Europe
Introduction
Background: Europe is small and immensely varied, divided by rivers and mountains and cut into by inlets and creeks. It is also densely populated—a mosaic of different peoples with a multiplicity of languages. Yet Europeans have also been in the forefront of intellectual, social, and economic endeavour.
Unity in Europe is an ancient ideal. In a sense it was implicitly prefigured by the Roman Empire. In the Middle Ages, it was imperfectly embodied first by Charlemagne's empire and then by the Holy Roman Empire and the Roman Catholic church. Later, a number of political theorists proposed plans for European union, and both Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf Hitler tried to unite Europe by conquest. It was not until after World War II (ended in 1945), however, that European statesmen began to seek ways of uniting Europe peacefully on a basis of equality instead of domination by one or more great powers.European integration has been a theme in European relations since the end of the second World War and has spread to Eastern Europe since the end of the Cold War(ended in1991). The European Union (EU), the successor to the European Community, was established under that name in 1992. Many aspects of the Union existed before that date through a series of predecessor relationships, dating back to 1951. It has enlarged from 6 original members to 25 now. Bulgaria and Romania are acceding countries. They are expected to join the EU on 01.01.2007. EU has developed from a peace-keeping and economic orientated organisation into an entity resembling a confederation. NATO has also enlarged since the end of the Cold War, with a number of Eastern European countries joining.
Geography
Location: Europe is the western portion of the larger landmass known as Eurasia. The continent begins at the Ural Mountains in Russia, which define Europe's eastern boundary with Asia. The boundary continues to the Caspian Sea, the crest of the Caucasus Mountains and on to the Black Sea; the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles conclude the Asian boundary. The Mediterranean Sea to the south separates Europe from Africa. The western boundary is the Atlantic Ocean, but Iceland, much farther away than the nearest points of Africa, is also often included in Europe. The Mediterranean Sea and the Strait of Gibraltar separate it from Africa in the south. Europe is washed in the north by the Arctic Ocean.
Geographic coordinates: The westernmost point of the European continent is Bjargtangar, Iceland (24° 32′ 03″ W). The northernmost point of Europe is North Fligeli Cape, Rudolf Island, Franz Josef Land, Russia (81° 48′ 24″ N).The southernmost point of Europe is Gavdos, Greece (34° 48′ 02″ N).An the easternmost point of Europe is Cape Zhelaniya, Severny Island, Novaya Zemlya, Russia (69° 05′ 31″ E).
Area: about 10,390,000 sq.km or 2.0% of the Earth's surface.
Area - comparative: about four times smaller than Asia
Coastline: Europe's coastline is three times that of Africa, even though the Continent is only one-third of Africa's land area.
Climate: Europe has a variety of climates, but most of the continent has mild weather. The continent generally has milder weather than parts of Asia and North America at the same latitude. Europe's mild climate is caused by winds that blow across the continent from the Atlantic Ocean.
Terrain: Land relief in Europe shows great variation within relatively small areas. The southern regions, however, are more mountainous, while moving north the terrain descends from the high Alps, Pyrenees and Carpathians, through hilly uplands, into broad, low northern plains, which are vast in the east.
Elevation extremes: Lowest Point in Europe: Caspian Sea shore, Russia-Iran-Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan: 92 feet / 28 meters below sea level. Highest point: Elbrus-East Peak (5621 m/18,442 ft)
Natural resources: iron ore, arable land, natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, lead, zinc, hydropower, uranium, potash, fish and others
Irrigated land: about 393 000 (est 2002)-8.4 % of the agricultural land, which is about 45% of the total area of Europe.
Natural hazards: flooding along coasts; avalanches in mountainous area; earthquakes in the south; volcanic eruptions in Italy; periodic droughts in Spain; ice floes in the Baltic
Environment - international agreements: Each country has different international environmental agreements.
People
Population: The third largest population of all the continents, 729 million in 2006.
Age structure: Age 0 – 14: 20.66%
Age 15 – 59: 61.75%
Age 60+: 17.59%
Working-age population: (15 to 64) 66.9%
Population growth rate: 1.02% (2005 est.)
