Europe

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composite image of Europe

Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. Physical geography and geology, Europe is the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, west of Asia. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea, to the southeast by the Caucasus Mountains and 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 is the world's Continent#Area and population continent in terms of area, covering about 10,180,000 square kilometres (3,930,000 sq mi) or 2.0% of the Earth's surface. The only continent smaller than Europe is Australia (continent). It is the third most populous continent (after Asia and Africa) with a population of 710,000,000 or about 11% of the world's population. However, the term continent can refer to a human geography distinction or a physical geography one, leading to various perspectives about Europe's precise borders, area and population. Of Europe's 48 country, Russia is its largest by area and population, while the Vatican City is the smallest.

All European countries except Belarus, Kazakhstan and the Vatican City are members of the Council of Europe, an international organisation founded in 1949 and recognised by the United Nations, that sets uniform standards for human rights in member countries and operates the European Court of Human Rights.

A separate organisation, the European Union (EU), emerged in 1957 from various agreements on customs and tariffs between countries in Western Europe, and attained its current form in 1993. The EU is an economic, social, and political union which makes laws that are implemented in every member state with the primary purpose of enforcing the free movement of goods and people between its twenty-seven member states.

Etymology In ancient Greek mythology, Europa (mythology) was a Phoenician princess who was abducted by Zeus in bull form and taken to the island of Crete, where she gave birth to Minos, Rhadamanthus and Sarpedon. For Homer, Europe (Greek language: ; see also List of traditional Greek place names) was this mythological queen of Crete, not a geographical designation. Later Europa stood for Geography of Greece, and by 500 BC its meaning had been extended to lands to the north.

In etymology one theory suggests the name Europe is derived from the Greek words meaning broad (eurys) and face (opsis)—broad having been an epithet of Earth itself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion; see Prithvi (Plataia). A minority, however, suggest this Greek popular etymology is really based on a Semitic word such as the Akkadian language erebu meaning "to go down, set", cognate to Phoenician 'ereb "evening; west" and Arabic Maghreb, Hebrew ma'ariv. (see also Erebus).

The majority of major world languages use words derived from "Europa" to refer to the continent—e.g. Chinese uses the word (歐洲), which is an abbreviation of the transliterated name (歐羅巴洲). However, for centuries, the Turkish people used the term Frengistan (land of the Franks) in referring to Europe.

History The origins of Western democracy and individualism culture are often attributed to Ancient Greece: these Greek political ideals were rediscovered in the late 18th century by European philosophers and idealists. Another major influence on Europe came from the Roman Empire which left its mark on Roman Law, Latin and centralized government. It also saw the Constantine I and Christianity after three centuries of imperial Persecution of Christians.

After the decline of the Roman Empire, Europe entered a long period of changes arising from what is known in America as the Age of Migrations. That period has been known as the "Dark Ages" to Renaissance thinkers. Isolated monastic communities in Ireland, Scotland and elsewhere carefully safeguarded and compiled written knowledge accumulated previously, but much literature, philosophy, mathematics, and other thinking from the classical period was lost from European popular currency until reintroduced from Arab sources during the Renaissance#Assimilation_of_Greek_and_Arabic_knowledge.

During the dark ages, the western part of the Roman Empire was 'reborn' as the Holy Roman Empire, later called Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. The eastern part of the Roman Empire became known in the west as the Byzantine Empire. The 'Byzantines' themselves still called themselves Basileia tōn Romaiōn—the Empire of the Romans. In 1453, when the Ottoman Empire conquered the Byzantine capital Constantinople, the Byzantine Empire ceased to exist, with a small hold out state of Empire of Trebizond which lasted until 1461.

The Renaissance and the New Monarchs marked the start of an Age of Discovery, a period of exploration, invention, and scientific development which had its roots in Italy. In the 15th century, Portugal opened the age of discoveries, soon followed by Spain. They were later joined by France, the Netherlands and England in building large colonial empires with vast holdings in Africa, the Americas, and Asia.

After the age of discovery, the ideas of democracy took hold in Europe. Struggles for independence arose, most notably in France during the period known as the French Revolution. This led to vast upheaval in Europe as these revolutionary ideas propagated across the continent. The rise of democracy led to increased tension within Europe on top of the tension already existing due to competition within the New World. The most famous of these conflicts happened when Napoleon I of France rose to power and set out on a conquest, forming a new First French Empire, which soon collapsed. After these conquests Europe stabilised, but the old foundations were already beginning to crumble.

