Welcome to Europe!
Europe attracts more tourists than any other continent: over 600 million international visitors annually, more than half of the global market. Out of Earth's ten most visited countries, seven are in Europe, with good reason.
Although Europe is not one country, the ease of crossing borders might make you think otherwise, and transport infrastructure is generally efficient and well-maintained. At the other end of a short ride on a starkly modern high speed train, a brief flight, or an easy drive, you will likely be able to delve into a new phrasebook and culture.
Europe has cultural heritage dating back more than three millennia: the continent has seen the rise and fall of Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, and birthed the Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution. Countless kingdoms, republics and empires have left archaeological sites and old towns galore, and the most magnificent cathedrals in the world for you to explore. Aside from history, Europe is the home of high culture, is renowned for its diverse cuisines, and is justly celebrated for its exciting and romantic cities.
Europe stretches from the shivering Arctic Ocean in the north, to the pleasantly warm subtropical Mediterranean Sea in the south, and contains a vast array of temperate climates and variety of landscapes in between. The east of the continent is connected to Asia, and for historical reasons a boundary is usually drawn from the Ural mountains via the Caucasus to the Aegean Sea, while the continent's western extremities jut bracingly into the Atlantic Ocean.
Europe is a landmass variously recognised as part of Eurasia or a continent in its own right, located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It comprises the westernmost peninsulas of the continental landmass of Eurasia, it shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with both Asia and Africa, and is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and Asia to the east. Europe is commonly considered to be separated from Asia by the watershed of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Greater Caucasus, the Black Sea and the waterways of the Turkish Straits. Although much of this border is over land, Europe is recognised as its own continent in some parts of the world because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions.
Europe covers about 10.18 million km2 (3.93 million sq mi), or 2% of the Earth's surface (6.8% of land area), making it the second-smallest continent (using the seven-continent model). Politically, Europe is divided into about fifty sovereign states, of which Russia is the largest and most populous, spanning 39% of the continent and comprising 15% of its population. Europe had a total population of about 746 million (about 10% of the world population) in 2018. The European climate is largely affected by warm Atlantic currents that temper winters and summers on much of the continent, even at latitudes along which the climate in Asia and North America is severe. Further from the sea, seasonal differences are more noticeable than close to the coast.
European culture is the root of Western civilisation, which traces its lineage back to ancient Greece and ancient Rome. The fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD and the subsequent Migration Period marked the end of Europe's ancient history, and the beginning of the Middle Ages. Renaissance humanism, exploration, art and science led to the modern era. Since the Age of Discovery, started by Portugal and Spain, Europe played a predominant role in global affairs. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European powers colonised at various times the Americas, almost all of Africa and Oceania, and the majority of Asia.
The Age of Enlightenment, the subsequent French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars shaped the continent culturally, politically and economically from the end of the 17th century until the first half of the 19th century. The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century, gave rise to radical economic, cultural and social change in Western Europe and eventually the wider world. Both world wars took place for the most part in Europe, contributing to a decline in Western European dominance in world affairs by the mid-20th century as the Soviet Union and the United States took prominence. During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the West and the Warsaw Pact in the East, until the revolutions of 1989, fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
In 1949, the Council of Europe was founded with the idea of unifying Europe to achieve common goals and prevent future wars. Further European integration by some states led to the formation of the European Union (EU), a separate political entity that lies between a confederation and a federation. The EU originated in Western Europe but has been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The currency of most countries of the European Union, the euro, is the most commonly used among Europeans, and the EU's Schengen Area abolishes border, and immigration controls between most of its member states and some non-member states. There exists a political movement favouring the evolution of the European Union into a single federation encompassing much of the continent.