Europe
| Europe | |
|---|---|
 Location Europe | |
| Area | 10,392,855 km 2 (7%) |
| Population | 733 000 000 inhab. |
| Density | 71 inhabitants / km 2 |
| Country | 51 |
| Dependencies | 2 |
| Main languages | Albanian , German , English , Spanish , French , Greek , Hungarian , Italian , Dutch , Polish , Portuguese , Romanian , Russian , Scandinavian languages , Serbo-Croatian , Ukrainian |
| Time Zones | UTC-1 ( Azores ) UTC +5 ( Russian ) |
| More cities | List of urban areas in Europe |
change  | |
Europe is a land area that can be considered a continent in itself, but also as the western extremity of the Eurasian continent , even as a sub-parts of the super continent of Afro-Eurasia , by location of view. It is sometimes called the "Old Continent", as opposed to the " New World "(the American ). Europe is formed by the cultures of different countries with influence and a shared heritage. As such, it is a community of peoples, which tends to be politically, with the European Union , and a space civilization wrought by history millennium Etymologies Europ (in ancient Greek, Europe) would, according to Greek mythology as parents Agenor , king of Tyre , and Telephassa , who had four children: Europe being the only girl. It had three brothers: Cadmus , Phoenix and Cilix. The myth of Europe , of Cretan origin, who recites the divine abduction of Europe. This legend tells that the Phoenician princess was playing on the beach when Zeus transformed himself into a white bull to seduce and win on the island of Crete. She gave birth to three son, Minos , Rhadamanthus and Sarpedon. Zeus then married Europa Asterion , the future king of Crete, who raised the son of Zeus. According to Herodotus , it was originally the name of a continent, yet it will not address. Indeed, Europe went to Asia Minor to Crete, and Crete in Lycia. So he refused the old Cretan myth, Herodotus called Europe, which he likens in preference to Greece, as an extension in opposition to Libya , Africa, and Asia. In addition to its location, Herodotus strongly suspect the summons to the European continent the name of a Phoenician . Phoenician sailors designates the opposite banks of modern Greece and Anatolia (meaning similarly, in Greek, rising). In Greek, in a hymn to Apollo, dating from around 700 BC, Europe is still, as Ereb, just west coast of the Aegean. Greek mythology perpetuates the original Semitic word by the name of a Phoenician princess. In a geographical sense, the word meant at first the Greek mainland. The first time the word "Europe" is mentioned in the literature to describe a continent, is around 590 BC-C by Hesiod in his Theogony. Since the year 500 BC-C, its meaning includes all land north suggests a bipartition of the world at the Bosphorus , the parties in the north-west of the Strait constituting Europe, those located in the south-east of Asia. In the fourth century AD, the word " Europe "means one of the six provinces of the diocese of Thrace , and its territory is approximately equivalent to that of the current Turkish eastern Thrace. According to John Hale , the word "Europe" already existed before the sixteenth century to designate a separate continent of Africa and Asia, but it was known only to scholars. The use of the word by the people of Europe did that from the generalized sixteenth century , that is to say when the Renaissance was already well underway. However, during the Renaissance, scholars were not using the term "Europe" to describe the forma mentis she took of herself. The terrestrial boundaries of Europe have always been imprecise in their game is because there are no precise limits, relief, or sea clearly split from the Eurasian. In addition, do not confuse the concepts of territorial and geographical Europe, on the one hand, and the zone of influence of Western culture, on the other hand, these notions are primarily political (in fact some think in this regard that, like the Commonwealth UK, the EU could be defined as the extent of the Euro-Western culture throughout the world). In purely geographical vision, Europe is usually separated from the Asia 's is the mass of the Urals and the Ural River. South-east, the Caspian Sea , the mountains of Caucasus , the Black Sea and the Bosphorus Strait separating it from the Middle East. South and south-west, the Mediterranean and the Strait of Gibraltar separates Europe from the Africa. The mainland is bordered to the west by the Atlantic Ocean and north by the Arctic. Europe are considered the Iceland (geologically located on the separation between Europe and America), and the main islands of the Mediterranean: the case of Cyprus , however, is particularly subject to debate, both geographically, culturally, politically and historically. The cases of Russia and Turkey are emblematic of the gap politico-geographical. These two nations with the largest part of its territory in Asia (Russia) and Middle East (Turkey), the political does not overlap with the "plan" Geographical first. Thus, if Russia is Western in its culture, its history and part of its territory, its center of gravity makes it a quasi-continent, extending from the Pacific into Europe. The case is more complex for Turkey, the latter having much of its territory in the Middle