| Europe is the World's 6th largest continent 10.182.000 Square Kilometers (3.932.000 Square Miles) covering approximately 7 percent of the Earth's land. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West, the Arctic Ocean to the North and thee Mediterranean Sea to the South. The Ural mountains in Russia, mark Eastern border. The Southearn regions are higher and include the Pyrenees, the Alps and the Carpathian mountain ranges. The longest river in Europe is Volga which is 2850 Kilometers (1771 Miles) long. The highest mountain is Elbrus with 5642 meter high (18500 feet) The climate of Europe can be broadly divided into five different climate types: Deciduous Forest; four distinct seasons with warm summers and wet winters. Trees shed thier leaves in Autumn. Coniferous Forest; Also known as Taiga, cold and dry with snowy winters and warmer summers. Mediterranean; warm to high temperatures with rainfall in the Autumn and winter months. Grassland; hot summers and cold winters with above average rainfall. Tundra; this area is characterised by a layer of soil that has remained below freezing for at least two years. Winters are very cold, summers are warm and there is little rainfall. There are 47 countries in Europe including Turkey and Russia which lie on both Europe and Asia; Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedoina, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom and Vatican City. The European Union (EU) was created by the Maastricht Treaty on November 1st 1993. It is a political and economic union between European countries which makes its own policies concerning the member's economies, societies, laws and to some extent security. European Union is an overblown bureaucracy which drains money and compromises the power of sovereign states. |
