Europe

From RationalWiki - Reading time: 9 min

Satellite image of Europe.
Not to be confused with the European Union, the economic and political bloc within Europe.
What has made the European family of nations an improving, instead of a stationary portion of mankind? Not any superior excellence in them, which, when it exists, exists as the effect, not as the cause; but their remarkable diversity of character and culture. Individuals, classes, nations, have been extremely unlike one another: they have struck out a great variety of paths, each leading to something valuable; and although at every period those who travelled in different paths have been intolerant of one another, and each would have thought it an excellent thing if all the rest could have been compelled to travel his road, their attempts to thwart each other's development have rarely had any permanent success, and each has in time endured to receive the good which the others have offered. Europe is, in my judgment, wholly indebted to this plurality of paths for its progressive and many-sided development.
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (1859), Chapter III. Of individuality, as one of the elements of well-Being, p.136

Europe is allegedly a Swedish glam metal band continent (in a political/cultural sense) at the western end of the Eurasian landmass, usually defined as being west of the Ural mountain range and north of the Caucasus. Many European countries, but not all, are members of the European Union and NATO.

It's an understanding between Europeans that you need to go blow each other up every few decades. Then you remember why that was a bad idea and repeat it again in a few decades. If you're American, you need only sit it out until everyone else is exhausted. Then you sweep the leg and become a world superpower. Notably, the process is usually 2-3 decades of the worst warfare you've seen followed by 6-8 decades of peace, and by coincidence all of Europe's regions aligned such that the 1910s to mid-1940s was everyone's period of war and it's now about 8 decades since that all ended, so Russia decided to take one for the team and start the whole process, but the rest of Europe is a bunch of pansies who refuse to properly join in on the fun. Pretty much no some most All countries in Europe are Commu-Nazi-leebral godless hellholes! Let us learn nothing from them.

Countries[edit]

Countries of Europe include:

Countries of Europe
Western Europe Southern Europe Central Europe Northern Europe Eastern Europe
Benelux:
  • link=Belgium Belgium Belgium
  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Luxembourg

.svg|40px|link=Luxembourg

Luxembourg

]] Luxembourg

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Netherlands

.svg|40px|link=Netherlands

Netherlands

]] Netherlands

Balkans:
  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Albania

.svg|40px|link=Albania

Albania

]] Albania

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Bosnia and Herzegovina

.svg|40px|link=Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina

]] Bosnia and Herzegovina

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Bulgaria

.svg|40px|link=Bulgaria

Bulgaria

]] Bulgaria

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Croatia

.svg|40px|link=Croatia

Croatia

]] Croatia

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Cyprus

.svg|40px|link=Cyprus

Cyprus

]] Cyprus[note 1]

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Greece

.svg|40px|link=Greece

Greece

]] Greece

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Kosovo

.svg|40px|link=Kosovo

Kosovo

]] Kosovo

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Montenegro

.svg|40px|link=Montenegro

Montenegro

]] Montenegro

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_North Macedonia

.svg|40px|link=North Macedonia

North Macedonia

]] North Macedonia

  • Flag of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.svg Northern Cyprus (disputed)
  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Romania

.svg|40px|link=Romania

Romania

]] Romania

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Serbia

.svg|40px|link=Serbia

Serbia

]] Serbia

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Slovenia

.svg|40px|link=Slovenia

Slovenia

]] Slovenia

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Turkey

.svg|40px|link=Turkey

Turkey

]] Turkey[note 2]

Germanic countries:
  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Austria

.svg|40px|link=Austria

Austria

]] Austria

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Germany

.svg|40px|link=Germany

Germany

]] Germany

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Liechtenstein

.svg|40px|link=Liechtenstein

Liechtenstein

]] Liechtenstein

Baltic countries:
  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Estonia

.svg|40px|link=Estonia

Estonia

]] Estonia

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Latvia

.svg|40px|link=Latvia

Latvia

]] Latvia

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Lithuania

.svg|40px|link=Lithuania

Lithuania

]] Lithuania

Ex-Soviet countries:
  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Belarus

