Europe History and Facts

Europe History and Facts

Europe is one of the traditional seven political continents, and a peninsular sub-continent of the geographic continent Eurasia. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea, and to the southeast by the Caucasus Mountains, the Black Sea and the waterways connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. To the east, Europe is generally divided from Asia by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, and by the Caspian Sea.

Europe covers about 10,180,000 square kilometres (3,930,000 sq mi) or 2% of the Earth's surface and about 6.8% of the planet's total land area. It hosts a large number of sovereign states (ca. 50), whose precise number depends on the underlying definition of Europe's border, as well as on the inclusion or exclusion of semi-recognized states. Europe contains parts of Russia, the world's largest country by area and Europe's largest by area and population, as well as the Vatican, the smallest country on both counts. Europe is the third most populous continent after Asia and Africa with a population of 731,000,000 or about 11% of the world's population. According to UN population projection (medium variant), Europe's share will fall to 7% in 2050, numbering 653 million. However, Europe's borders and population are in dispute, as the term continent can refer to a cultural and political distinction or a physiographic one.

Europe is the birthplace of Western culture. European nations played a predominant role in global affairs from the 16th century onwards, especially after the beginning of colonization. By the 17th and 18th centuries European nations controlled most of Africa, the Americas, and large portions of Asia. World War I and World War II led to a decline in European dominance in world affairs as the United States and Soviet Union took prominence. The Cold War between those two superpowers divided Europe along the Iron Curtain. European integration led to the formation of the Council of Europe and the European Union in Western Europe, both of which have been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

The term "Europe" has multiple uses. Its principal ones are geographical and political.

* Geographically, Europe is the westernmost peninsula of the continent of Eurasia; its limits are well defined by sea to the North, South and West. The Ural mountains are usually taken as the eastern limit of Europe, along with the Ural River, and the Caspian Sea. Europe can be considered bounded to the southeast by the Caucasus Mountains, the Black Sea and the waterways connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. Europe's eastern and southeastern extent are discussed below.

* Politically, Europe comprises those countries in the European Union, but may at times be used formally or more casually to refer to both the EU together with other non-EU countries e.g. the Council of Europe has 47 member countries and includes the 27 countries which are part of the EU.

* In addition, people in countries such as Ireland, United Kingdom, Scandinavia and the North Atlantic and Mediterranean islands, may routinely refer to "continental" or "mainland" Europe simply as Europe or "the Continent".

HOME

Second arrest over student deaths

Second arrest over student deaths

The two students were stabbed repeatedly and set alight

A second man has been arrested by police hunting the killer of two French students.

Gabriel Ferez and Laurent Bonomo, both 23, were killed in a frenzied attack at a rented bedsit in New Cross, south-east London, on 29 June.

A police spokesman said a 33-year-old man handed himself in at a south London police station and had since been taken to hospital for treatment to injuries.

A 21-year-old man arrested on Saturday has been released without charge.

The badly burned bodies of Mr Bonomo, from Velaux, near Marseille and Mr Ferez, from Prouzel, near Amiens, were found with more than 240 stab wounds.

Post-mortem examinations gave the cause of death in both cases as multiple stab wounds to the head, neck and torso.

Tests also revealed Mr Bonomo suffered 80 wounds after he died.

The flat in Sterling Gardens, New Cross, which Mr Bonomo was renting, had been burgled on 23 June and a laptop was stolen.

Detectives believe their bank cards and two Sony PSP games consoles were taken on the day the pair were killed.

They have urged anyone who has been offered games consoles stolen from the flat to come forward.

Mr Ferez's parents said in a statement to those behind the killings: "Rest assured that we will not leave you in peace."

They also said his killer would "not be able to live in hiding forever".

Both men were biochemistry students and were in the third year of a masters degree at Polytech Clermont-Ferrand in central France.

They were in London because they had been chosen to take part in a research project at Imperial College and were due to return home within weeks.