Europe

(ū'rop,) the smallest of the great continental divisions of the globe, but also the most thickly populated and highly civilized, occupies a space about one fifth part that of America. It is b. N.by the Arctic and White seas; divided from Asia on the E. and S.E. by the Ural Mts., the Caspian and Black seas, and the Sea of Marmora; S. it has the Mediterranean for its boundary, and W. the Atlantic Ocean and N. Sea. It is largely intersected in the N. by the large inland sea of the Baltic. Its extreme length may be taken as from the head of the Gulf of Kara to Cape Rocca, Portugal, a distance of abt. 3,400 m.; maximum breadth, 2,300 m., or from Cape Nordkyn, Lapland, to Cape Matapan, Greece. It has a coastline estim. at 15,000 m., and a total area approximating to 3,770,000 sq. m., lying bet. N. Lat. 36° and 71° 12', and Lon. 9° 30′ W. and 60° 50' E. Pol. Div. E. is divided into the following monarchies and states: POLITICAL DIV. Form of Govt. Pop. Capitals. Andorra Republic..... 10,000 Andorra. Austria (including kingdom of Hungary).. Empire....... 35,943,592 Vienna. Belgium....... Kingdom.... 5,094,362 Bru els. Denmark (includingFaroe Islands and Iceland) 66 1,859,474 Copenhagen. France...... Republic..... 38,192,064 Paris. Germany. (For sub -divisions see art. GERMANY.) Empire....... 40,518,395 Berlin. Great Britain and Ireland.. Kingdom.... 31,817,108 London. Greece..... 66 1,348,592 Athens. Holland, or The Netherlands, (including grand-duchy of Luxemburg). 3,852,000 The Hague. Italy 26,470,000 Rome. Monaco. Principality 3,127 Monaco. Portugal Kingdom.... 4,188,410 Lisbon. Ru ia.... Empire....... 71,204,794 St. Petersburg. San Mar i no..... Republic..... 7,303 San Marino. Spain. Kingdom.... 16,732,052 Madrid. Sweden and Norway. 66 5,815,897 Stockholm. Switzerland..... Republic..... 2,510,494 Berne. Turkey (including Monte negro, Roumania, and Servia). Empire....... 16,437,510 Constantinople. Total... 302,005,174 GEN. DESC. The continent of E. comprises so many countries which present widely differing natural, physical, and climatic features, that this article is confined to a generalized view of its geographical character, taken as a whole, leaving the individual features of each of its political divisions to be treated of distinctly in their due alphabetical orders.-Marine Divisions. The principal are the Mediterranean, Baltic, Euxine, Irish, [s. 346]