.svg|40px|link=Belarus

Belarus

]] Belarus

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Kazakhstan

.svg|40px|link=Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan

]] Kazakhstan[note 3]

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Moldova

.svg|40px|link=Moldova

Moldova

]] Moldova

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Russia

.svg|40px|link=Russia

Russia

]] Russia

  • Flag of Transnistria (state).svg Transnistria (disputed)
  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Ukraine

.svg|40px|link=Ukraine

Ukraine

]] Ukraine

British Isles:
  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Ireland

.svg|40px|link=Ireland

Ireland

]] Ireland

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_United Kingdom

.svg|40px|link=United Kingdom

United Kingdom

]] United Kingdom

    • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_England

.svg|40px|link=England

England

]] England

    • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Scotland

.svg|40px|link=Scotland

Scotland

]] Scotland

    • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Wales

.svg|40px|link=Wales

Wales

]] Wales

.svg|40px|link=Isle of Man

Isle of Man

]] Isle of Man

    • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Jersey

.svg|40px|link=Jersey

Jersey

]][[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Guernsey .svg|40px|link=Guernsey

Guernsey

]] Channel Islands

Iberia:
  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Andorra

.svg|40px|link=Andorra

Andorra

]] Andorra

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Gibraltar

.svg|40px|link=Gibraltar

Gibraltar

]] Gibraltar (U.K.)

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Portugal

.svg|40px|link=Portugal

Portugal

]] Portugal

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Spain

.svg|40px|link=Spain

Spain

]] Spain

Italic countries
  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Italy

.svg|40px|link=Italy

Italy

]] Italy

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Malta

.svg|40px|link=Malta

Malta

]] Malta

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_San Marino

.svg|40px|link=San Marino

San Marino

]] San Marino

Visegrád Group:
  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Czechia

.svg|40px|link=Czechia

Czechia

]] Czechia

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Hungary

.svg|40px|link=Hungary

Hungary

]] Hungary

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Poland

.svg|40px|link=Poland

Poland

]] Poland

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Slovakia

.svg|40px|link=Slovakia

Slovakia

]] Slovakia

Nordic countries:
  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Denmark

.svg|40px|link=Denmark

Denmark

]] Denmark

    • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Faroe Islands

.svg|40px|link=Faroe Islands

Faroe Islands

]] Faroe Islands

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Finland

.svg|40px|link=Finland

Finland

]] Finland

    • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Åland Islands

.svg|40px|link=Åland Islands

Åland Islands

]] Åland Islands

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Iceland

.svg|40px|link=Iceland

Iceland

]] Iceland

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Norway

.svg|40px|link=Norway

Norway

]] Norway

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Sweden

.svg|40px|link=Sweden

Sweden

]] Sweden

Caucasus:
  • Flag of the Republic of Abkhazia.svg Abkhazia (disputed)
  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Armenia

.svg|40px|link=Armenia

Armenia

]] Armenia

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Azerbaijan

.svg|40px|link=Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan

]] Azerbaijan

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Georgia

.svg|40px|link=Georgia

Georgia

]] Georgia

France:
  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_France

.svg|40px|link=France

France

]] France

  • [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Monaco

.svg|40px|link=Monaco

Monaco

]] Monaco

Religion in Europe[edit]

Eurobarometer Poll 2005[edit]

Participants were asked if they believed that "there is a God", if they believed that "there is some sort of spirit of life force", or if they "didn't believe there is any sort of spirit, God or life force".[1]

Country "I believe there
is a God"
"I believe there is some
sort of spirit or life force"
"I don’t believe there is any
sort of spirit, God or life force"
[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Malta

.svg|40px|link=Malta

Malta

]] Malta || 95% || 3% || 1%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Cyprus

.svg|40px|link=Cyprus

Cyprus

]] Cyprus || 90% || 7% || 2%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Greece

.svg|40px|link=Greece

Greece

]] Greece || 81% || 16% || 3%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Portugal

.svg|40px|link=Portugal

Portugal

]] Portugal || 81% || 12% || 6%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Poland