East, and by history with a mixed culture between Western culture and the Middle East. A famous quote from Paul Valery . The anthropological Europe included not only the geographical Europe but also all the people "Caucasians" in the Mediterranean (the Middle East, North Africa). So for Mark Sauter "borders traced by the geographer and historian does not mean much ... In fact, on the anthropological, Europe extends beyond the southern seas, the Caucasus Mountains and the steppes of Russia to include all humanity. Racially, Europe, wherever the human skin is white " . Europe's climate is conditioned by his particular spread in latitude from 36 th to 71 th parallel north, over 4000 kilometers between the Scandinavian and Mediterranean areas. As a result, the temperature contrast is significant between the extreme north, annual average -5 C, and the extreme south, annual average 18 C approximately. Europe has a vast coastal area, and the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean influences contribute to moderating temperatures across much of Europe. It is located east and south of the North East Atlantic where the temperature is significantly warmed by the North Atlantic Drift. Because of its latitude, most of the continent is subject to westerly flow whose temperature has been previously softened by passing on this part of the ocean. This westerly flow is not hampered in its progress eastward due to the great wide open plains to the west in the middle of Europe. In all seasons, this flow is moderate and supportive of disturbances ensuring regular rainfall. As it progresses to the interior, this flow is influenced continental: it becomes progressively less temperate and drier, rainfall became less regular. Towards the east, high pressure winter are becoming more important, are the dam and oceanic flows are the source of very cold and dry episodes. In the north, the Scandinavian mountains obstruct the westerly winds and cause a cold continental climate in the eastern part of Scandinavia. The ocean flow is also seen its importance diminish climate in southern Europe, because of the latitude and the high pressure summer, and mountain barriers that stand consequent mostly towards the Mediterranean. All these factors explain the distribution of European climates: Excavations in recent years in Georgia and then in Bulgaria can say that the genre Homo / I> exists in Europe for about 1.5 million years. Indeed, it is likely that its representatives have populated Europe from the Caucasus following the Danube channel. Called Anteneandertal people who lived in Europe there are 800 000-400 000 years. They are particularly represented by the man Tautavel (- 450 000 years), "French is the oldest." The earliest traces of settlement Neanderthals in Europe date back 300,000 years. The human species, highly specialized, seems to have existed in Europe and the Middle East. She has gone back nearly 30,000 years. The modern man (whose African origin is the first traces back to 120,000 years in Africa ) appeared in Europe 40,000 years ago, represented notably by the Cro-Magnon. Around 6900 BC, we witness the formation of the Baltic Sea. C. 6000 BC-C: The current enters the Mediterranean Straits of Dardanelles , and that of the Bosphorus. It follows that, around 5500 BC, the formation of the Black Sea, which formerly was a freshwater lake whose level was much lower than that of the Black Sea today. Between 5500 and 4800 years BC, the first culture Indo-European is attested in the Pontic steppe north of the Black Sea : the culture of Samara. These proto-Indo-European propagate their language, their culture, their beliefs and codes throughout Europe. They are the first people to domesticate the horse, which facilitated their expansion. They originally spoke an ancient language called Indo-European by linguists and has been partially restored. That is language that comes from the vast majority of languages spoken today in Europe ( Albanians , Balts , Celts , Germans , Greeks , Latins , Slavs , Armenians ). The IVth and IIIrd millennia, civilization has developed megaliths (dolmens, menhirs). It still retains its mystery. That would be the Greeks that we owe the word Europe, attested for the first time in the sixth century BC. AD He apparently first designated for them the mainland north of the Gulf of Corinth , and the lands they gradually discovered north of the Mediterranean basin. On the shores of the Mediterranean Sea , the rise of Greece has produced what the European tradition then called the legacy of Greece to Europe, "the Greek source" for Simone Weil or the Greek miracle " all that the Greeks were barbarians, they each ended up perfect, "said Plato. Indeed, through their creations, they scored all generations including the University, the Conservatory of knowledge that goes back to Plato's Academy, with the political awakening of democracy and law, then developed the philosophy and science, literature, poetry, painting, music and all art forms. Ancient Greek civilization that lasted for 12 centuries has permanently marked the European cultures that have succeeded him. Further north are developed civilizations protohistoric , primarily Celts and Germans. The Celts originally settled on