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composite image of Europe]] created in 1955 a flag for itself and for all of Europe. Today the flag is mostly associated with the European Union . It has multiple roles, and varying legitimacy for the role as an ''official'' Flag For The Continent as a whole]] Europe is one of the seven traditional Continent s of the Earth . Physically and Geologically , Europe is the westernmost Peninsula of Eurasia , west of Asia . Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean , to the west by the Atlantic Ocean , to the south by the Mediterranean Sea , to the southeast by the Caucasus Mountains and the Black Sea and the waterways connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. To the east, Europe is generally divided from Asia by the Water Divide of the Ural Mountains , the Ural River , and by the Caspian Sea . Europe is the world's Second-smallest continent in terms of Area , covering about 10,180,000 square kilometres (3,930,000 sq mi) or 2.0% of the Earth's surface. The only continent smaller than Europe is Australia . It is the third most populous continent (after Asia and Africa ) with a population of 710,000,000 or about 11% of the world's population. Europe's overall Population Density is one of the highest in the world. However, the term ''continent'' can refer to a Cultural And Political distinction or a Physiographic one, leading to various perspectives about Europe's precise borders, area, and population. Of Europe's 48 Countries , Russia is its largest by area and population, while the Vatican is the smallest. Europe is the birthplace of the European Union , a union founded in 1993 (but the roots of which date back to the 1950s) to enhance political, economic, and social co-operation and integration; currently, it comprises twenty-seven Member States . ETYMOLOGY In ancient ) was this mythological queen of Crete, not a geographical designation. Later ''Europa'' stood for Mainland Greece , and by 500 BC its meaning had been extended to lands to the north. In etymology one theory suggests the name ''Europe'' is derived from the Greek words meaning broad (''eurys'') and face (''opsis'') – ''broad'' having been an Epithet of Earth itself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European Religion ; see Prithvi (''Plataia''). A minority, however, suggest this Greek Popular Etymology is really based on a Semitic word such as the Akkadian ''erebu'' meaning "to go down, set",1 Cognate to Phoenician '' 'ereb'' "evening; west" and Arabic Maghreb , Hebrew Ma'ariv . (see also '' Erebus ''). The majority of major world languages use words derived from "Europa" to refer to the continent – e.g. Chinese uses the word ' (歐洲), which is an abbreviation of the transliterated name ' (歐羅巴洲). However, for centuries, the Turks used the term ''Frengistan'' (land of the Franks ) in referring to Europe.2 HISTORY See Also: History of Europe See Also: Medieval demography The origins of Western which left its mark on Law , Language and Government . It also saw the Legitimization Of Christianity after three centuries of imperial Persecution . After the Decline Of The Roman Empire , Europe entered a long period of changes arising from what is known in America as the Age Of Migrations . That period has been known as the " Dark Ages " to Renaissance thinkers. Isolated monastic communities in Ireland , Scotland and elsewhere carefully safeguarded and compiled written knowledge accumulated previously. During this time, the western part of the Roman Empire was 'reborn' as the Holy Roman Empire , later called Holy Roman Empire Of The German Nation . The eastern part of the Roman Empire became known in the west as the Byzantine Empire . The 'Byzantines' themselves still called themselves ''Basileia tōn Romaiōn'' - the Empire of the Romans. In 1453, when the Ottoman Empire conquered the Byzantine capital Constantinople , the Byzantine Empire ceased to exist, with a small hold out state of Trebizond which lasted until 1461. The Renaissance and the New Monarchs marked the start of a period of discovery, exploration, and increase in scientific knowledge which had its roots in Italy . In the 15th century, Portugal opened the age of discoveries, soon followed by Spain . They were later joined by France , the Netherlands and England in building large colonial empires with vast holdings in Africa , The Americas , and Asia . After the age of discovery, the ideas of Democracy took hold in Europe. Struggles for independence arose, most notably in France during the period known as the French Revolution . This led to vast upheaval in Europe as these revolutionary ideas propagated across the continent. The rise of democracy led to increased tension within Europe on top of the tension already existing due to competition within the New World . The most famous of these conflicts happened when Napoleon Bonaparte rose to power and set out on a conquest, forming a new French Empire , which soon collapsed. After these conquests Europe stabilised, but the old foundations were already beginning to crumble. The nations in Eastern Europe and Capitalist countries in Southern Europe , Northern Europe and Western Europe . Disintegration of the Iron Curtain and Eastern Block accelerated in 1989 with the fall of the Berlin Wall , culminating in the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. European Integration has been a theme in European politics since the end of the first World War, and has accelerated since the end of the Cold War . Against the background of the devastation and suffering during the second World War as well as the need for reconciliation after the war, the idea of European integration led to the creation of the Council Of Europe in Strasbourg in 1949, which produced in 1950 the European Convention On Human Rights with its European Court Of Human Rights in Strasbourg. After the fall of the Berlin Wall , former communist countries in central and eastern Europe were able to accede to the Council of Europe, which now comprises all 47 states in Europe with the exception of Belarus due to its non-democratic government. In 1951, a few European states agreed to confer powers over their steel and coal production to the European Coal And Steel Community in Luxembourg. This transfer of national powers to a "Community" to be exercised by its Commission was paralled under the 1957 Treaties of Rome establishing the European Atomic Energy Community and the European Economic Community in Brussels. The present European Union , the successor to the European Communities , has enlarged from 6 original founding members to 27 today. The European Union has developed from a trade-oriented organisation into one resembling a confederation in a number of respects. The European Union, or EU, describes itself as a family of democratic European countries, committed to working together for peace and prosperity. The organisation oversees co-operation among its members in diverse areas, including trade, the environment, transport, security, science, education and employment. Human rights and democracy remain the domain of the Council of Europe, thus extending these standards to the whole of Europe. European membership of NATO has also increased since the end of the Cold War, with the admission of a number of eastern European countries. GEOGRAPHY AND EXTENT See Also: Geography of Europe |
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