EUROPE, the smallest, but also the most highly civilized and most populous of the three great divisions of the old continent. It is separated from America on the w. and n.w. by the Atlantic; from Africa on the s. by the Mediterranean; and from Asia by the archipelago, sea of Marmora, Black sea, Caucasian ridge, Caspian sea, Ural river and mountains, and the Kara river. It is in the form of a huge peninsula, projecting from the n.w. of Asia. Its extent from cape St. Vincent on the s.w. to the mouth of the Kara river on the n.e. is 3,400 m. ; and from cape Nordkun, the most northerly point of the Scandinavian mainland, to cape Matapan, the southmost point of Greece, 2,400 miles. The continent of E., irrespective of islands, lies within lat. 36° 1' to 71° 6' n., and long. 9° 30' w. to 68° 30' east. Its area is estimated at rather more than 3,720,000 sq.m.; and its coast-line, more extensive iu proportion to its size than that of any other great natural division of the globe, is estimated at 19,500 in.; giving a proportion of 1 linear m. of coast for every 190 sq.m of surface. It has a pop. of 299,000,000, which gives an average of about 80 for every sq. mile.
The body of the European continent divides itself naturally into two great portions —the great plain in the n.e., and the highlands in the s.w., the mountainous peninsula of Scandinavia, lying, as it were, apart from either, being to some extent exceptional. The plain occupies about two thirds (2,500,000 sq.m.) of the entire extent of the con tinent. It reaches from the eastern boundary of E., n. to the shores of the Arctic ocean, s. to mount Caucasus and the Black sea, and westward over the whole extent of the continent; gradually, however, becoming narrower in its progress west. In shape, this plain resembles a triangle; its base rests on the eastern boundary, and it may be said to reach its apex on the shores of Holland. It separates the two mountain sys tems of E.—the Scandinavian system (see SCANDINAVIA) on the n., and on the s. the system of southern Europe. See ALPS, APENNINES, BALKAN, CARPATHIAN MOUNTAINS, CEVENNES, PYRENEES, eIe.
Jutting out in numerous peninsulas, and indented by extensive bays and gulfs, E. has no town at a much greater distance from the sea than 400 m., save those in the center of the eastern plain; but even here, by means of numberless rivers and the canals, which, from the nature of the country, are easily constructed and maintained, a splendid system of communication by water now exists. See VOLGA, DUNA, DNIEPER, NIEMEN, etc. Also RUSSIA.
As the details of the geography of E. are given under the names of its several politi cal divisions, and of its lakes, rivers, etc., little falls to he said under the present head. On the opposite page, however, is a table of the countries of E., with their extent, etc.
Geology.—The geology of E. is most conveniently considered under the different countries. See also ALPS, PYRENEES, etc.
Natural History. —The natural history of E. very much agrees with that of the cor responding latitudes of Asia. The natural history of the European countries on the Mediterranean sea is very similar to that of Syria and of Asia Minor. The natural his tory of the more northern regions of E. resembles that of the great plains of Central Asia and Siberia. The most northern regions have the strictly arctic flora and fauna common in a great measure to all the arctic and subarctic regions; whilst the natural history of the most southern countries assumes a subtropical character. The European countries near the Mediterranean produce fewer of the shrubby and odoriferous labiate than the Caucasus and adjoining regions, whilst the caryophyllacece are more abundant. The extreme abundance of cistacete is a peculiar feature of the flora of Spain and Portu gal. The primulace,ce are particularly plentiful in all the alpine regions of the s. of E., but this characteristic is in some measure shared by the Himalaya. In no other part of the world do umbelliferous and cruciferous plants plants form so large a proportion of the flora as in Europe.