Geography of Europe

Satellite image of Europe by night

1916 physical map of Europe

Some geographical texts refer to a Eurasian continent given that Europe is not surrounded by sea and its southeastern border has always been variously defined for centuries.

In terms of shape, Europe is a collection of connected peninsulas and nearby islands. The two largest peninsulas are mainland Europe and Scandinavia to the north, divided from each other by the Baltic Sea. Three smaller peninsulas—Iberia, Italy, and the Balkans—emerge from the southern margin of the mainland. The Balkan peninsula is separated from Asia by the Black and Aegean Seas. Italy is separated from the Balkans by the Adriatic Sea, and from Iberia by the Mediterranean Sea, which also separates Europe from Africa. Eastward, mainland Europe widens much like the mouth of a funnel, until the boundary with Asia is reached at the Ural Mountains and Ural River, the Caspian Sea, and the Caucasus Mountains.

Land relief in Europe shows great variation within relatively small areas. The southern regions are 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. An arc of uplands also exists along the northwestern seaboard, beginning in southwestern Ireland, continuing across through western and northern Great Britain, and up along the mountainous, fjord-cut spine of Norway.

This description is simplified. Sub-regions such as Iberia and Italy contain their own complex features, as does mainland Europe itself, where the relief contains many plateaus, river valleys, and basins that complicate the general trend. Iceland and the British Isles are special cases. The former is of North Atlantic volcanic formation, while the latter consist of upland areas once joined to the mainland until cut off by rising sea levels.

The coast of Europe is heavily indented with bays and gulfs, as here in Greece.

Europe's most significant geological feature is the dichotomy between the highlands and mountains of Southern Europe and a vast, partially underwater, northern plain ranging from Great Britain in the west to the Ural Mountains in the east. These two halves are separated by the mountain chains of the Pyrenees and the Alps/Carpathians. The northern plains are delimited in the west by the Scandinavian mountains and the mountainous parts of the British Isles. The major shallow water bodies submerging parts of the northern plains are the Celtic Sea, the North Sea, the Baltic Sea complex, and the Barents Sea.

The northern plain contains the old geological continent of Baltica, and so may be regarded as the "main continent", while peripheral highlands and mountainous regions in south and west constitute fragments from various other geological continents.

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.

Figures for the population of Europe vary according to which definition of European boundaries is used. The population within the standard physical geographical boundaries was 701 million in 2005 according to the United Nations. In 2000 the population was 857 million, using a definition which includes the whole of the transcontinental countries of Russia and Turkey. Population growth is comparatively slow, and median age comparatively high in relation to the world's other continents.

The Volga, the longest river in Europe, in Saratov Oblast, Russia.

The Danube, Europe's second-longest river, in Budapest, Hungary.

The most important rivers in Europe are Danube, Volga, Rhine, Elbe, Oder and Dnieper, among others.

Iceland, Faroe Islands, Great Britain, Ireland, Balearic Islands, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Malta, Cyprus (adjacent to Asia), Ionian Islands, Crete, Aegean Islands, Åland Islands, Gotland, Saaremaa, Svalbard, Hinnøya, Senja, Zealand, Fyn and North Jutlandic Island.

See also List of European islands by area and List of European islands by population

View across the Bulgarian section of the Lower Danubian Plain towards the central Balkan Mountains 90 km away

• Great European Plain, the largest landscape feature of Europe
  • East European Plain
    • Lower Danubian Plain, between Balkan Mountains and Southern Carpathians
      • Danubian Plain (Bulgaria)
      • Wallachian Plain
  • North European Plain
    • North German Plain (German section)
  • Beauce, France
• Baetic Depression (Andalusian Plain), between Sierra Morena and Baetic System
• British Lowlands
• Central Swedish lowland
• Ebro Basin (Ebro Depression), between Pyrenees and Sistema Ibérico
• Meseta Central is a high plain plateau in central Spain (occupies roughly 40% of the country), between Cantabrian Mountains and Sistema Central
• Pannonian Plain, between Alps, Dinaric Mountains and Carpathian Mountains
• Po Valley, also known as Padan Plain, between Alps and Apennines
• Swiss Central Plateau, between the Jura Mountains and Swiss Alps
• Upper Rhine Plain, between Vosges Mountains and Black Forest Mountains
• Upper Thracian Plain, between Balkan Mountains (Sredna Gora) and Rila-Rhodope massif
• Other European coastal plains

Mount Elbrus, located in Russia, is the highest mountain in Europe.

Some of Europe's major mountain ranges are:

• Alps, in Central Western Europe
  • Western Alps
  • Eastern Alps
  • Southern Alps
  • Northern Alps
• Apennines, which run through Italy
• Baetic System, Spain, Iberian Peninsula

Musala, highest peak of the Balkans seen from Yastrebets. The chalet Musala and the Everest shelter can be seen as well.