Birth rate: 10.2 births/ 1000 population (2005 est)
Death rate: 10.4 deaths/ 1000 population (2005 est)
Net migration rate: 3.15 per 1000
Sex ratio: 95 males per females
Infant mortality rate: 8.6 deaths/ 1000 population (2005 est)
Life expectancy at birth: some 75 years in most countries
Total fertility rate: 1.47 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.63% (2005 est)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 680 961 (2005 est)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 30375 (2005 est)
Ethnic groups: European nations are generally composed of one dominant group, such as the Germans of Germany and the French of France. Several countries, particularly in south central Europe, have large minorities, and most countries contain smaller groups, such as the Basques of Spain and the Saami of Norway. In addition, substantial numbers of Asian Turks, black Africans, and Arabs live in western Europe, many of them as workers on a temporary basis. The collapse of Communism during the period from 1989 to 1991 led to the breakup of the USSR into 15 separate republics, each with its own dominant ethnic group. The Croats, Slovenes, and Macedonian Slavs, each of which constituted the largest part of the population in their respective republics within Yugoslavia, all voted to secede from Yugoslavia in 1991 to become independent nations. Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a more diverse array of ethnic groups, became the site of great ethnic conflict after declaring its independence from Yugoslavia in 1992. More recently, Serbia’s southern province of Kosovo (administered by UN) has been the site of additional ethnic conflict between Serbian nationalists and ethnic Albanians living in Kosovo (administered by UN).
Religions: In the early 2000s the great majority of Europeans were Christians. The largest single religious group, Roman Catholics. Another large group was composed of followers of Protestant faiths. A third major Christian group was composed of members of an Orthodox church. In addition, there were Jewish communities in most European countries and the inhabitants of Albania and Turkey were predominantly Muslim.
Languages: The principal linguistic groups are the Slavic, which includes Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Czech, Slovak, Bulgarian, Polish, Slovenian, Macedonian, and Serbo-Croatian; the Germanic, which includes English, German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Icelandic; and the Romance, which includes Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Romanian. Other Indo-European languages include Greek, Albanian, and Celtic languages such as Gaelic, Welsh, and Breton. the continent has groups of people who speak Finno-Ugric languages, such as Finnish, Hungarian, and Saami, as well as speakers of the Basque and Turkish languages. Many Europeans use English or French as a second language.
Economy
Economy - overview: Europe has long been a world leader in economic activities. As the birthplace of modern science and of the Industrial Revolution, Europe acquired technological superiority over the rest of the world, which gave it unquestioned dominance in the 19th century. The Industrial Revolution, which began in England in the 18th century and from there spread throughout the world, was a transformation involving the use of complex machinery and resulting in greatly increased agricultural production and new forms of economic organization. An important impetus for growth since the mid-20th century has been the formation of supranational organizations such as the European Union (EU), the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Agriculture: Farming in Europe is generally of the mixed type, in which a variety of crops and animal products are produced in the same region. The Mediterranean nations maintain a distinctive type of agriculture, dominated by the production of wheat, olives, grapes, and citrus fruit. Dairying and meat production are major activities in Western Europe.Crops are more important in Eastern Europe. In the nations of the Balkan Peninsula, crops account for some 60 percent of agricultural production. In Ukraine, wheat productionis a main agriculture. Europe is particularly noted for its great output of wheat, barley, oats, rye, corn, potatoes, beans, peas, and sugar beets. Besides dairy and beef cattle, large numbers of pigs, sheep, goats, and poultry are raised by Europeans.
Forestry and Fishing: The northern forests, which extend from Norway through northern European Russia, are the main sources of forest products in Europe. Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Russia all have large forestry industries, producing pulpwood, wood for construction, and other products. Spain and Portugal produce a variety of cork products from the cork oak. The fishing industry is especially important in the northern countries- Norway and Denmark. Spain, Russia, Britain, and Poland also are major fishing nations.
Mining: Northeastern England, the Ruhr region, the Silesian area of Poland, and Ukraine are major coal producers. Iron ore is produced in large quantities in northern Sweden, eastern France, and Ukraine. Bauxite, copper, manganese, nickel, and potash, are mined in substantial amounts. The production of petroleum and natural gas from offshore fields in the North Sea is one of the most important industries. These products have been extracted in great quantity for longer periods in the southern part of European Russia, notably in the Volga River region.
Manufacturing: Iron and steel, fabricated metals, textiles, clothing, ships, motor vehicles, and railroad equipment are important manufactured products.Manufacturing is concentrated in Russia, Ukraine and the central part of Europe- England, eastern and southern France, northern Italy, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, southern Norway, and southern Sweden.