the territories of the contemporary Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic , of Austria , southern Germany, the Rhine Valley, east of France and later extends to the Great Britain, Ireland and Spain. Civilization of bronze, iron and gold, they make their funerary customs that are to cremate the bodies and keep their ashes in urns: "fields of urns. But the "Celtic Europe" is in the seventh century BC. AD overwhelmed by the Germans in Central Europe and the Romans until Hadrian's Wall in Scotland. In the early Middle Ages, their culture does not survive more than in Cornwall, Wales, Ireland, Scotland and Brittany. This culture has left its traces in attitudes, habits of mind and lifestyle. In areas unaffected by the invasions of the third to the seventh century, it has helped maintain the Christian Scholarship (Ireland). She left her epic cycles as "the cycle of Arthur in Wales, with the themes of quest and the wizard Merlin. The beginning of the Germans is to the second millennium in southern Sweden, Denmark and northern Germany between the Weser and the Oder. From the fifth century BC, they live throughout Germany and central Europe to Ukraine. They morclent into three groups: the northern , the Scandinavians, the Osique , that of the Goths , the Vandals , the Burgundians , etc.. And finally the Westiques , that of Germany, Jutland and the Netherlands. They passed an oral epic of the Nibelungs, legends of the elves and dwarves of Snow White that have fascinated and still fascinates both children and adults. Further south is that of civilization Roman , heir to the influence of Hellenism. The Romans will take in this wealth, adapt and build their turn: "The Romans were inspired by Greek texts but they have little translated. They adapt, rethink, rewrite as part of their cultural references (Remi Brague in Roman road). Horace wrote that "Greece captivated captivates her fierce conqueror and introduced the arts into the rustic Latium." The Romans were identified from the human rights with Cicero, which will own humanism, but from the divinity of the gods and Christianized with Constantine and Theodosius. The advent of Christianity and its gradual implementation of Rome throughout Europe will end the ancient paganism. The constitution of the Roman Empire marked "Rome, Athens and Jerusalem allow a European unit whose political and economic center is the Mediterranean, and whose administrative languages are Latin and Greek. The slow disintegration of this empire and its inability to resist the face of repeated incursions of the Germanic peoples cause its disintegration and collapse of its western half. Various Germanic peoples, so monopolize power in the new territorial entities with shifting boundaries, prelude to the creation of the current West European states. To the east, the Eastern Roman Empire with its capital in Constantinople , and still metamorphosis into a Christian empire of the East where people drag themselves to consider "Romans." "The Roman was also claimed by Byzantium, as a continuation of the Roman Empire, and second Rome or Franks has been a model of unity and law in the Middle Ages. A time dominated by the Roman Empire, Western Europe's first known political unit, and with Christianity, an attempt at religious unity. The slow decay of the empire left the region in the grip of disunity and the emergence of nations sometimes ephemeral, according to the successive invasions and conquests. Continuing the policy of conquest of his French predecessors, Charlemagne extended his realm. His policy of expansion joins the desire of the Roman papacy sit the Christianization of Europe and the preponderance of the Bishop of Rome against the patriarchs Coptic and Orthodox. The day of Christmas the year 800 , Charlemagne is crowned emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III in Rome in the Basilica of St. Peter. This union between religious and temporal power seeks to unite Europe under a Christian empire which recalls the unity of the Roman Empire. During his lifetime, Charlemagne called himself Europae Pater ("Father of Europe"), and sometimes vel regnum Caroli Europa (Europe, or the kingdom of Charles). The Europe of Charlemagne is the first Franco-Germanic and Christian, but the role of Rome is essentially religious, the capital of this new empire becoming Aix-la-Chapelle. The Roman Empire is a strong source of inspiration, and the Latin language is preferred. Charlemagne attempted a reunion with the Byzantine Empire about AD 800 , but it fails, and, over the centuries, relations with Constantinople deteriorate until religious schism. The Western empire disintegrated rapidly after the death of Charlemagne. In 962 , Otto I created the Holy Roman Empire , but it can not expand, constantly thwarted by the kingdoms of ancient constitution, France and England especially, by his struggles with the papacy , then Development of the Ottoman Empire during the modern era. The Byzantine Empire , Christian culture, but mainly Greek, has large fluctuations in its strength and therefore the influence of its territory. It will run at its peak over much of the Mediterranean shore, first under Justinian , then under the Macedonian emperors of the ninth to the eleventh