Europe is referred to as a continent but is geographically
the western part of Asia. The common boundary between the two continents is
traditionally the Ural River, the Ural Mountain range and a part of the Caspian
Sea.
Europe has a land area of 10,355,000 square kilometers. 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.
The continent has a 2000 estimated population of 726
million. The annual average growth rate for Europe from 1885-1995 was 0.28 %
and by 2000 the growth rate was decreasing due to a decrease in the birth rate
which was 10.3 per 1000 in 2000.
Europeans speak a wide variety of languages, mainly
associated with the country or region in which they live. The principal
linguistic groups are those of the Slavic which includes Russian, Czech and
many others; Germanic which includes English, German and others; and Roman
which include Italian, French and others.
The tallest mountain in Europe is Mount Elbrus which is
5633m high.
