Europe (pronounced /ˈjɜrəp/ or /ˈjʊərəp/) is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents A continent is one of several large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criterion, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents – they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia. Comprising the westernmost peninsula A peninsula is a piece of land that is nearly surrounded by water but connected to mainland via an isthmus. Word origin: Latin paenīnsula : paene, almost + īnsula, island of Eurasia Eurasia is a large landmass covering about 53,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface (36.2% of the land area). Often considered a single continent, Eurasia comprises the traditional continents of Europe and Asia (and Eurasia is a portmanteau of the two), concepts which date back to classical antiquity and the borders for which are, Europe is generally divided from Asia Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it provides 60% of the world's current human population. It is located in the eastern and northern hemispheres to its east by the water divide A drainage divide, water divide, divide or watershed is the line separating neighbouring drainage basins (catchments). In hilly country, the divide lies along topographical peaks and ridges, but in flat country (especially where the ground is marshy) the divide may be invisible – just a more or less notional line on the ground on either side of of the Ural Mountains The Ural Mountains (also known as the Urals) are a mountain range that runs roughly north and south through western Russia. They are usually considered the natural boundary between Europe and Asia, the Ural River The Ural , known as Yaik (Russian: Яик) before 1775, is a river flowing through Russia and Kazakhstan. It arises in the southern Ural Mountains and ends at the Caspian Sea. Its total length is 1,511 mi (2,428 km). It forms part of the traditional boundary between Europe and Asia, the Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. It has a surface area of 371,000 square kilometers (143,244 sq mi) and a volume of 78,200 cubic kilometers (18,761 cu mi). It is an endorheic basin (it has no outflows), and is bound by northern Iran,, and by the Caucasus Mountains The Caucasus Mountains is a mountain system in Eurasia between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea in the Caucasus region, the Kuma-Manych Depression The Kuma-Manych Depression , is a geological depression in southwestern Russia that separates the Russian Plain (north) from the Fore-Caucasus (south). It is named after Kuma and Manych rivers, and the Black Sea The Black Sea is an inland sea bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas and various straits. The Bosporus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects it to the Aegean Sea region of the Mediterranean. These waters to the southeast.^[1] Europe is washed upon to the north by the Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest, and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions. The International Hydrographic Organization recognizes it as an ocean, although some oceanographers call it the Arctic Mediterranean Sea or simply the Arctic Sea, classifying and other bodies of water, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions; with a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres . It covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek mythology, making the Atlantic the "Sea of Atlas". The oldest known mention of this name, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by the Levant. The sea is technically a part of the Atlantic Ocean, although it is usually identified as a completely separate, and to the southeast by the Black Sea The Black Sea is an inland sea bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas and various straits. The Bosporus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects it to the Aegean Sea region of the Mediterranean. These waters and the waterways connecting it to the Mediterranean. Yet the borders for Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome collectively known as the Greco-Roman world. It is the period in which Greek and Roman literature (such as Aeschylus, Ovid, Homer and others) flourished—are somewhat arbitrary, as the term continent can refer to a cultural and political Human geography is a branch of geography that focuses on the study of patterns and processes that shape human interaction with the built environment, with particular reference to the causes and consequences of the spatial distribution of human activity on the Earth's surface distinction or a physiographic Physical geography is one of the three major subfields of geography, as opposed to the cultural or built environment, the domain of human geography. Within the body of physical geography, the Earth is often split either into several spheres or environments, the main spheres being the atmosphere, biosphere, cryosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, one.

