (including Muti), mainly in the United Kingdom and France.
- Other religions with few (or under a million) adherents in Europe: Animism, Christian Scientists, Eco-religion, Gnosticism, Paganism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mennonites, Moravian Church, Mormonism or Latter-day Saints, Pantheism, Polytheism, theological relativism, Scientology, Seventh-day Adventists, Universal Life Church, Unitarians, Wiccan, and Zoroastrianism.
Millions of Europeans profess no religion or are atheist, agnostic or humanist. The largest non-confessional populations (as a percentage) are found in the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the former soviet countries of Belarus, Estonia, Russia and Ukraine, although most former communist countries have significant non-confessional populations.
Official religions
A number of countries in Europe have official religions, including Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, the Vatican City (Catholic), Greece (Eastern Orthodox), Denmark, Iceland, and Norway (Lutheran). In Switzerland, some cantons are officially Catholic, others Reformed Protestant. Some Swiss villages even have their religion as well as the village name written on the signs at their entrances.
Georgia has no established church, but the Georgian Orthodox Church enjoys de facto privileged status. In Finland, both the Finnish Orthodox Church and the Lutheran Church are official. England, a part of the UK, has Anglicanism as its official religion. Scotland, another part of the UK, has Presbyterianism as its national church, but it is no longer "official", and in Sweden, the national church is Lutheranism, but it is also no longer "official". Azerbaijan, France, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain and Turkey are officially "secular".
See also
Lists and tables
- General
- Demographics
- Economics
- Politics
Notes
- ^ Etymonline: European. Retrieved on 2006-09-10.
- ^ Davidson, Roderic H. (1960). "Where is the Middle East?". Foreign ฤAffairs 38: p. 665โ675.
- ^ Strabo Geography 11.1
- ^ UNPP, 2004 Revision World Population Prospects: The 2004 Revision Population Database. United Nations Population Division, 2005. Last accessed October 25, 2006.
- ^ http://esa.un.org/unpp/p2k0data.asp
- ^ Brookings Institute Report
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4385768.stm
- ^ Europe: Population and Migration in 2005
- ^ Continental regions as per UN categorisations/map. Depending on definitions, various territories cited below may be in one or both of Europe and Asia, Africa, or Oceania.
- ^ Includes Transnistria, a region that has declared, and de facto achieved, independence; however, it is not recognised de jure by sovereign states.
- ^ Russia is generally considered a transcontinental country in Eastern Europe (UN region) and Asia, with European territory west of the Ural Mountains and both the Ural and Emba rivers; population and area figures are for European portion only.
- ^ Guernsey is a Crown dependency of the United Kingdom.
- ^ Isle of Man is a Crown dependency of the United Kingdom.
- ^ Jersey is a Crown dependency of the United Kingdom.
- ^ Montenegro declared independence from the union of Serbia and Montenegro on 3 June 2006.
- ^ Figures for Portugal include the Azores west of Portugal but exclude the Madeira Islands, west of Morocco in Africa.
- ^ Figures for Serbia include Kosovo and Metohia, a province administrated by the UN (UNMIK) as per Security Council resolution 1244.
- ^ Figures for France include only metropolitan France: some politically integral parts of France are geographically located outside Europe.
- ^ Netherlands population for July 2004. Population and area details include European portion only: Netherlands and two entities outside Europe (Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles, in the Caribbean) constitute the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Amsterdam is the official capital, while The Hague is the administrative seat.
- ^ Kazakhstan is sometimes considered a transcontinental country in Central Asia (UN region) and Eastern Europe, with European territory west of the Ural Mountains and both the Ural and Emba rivers; area figures are for European portion out of total.
- ^ Armenia and Cyprus are sometimes considered transcontinental countries: both are physiographically in Western Asia but have historical and sociopolitical connections with Europe.
- ^ Azerbaijan is often considered a transcontinental country in Western Asia (UN region) and Eastern Europe; population and area figures are for European portion (north of the crest of the Caucasus and the Kura River) out of total. This excludes the exclave of Nakhchivan and Nagorno-Karabakh (a region that has declared, and de facto achieved, independence; however, it is not recognised de jure by sovereign states).
- ^ Georgia is often considered a transcontinental country in Western Asia (UN region) and Eastern Europe; population and area figures are for European portion (north of the crest of the Caucasus and the Kura River) out of total. Also includes Abkhazia and South Ossetia, two regions that have declared, and de facto achieved, independence; however, they are not recognised de jure by sovereign states.
- ^ Turkey is generally considered a transcontinental country in Western Asia (UN region) and Southern Europe: the region of Rumelia (Trakya)โwhich includes the provinces of Edirne, Kฤฑrklareli, Tekirdaฤ, and the western parts of the รanakkale and Istanbul Provincesโis west and north of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles; population and area figures are for European portion (including all of Istanbul) out of total population.
- ^ The total area figure includes only European portions of transcontinental countries.
- ^ The total population figure includes only European portions of transcontinental countries.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Muslims in Europe: BBC Country guide
External links
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