Expansive wine fields and fun idyll...
From the Caucasus's rugged peaks and Riga's cobblestone
alleys to Iceland's wild and beautiful lava landscape.
Lavender-scented archipelago in Croatia and the
Mediterranean that clings to Greek island pearls, mythical
places where the sirens live... And so Tuscany that attracts
with wine fields and wonderful food culture. Almost like
home - but always strangely new: Europe.
Area: 10 million km²
Number of inhabitants: 740 million
Largest country (by population)
- Russia - 140 million
- Germany - 81 million
- Turkey - 80 million
- France - 65 million
- UK - £ 63m
Europe
 Contrary to the gut feeling of most Europeans, experts
disagree about whether Europe can be called a continent at
all. Strictly speaking, Europe is only a peninsula to Asia,
and the perception of Europe as an independent continent
depends more on culture and tradition than on strict
geological principles. For the same reason, there is also no
fixed, logical boundary between Europe and Asia, but most of
them pull it through the Ural Mountains and down through the
Bosphorus, which means that only a small part of Turkey
belongs to Europe. A similar confusion applies to Greenland
which is politically European but geographically belongs to
North America.
Geography
Geographically, Europe, or the Asian Peninsula, can be
likened to a kind of skateboarding ramp with mountains in
the northern and southern regions and a large, fertile plain
in the middle. The current view of Europe as a fairly smooth
and continental continent is not entirely justified. For
example, the mild climate that Northern Europe has been
blessed with in relation to latitudes is a rather extreme
phenomenon. In Iceland and Italy there are volcanoes and in
the Swiss Alps, in Iceland and Greenland you will find
extensive glaciers. In addition, here are the Norwegian
fjords that cut into the steep mountain sides, and which
belong to some of the world's longest and deepest. 90
percent of Europe has been covered by forests, but the vast
majority of the natural forest stock has long since been
given the place for cultivation and pasture lands.
Past and present
However, human impulse has not only had negative
consequences: Europe was also the place where the idea of
democracy originated. Included in European history are
also less pleasant phenomena such as crusades and missionary
work, and in the 15th century a real boom of exploration
journeys across much of the world began. In this way, almost
all European countries became colonial powers and could
benefit greatly from the trade of goods from the colonies.
More recently, the history of Europe has been marked by
world war, and most recently by new members of the European
family as a number of countries in Central and Eastern
Europe have become independent states.
Traveling across Europe
The European countries can meet most people's needs for
an adventurous holiday. Based on population statistics done
by
Countryaah, northern Europe is
perfect for different nature experiences and trips focusing
on wildlife. In Southern Europe, unique cultural and bathing
vacations await, while the vast forests and wide rivers in
Eastern Europe encourage river cruises. The fact that you do
not have to travel to distant parts of the world for special
holiday experiences, is discovered when you face a calving
glacier in Greenland, enjoy the peaceful atmosphere of the
Alhambra in Andalusia or almost get lost in the countless
halls and comforts of the Winter Palace in Sankt.
Petersburg.
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