The Industrial Revolution started in Kingdom of Great Britain in the late 18th century, leading to a move away from agriculture, much greater general prosperity and a corresponding increase in population. Many of the states in Europe took their present form in the aftermath of World War I#Geopolitical and Economic Consequences. From the end of World War II through the end of the Cold War, Europe was divided into two major political and economic blocks: Communism nations in Eastern Europe and Capitalist countries in Southern Europe, Northern Europe and Western Europe. Disintegration of the Iron Curtain and Eastern Block accelerated in 1989 with the fall of the Berlin Wall, culminating in the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

created in 1955 flag of Europe for itself and all of Europe. Today it is most commonly associated with the European Union. It has multiple roles, and varying legitimacy for the role as an official flag for the continent as a whole.

European integration has been a theme in European politics since the end of the first World War, and has accelerated since the end of the Cold War. Following the devastation of Europe in the second World War, the idea of European integration led to the creation of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg in 1949, which produced in 1950 the European Convention on Human Rights with its European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, former communist countries in central and eastern Europe were able to accede to the Council of Europe, which now comprises all 47 states in Europe with the exception of Belarus due to its non-democratic government. In 1951, a few European states agreed to confer powers over their steel and coal production to the European Coal and Steel Community in Luxembourg. This transfer of national powers to a "Community" to be exercised by its Commission was paralled under the 1957 Treaties of Rome establishing the European Atomic Energy Community and the European Economic Community in Brussels. The present European Union, the successor to the European Communities, has enlarged from 6 original founding members to 27 today. The European Union has developed from a trade-oriented organisation into one resembling a confederation in a number of respects. The European Union, or EU, describes itself as a family of democratic European countries, committed to working together for peace and prosperity. The organisation oversees co-operation among its members in diverse areas, including trade, the environment, transport, security, science, education and employment. Human rights and democracy remain the domain of the Council of Europe, thus extending these standards to the whole of Europe.

European membership of NATO has also increased since the end of the Cold War, with the admission of a number of eastern European countries.

Geography and extent

Physical geography, Europe is the northwestern constituent of the larger landmass known as Eurasia, or Africa-Eurasia: Asia occupies the eastern bulk of this continuous landmass and all share a common continental shelf. Europe's eastern frontier is now commonly delineated by the Ural Mountains in Russia. The first century AD geographer Strabo, Strabo Geography 11.1 took the Tanais River to be the boundary, as did early Judea sources. The southeast boundary with Asia is not universally defined. Most commonly the Ural River or, alternatively, the Emba River serve as possible boundaries. The boundary continues to the Caspian Sea, the crest of the Caucasus Mountains or, alternatively, the Kura River in the Caucasus, and on to the Black Sea; the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles conclude the Asian boundary. The Mediterranean Sea to the south separates Europe from Africa. The western boundary is the Atlantic Ocean; Iceland, though nearer to Greenland (North America) than mainland Europe, is generally included in Europe. There is ongoing debate on where the geographical centre of Europe is. For detailed description of the boundary between Asia and Europe see transcontinental nation.

Due to sociopolitical and cultural differences, there are various descriptions of Europe's boundary; in some sources, some territories are not included in Europe, while other sources include them. For instance, geographers from Post-Soviet states generally include the Urals in Europe while including Caucasia in Asia. Similarly, numerous geographers consider Azerbaijan's and Armenia's southern border with Iran and Turkey's southern and eastern border with Syria, Iraq and Iran as the boundary between Asia and Europe because of political and cultural reasons. In the same way, despite being close to Asia and Africa, the Mediterranean islands of Cyprus and Malta are considered part of Europe.

Physical geography Land relief in Europe shows great variation within relatively small areas. The southern regions, however, are more mountainous, while moving north the terrain descends from the high Alps, Pyrenees and Carpathian Mountains, 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 Great Britain and Ireland, and then continues along the mountainous, fjord-cut, spine of Norway.

