1. The EU’s Europe Day should not be confused with the Europe Day of the Council of Europe, which falls on May 5.

2. Europe is named after the Phoenician princess Europa of Greek myth who was seduced by Zeus disguised as a bull.

3. Europa climbed on to his back and he carried her off into the sea and took her to Crete.

4. Europe covers 3.93 million square miles, which is roughly eight per cent of the Earth's surface.

5. The whole of Europe is only two per cent larger in area than Canada.

6. Britain became an offshore island of Europe only 10,000 years ago when the North Sea formed.

7. About 733 million people, which is 11 per cent of the world’s population, live in Europe.

8. It has been estimated that one in 10 Europeans is conceived in an Ikea bed.

9. The largest country entirely in Europe is Ukraine.

10. Geographically, Europe is not a continent. Its boundary with Asia was a Greek idea to name the two sides of the Hellespont (now the Dardanelles).

EUROPE GEOGRAPHY FACTS:

For additional geography details please use the yellow navigation bar at the top of this page. Note that some stats shown below are found in European Russia, even though that landmass is geographically considered a part of Russia, an Asian country.

Ukraine  is Europe's largest country The Vatican  is Europe's smallest country Germany  is Europe's largest country by population The Vatican  is Europe's smallest country by population Europe's highest point is Mt. Elbrus in Russia Europe's lowest point is the Caspian Sea bordering Russia

(If European Russian is excluded, the highest and lowest stats shown below apply to continental western Europe) 

Europe's highest point is Mt. Blanc in France and Italy Europe's lowest point is Lemmefjord in Denmark

2. The Longest Names

Prepare yourself for some of the longest names officially recognized. It is hard to

beat

Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokai

whenuakitanatahu, the M?ori name for a hill in New Zealand, but let’s give it a

try.

A village in Wales, United Kingdom contains 58 letters and is the longest

European one-word place-name.

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch means “Saint

Mary’s Church in the hollow of the white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the

Church of St. Tysilio of the red cave.” The shorter version of this name is

Llanfairpwllgwyngyll.

Check out these other unusually long names: Äteritsiputeritsipuolilautatsijänkä,

located in Finland, Siemieniakowszczyzna in Poland and Newtownmountkennedy

in Ireland.

According to ancient Greek mythology, Europa was a beautiful Phoenician

princess. She was the daughter of Agenor, king of Tyre. Zeus felt in love with

Europa, so he decided to appear in front of her as a magnificent white bull to

gain her trust. Zeus’s power of metamorphosis is a key element in Greek

mythology.

The princess climbed on the bull’s back and was immediately carried to Crete,

where Zeus revealed himself to Europa in all his glory. The king of Gods and

Europa had three children – Sarpedon, Minos and Rhadamanthys.

Etymologically speaking, the word Europe comes from ancient Greek and means

broad, wide-gazing, broad of aspect.