century. The rise of Muslims , then the schism of 1054 between Catholicism and Orthodoxy - followed by a crusade led in 1202 against him - weakened the Eastern Empire. It is dismembered piece by piece by the Ottoman Empire before disappearing in the fall of Constantinople in 1453. This is the end of Christianity which, for several centuries, culturally unites most European monarchies Catholics (eg With the Crusades ), while the word disappeared from Europe about and minds. At the time of the Byzantine Empire collapsed, the Reconquista is coming to an end. 1492 is the year of Spain , with the reconquest of the kingdom last Moorish ( Granada ) in Iberian Peninsula and the first voyage of Christopher Columbus under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs will open the way for the establishment of European hegemony. The dream of a great European empire reborn in the sixteenth century , with the confrontation between Francis I and Charles V , who both compete for the throne of the Holy Roman Empire. With the support of bankers Fugger , Charles V wins, finding himself at the head of a vast field, but also very fragmented. The various wars against France and do not work for two centuries, the division of Europe will evolve in marriage alliances and wars between states. Faced with the rise to power of the Ottoman Empire a union of Christian states of Europe appears: "We want to Gades to Isler , an area between the two seas and is the very brave and powerful Europe. Here, if we unite, we would not only equal to Turkey, but above all Asia "( Luis Vives ). But this cement of Catholic Christianity, which gave a semblance of unity to this Europe, broke into pieces with the reform (or rather the Reforms), whose political impact is significant, however, allowing the formation of the United Provinces and Swiss Confederation. The religious wars , the Thirty Years War , the wars of Louis XIV punctuate the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The Treaty of Westphalia ( 1648 ) and the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659 , permanently redraw the political map of Europe and the balance of forces. The modern era is marked by a strengthening of nationalism of all kinds. It is also the time when Europe extends far from its borders by the establishment of the first colonial empires on the American continent and in India. The French Revolution inaugurated a political upheaval very important democratic ideas appear on the front of the stage and the campaigns of Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna will profoundly reshape the map of Europe and mentalities. Honor de Balzac was this statement optimistic Le Bal de Sceaux ( 1830 ): "The sixteenth century has been that religious freedom in Europe, and the nineteenth will give him political freedom . " At the end of a long process, the nineteenth century sees achieve the unity of Italy (1861-1870) and of Germany (1871), and the establishment of several new countries in the Balkans , from the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire , then known as the "sick man of Europe". It is also the emergence of new political movements advocating greater equality ( socialism ), even the dismantling of state power ( anarchisms ). These ideas will spread later, and with more or less delay, well beyond the borders of Europe. The political and economic domination of Europe over the rest of the world has emerged after she upset the economy during the industrial revolution , developing its productivity and triggering a huge explosion in population. Their technological and military in particular, enabled the European countries compete against each other to extend their hold on other continents. The settlement reached its peak in the early twentieth century (the peak ended in 1914), before the two world wars or disrupt the established order. The Second World War and the Nazi domination of Europe left bloodless. While the supremacy of Western European countries disappears in favor of two new superpowers (the United States and the Soviet Union ), the rebellions in the colonies grow, leading to the independence of many countries, especially during the third quarter the twentieth century. Meanwhile, while the surplus population of Europe was such that it constituted a reservoir of emigration mass throughout the nineteenth century and early twentieth century , the continent's countries were faced with a stabilization or even demographic regression from the First World War. This, combined with the continued development of the economy, primarily industry production and processing, provoked a call for labor that transformed Europe into a land of immigration , especially during the war boom. Meanwhile, construction of the EU creates a common market between European States and a great unity on the continent. According to historian Geert Mak there are at least four communities of culture and traditions in Europe: the Protestant North, Latin Catholic, Greek Orthodox and the Muslim Ottoman . The Council of Europe noted in 2005 that in recent decades the EU has its population growth (in whole or in part) to the immigration in the 2000s who became the first, then the only source of rising population EU total. Thus two