Europe, conventionally one of the seven continents of the world. Although referred to as a continent, Europe is actually just the western fifth of the Eurasian landmass, which is made up primarily of Asia. Modern geographers generally describe the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, part of the Caspian Sea, and the Caucasus Mountains as forming the main boundary between Europe and Asia.
The name Europe is perhaps derived from that of Europa, the daughter of Phoenix in Greek mythology, or possibly from 'Ereb', a Phoenician word for "sunset." The second smallest continent (Australia is the smallest), Europe has an area of about 10,525,000 sq km (about 4,065,000 sq mi), but it has the second largest population of all the continents, about 728 million (1994 estimate).
The northernmost point of the European mainland is
Cape Nordkinn, in Norway; the southernmost, Punta de Tarifa, in southern Spain near Gibraltar. From west to east the mainland ranges from Cabo da Roca, in Portugal, to the northeastern slopes of the Urals, in Russia. |
| |
|
