Europe

The countries of Europe

The largest country here is Russia, covering 17 098 242 km².

The smallest is Vatican City, at just 0 km².

Most people live in Russia — about 144.5 million.

Mountains and rivers

The highest mountain we cover here is Mount Elbrus, 5 642 m above the sea.

The longest river is Yenisei, running 5 539 km.

Europe and the rest of the world

Roughly 10 in every 100 people on Earth live in Europe, on about 17 per cent of the world's land.

That works out at about 32.4 people for every square kilometre, against 56.6 for the world as a whole — so Europe is emptier than the average.

The people are not spread evenly either: just 5 of the 45 countries hold half of everyone here.

Animals of Europe

41 of the animals on this site live in Europe, among them Tiger, Brown bear, Polar bear, Grey wolf, Red fox, Arctic fox, Raccoon and European badger. Each one stands on the globe as a small figure once you zoom in close enough to find it.

How many continents are there?

There is no single right answer, which surprises most people. Schools in Britain, Australia and much of Asia teach seven continents, splitting North and South America. Schools in France, Italy, Spain and most of Latin America teach six and keep the Americas together. Some teach five, counting only the inhabited ones. The land has not moved; only the way people group it has.

This site uses six and keeps the Americas as one, because that is how the dataset behind these pages groups countries. Europe is one of those six. If you were taught a different number at school, you were not taught the wrong thing — you were taught a different convention.

Where a continent ends is just as much a decision. Europe and Asia sit on one unbroken piece of land, and the line between them was drawn by people, along the Ural mountains, rather than by any sea. That is why Russia and Turkey appear in lists for both.