million people emigrated to Europe in 2004, while natural increase was negative for 63 000 people. Europe is the beginning of the XXI century 's third home stand behind China and India , with population densities among the highest in the world in certain areas of the Netherlands, Belgium, United Kingdom , Germany or Italy, especially as the rural exodus has been strengthened as well as the attractiveness of coastal populations with more and more urban. In 2007, 70 million people, representing 16% of the EU population, live in coastal communities . According to the World Refugee Survey 2008 published by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, there were about 252 600 refugees and asylum seekers in Europe in late 2007. Always according to the World Refugee Survey 2008, Europe is one of ten "worst places for refugees" . These countries have developed policies and immigration agreements with countries on the periphery of Europe, leading to difficulties in entering the European territory. The European Union has established that asylum seekers must apply for asylum in the first EU country they enter, which causes most of the refugees make their application in countries like Greece, Ukraine, Poland and Slovenia, which have policies on immigration and asylum offer stricter than other European countries. Despite the tens of millions of deaths of the two world wars , Europe has experienced a period of population explosion in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, which was accompanied by strong pressure on the environment and nonrenewable resources (cf. ecological footprint , energy footprint , urban pressure, pollution , etc.).. In recent decades, Europe's population is stabilizing following a sharp decline in the birth rate, which remains still largely offset by the birth of some countries, the decline in the age at which women have their first child, and especially by legal immigration. Prospective studies for 2050 vary from one population declined by 3% (assuming an ICF up to 2.34), to -22% or -50%. Experts call this demographic reversal or demographic winter. The decrease is due to birth is a phenomenon unique to the present day world. These figures above should all be used with caution, foresight population has always been found wanting and which itself in turn affect the individual and collective behavior and policy support to the birth or immigration. For others, the population of the European Union (EU) would be 470 million people in 2050 according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ( OECD ), and 506 million in 2060 according to Eurostat. The EU population would exceed that of the United States (468 million people in 2060 by the American Center for Immigration Studies) . Geographical disparities However, the demographic situation is different for each European country. Unlike Western countries, the countries of Eastern Europe were concerned about prematurely and demographic trends from the 1960s, they implemented policies to stimulate the birth rate. However, the means used were not always consistent in terms of modern Western freedoms such as the prohibition of abortion. Measures that have produced effects though unsatisfactory. In reverse, Poland did not experience population decline of communist times but must be qualified because the influence of the Catholic church permeates Polish society and can be greater than the family policy. For Western countries, nobody ventures, including Germany, to put on the public square the evolution of the population over the long term. For those responsible, while passing through immigration policy. They do not want to touch the taboo of family policy in favor of fertility, given the weight of bad conscience for years Hitler. The demographic situation in Europe worse yet: an annual report on the demographic situation of member countries once asked by the EC authorities had been abandoned since 2000, now replaced by a "social report" in which we communicate about unemployment and poverty without ever touching the demographic dimension. In other words, the EU undertakes to see the demographics of its member countries . Population growth has generally continued for the 27 Member States of the European Union, but the population decreases already in Russia, Ukraine and Romania (247,000 people in total for these countries in 2004). This demographic decline seems more and faster in the former Eastern European countries, in some countries where poverty and increasing inequalities following the collapse of communism, and also in areas affected by the Chernobyl disaster ( of Belarus , which received about 70% of the benefits of iodine and cesium radioactive for 20 years and has the highest abortion rates and rates of child abandonment is high). With more than 720 or 980 million people and over a small area for an average of one language for 4.3 million people, Europe has a rich ethnocultural and a plurality of languages. Cultures Germanic, Slavic, Latin and Finno-Ugric resulted in the diversity of languages spoken: 128 languages and dialects have roots Indo-European , Latin and Greek south, Germanic north and north-west Slavic at the Eastern and Central Europe, only the group of Finno-Ugric (Finnish grouping, Estonian