Europe - this part of the world, which is a part of Eurasia.Its territory is 54 states, most of which have a relatively small area.This part of the world consists not only of continental countries, but also from the islands.About a quarter of its territory falls on the peninsula, including Balkan, Scandinavian, Kola, Apennine and others.
To determine the area of Europe, we must note that the border between Europe and Asia runs along the Caucasus mountain range, although this division and probation.Despite the fact that countries such as Armenia and Azerbaijan are geographically difficult to be attributed to this part of the world, they do it ranked as a result of political, moral and ethical considerations.
total area of Europe
Given all the territories that today are European, it is an area of 10,180,000 square kilometers, of which 720 thousand sq. Km - is the island.The biggest country - Russia, although it is partly in Asia.The second and third areas of the country - it is Ukraine and France, respectively, with a difference of 30 thousand sq. Km.It should be noted that the current political situation between Russia and Ukraine could lead to the fact that the territory of the Crimean peninsula will go to the first.In this case, the area of France and Ukraine will be almost equal, with a difference of only 3 thousand sq. Km, although this will not affect the area of Europe.
political division
Conditionally area of Europe is divided into three parts: East, West and Central.Previously, this division was of purely political nature, it is now taken into account, and geography.
biggest countries that belong to Western Europe, it is Austria, Britain, Germany, France and Switzerland.For most of the eastern part include such countries as Russia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Ukraine and others.Central European states play a very important role in the political arena, and they rank as Croatia, Slovenia, Poland, Slovakia.
State Historical
previously sovereign states such as Macedonia, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro was one country - Yugoslavia, which broke up in 2006.Prior to the dissolution of Yugoslavia was one of the biggest countries in Europe, and its area is 255 thousand sq. Km.
dwarf states
In this part of the world is also a number of dwarf states, which, although small in size, but play important roles in political relations.
The smallest of these countries and at the same time is the most influential Vatican.This city-state - an Italian enclave, located in Rome.Although the independence of the Vatican supports the whole of Europe, and the territory of this state is only 0.44 square kilometers.Other countries dwarf this part of the world include San Marino, Monaco, Malta, Liechtenstein and Andorra.
To summarize, it should be noted that the area of Europe is constantly changing due to the events that affected the political picture of the world.Nevertheless, it has always been one of the biggest and most important parts of the world.
