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Europe is a continent forming the westermost part of the Eurasian supercontinent. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, and to the east by the Ural Mountains.
In terms of area, Europe is the world's second smallest continent, with an area of 10,400,000 kmē (4,000,000 square miles), making it slightly larger than Australia.
In terms of population it is the third largest continent after Asia and Africa. The population of Europe in 2001 was estimated to be 666,498,000: roughly one ninth of the world's population.
Picture of Europa, carried away by bull-shaped Zeus.
In ancient Greek mythology, Europa was a PhoenicianPhoenician can mean: The Phoenician ancient civilization The Phoenician alphabet The Phoenician languages. princess who was abducted by a bull-shaped Zeus and taken to the island of CreteCrete sometimes spelled Krete (Greek Kappa;ρτ&eta / Kriti) is the largest of the Greek islands and the fifth largest in the Mediterranean Sea. It is the Greek island closest to North Africa. Tourist attractions in Crete include archeological sites, where she gave birth to MinosIn Greek mythology, Minos was a semi-legendary king of Crete, son of Zeus and Europa. The Minoan civilization has been named after him. By his wife, Pasiphae, he was the father of Ariadne, Androgeus, Deucalion, Phaedra, Glaucus, Catreus and many others.. For HomerFor other uses, see Homer (disambiguation). Homer ( Greek Ὅμηρος Hómēros was a legendary (or perhaps mythical) early Greek poet traditionally credited with authorship of the major Greek epics Iliad a, Europa ( GreekThe Greek language ( /Elini'k{/) is an Indo-European language which has existed from around the 14th century BC in the Cretan inscriptions called Linear B. Mycenaean Greek of this period is distinguished from later Classical or Ancient Greek of the 8th ce: Ευρώπη) was a mythological queen of Crete, not a geographical designation. Later Europa stood for mainland Greece and by 500 BC its meaning was extended to lands to the north.
The term Europe is generally derived from Greek words meaning broad (eurys) and face (ops). A minority, however, see a SemiticSemitic is a controversial adjective which in common parlance refers either to specifically Jewish things or to things originating among speakers of Semitic languages or people descended from them, and in a linguistic context to the northeastern subfamily origin, pointing to the Semitic word ereb which means "sunset". From a Middle Eastern viewpoint, the sun sets over Europe: the lands to the west.
Main article: History of Europe
Europe has a long history of cultural and economic achievement, starting as far back as the palaeolithic. Origins of Western democratic and individualistic culture are often laid in Ancient Greece; the Roman Empire divided the continent along the Rhine and Danube for several centuries. Following the decline of the Roman Empire, Europe entered a long period of stasis, referred to by Renaissance thinkers as the " Dark Ages" and by the Enlightenment and modern historians, as the Middle Ages. During this time isolated monastic communities in Ireland and elsewhere carefully safeguarded and compiled knowledge accumulated previously. The Renaissance and the New Monarchs marked the start of a period of discovery, exploration, and increase in scientific knowledge. From the 15th century Portugal opened the age of discoveries soon followed by Spain. They were later joined by France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Britain, in building large colonial empires, with vast holdings in Africa, the Americas, and Asia.
The Industrial Revolution started in England in the later 18th century, leading to much greater general prosperity and a corresponding increase in population. Many of the states in Europe took their present form in the aftermath of World War I. After World War II, and until the end of the Cold War, Europe was divided into two major political and economic blocks: Communist nations in Eastern Europe and capitalistic countries in Western Europe. Around 1990 the Eastern bloc broke up.
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