and Hungarian) and the Basque language are not part of Indo-European. Administratively, German, English, Russian, French and Italian dominate but Europe is linguistically much richer since the 50 European states (all sovereigns except Gibraltar) the large geographical Europe account for 35 languages enriched by 225 secondary languages unofficial. So much so, Umberto Eco said: "The language of Europe is translation. These earlier figures may seem high, but it represents only 3% of total foreign languages still spoken on the planet. In Western Europe (France, Spain, United Kingdom, Italy, etc..) Vernacular languages are often regional and very small minority, sometimes to the brink of extinction, but some ( Breton , Basque , Flemish , the latter being a dialect of Dutch , are recognized and taught in France, not the university, but sometimes in childhood: Diwan schools in Brittany). In Spain, where Basque, Catalan and Galician. For the United Kingdom, the Welsh , the Scottish and Irish. French is recognized in Italy in the Valle d'Aosta, as are the Faroese in the Faroe Islands, or Frisian in the Netherlands, etc.. One language is officially spoken in only 3 small states: Iceland (where they speak Icelandic ), Liechtenstein (where they speak German ) and the Republic of San Marino (where they speak Italian ). The State of the Vatican (the smallest EU state) is a special case: Italian is the lingua franca, the Latin (which is considered a dead language) is the legal language, French is the language of diplomacy ( The Vatican is registered as French State to international organizations), and German is the language used in the army (the Swiss Guard ). Other states have several all vernacular languages as dialects as separate languages (more or less recognized and often not taught) and to over 10 for Germany (21 languages), Azerbaijan (13), Bulgaria (11), Spain (14), France (25), Italy (33), Romania (14), the United Kingdom (12). The vast Russia alone accounts for 43 languages (with official status) on its territory. Some regional languages without official status (although sometimes doubling or common names of streets) persist and are sometimes protected and taught, often with the support of local or regional (Breton, Corsican , Occitan in France, Sardinia Italy Sami in Scandinavia). Writing systems in Europe based on the Latin alphabet (in various versions), the Greek alphabet, the Cyrillic alphabet (in various versions). The dream of a common language in Europe, as Ursprache or Esperanto , did not materialize during the twentieth century. The original languages of host countries plus the mother tongues of people circulating ( Roma ), migrants or refugees, and especially the Arab , the Berber , the Turkish , the Hindi , etc.. There are also mixtures that are born in the suburbs of the continent or in the overseas territories ( Creole ), adaptations ( slang ), language-specific trades ( louchebem ) or including virtual communities on the Internet . Europe was once the ancient with Galen the initiator of the creation of so-called artificial languages. These languages were a real object of study from the Renaissance (with the notable exception of the language of Hildegard of Bingen , which was created in the Middle Ages) which is known from the time an explosion in the number of projects to create a language of international communication assistant the best known, the Esperanto , created in 1880, is still Religions Of a total population of about 730 million, Europe has about 269 million Catholics (37%), 171 million Orthodox (23%), 107 million Protestants (15%) and 53 million Muslims (7% ) . The Christianity is the religion dominant in Europe and is divided into three major faiths ( Protestantism , Orthodoxy and Catholicism ), geographically distributed as follows: Catholics are the majority in 23 countries, 10 countries in Orthodox, Protestants in 9 countries, Muslims 2 countries (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania), and also in the European part of Turkey with Istanbul. Countries that have all or part of their territory in Europe or are culturally linked to Europe (according to the geographical limits defined above) are in number 51: Albania , Germany , Andorra , Austria , Belgium , Belarus , Bosnia-Herzegovina , Bulgaria , Croatia , Denmark , Spain , Estonia , Finland , France , Greece , Hungary , Ireland , Iceland , Italy , Kosovo , Latvia , Liechtenstein , Lithuania , Luxembourg , Macedonia , Malta , Moldova , Monaco , Montenegro , Norway , Netherlands , Poland , Portugal , Czech Republic , Romania , United Kingdom , San Marino , Serbia , Slovakia , Slovenia , Sweden , Switzerland , Ukraine and Vatican. Azerbaijan , Georgia , Kazakhstan , Russia and Turkey. In 2010, he has 28 territories and regions overseas integral part of the EU or associated with 6 EU Member States (Denmark, France, Netherlands, Portugal and United Kingdom). They are grouped into seven outermost regions (ORs 7): Azores, Canary Islands, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Madeira, Martinique, Reunion. The number of European States, which amounted to more than three cents in 1789 , was still about sixty in 1815 , following the Congress of Vienna. After the unification of