Energy: The leading energy sources are coal (including lignite), petroleum, natural gas, nuclear power, and waterpower. Norway, Sweden, France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, and Spain have major hydroelectric installations, which contribute large portions of the annual output of electricity. Nuclear power is important in France; Britain; Germany; Belgium; Lithuania, Ukraine, and other former Soviet republics; Sweden; Switzerland; Finland; and Bulgaria.
International trade: Almost all European countries conduct large amounts of international trade. Much of the trade is intracontinental, especially among members of the European Union.Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and The Netherlands are among the world’s greatest trading nations. A large portion of European intercontinental trade involves the exporting of manufactured goods and the importing of raw materials.
The bulk of the EU's external trade is done with the United States of America, China, India, Russia and non-member European states.EU members are represented by a single official at the World Trade Organization.
GDP (purchasing power parity): US$13.823 trillion
GDP (currency): $12.471 trillion
GDP - real growth rate: 0.61% (1990-2002)
GDP - per capita (PPP): $16,982
GDP - per capita (Currency): $15,321
Estimated female income: 56.7% of male
Labor force: 273,815,800 (2005 est)
Unemployment rate: 9.26% (1992-2002 average)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.1 % (2005 est)
Investment (gross fixed): 20.5% of GDP (2005 est)
Industrial production growth rate: 4.8 % (2005 est)
Electricity - production: 3 559 118 million Kwh (2005 est)
Oil - production: 6 848 816 bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - proved reserves: 3 9862 000 bbl (2005 est)
Natural gas - production: 332 614 million cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves: 5 733 516 million (2005 est)
Exports: 3811.4 billion f.o.b (2005 est)
Imports: 3689.8 billion f.o.b (2005 est)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: 686,437,600,000 USD
Debt - external: 7,284,847,000,000 USD
Communications
Telephones - main lines in use: 274,690,700 (2005)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 399,188,600 (2005)
Internet hosts: 23,683,881 (2005)
Internet users: 182,664,300 (2005)
Transportation
Railways: 320,981km
Highways: 5,495,420km
Background: Europe is small and immensely varied, divided by rivers and mountains and cut into by inlets and creeks. It is also densely populated—a mosaic of different peoples with a multiplicity of languages. Yet Europeans have also been in the forefront of intellectual, social, and economic endeavour.
Unity in Europe is an ancient ideal. In a sense it was implicitly prefigured by the Roman Empire. In the Middle Ages, it was imperfectly embodied first by Charlemagne's empire and then by the Holy Roman Empire and the Roman Catholic church. Later, a number of political theorists proposed plans for European union, and both Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf Hitler tried to unite Europe by conquest. It was not until after World War II (ended in 1945), however, that European statesmen began to seek ways of uniting Europe peacefully on a basis of equality instead of domination by one or more great powers.European integration has been a theme in European relations since the end of the second World War and has spread to Eastern Europe since the end of the Cold War(ended in1991). The European Union (EU), the successor to the European Community, was established under that name in 1992. Many aspects of the Union existed before that date through a series of predecessor relationships, dating back to 1951. It has enlarged from 6 original members to 25 now. Bulgaria and Romania are acceding countries. They are expected to join the EU on 01.01.2007. EU has developed from a peace-keeping and economic orientated organisation into an entity resembling a confederation. NATO has also enlarged since the end of the Cold War, with a number of Eastern European countries joining.
Geography
Location: Europe is the western portion of the larger landmass known as Eurasia. The continent begins at the Ural Mountains in Russia, which define Europe's eastern boundary with Asia. The boundary continues to the Caspian Sea, the crest of the Caucasus Mountains and on to the Black Sea; the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles conclude the Asian boundary. The Mediterranean Sea to the south separates Europe from Africa. The western boundary is the Atlantic Ocean, but Iceland, much farther away than the nearest points of Africa, is also often included in Europe. The Mediterranean Sea and the Strait of Gibraltar separate it from Africa in the south. Europe is washed in the north by the Arctic Ocean.
Geographic coordinates: The westernmost point of the European continent is Bjargtangar, Iceland (24° 32′ 03″ W). The northernmost point of Europe is North Fligeli Cape, Rudolf Island, Franz Josef Land, Russia (81° 48′ 24″ N).The southernmost point of Europe is Gavdos, Greece (34° 48′ 02″ N).An the easternmost point of Europe is Cape Zhelaniya, Severny Island, Novaya Zemlya, Russia (69° 05′ 31″ E).