.svg|40px|link=Poland

Poland

]] Poland || 80% || 15% || 1%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Italy

.svg|40px|link=Italy

Italy

]] Italy || 74% || 16% || 6%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Ireland

.svg|40px|link=Ireland

Ireland

]] Ireland || 73% || 22% || 4%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Slovakia

.svg|40px|link=Slovakia

Slovakia

]] Slovakia || 61% || 26% || 11%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Spain

.svg|40px|link=Spain

Spain

]] Spain || 59% || 21% || 18%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Austria

.svg|40px|link=Austria

Austria

]] Austria || 54% || 34% || 8%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Lithuania

.svg|40px|link=Lithuania

Lithuania

]] Lithuania || 49% || 36% || 12%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Germany

.svg|40px|link=Germany

Germany

]] Germany || 47% || 25% || 25%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Luxembourg

.svg|40px|link=Luxembourg

Luxembourg

]] Luxembourg || 44% || 28% || 22%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Hungary

.svg|40px|link=Hungary

Hungary

]] Hungary || 44% || 31% || 19%

link=Belgium Belgium Belgium || 43% || 29% || 27%
[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Finland

.svg|40px|link=Finland

Finland

]] Finland || 41% || 41% || 16%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_United Kingdom

.svg|40px|link=United Kingdom

United Kingdom

]] United Kingdom || 38% || 40% || 20%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Latvia

.svg|40px|link=Latvia

Latvia

]] Latvia || 37% || 49% || 10%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Slovenia

.svg|40px|link=Slovenia

Slovenia

]] Slovenia || 37% || 46% || 16%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_France

.svg|40px|link=France

France

]] France || 34% || 27% || 33%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Netherlands

.svg|40px|link=Netherlands

Netherlands

]] Netherlands || 34% || 37% || 27%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Denmark

.svg|40px|link=Denmark

Denmark

]] Denmark || 31% || 49% || 19%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Sweden

.svg|40px|link=Sweden

Sweden

]] Sweden || 23% || 53% || 23%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Czechia

.svg|40px|link=Czechia

Czechia

]] Czechia || 19% || 50% || 30%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Estonia

.svg|40px|link=Estonia

Estonia

]] Estonia || 16% || 54% || 26%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_European Union

.svg|40px|link=European Union

European Union

]] EU25 || 52% || 27% || 18%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Romania

.svg|40px|link=Romania

Romania

]] Romania || 90% || 8% || 1%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Bulgaria

.svg|40px|link=Bulgaria

Bulgaria

]] Bulgaria || 40% || 40% || 13%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Croatia

.svg|40px|link=Croatia

Croatia

]] Croatia || 67% || 25% || 7%

link=Switzerland Switzerland Switzerland || 48% || 39% || 9%
[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Iceland

.svg|40px|link=Iceland

Iceland

]] Iceland || 38% || 48% || 11%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Norway

.svg|40px|link=Norway

Norway

]] Norway || 32% || 47% || 17%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Turkey

.svg|40px|link=Turkey

Turkey

]] Turkey || 95% || 2% || 1%

Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia were not members of the EU at the time; Romania and Bulgaria joined in 2007 and Croatia in 2013. The United Kingdom left in 2020.

Special Eurobarometer 2019[edit]

Participants were asked if they considered themselves "Catholic", "Orthodox Christian", "Protestant", "other Christian", "Jewish", "Shia Muslim", "Sunni Muslim", "other Muslim", "Sikh", "Buddhist", "Hindu", "Atheist", "Non believer or agnostic" and "other". For conciseness, only "Atheist" and "Non believer or agnostic" will be represented in the table, "Remainder" being the subtraction of 100% from the aforementioned.[2]

Country "Atheist" "Non believer
or agnostic"
Remainder
[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Romania

.svg|40px|link=Romania

Romania

]] Romania || 1% || 0% || 99%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Cyprus

.svg|40px|link=Cyprus

Cyprus

]] Cyprus || 1% || 1% || 98%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Greece

.svg|40px|link=Greece

Greece

]] Greece || 2% || 1% || 97%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Malta

