Europe

Europe is a terrestrial continent conventionally defined as the western part of the Eurasian landmass. It lies entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere, bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Its eastern boundary with Asia is traditionally drawn along the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Greater Caucasus, the Black Sea, and the Turkish straits, though this frontier is partly conventional rather than strictly physical.

Europe covers about 10 million square kilometres and has a population of roughly 740–750 million people, making it the second-smallest continent by area but one of the most densely populated and highly urbanized regions of the world. Politically, it includes about fifty sovereign states. Major regional institutions include the Council of Europe and the European Union, while the Eurozone is the continent’s largest currency area.

European climate is shaped strongly by the Atlantic, especially warm ocean currents such as the Gulf Stream, which moderate temperatures across much of the west and north. More continental conditions prevail farther inland and eastward. Europe also contains major cultural and historical regions such as Western, Central, Eastern, Northern, and Southern Europe.

In historical terms, Europe has been central to the development of Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Christianity, the Renaissance, the Age of Enlightenment, and the Industrial Revolution. European powers also played a dominant role in global exploration and colonization from the age of discovery onward. The two World Wars and the Cold War deeply reshaped the continent, and the postwar period saw growing European integration, especially through the European Union.