This description is simplified. Sub-regions such as the Iberian Peninsula and the Italian Peninsula contain their own complex features, as does mainland Central Europe itself, where the relief contains many plateaus, river valleys and basins that complicate the general trend. Sub-regions like Iceland, Britain and Ireland are special cases. The former is a land unto itself in the northern ocean which is counted as part of Europe, while the latter are upland areas that were once joined to the mainland until rising sea levels cut them off.

Image:Albours.jpg], the highest mountain in Europe.Image:Tara River Canyon.jpg|Tara River Canyon, the deepest canyon in Europe is located in Montenegro.Image:Vourvourou-Greece.jpg] Greece.Image:Tatry zRysow.jpg] mountain on Poland-Slovakia border.Image:Päijänne and päijätsalo.jpg] lake and white nights in Finland.Image:Iceland Dettifoss 1972-4.jpg], the most powerful waterfall in Europe, is located in northeastern Iceland.Image:Grosser_Aletschgletscher_3196.JPG], the largest glacier in Continental Europe, is located in SwitzerlandImage:Cabo da Roca - Sintra - 060415 19.JPG], a Headlands and bays that forms the Extreme points of Europe of mainland Europe, is located in Portugal

Biodiversity

Having lived side-by-side with agricultural peoples for millennia, Europe's animals and plants have been profoundly affected by the presence and activities of man. With the exception of Fennoscandia and northern Russia, few areas of untouched wilderness are currently found in Europe, except for various national parks.

The main natural vegetation cover in Europe is mixed forest. The conditions for growth are very favourable. In the north, the Gulf Stream and North Atlantic Current warm the continent. Southern Europe could be described as having a warm, but mild climate. There are frequent summer droughts in this region. Mountain ridges also affect the conditions. Some of these (Alps, Pyrenees) are oriented east-west and allow the wind to carry large masses of water from the ocean in the interior. Others are oriented south-north (Scandinavian Mountains, Dinaric Alps, Carpathian Mountains, Apennine Mountains) and because the rain falls primarily on the side of mountains that is oriented towards sea, forests grow well on this side, while on the other side, the conditions are much less favourable. Few corners of mainland Europe have not been grazed by livestock at some point in time, and the cutting down of the pre-agricultural forest habitat caused disruption to the original plant and animal ecosystems.

Eighty to ninety per cent of Europe was once covered by forest. It stretched from the Mediterranean Sea to the Arctic Ocean. Though over half of Europe's original forests disappeared through the centuries of deforestation, Europe still has over one quarter of its land area as forest, such as the taiga of Scandinavia and Russia, mixed rainforests of the Caucasus and the Cork oak forests in the western Mediterranean. During recent times, deforestation has been slowed and many trees have been planted. However, in many cases monoculture plantations of Pinophyta have replaced the original mixed natural forest, because these grow quicker. The plantations now cover vast areas of land, but offer poorer habitats for many European forest dwelling species which require a mixture of tree species and diverse forest structure. The amount of natural forest in Western Europe is just 2–3% or less, in European Russia 5–10%. The country with the smallest percentage of forested area (excluding the micronations) is Iceland (2%), while the most forested country is Finland(72%).

In temperate Europe, mixed forest with both flowering plant and pinophyta trees dominate. The most important species in central and western Europe are beech and oak. In the north, the taiga is a mixed spruce-pine-birch forest; further north within Russia and extreme northern Scandinavia, the taiga gives way to tundra as the Arctic is approached. In the Mediterranean, many olive trees have been planted, which are very well adapted to its arid climate; Cupressus sempervirens is also widely planted in southern Europe. The semi-arid Mediterranean region hosts much scrub forest. A narrow east-west tongue of Eurasian grassland (the steppe) extends eastwards from Ukraine and southern Russia and ends in Hungary and traverses into taiga to the north.