Italy and Germany, this number had fallen to 19 in 1871 (20 with Turkey , which still controlled most of the Balkan Peninsula). He went to 22 in 1878 , when the Berlin Congress recognized the independence of Romania , of Serbia and Montenegro. Then it added Norway ( 1905 ), the Bulgaria ( 1908 ) and Albania ( 1912 ). In 1914 , Europe had 25 states therefore generally recognized as independent, not including the Holy See , the Order of Malta and the neutral territory of Moresnet: Albania , Germany , Andorra , Austria - Hungary , Belgium , Bulgaria , Denmark , Spain , France , Greece , Italy , Liechtenstein , Luxembourg , Monaco , Montenegro , Norway , Netherlands , Portugal , Romania , United Kingdom , Russia , San Marino , Serbia , Sweden , Switzerland. At the end of 1945 , that number had increased to 31 States: Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Eire , Spain, Finland , France, Greece, Hungary, Iceland , Italy, Liechtenstein , Luxembourg, Monaco, Norway, Netherlands, Poland , Portugal, Romania, United Kingdom, San Marino, Sweden, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia , USSR , Vatican City , Yugoslavia. Among the many states that experienced an ephemeral existence in the aftermath of two world wars include the autonomous republics of the Rhineland and the Palatinate (1923/1924), the free cities of Danzig ( 1 920 / 1 939 ), of Fiume ( 1920 / one thousand nine hundred and twenty-four ), of Memel ( 1.92 thousand / one thousand nine hundred and twenty-three ) and Trieste ( 1 947 / 1954 ), and the territory of the Saar , which enjoyed a special status for 1920 to 1935 and from 1947 to 1957. The number of European states appeared to stabilize at 34 with the independence of Cyprus ( 1960 ) and Malta ( 1964 ). He was to remain at that level until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. After the reunification of Germany and the breakup of the former federations Communists ( USSR , Yugoslavia , Czechoslovakia ), then with the separation of Serbia and Montenegro , the number of European states formally recognized as independent was 45 in 2006 (or 50 if one includes Turkey , the Armenian , the Azerbaijani , the Georgia and Kazakhstan ). He even reach their sixties if we took into account the many countries or territories whose status is disputed ( Abkhazia , Northern Cyprus , Nagorno-Karabakh , Kosovo , South Ossetia , Saugeais , Sealand , Seborga , Chechnya , Transnistria ). .. Moreover, Israel is part of many cultural and sports associations European ( UEFA example). The Algeria , the Egypt , Israel , the Lebanon , the Libyan , on Morocco , the Syria and Tunisia are part of the European Union Broadcasting. Morocco has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1980 and Israel has participated since 1973. Thus, for Pierre Beckouche , Europe is already involved in a wide range macro-regional level, called " Euro-Mediterranean ", which runs from Russia to Morocco through the Middle East and is crossed economic flows, migration and cultural imagined more intense . Europe has never been total political unity. Some periods of varying duration were however marked by the domination of a vast part of the mainland by a single power, which has generally imposed by force. It was as if the Roman Empire , the Carolingian Empire , the Napoleonic Empire and the Third Reich. Some royal families have also, through dynastic relations, governed a large number of European countries, foremost among them the family of Habsburg . Victor Hugo , centuries after Andrs Laguna de Segovia , which, he lamented the poor battered and torn Europe, already in 1543 , has often dreamed that one day exist the United States of Europe , being the counterpart to the U.S. USA. His speech on 21 August 1849 , at the opening of the Peace Congress in Paris , is famous. He evokes a Europe finally at peace, united under one government. Following the History proved that it was a prophetic vision ahead of his time with the 1870 war and both world wars. But the European mysticism was quickly revived after the First World War who undertook to demonstrate, if necessary, to a large number of intellectuals how the war was absurd. Only a united Europe could avoid a return to horror. Aware of the decline of the latter facing America ( Demangeon - 1920), they seek the surest way to unify the continent. Cultural heritage Greek, Roman law and Christian unity are designed by Paul Valry as the three pillars of Europe, during a lecture at the University of Zurich the different nations (one of the first members its movement is the youngest mayor of Cologne , Konrad Adenauer ). It is also supported by Louis Loucheur and Aristide Briand (who is also honorary president of the movement), but overall policies do not follow and is sometimes suspected of working for Germany. Whatever the movement Pan-Europe is founded and survives to this day (A member of the family of Habsburg is today the president). The same Aristide Briand , then President of the Council , may rely on this motion calling for the creation of a "sort of federal link" before the assembly of the League of Nations (SDN) in 1929. May 1,1930 , in accordance with the governing bodies of the League , he must give the other EU governments a memorandum