.svg|40px|link=Malta

Malta

]] Malta || 1% || 3% || 96%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Bulgaria

.svg|40px|link=Bulgaria

Bulgaria

]] Bulgaria || 3% || 2% || 95%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Poland

.svg|40px|link=Poland

Poland

]] Poland || 3% || 3% || 94%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Ireland

.svg|40px|link=Ireland

Ireland

]] Ireland || 3% || 6% || 91%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Lithuania

.svg|40px|link=Lithuania

Lithuania

]] Lithuania || 3% || 6% || 91%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Slovakia

.svg|40px|link=Slovakia

Slovakia

]] Slovakia || 6% || 5% || 89%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Croatia

.svg|40px|link=Croatia

Croatia

]] Croatia || 6% || 5% || 89%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Portugal

.svg|40px|link=Portugal

Portugal

]] Portugal || 4% || 8% || 88%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Italy

.svg|40px|link=Italy

Italy

]] Italy || 5% || 9% || 86%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Austria

.svg|40px|link=Austria

Austria

]] Austria || 4% || 12% || 84%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Slovenia

.svg|40px|link=Slovenia

Slovenia

]] Slovenia || 14% || 4% || 82%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Latvia

.svg|40px|link=Latvia

Latvia

]] Latvia || 6% || 13% || 81%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Hungary

.svg|40px|link=Hungary

Hungary

]] Hungary || 3% || 17% || 80%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Denmark

.svg|40px|link=Denmark

Denmark

]] Denmark || 9% || 13% || 78%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Finland

.svg|40px|link=Finland

Finland

]] Finland || 10% || 14% || 76%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Luxembourg

.svg|40px|link=Luxembourg

Luxembourg

]] Luxembourg || 10% || 16% || 74%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_European Union

.svg|40px|link=European Union

European Union

]] EU28 || 10% || 17% || 73%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Germany

.svg|40px|link=Germany

Germany

]] Germany || 9% || 21% || 70%

link=Belgium Belgium Belgium || 10% || 21% || 69%
[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Spain

.svg|40px|link=Spain

Spain

]] Spain || 12% || 20% || 68%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_United Kingdom

.svg|40px|link=United Kingdom

United Kingdom

]] United Kingdom || 9% || 28% || 63%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Estonia

.svg|40px|link=Estonia

Estonia

]] Estonia || 15% || 23% || 62%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_France

.svg|40px|link=France

France

]] France || 21% || 19% || 60%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Sweden

.svg|40px|link=Sweden

Sweden

]] Sweden || 16% || 34% || 50%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Netherlands

.svg|40px|link=Netherlands

Netherlands

]] Netherlands || 11% || 41% || 48%

[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Czechia

.svg|40px|link=Czechia

Czechia

]] Czechia || 22% || 34% || 44%

Continent or not?[edit]

The definition of "continent" is actually more of a political definition than a scientific one. In most of the world, Earth is believed to have 7 continents; Asia, North American, South America, Europe, Africa, Australia and Antarctica. However, the exact border between Europe and Asia is difficult to pin down, and has varied wildly throughout history. In Eastern Europe and Russia, Europe and Asia are considered to be a single continent.[3] Similarly, Central America and the totality of the American landmass (comprised of the sub-sections South and North America) can be described as continents.

The definition of continent predates the discovery of continental plates; notably, Europe does not have a separate plate. In much the same way scientists didn't have a good definition of "planet", and when they did create one which resulted in Pluto not qualifying, geologists may one day declare Europe to not be a real continent.

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. Perhaps perceived as part of the Middle East and not Europe, it is culturally and historically similar to Greece and is a member of the European Union.
  2. Most of its modern territory is in the Middle East, but eastern Thrace with its capital Istanbul (historically known as Constantinople) is considered geographically and historically European.
  3. A small portion of which is technically in Europe, depending on who you ask.

References[edit]


Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 | Source: https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Europe
207 views | Status: cached on November 09 2025 11:16:11
↧ Download this article as ZWI file
Encyclosphere.org EncycloReader is supported by the EncyclosphereKSF