Europe

Fun Facts

While Europe is a fairly small continent, it still has a wide variety of cultural heritage, scenery, and cuisines. Here are some fun facts about Europe:

Regions: Europe is generally divided into five regions: Northern, Southern, Central, Eastern, and Western. I’m basing this on geographical sub-divisions, and not geopolitical or linguistic regions. To read more about those regions, head to my All About Regions In Europe blog.

Countries: Well, that depends on who you ask. Generally accepted, Europe has 50 countries, but only 44 of those countries have their capital city on the European continent. That being said, almost 100 UN member states recognize Kosovo as a country, so some people say Europe has 51 countries. Only 27 countries belong to the European Union as of 2022.

Population: More than 748 million people (2022) live on the continent of Europe which means approximately 10% of the world’s population calls Europe home. Depending on who you ask, there are around 87 distinct “peoples of Europe”. 

Language: In Europe, around 94% of their population speaks an Indo-European language, including Russian, French, Italian, German, and English. Russian is the most spoken native language in Europe. 

Religion: In Europe, they primarily practice Christianity. 

Geography: Russia is the largest transcontinental country in Europe, while Vatican City is the smallest. Ukraine is the largest non-transcontinental country. Sognefjord is the largest fjord and Mount Elbrus is the tallest mountain. Lake Ladoga is the biggest lake and Vinnufossen is the tallest waterfall.