on the organization of a system of European Federal Union. " He met with a polite refusal: it is a failure. The crisis and the rise of totalitarianism gradually stifles any hope of building Europe. The Nazi Germany sees a vision of Europe as the Pan-German , racist and centered around a greater Germany. Europe is no longer a reservoir of raw materials and labor, for feeding the Nazi war machine. But the resistance also think Europe, and while it pursues the inner struggle across Europe against fascism and Nazism, its most prominent members meet to draw the outline of a Europe post-World War II . After the war Churchill in turn calls its desire for European unity and create a movement that merged shortly afterwards with that of Coudenhove-Kalergi. Faced with what is perceived as the danger Soviet , the U.S. launched a vast program to rebuild Europe with the Marshall Plan. It determines the formation of a Europe built on financial concerted monetary policy (creation of the OEEC - Organisation for European Economic Cooperation). We must now wait for the Schuman Declaration of 9 May 1950 to witness the revival of the old project of European union, this time launched by step, starting with one of the leading economic sectors for the French and the Germans, the coal mining and steel industries. By placing these productions under the guidance of a High Authority is the consent of a careful but definitive abandonment of sovereignty that is reflected. The ECSC (European Coal and Steel Community) was born on 1 April 1951 by signing the Treaty of Paris , she met six European countries: the Luxembourg , the Belgium , the Netherlands , the Italy , the FRG and France. The UK will join in 1954. Europe is running . Since the second half of the twentieth century , a movement for political union is under construction, with its unique setting up peaceful and democratic. The current form of this new power what the EU is not yet arrested today and leave a big political freedom to the member countries, more and more numerous. The European Union comprises 27 Member States, including 16 belonging to the eurozone. With Asia, Europe is the continent with the most monarchies (a monarchy for three republics), the European monarchies today are all parliamentary, the rulers have mostly a symbolic role or not decisive political role: they are the prime ministers or heads of government from a parliamentary majority, which are invested with real political power. Administrative structures of Europe Europe, or more specifically the European Union, is the most important poles of the Triad ( U.S. , EU and Japan ). These centers centralize 70% of wealth for 14% of the population. Europe includes several biogeographical zones a variety of ecosystems and seascapes which have often been exploited intensively, fragmented and polluted. Biodiversity that is the subject devaluations is periodic overall decline. Europe has been driving for many member states in Environmental Law including guidelines Habitats and Birds , although some member states (including France) have belatedly and incompletely applied. A framework directive on water is being implemented, guidelines on the ground and the sea are planned, and 1 January 2005 came into force the new European standard for limiting air pollution : agglomerations 250 000 inhabitants of the European Union must not exceed certain limits: 50 micrograms (0.05 mg) of particles per cubic meter of air temperature should be the maximum threshold for 35 days per year , and average annual should not go above 40 micrograms. However, anti-pollution standards already in place were not already met: in 2002 , 11 out of 15 exceeded the permissible margin. Since 1996, the Council of Europe calls on states to build together a European Ecological Network , and they must apply, as all communities Directive 2003 / 4 on public access to information in environmental matters, the INSPIRE (Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe). A future European network of observational data and monitoring (EMODNET / European Monitoring Observation. Data Network) is under construction. To measure the state of the environment, pressures and responses, the EU has adopted a European Environment Agency (EEA) who is now applying the methodology LEAC (Land and Ecosystem Accounting - Accounting of ecosystem and planning). Corine Landcover the system and allow other to harmonize European maps of environmental data. The cultural tourism is a unique place in Europe, it is a key to the future to ensure a powerful attractive force for Europe. It mainly affects the hearing of museums, monuments and cultural events. And gives rise to displacements holidaymakers. Therefore, it is a mine of considerable revenue for European countries. Tourism activity was significantly enhanced over the past twenty years, and modes of access have changed a lot of tourists. Foreign tourism in France is a vivid illustration. History: Maps: 
The abduction of the nymph Europe by Zeus as a bull is a myth, that will name a continent and peoples.
Another tradition in Europe would be the sister of Libya.
On the other hand, in Greek mythology, several Europe are known: Geography of Europe
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