European culture is the root of Western civilisation, which traces its lineage back to ancient Greece and ancient Rome. The fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE and the related Migration Period marked the end of Europe's ancient history, and the beginning of the Middle Ages. The Renaissance began in Florence and spread to the rest of the continent, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, exploration, art, and science which contributed to the beginning of the modern era. Since the Age of Discovery, led by Spain and Portugal, Europe played a predominant role in global affairs with multiple explorations and conquests around the world. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European powers colonised at various times the Americas, almost all of Africa and Oceania, and the majority of Asia.
The Age of Enlightenment, the French Revolution, and the Napoleonic Wars shaped the continent culturally, politically and economically from the end of the 17th century until the first half of the 19th century. The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century, gave rise to radical economic, cultural and social change in Western Europe and eventually the wider world. Both world wars began and were fought to a great extent in Europe, contributing to a decline in Western European dominance in world affairs by the mid-20th century as the Soviet Union and the United States took prominence. During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the West and the Warsaw Pact in the East, until the Revolutions of 1989, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
The European Union and the Council of Europe are two important international organisations aiming to represent the European continent on a political level. The Council of Europe was founded in 1948 with the idea of unifying Europe to achieve common goals and prevent future wars. Further European integration by some states led to the formation of the European Union, a separate supranational political entity based on a system of European law that lies between a confederation and a federation. The EU originated in Western Europe but has been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. A majority of its members have adopted a common currency, the euro, and participate in the European single market and a customs union. A large bloc of countries, the Schengen Area, have also abolished internal border and immigration controls. Regular popular elections take place every five years within the EU; they are considered to be the second largest democratic elections in the world after India.
Europe makes up the western fifth of the Eurasian landmass. It has a higher ratio of coast to landmass than any other continent or subcontinent. Its maritime borders consist of the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Seas to the south. Land relief in Europe shows great variation within relatively small areas. The southern regions are more mountainous, while moving north the terrain descends from the high Alps, Pyrenees and Carpathians, through hilly uplands, into broad, low northern plains, which are vast in the east. This extended lowland is known as the Great European Plain and at its heart lies the North German Plain. An arc of uplands also exists along the north-western seaboard, which begins in the western parts of the islands of Britain and Ireland, and then continues along the mountainous, fjord-cut spine of Norway.
The geology of Europe is hugely varied and complex and gives rise to the wide variety of landscapes found across the continent, from the Scottish Highlands to the rolling plains of Hungary.[244] Europe's most significant feature is the dichotomy between highland and mountainous Southern Europe and a vast, partially underwater, northern plain ranging from Ireland in the west to the Ural Mountains in the east. These two halves are separated by the mountain chains of the Pyrenees and Alps/Carpathians. The northern plains are delimited in the west by the Scandinavian Mountains and the mountainous parts of the British Isles. Major shallow water bodies submerging parts of the northern plains are the Celtic Sea, the North Sea, the Baltic Sea complex and Barents Sea.
The European countries are: Russia, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Czech Republic, Sweden, Portuga, Hungary, Belarus, Austria, Switzerland, Serbia, Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Slovakia, Ireland, Croatia, Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lithuania, Albania, Moldova, Slovenia, Macedonia, Latvia, Kosovo, Estonia, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Malta, Iceland, Andorra, Faroe Islands, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Gibraltar, San Marino, and Vatican City.
Alesund Norway
Aalborg Denmark
Amsterdam Netherlands
Antwerp Belgium
Arhus Denmark
Athens Greece
Barcelona Spain
Basel Switzerland
Batumi Georgia
Belgrade Serbia
Benicassim Spain
Benidorm Spain
Bergen Norway
Berchtesgaden Germany
Berlin Germany
Bialystok Poland
Bilbao Spain
Birmingham United Kingdon
Bodo Norway
Bologna Italy
Bonn Germany
Bratislava Slovakia
Brno Czech Republic
Brussels Belgium
Bucharest Romania
Budapest Hungary
Canterbury United Kingdom
Cardiff United Kingdom
Chisinau Spain
Cluj Napoca Romania
Copenhagan Denmark
Cullera Spain
Davos Switzerland
Donetsk Ukraine
Dordrecht Netherlands
Dortmund Germany
Dresden Germany
Dublin Ireland
Dundee United Kingdom
Edinburgh Great Britain
Essen Germany
Florence Italy
Frankfurt Germany
Gdansk Poland
Gibraltar United Kingdom
Genova Italy
Ghent Belgium
Glasgow United Kingdom
Gothenburg Sweden
Hamburg Germany
Hannover Germany
Hasselt Belgium
Horsens Denmark
Kakanj Bosnia & Herzegovina
Katowice Poland
Kharkiv Ukraine
Krusevac Serbia
Kyiv Ukraine
Leeds United Kingdom
Leipzig Germany
Leonberg Germany
Liege Belgium
Limassol Cyprus
Lisbon Portugal
Liverpool Great Britain
Ljubljana Slovenia
London Great Britain
Luxembourg City Luxebmourg
Luzern Switzerland
Lyon France
Madrid Spain
Malmo Sweden
Malaga Spain
Manchester United Kingdom
Mannheim Germany
Marbella Spain
Maribor Slovenia
Marseille France
Milan Italy
Minsk Belarus
Monaco Monaco
Montreux Switzerland
Moscow Russia
Nantes France
Naples Italy
Nice France
Nicosia Cyprus
Odessa Ukraine
Oslo Norway
Oviedo Spain
Paris France
Playa Gandia Spain
Podgorica Montenegro
Porto Portugal
Portsmouth United Kingdom
Poznan Poland
Prishtina Kosovo
Prague Czech Republic
Resita Romania
Reykjavik Iceland
Riga Latvia
Rome Italy
Rotterdam Netherlands
Rzeszow Poland
Salzburg Austria
Sarajevo Bosnia and Herzegovina
Sheffield Great Britain
Sint Truiden Belgium
Sofia Bulgaria
Southampton United Kingdon
Split Croatia
Stavenger Norway
Stockholm Sweden
Stuttgart Germany
Suhl Germany
Tallinn Estonia
Tampere Finland
Tbilisi Georgia
The Hague Netherlands
Timisoara Romania
Tirana Albania
Turin Italy
Utrecht Netherlands
Uzice Serbia
Vaduz Liechtenstein
Valencia Spain
Valleta Malta
Vatican City Italy
Vejle Denmark
Velenje Slovenia
Veliko Tarnovo Bulgaria
Venice Italy
Verona Italy
Vienna Austria
Vigo Spain
Vilnius Lithuania
Warsaw Poland
Woking United Kingdom
Wroclaw Poland
Yalta Ukraine
Yerevan Armenia
Zadar Croatia
Zagreb Croatia
Zenica Bosnia and Herzegovina
Zurich Switzerland
World Skylines created and maintained by George Stewart Online 1998-2025
Send your comments or questions to webmaster@georgestewart.online