Europe facts

Europe is the second smallest continent with roughly 4 million square miles.

Europe is designated as a continent for political reasons. There is no geographic basis for the claim. 

Europe is home to more than 700 million people, but birth rates are stagnant.

The longest rivers in Europe are: the Volga (3`530 km.) and the Danube. The largest lake is the Caspian Sea (371`000 sq. km.). The highest peak is Elbrus (5`642 m.), the lowest point is the Caspian sea (28 m. below the sea level).

Largest Cities (pop. in million including suburbs):

1. London (11.8m)
2. Paris (11.3m)
3. Madrid (5.6m)
4. Berlin (4.2m)
5. Barcelona (3.8m)
6. Milan (3.8m)
7. Athens (3.5m)
8. Rome (3.3m)
9. Naples (3m)
10. Lisbon (2.9m)
11. Stuttgart (2.7m)
12. Birmingham (2.6m), Hamburg (2.6m)
13. Brussels (2.5m), Budapest (2.5m)
14. Manchester (2.5m)
15. Warsaw (2.4m)
16. Bucharest (2.3m)
17. Amsterdam (2.1m)
18. Leeds (2.1m)

Most scholars believe Europe was named after Europa, a Phoenician Princess in Greek mythology.

The Vatican city is the smallest state in Europe despite being in the centre of Rome, Italy. The population is under 1000.


Europe has had the most empires in it's time: 

1. Roman Empire (Italy)
2. British Empire (Victorian Era)
3. French Empire (Napolean)
4. Spanish Empire (Conquistadores)
5. The Third Riech (Hitler)
6. The Holy Roman Empire (Germans) and...
7. The Macedonian Empire (Alexander the Great)

La Sapienza University in Rome is the largest university in Europe with a whopping 184,000 students.

Europe produces just over 18 percent of all the oil in the world. 

The European Union has 25 country members.

80 to 90 percent of Europe was once covered in forest, but this has been reduced to 3 percent in Western Europe. 

Europe enjoys a very diverse climate depending upon each region. The climate may be really freezing in areas of Scandinavia where as certain countries enjoy very mild weathers. 

Europe has one of the lowest fertility rates in the world. 

Europe has been racked with war throughout its history to the point where more than 70 former countries have been conquered and no longer appear on maps. 

The European philosophy is held in high regard all over the world. There are many movements that are connected with the history of Europe such as Romanticism, Idealism, Humanism, and Postmodernism etc.

The great Roman inventions so often cited by scholars actually were created by Etruscans, a small empire in the south of present day Italy. 

The Dark Ages in Europe lasted from 476 to 1,000 A.D. or twice as long as the United States has been a country. 

The Renaissance followed this period and lasted roughly 200 years. 

The first country to join the industrial revolution in Europe was Great Britain.

The First World War lasted from 1914 to 1918 and resulted in four empires radically changing or dissolving completely: the German, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman and the Russian.

Adolf Hitler was not German. He was Austrian, born in the small town of Braunau am Inn.

It is estimated that 62 million people died in World War II, 2.5 percent of the world’s population at that time. 

The 10 most generous countries in the world when it comes to charitable giving are all located in Europe.