Area: about 10,390,000 sq.km or 2.0% of the Earth's surface.
Area - comparative: about four times smaller than Asia
Coastline: Europe's coastline is three times that of Africa, even though the Continent is only one-third of Africa's land area.
Climate: Europe has a variety of climates, but most of the continent has mild weather. The continent generally has milder weather than parts of Asia and North America at the same latitude. Europe's mild climate is caused by winds that blow across the continent from the Atlantic Ocean.
Terrain: Land relief in Europe shows great variation within relatively small areas. The southern regions, however, are more mountainous, while moving north the terrain descends from the high Alps, Pyrenees and Carpathians, through hilly uplands, into broad, low northern plains, which are vast in the east.
Elevation extremes: Lowest Point in Europe: Caspian Sea shore, Russia-Iran-Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan: 92 feet / 28 meters below sea level. Highest point: Elbrus-East Peak (5621 m/18,442 ft)
Natural resources: iron ore, arable land, natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, lead, zinc, hydropower, uranium, potash, fish and others
Irrigated land: about 393 000 (est 2002)-8.4 % of the agricultural land, which is about 45% of the total area of Europe.
Natural hazards: flooding along coasts; avalanches in mountainous area; earthquakes in the south; volcanic eruptions in Italy; periodic droughts in Spain; ice floes in the Baltic
Environment - international agreements: Each country has different international environmental agreements.
People
Population: The third largest population of all the continents, 729 million in 2006.
Age structure: Age 0 – 14: 20.66%
Age 15 – 59: 61.75%
Age 60+: 17.59%
Working-age population: (15 to 64) 66.9%
Population growth rate: 1.02% (2005 est.)
Birth rate: 10.2 births/ 1000 population (2005 est)
Death rate: 10.4 deaths/ 1000 population (2005 est)
Net migration rate: 3.15 per 1000
Sex ratio: 95 males per females
Infant mortality rate: 8.6 deaths/ 1000 population (2005 est)
Life expectancy at birth: some 75 years in most countries
Total fertility rate: 1.47 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.63% (2005 est)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 680 961 (2005 est)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 30375 (2005 est)
Ethnic groups: European nations are generally composed of one dominant group, such as the Germans of Germany and the French of France. Several countries, particularly in south central Europe, have large minorities, and most countries contain smaller groups, such as the Basques of Spain and the Saami of Norway. In addition, substantial numbers of Asian Turks, black Africans, and Arabs live in western Europe, many of them as workers on a temporary basis. The collapse of Communism during the period from 1989 to 1991 led to the breakup of the USSR into 15 separate republics, each with its own dominant ethnic group. The Croats, Slovenes, and Macedonian Slavs, each of which constituted the largest part of the population in their respective republics within Yugoslavia, all voted to secede from Yugoslavia in 1991 to become independent nations. Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a more diverse array of ethnic groups, became the site of great ethnic conflict after declaring its independence from Yugoslavia in 1992. More recently, Serbia’s southern province of Kosovo (administered by UN) has been the site of additional ethnic conflict between Serbian nationalists and ethnic Albanians living in Kosovo (administered by UN).
Religions: In the early 2000s the great majority of Europeans were Christians. The largest single religious group, Roman Catholics. Another large group was composed of followers of Protestant faiths. A third major Christian group was composed of members of an Orthodox church. In addition, there were Jewish communities in most European countries and the inhabitants of Albania and Turkey were predominantly Muslim.
Languages: The principal linguistic groups are the Slavic, which includes Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Czech, Slovak, Bulgarian, Polish, Slovenian, Macedonian, and Serbo-Croatian; the Germanic, which includes English, German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Icelandic; and the Romance, which includes Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Romanian. Other Indo-European languages include Greek, Albanian, and Celtic languages such as Gaelic, Welsh, and Breton. the continent has groups of people who speak Finno-Ugric languages, such as Finnish, Hungarian, and Saami, as well as speakers of the Basque and Turkish languages. Many Europeans use English or French as a second language.
