Zoology.— As regards animals the reindeer and polar bears are peculiar to the north. In the forests of Poland and Lithuania the urus, a species of wild ox, is still occasionally met with. Bears and wolves still inhabit the forests and mountains; but, in general, cultivation and population have expelled wild animals. The do mesticated animals are nearly the same through out. The ass and mule lose their size and beauty north of the Pyrenees and Alps. The Mediter ranean Sea has many species of fish, but no great fishery; the northern seas, on the other hand, are annually filled with countless shoals of a few species, chiefly the herring, mackerel, cod and salmon.
Inhabitants.— Europe is occupied by several different peoples or races, in many parts now greatly intermingled. The Celts once possessed the west of Europe from the Alps to the British Islands. But the Celtic nationalities were broken by the wave of Roman conquest, and the succeeding invasions of the Germanic tribes completed their political ruin. At the present day the Celtic language is spoken only in the Scotch highlands (Gaelic), in some parts of Ireland (Irish), in Wales (Cymric) and in Brittany (Armorican). Next to the Celtic comes the Teutonic race, comprehending the Germanic and Scandinavian branches. The former includes the Germans, the Dutch and the English. The Scandinavians are divided into Danes, Swedes and Norwegians. To the east, in general, of the Teutonic race, though sometimes mixed with it, come the Slavonians, that is, the Russians, the Poles, the Czechs or Bohemians, the Serbians, Croatians, etc. In the south and southeast of Europe are the Greek and Latin peoples, the latter comprising the Ital ians, French, Spanish and Portuguese. All these peoples are regarded as belonging to the Indo-European or Aryan stock. To the Mon golian stock belong the Turks, Finns, Lapps and Magyars or Hungarians, all immigrants into Europe in comparatively recent times. The
Basques at the western extremity of the Pyre nees are a people whose affinities have not yet been determined. The total population of Europe is about 425,000,000; nine-tenths speak the languages of the Indo-European family, the Teutonic group numbering about 108,000,000, the Slavonic and Latin over 95,000,000 each. The prevailing religion is the Christian, em bracing the Roman Catholic Church, the various Protestant bodies and the Greek Church. A part of the inhabitants profess the Jewish, a part the Mohammedan religion.
Political Divisions.— The states of Europe, with their respective areas and populations, are as shown below.
Area and Population.— The following table shows the countries with their government, area and population according to The Statesman's Year Book) (1916).
Bibliography.—Adams, (European History) (1899); Allison, (History of Europe) (1853); Bryce, (The Holy Roman Empire) (1877); Duruy (General History) (1898) ; Dyer,