Glaciation during the most recent ice age and the presence of man affected the distribution of Fauna of Europe. As for the animals, in many parts of Europe most large animals and top predator species have been hunted to extinction. The woolly mammoth was extinct before the end of the Neolithic period. Today wolf (carnivores) and bears (omnivores) are endangered. Once they were found in most parts of Europe. However, deforestation caused these animals to withdraw further and further. By the Middle Ages the bears' habitats were limited to more or less inaccessible mountains with sufficient forest cover. Today, the European brown bear lives primarily in the Balkan peninsula, Scandinavia, and Russia; a small number also persist in other countries across Europe (Austria, Pyrenees etc.), but in these areas brown bear populations are fragmented and marginalised because of the destruction of their habitat. In addition, polar bears may be found on Svalbard, a Norway archipelago far north of Scandinavia. The Eurasian wolf, the second largest predator in Europe after the brown bear, can be found primarily in Eastern Europe and in the Balkans, with a handful of packs in pockets of Western Europe (Scandinavia, Spain, etc.).

Other important European carnivores are Eurasian lynx, European wild cat, foxes (especially the red fox), jackal and different species of martens, hedgehogs, different species of List of European reptiles snakes (Viperinaes, grass snake…), different List of European birds (owls, hawks and other birds of prey).

Important European herbivores are snails, List of European amphibians larvae, fish, different birds, and List of European mammalss, like rodents, deer and roe deer, boars, and living in the mountains, marmots, Alpine Ibex, chamois among others.

Sea creatures are also an important part of European flora and fauna. The sea flora is mainly phytoplankton. Important animals that live in European seas are zooplankton, molluscs, echinoderms, different crustaceans, squids and octopuses, fish, dolphins, and whales.

Biodiversity is protected in Europe through the Council of Europe Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern Convention), which has also been signed by the European Community as well as non-European states.

Demographics Since the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery, Europe has had a major influence in culture, economics and social movements in the world. European demographics are important not only historically, but also in understanding current international relations and population issues.

Some current and past issues in European demographics have included Emigration, race relations, Immigration#Why do people immigrate.3F, a declining birth rate and an aging population. In some countries, such as the Republic of Ireland and Poland, access to abortion is currently limited; in the past, such restrictions and also restrictions on artificial birth control were commonplace throughout Europe. Furthermore, three European countries (The Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland) have allowed a limited form of voluntary euthanasia for some terminally ill people.

In 2005 the population of Europe was estimated to be 728 million according to the United Nations, which is slightly more than one-ninth of the world's population. A century ago Europe had nearly a quarter of the world population. The population of Europe has grown in the past century, but in other areas of the world (in particular Africa and Asia) the population has grown far more quickly. UNPP, 2004 Revision World Population Prospects: The 2004 Revision Population Database. United Nations Population Division, 2005. Last accessed October 25, 2006. According to UN population projection (medium variant), Europe's share will fall to 7% in 2050, numbering 653 million.http://esa.un.org/unpp/p2k0data.asp Within this context, significant disparities exist between religions in relation to overpopulation. The average number of List of countries and territories by fertility rate of child bearing age is 1.52. According to some sources, Brookings Institute Reporthttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4385768.stm this rate is higher among Muslims.In 2005 the EU had an overall net gain from immigration of 1.8 million people, despite having one of the highest population density in the world. This accounted for almost 85% of Europe's total population growth. Europe: Population and Migration in 2005

Political geography Territories and regions s of Europe as delineated by the United Nations (other categorisations may vary):The countries in this table are categorised according to the UN geoscheme used by the United Nations, and data included are per sources in cross-referenced articles. Where they differ, provisos are clearly indicated.

According to different definitions, such as consideration of the concept of Central Europe, the following territories and regions may be subject to various other categorisations.