• Balkan Mountains, mainly Bulgaria, central Balkan Peninsula
  • Sredna Gora Mountain range in central Bulgaria, situated south of and parallel to the Balkan Mountains
• Bohemian and other Variscan massifs (pre-Alpine mountain ranges) - Jura Mountains, Vosges, Palatinate Forest, Black Forest, Ore Mountains, Sudetes
• Cantabrian Mountains, which run across northern Spain
• Carpathian Mountains, a major mountain range in Central and Southern Europe
  • Southern Carpathians, Romania
  • Tatra Mountains, Slovakia and Poland
• Caucasus Mountains, which also separate Europe and Asia
• Crimean Mountains

Maja Jezercë in Albania at 2,694m high is the highest peak of the Dinaric Alps.

• Dinaric Alps, a mountain range in the Balkans
• Pindus Mountains, Albania and Greece
• Pyrenees, the natural border between France and Spain
• Rila-Rhodope mountain system composed by massifs, including Pirin Mountain and Osogovo-Belasitsa mountain chain, mainly Bulgaria
• Šar-Korab-Jakupica-Baba-Kajmakčalan-Olympus, Albania, Northern Macedonia and Greece[7]
• Scandinavian Mountains, a mountain range which runs through the Scandinavian Peninsula, includes the Kjølen mountains
• Scottish Highlands (including the Cairngorms) in the United Kingdom.
• Sierra Morena, Spain
• Sistema Ibérico, Spain
• Sistema Central, Spain
• Ural Mountains, which form the boundary between Europe and Asia

Land area in different classes of European mountainous terrain (classification from UNEP-WCMC):

Mount Olympus, legendary abode of the Greek gods.

The high mountainous areas of Europe are colder and have higher precipitation than lower areas, as is true of mountainous areas in general. Europe has less precipitation in the east than in central and western Europe. The temperature difference between summer and winter gradually increases from coastal northwest Europe to southeast inland Europe, ranging from Ireland, with a temperature difference of only 10 °C from the warmest to the coldest month, to the area north of the Caspian Sea, with a temperature difference of 40 °C. January average range from 13 °C in southern Spain and southern Greek islands to -20 °C in the northeastern part of European Russia. Desert climates are found in the European portion of Kazakhstan and South Eastern Spain.

Western Europe and parts of Central Europe generally fall into the temperate maritime climate (Cfb), the southern part is mostly a Mediterranean climate (mostly Csa, smaller area with Csb), the north-central part and east into central Russia is mostly a humid continental climate (Dfb) and the northern part of the continent is a subarctic climate (Dfc). In the extreme northern part (northernmost Russia; Svalbard), bordering the Arctic Ocean, is tundra climate (Et). Mountain ranges, such as the Alps and the Carpathian mountains, have a highland climate with large variations according to altitude and latitude.

The landlocked countries in Europe are: Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, Liechtenstein (which is doubly landlocked), Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Moldova, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Vatican City

Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, and North Macedonia constitute a contiguous landlocked agglomeration of eight countries in Central Europe and the Balkans, stretching from Geneva all the way to Skopje. The other landlocked countries are "standalone" landlocked, not bordering any other such European one (the emphasis is necessary, since Kazakhstan borders Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan, thus forming a vast landlocked expanse in Central Asia)

• Cyprus
• Iceland
• Ireland
• Malta
• United Kingdom

• Andorra
• Gibraltar
• Luxembourg
• Monaco
• San Marino
• Vatican City

Country	Capital	Largest city or municipality
Liechtenstein	Vaduz	Schaan
Malta	Valletta	Birkirkara
San Marino	City of San Marino	Serravalle
Switzerland	Bern	Zurich
Turkey	Ankara	Istanbul

Note: Italy's capital, Rome, is the country's largest city if only the municipality (comune) is considered. Greater Milan is the largest Metropolitan Area in Italy.

Brussels is considered to be the largest city of Belgium, according to the population of the Brussels-Capital Region. The population of the City of Brussels is ~175,000. Antwerp is the biggest city of the country.

• Regions of Europe
• European grid
• European Union
• Western Europe
• Central Europe
• Eastern Europe
• Northern Europe
• Southern Europe
• Southeast Europe
• Extreme points of Europe
• Intermediate Region
• Extreme points of the European Union
• List of European ultra-prominent peaks
• List of the highest European ultra-prominent peaks
• List of mountain ranges
• Southernmost glacial mass in Europe
• Countries bordering the European Union
• Extreme points of Eurasia
• Extreme points of Afro-Eurasia
• Geography of the European Union
• Special member state territories and the European Union
• Age of Discovery
• Explorers of Russia

• Media related to Geography of Europe at Wikimedia Commons