Europe Fast Facts

Continent name: Europe

Story behind the name: It is widely believed that Europe is named  after “Europa”, the Phoenician princess from Greek mythology.

Area:  Europe has a land area of  10,181,000 square kilometers or 3,837,000  square miles.

Population: Upwards of 731,000,000, according to 2009 estimates.

Center of Europe: The location of the geographical center of Europe is widely contested, with over 10 cities/villages vying for this honor. Each claimant  is right, as far as their methodology of marking the hypothetical center of Europe is concerned.  Methodologies and their appropriateness are highly subjective, hence this contest is unlikely to have a clear winner. However, one of the finest “record keepers” of our times—the Guinness  Book of World Records—states that the village of Bernotai in Lithuania is the geographic center of Europe.  The government of Lithuania has erected a monument to mark the location  – 54 degrees, 54 minutes latitude and 25 degrees, 19 minutes longitude.

Center of Europe in Lithuania

Euro: Euro as a common currency is used by 23 countries:

1. Austria
2. Belgium
3. Cyprus
4. Estonia
5. Finland
6. France
7. Germany
8. Greece
9. Ireland
10. Italy
11. Luxembourg
12. Malta
13. Netherlands
14. Portugal
15. Slovakia
16. Slovenia
17. Spain
18. Montenegro (Not a member state of European Union)
19. Andorra (Not a member state of European Union)
20. Monaco (Not a member state of European Union)
21. San Marino (Not a member state of European Union)
22. The Vatican (Not a member state of European Union)
23. Kosovo (Status of Kosovo as a country is disputed by Serbia and a few other nations; not a member state of European Union)

Member countries of European Union: As on date, there are 27 member countries:

1. Austria
2. Belgium
3. Bulgaria
4. Cyprus
5. Czech Republic
6. Denmark
7. Estonia
8. Finland
9. France
10. Germany
11. Greece
12. Hungary
13. Ireland
14. Italy
15. Latvia
16. Lithuania
17. Luxembourg
18. Malta
19. Netherlands
20. Poland
21. Portugal
22. Romania
23. Slovakia
24. Slovenia
25. Spain
26. Sweden
27. United Kingdom

Headquarters / Seat of European Union: Brussels

List of countries: 47 + Iceland = 48. Iceland is closer to North America, but as it is culturally closer to Europe, historians and geographers prefer to count it as a European country. Here is the list of all the 48 countries:

1. Albania
2. Andorra
3. Armenia
4. Austria
5. Belarus
6. Belgium
7. Bosnia and Herzegovina
8. Bulgaria
9. Croatia
10. Cyprus
11. Czech Republic
12. Denmark
13. Estonia
14. Finland
15. France
16. Georgia
17. Germany
18. Greece
19. Hungary
20. Iceland
21. Ireland
22. Italy
23. Kosovo
24. Latvia
25. Liechtenstein
26. Lithuania
27. Luxembourg
28. Macedonia
29. Malta
30. Moldova
31. Monaco
32. Montenegro
33. Netherlands
34. Norway
35. Poland
36. Portugal
37. Romania
38. Russia
39.  San Marino
40.  Serbia
41. Slovakia
42. Slovenia
43. Spain
44. Sweden
45. Switzerland
46. Ukraine
47. United Kingdom
48. Vatican City

Top 10 cities in Europe (by population):

1. Istanbul
2. Moscow
3. London
4. St Petersburg
5. Berlin
6. Madrid
7. Rome
8. Kiev
9. Paris
10. Bucharest

Ref: Map of Europe

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Tags: Countries, Euro, Europe, European Union, Fast Facts

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