Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula or subcontinent (peninsula). Its separation as a continent is more due to cultural differences.
Usually in the north is the Arctic Ocean, in the west is the Atlantic Ocean, and in the south is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea.
The eastern boundary is still unclear because the separation of this continent itself was initiated by cultural factors. The boundaries that are often used as the boundaries of the European and Asian continents are the Ural Mountains and the Caspian Sea.
This continent is the second smallest continent after Australia with an area of 10,600,000 km² while when calculated from its population, this continent is located in third place (below Asia and Africa) with 799,466,000 inhabitants in 2003 (one eighth of the world's population).
Europe has a long cultural and economic history, starting with the Paleolithic. Recent discoveries in Monte Poggiolo, Italy, of thousands of handcrafted rocks dated to carbon as far back as 800,000 years, provide an important piece of evidence.
The Roman Empire divided the continent along the Rhine and Danube for several centuries. Following the decline of the Roman Empire, Europe experienced the rise of what is known as the Age of Migration.
This period is known as the Dark Ages until the Renaissance. During this time, isolated monastic communities in Ireland and elsewhere carefully preserved and collected previously collected written knowledge.
The Renaissance and the New Monarchy marked the beginning of a period of discovery, exploration and improvement in scientific knowledge. In the 15th century Portugal opened its doors to discovery, which was followed by Spain.
Then France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom joined in building a large colonial empire with vast territories in Africa, America, and Asia.
After a period of discovery, democratic concepts began to find their influence in Europe. Struggles for independence emerged, especially in France during the period known as the French Revolution.
This caused great upheaval on the continent as these revolutionary ideas spread across the continent.
The rise of democracy has led to increased pressure on the continent in addition to the existing tensions due to competition in the New World.
Of these, the most famous of these conflicts was when Napoleon Bonaparte seized power and formed the French Empire which fell shortly thereafter. After these events, Europe slowly stabilized, but remnants of the old period concepts have begun to crumble.
The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century, leading to a shift away from agriculture, increasing prosperity of the people and population growth. Many countries in Europe found its current form post-World War II.
From the end of World War II until the Cold War, it was divided into two main political and economic blocs: communist countries in the East and capitalist countries in the West. Around 1990, the Eastern Bloc broke apart with the fall of the Berlin Wall.
It has an association of countries known as the European Union which currently has 27 member states and is still growing, including
Albania, Andorra, Austria, Netherlands, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia , Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Germany, Croatia, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Norway, France, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Cyprus, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, Vatican, Greece.