{]Continental regions as per :Image:United Nations geographical subregions.png. Depending on definitions, various territories cited below may be in Transcontinental nation Europe and Asia, Africa, or Oceania. andterritory, with flag! List of countries by area(km²)! List of countries by population(1 July, 2002 est.)! List of countries by population density(per km²)! Capital:|-| [Belarus|-| [Bulgaria|-| [Czech Republic|-| [Hungary|-| [MoldovaIncludes Transnistria, a region that has declared, and de facto list of unrecognized countries, independence; however, it is not recognised de jure by sovereign states.]|-| Poland|-| [Romania|-| [RussiaRussia is generally considered a transcontinental country in Eastern Europe (UN region) and Asia, with European territory west of the Ural Mountains and both the Ural River and Emba rivers; population and area figures are for European portion only.]|-| Slovakia|-| [Ukraine|-| colspan=5 style="background:#eee;" | [Northern Europe:] (Finland)]|-| Denmark|-| [Estonia|-| [Faroe Islands (Denmark)]|-| Finland|-| [Guernsey Guernsey is a crown dependency affiliated with the United Kingdom.]|-| Iceland|-| [Republic of Ireland| align="right" | 70,280| align="right" | 4,234,925| align="right" | 60.3| Dublin[Isle of Man is a crown dependency affiliated with the United Kingdom.]|-| JerseyJersey is a crown dependency affiliated with the United Kingdom.]|-| Latvia|-| [Lithuania|-| [Norway|-| [Svalbard and Jan Mayen (Norway)]|-| Sweden|-| [United Kingdom|-| colspan=5 style="background:#eee;" | [Southern Europe:]| align="right" | 28,748| align="right" | 3,544,841| align="right" | 123.3| Tirana| align="right" | 468| align="right" | 68,403| align="right" | 146.2| [Andorra la Vella| align="right" | 51,129| align="right" | 4,448,500| align="right" | 77.5| [Sarajevo| align="right" | 56,542| align="right" | 4,390,751| align="right" | 77.7| [Zagreb ([United Kingdom)| align="right" | 5.9| align="right" | 27,714| align="right" | 4,697.3| Gibraltar| align="right" | 131,940| align="right" | 10,645,343| align="right" | 80.7| [Athens| align="right" | 301,230| align="right" | 58,751,711| align="right" | 191.6| [Rome| align="right" | 25,333| align="right" | 2,054,800| align="right" | 81.1| [Skopje| align="right" | 316| align="right" | 397,499| align="right" | 1,257.9| [VallettaMontenegro declared independence from the union of [Serbia and Montenegro on 3 June 2006.]|-| PortugalFigures for Portugal include the Azores west of Portugal but exclude the Madeira Islands, west of Morocco in Africa.]|-| San Marino|-| [SerbiaFigures for Serbia include Kosovo, a province administrated by the UN (UNMIK) as per Security Council resolution 1244.]|-| Slovenia|-| [Spain|-| [Vatican City|-| colspan=5 style="background:#eee;" | [Western Europe:]| align="right" | 83,858| align="right" | 8,169,929| align="right" | 97.4| Vienna| align="right" | 30,510| align="right" | 10,274,595| align="right" | 336.8| [BrusselsFigures for [France include only metropolitan France: some Administrative divisions of France are geographically located outside Europe.| align="right" | 547,030| align="right" | 59,765,983| align="right" | 109.3| Paris| align="right" | 357,021| align="right" | 83,251,851| align="right" | 233.2| [Berlin| align="right" | 160| align="right" | 32,842| align="right" | 205.3| [Vaduz| align="right" | 2,586| align="right" | 448,569| align="right" | 173.5| [Luxembourg (city)|-| Monaco|-| [NetherlandsNetherlands population for July 2004. Population and area details include European portion only: Netherlands and two entities outside Europe (Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles, in the Caribbean) constitute the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Amsterdam is the official capital, while The Hague is the administrative seat.]|-| Switzerland|-| colspan=5 style="background:#eee;" | [Central Asia:]Kazakhstan is sometimes considered a transcontinental country in Central Asia (UN region) and Eastern Europe, with European territory west of the Ural Mountains and both the Ural River and Emba rivers; area figures are for European portion out of total.]|-| colspan=5 style="background:#eee;" | Western Asia:Armenia and Cyprus are sometimes considered transcontinental countries: both are physiographically in Western Asia but have historical and sociopolitical connections with Europe.]Azerbaijan is often considered a transcontinental country in Western Asia (UN region) and Eastern Europe; population and area figures are for European portion (north of the crest of the Caucasus Mountains and the Kura River) out of total. This excludes the exclave of Nakhchivan and Nagorno-Karabakh (a region that has declared, and de facto list of unrecognized countries, independence; however, it is not recognised de jure by sovereign states).]|-| Georgia (country)Georgia (country) is often considered a transcontinental country in Western Asia (UN region) and Eastern Europe; population and area figures are for European portion (north of the crest of the Caucasus Mountains and the Kura River) out of total. Also includes Abkhazia and South Ossetia, two regions that have declared, and de facto list of unrecognized countries, independence; however, they are not recognised de jure by sovereign states.]|-| TurkeyTurkey is generally considered a transcontinental country in Western Asia (UN region) and Southern Europe: the region of Rumelia—which includes the provinces of Edirne Province, Kırklareli Province, Tekirdağ Province, and the western parts of the Çanakkale Province and Istanbul Provinces—is west and north of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles; population and area figures are for European portion (including all of Istanbul) out of total population.]|- style=" font-weight:bold; "| Total| align="right" | 10,176,246The total area figure includes only European portions of transcontinental countries.| align="right" | 709,608,850The total population figure includes only European portions of transcontinental countries.| align="right" | 69.7|}