Europe is the world's second-smallest A continent is one of several large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criterion, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents – they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia continent by surface area Area is a quantity expressing the two-dimensional size of a defined part of a surface, typically a region bounded by a closed curve. The term surface area refers to the total area of the exposed surface of a 3-dimensional solid, such as the sum of the areas of the exposed sides of a polyhedron. Area is an important invariant in the differential, covering about 10,180,000 square kilometres (3,930,000 sq mi) or 2% of the Earth's surface and about 6.8% of its land area. Of Europe's approximately 50 states, Russia Russia (pronounced /ˈrʌʃə/ ; Russian: Россия transliterated: Rossiya , pronounced [rʌˈsʲijə]), officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation (Russian: Российская Федерация​ (help·info), Rossiyskaya Federatsiya), is a country in northern Eurasia (Europe and Asia together). It is a semi-presidential is the largest by both area and population, while the Vatican City Vatican City /ˈvætɪkən ˈsɪti/ , officially the State of the Vatican City (Italian: Stato della Città del Vaticano), is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, the capital city of Italy. At approximately 44 hectares (110 acres) (0.44 km2), and with a population of around 900, it is the smallest. Europe is the third most populous continent after Asia and Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people (as of 2009, see table) in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the World's human population, with a population Europe has a population of roughly 830.4 million, or about 11% of world population . Population growth is comparatively slow , and median age comparatively high in relation to the world's other continents of 731 million or about 11% of the world's population The term world population commonly refers to the total number of living humans on Earth at a given time. As of 7 September 2009, the Earth's population is estimated by the United States Census Bureau to be 6.783 billion. The world population has been growing continuously since the end of the Black Death around 1400. There were also short term; however, according to the United Nations The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace. The UN was founded in 1945 after World War II to replace the League of Nations, to stop wars between countries, and (medium estimate), Europe's share may fall to about 7% in 2050.^[2]

Europe, in particular Ancient Greece The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth. It is generally considered to be the seminal culture which provided the foundation of Western civilization and shaped cultures throughout, is often considered to be the birthplace of Western culture Western culture refers to cultures of European origin.^[3] It played a predominant role in global affairs from the 16th century onwards, especially after the beginning of colonialism Colonialism is the building and maintaining of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. Sovereignty over the colony is claimed by the metropole. Social structure, government and economics within the territory of the colony are changed by the colonists. Between the 17th and 20th centuries, European nations controlled at various times the Americas The start of the European colonization of the Americas is typically dated to 1492, although there was at least one earlier colonization effort. The first known Europeans to reach the Americas were the Vikings during the 11th century, who established several colonies in Greenland and one short-lived settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows in the area the, most of Africa North Africa experienced colonisation from Europe and Western Asia in the early historical period, particularly Greeks and Phoenicians, Oceania Oceania is a geographical, often geopolitical, region consisting of numerous lands—mostly islands in the Pacific Ocean and vicinity. The term "Oceania" was coined in 1831 by French explorer Dumont d'Urville. The term is used today in many languages to denote a continent comprising Australia and approximate Pacific islands, and is one, and large portions of Asia Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it provides 60% of the world's current human population. It is located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. Both World Wars A world war is a war affecting the majority of the world's most powerful and populous nations. World wars span several continents, and last for multiple years. The term has usually been applied to two conflicts of unprecedented scale that occurred during the 20th century: World War I , World War II (1939–1945), although in retrospect a number of were ignited in Central Europe Central Europe is the region lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe. The term and widespread interest in the region itself came back into fashion after the end of the Cold War, which, along with the Iron Curtain, had divided Europe politically into East and West, splitting Central Europe in half, greatly contributing to a decline in European dominance in world affairs by the mid-20th century as the United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south and Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the Russian: Союз Советских Социалистических Республик​ (help·info), tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The took prominence. During the Cold War The Cold War was the continuing state of political conflict, military tension, and economic competition existing after World War II (1939–1945), between the USSR and its satellite states, and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States. Although the primary participants' military forces never officially clashed directly, they Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. On either side of the Iron Curtain, states developed their own international economic and military alliances: between NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization ); French: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique Nord (OTAN)), also called "the (North) Atlantic Alliance", is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949. The NATO headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium, and the organization in the West and the Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact is the informal Western name for the mutual defense Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance subscribed by eight Communist states in Central and Eastern Europe, that was established at the USSR’s initiative and realised on 14 May 1955, in Warsaw, Poland. In the Communist Bloc, the treaty was the military analogue in the East. European integration European integration is the process of political, legal, economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe. In the present day, European Integration is primarily achieved through the European Union and the Council of Europe led to the formation of the Council of Europe The Council of Europe is the oldest international organisation working towards European integration, having been founded in 1949. It has a particular emphasis on legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation. It has 47 member states with some 800 million citizens and the European Union The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 member states, located primarily in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community. With almost 500 million citizens, the EU combined generates an in Western Europe Western Europe refers to the countries in the westernmost half of Europe, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a cultural entity - the region lying west of Central Europe. Another definition was created during the Cold War and used to describe the, both of which have been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

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• Europe
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• Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy
• Leber's Hereditary Optic Neuropathy
• Toxic and Nutritional Optic Neuropathy

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