Europe

Europe is the world’s 6^th largest continent with a surface area of 4,000,000 square miles. Europe connects to two big oceans, the Arctic Ocean in the north and the Atlantic Ocean, being connected to the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, in the north.

As far as the Europe’s physical geography is concerned, the Alpine mountain chain, the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Carpathians, the Balkans and the Caucasus can be found here. Europe’s highest point can be found on the summit of Mt. Elbrus in the Caucasus with 18,481 feet, whereas the lowest point is the surface of the Caspian Sea with 92 feet below sea level. The great European plain, reaching from the France’s Atlantic coast to the Urals, has a large part of fertile agricultural soil. However, it also has vast steppe, forest, lake and tundra regions. Europe has two more plains which are the Po plain and the Alföld plain; both are very fertile and much-developed regions. The Volga, the Don, the Dnieper, the Danube, the Vistula, the Oder, the Elbe, the Rhine, the Rhône, the Loire, the Garonne and the Tagus belong to Europe’s chief river system. The European climate reaches from subtropical to polar. Seven geographical regions can be found in Europe, including Scandinavia, the British Isles, Western Europe, Southern Europe, Central Europe, Southeast Europe and Eastern Europe.

The main languages spoken are the Indo-European languages. In Southern, Western and the southern part of Central Europe, Roman Catholicism is the most common religion; whereas Protestantism is the chief religion in Great Britain, Scandinavia and the northern part of Central Europe.

With regard to the population Europe is densely populated, with exception of the northern third of Europe. London, Moscow and Paris are the largest cities.

Being highly industrialized, the largest industrial areas can be found in Central Europe, England, Northern Italy, the Ukraine and European Russia. European countries are greatly involved in foreign trade.

Europe’s beginnings of civilization reached back to ancient times with the Romans and Greeks prospering in Europe. Many great wars have taken place in Europe leading to the fact that Europe was divided into many states. Today the European Union, including 28 European states, strives for a common European currency.