See Also: List of European countries by population

Economy

As a continent, the economy of Europe is currently the largest on Earth. The European Union, or EU, an intergovernmental body composed of most of the European states, is one of the two largest in the world. Of the member states in the EU, Germany has the largest national economy. Thirteen EU countries share a common unit of currency, the euro. Major economic sectors in Europe include agriculture, manufacturing, and investment. The majority of the EU's trade is with the United States, China, India, Russia and non-member European states.

==Languages and cultures== See also: Eurolinguistics

There are several linguistic groups widely recognised in Europe. These sometimes (but not always) coincide with cultural and historical connections between the various nations, though in other cases religion is considered a more significant distinguishing factor.

Multiligualism and the protection of regional and minority languages are recognised political goals in Europe today. The Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the Council of Europe's European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages set up a legal framework for language rights in Europe.

Romance languages Romance languages are spoken more or less in south-western Europe, as well as Romania and Moldova which are situated in Eastern Europe. This area consists of: Andorra, Italy, Portugal, France (excluding parts of Nord, France and Alsace), Spain, Romania, Moldova, French-speaking Belgium (Wallonia, partly Brussels), French language-speaking Switzerland (Romandy), Italian language-speaking Switzerland, Italian language-speaking Croatia (part of Istria), and Romansch-speaking Switzerland. All Romance languages are principally derived from the Roman language, Latin, as designated.

Germanic languages Germanic languages are spoken more or less in north-western Europe and some parts of central Europe. This region consists of: Norway, Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Dutch-speaking Belgium (Flanders, partly Brussels and the German-speaking areas east of Wallonia), Austria, Hungary (Sopron), Slovakia (Bratislava; former "Pressburg"), Liechtenstein, 68-74% of Switzerland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Luxemburg, Poland (areas in Silesia), Pomerania, East Prussia, France (Alsace-Lorraine (region), and Nord-Pas de Calais), the Finland Swedish municipalities of Finland, and the Autonomous Province of Bolzano-Bozen in Italy.

Celtic languages The Celtic languages once stretched across western Europe and central Europe and into Anatolia, but today they are largely limited to the western fringe of the Celtic nations: Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany. The Continental Celtic languages, including Gaulish language and Celtiberian language, died out by the sixth century; only the Insular Celtic languages—the Goidelic languages (Irish language, Scottish Gaelic language, Manx language) and the Brythonic languages (Welsh language, Breton language, Cornish language)—have survived into modern times.

Slavic languages Slavic languages are spoken in Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. This area consists of: Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, regions of Free State of Saxony and Brandenburg in Germany (Sorbs), the Republic of Macedonia, Greece, Montenegro, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, the territory of Transnistria, and Ukraine.

Uralic languages The Uralic languages are divided into three main groups, two of which have representatives in Europe. The Finno-Permic languages are spoken in Finland, Estonia, and parts of Sweden, Norway, Latvia, and European Russia while the Ugric languages are spoken in Hungary and parts of Romania, Slovakia, Serbia, Ukraine, and Siberian Russia. These two groups comprise the Finno-Ugric languages branch of the Uralic language family.

Turkic languages Turkic languages are spoken as the main language in Turkey and Azerbaijan and as a minority language in parts of Cyprus, Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, Russia, Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Ukraine, the Caucasus, and in Turkish diaspora communities in several other European countries (most notably Germany, Sweden, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands).

Baltic languages Baltic languages are spoken in Lithuania and Latvia. Estonia's national language is part of the Finno-Ugric languages family even though it is a Baltic state geographically.

Other languages Outside of these seven main linguistic groups one can find:

The Greek language, one of the oldest European languages spoken in Greece,

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