Economy
Economy - overview: Europe has long been a world leader in economic activities. As the birthplace of modern science and of the Industrial Revolution, Europe acquired technological superiority over the rest of the world, which gave it unquestioned dominance in the 19th century. The Industrial Revolution, which began in England in the 18th century and from there spread throughout the world, was a transformation involving the use of complex machinery and resulting in greatly increased agricultural production and new forms of economic organization. An important impetus for growth since the mid-20th century has been the formation of supranational organizations such as the European Union (EU), the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Agriculture: Farming in Europe is generally of the mixed type, in which a variety of crops and animal products are produced in the same region. The Mediterranean nations maintain a distinctive type of agriculture, dominated by the production of wheat, olives, grapes, and citrus fruit. Dairying and meat production are major activities in Western Europe.Crops are more important in Eastern Europe. In the nations of the Balkan Peninsula, crops account for some 60 percent of agricultural production. In Ukraine, wheat productionis a main agriculture. Europe is particularly noted for its great output of wheat, barley, oats, rye, corn, potatoes, beans, peas, and sugar beets. Besides dairy and beef cattle, large numbers of pigs, sheep, goats, and poultry are raised by Europeans.
Forestry and Fishing: The northern forests, which extend from Norway through northern European Russia, are the main sources of forest products in Europe. Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Russia all have large forestry industries, producing pulpwood, wood for construction, and other products. Spain and Portugal produce a variety of cork products from the cork oak. The fishing industry is especially important in the northern countries- Norway and Denmark. Spain, Russia, Britain, and Poland also are major fishing nations.
Mining: Northeastern England, the Ruhr region, the Silesian area of Poland, and Ukraine are major coal producers. Iron ore is produced in large quantities in northern Sweden, eastern France, and Ukraine. Bauxite, copper, manganese, nickel, and potash, are mined in substantial amounts. The production of petroleum and natural gas from offshore fields in the North Sea is one of the most important industries. These products have been extracted in great quantity for longer periods in the southern part of European Russia, notably in the Volga River region.
Manufacturing: Iron and steel, fabricated metals, textiles, clothing, ships, motor vehicles, and railroad equipment are important manufactured products.Manufacturing is concentrated in Russia, Ukraine and the central part of Europe- England, eastern and southern France, northern Italy, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, southern Norway, and southern Sweden.
Energy: The leading energy sources are coal (including lignite), petroleum, natural gas, nuclear power, and waterpower. Norway, Sweden, France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, and Spain have major hydroelectric installations, which contribute large portions of the annual output of electricity. Nuclear power is important in France; Britain; Germany; Belgium; Lithuania, Ukraine, and other former Soviet republics; Sweden; Switzerland; Finland; and Bulgaria.
International trade: Almost all European countries conduct large amounts of international trade. Much of the trade is intracontinental, especially among members of the European Union.Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and The Netherlands are among the world’s greatest trading nations. A large portion of European intercontinental trade involves the exporting of manufactured goods and the importing of raw materials.
The bulk of the EU's external trade is done with the United States of America, China, India, Russia and non-member European states.EU members are represented by a single official at the World Trade Organization.
GDP (purchasing power parity): US$13.823 trillion
GDP (currency): $12.471 trillion
GDP - real growth rate: 0.61% (1990-2002)
GDP - per capita (PPP): $16,982
GDP - per capita (Currency): $15,321
Estimated female income: 56.7% of male
Labor force: 273,815,800 (2005 est)
Unemployment rate: 9.26% (1992-2002 average)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.1 % (2005 est)
Investment (gross fixed): 20.5% of GDP (2005 est)
Industrial production growth rate: 4.8 % (2005 est)
Electricity - production: 3 559 118 million Kwh (2005 est)
Oil - production: 6 848 816 bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - proved reserves: 3 9862 000 bbl (2005 est)
Natural gas - production: 332 614 million cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves: 5 733 516 million (2005 est)
Exports: 3811.4 billion f.o.b (2005 est)
Imports: 3689.8 billion f.o.b (2005 est)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: 686,437,600,000 USD
Debt - external: 7,284,847,000,000 USD
Communications
Telephones - main lines in use: 274,690,700 (2005)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 399,188,600 (2005)
Internet hosts: 23,683,881 (2005)
Internet users: 182,664,300 (2005)
Transportation
Railways: 320,981km
Highways: 5,495,420km
Albania
Andora
Austria
Belarus
Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Gibraltar
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Malta
Moldova
Monaco
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
San Marino
Serbia and Montenegro
Slovak Republic
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukraine
United Kingdom
Wales
