Europe encompasses an area of 10,400,000 km² (4,000,000 square miles), stretching from Asia to the Atlantic, and from Africa to the Arctic. Europe's longest river is the Volga, which meanders 3,530 km (2,193 miles) through Russia, and flows into the Caspian Sea. Eastern Europe's highest point is Russia's Mt. Elbrus, which rises to 5,642 m (18,510 feet) above sea level. Western Europe's highest point is Mont Blanc in the French-Italian Alps, which rises to 4,807 m (15,771 feet) above sea level.

Europe's climate ranges from subtropical near the Mediterranean Sea in the south, to subarctic near the Barents Sea and Arctic Ocean in the northern latitudes. There is much here for the traveller to enjoy, with a bewildering array of diversity and culture, cosmopolitan cities and spectacular scenery.

Physiographically, Europe is the northwestern constituent of the larger landmass known as Eurasia, or Africa-Eurasia: Asia occupies the eastern bulk of this continuous landmass and all share a common continental shelf. Europe's eastern frontier is now commonly delineated by the Ural Mountains in Russia. The first century AD geographer Strabo, took the Tanais River to be the boundary, as did early Judaic sources. The southeast boundary with Asia is not universally defined. Most commonly the Ural or, alternatively, the Emba River serve as possible boundaries. The boundary continues to the Caspian Sea, the crest of the Caucasus Mountains or, alternatively, the Kura River in the Caucasus, and on to the Black Sea; the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles conclude the Asian boundary. The Mediterranean Sea to the south separates Europe from Africa. The western boundary is the Atlantic Ocean; Iceland, though nearer to Greenland (North America) than mainland Europe, is generally included in Europe. There is ongoing debate on where the geographical centre of Europe is. For detailed description of the boundary between Asia and Europe see transcontinental nation.

Due to sociopolitical and cultural differences, there are various descriptions of Europe's boundary; in some sources, some territories are not included in Europe, while other sources include them. For instance, geographers from Russia and other post-Soviet states generally include the Urals in Europe while including Caucasia in Asia. Similarly, numerous geographers consider Azerbaijan's and Armenia's southern border with Iran and Turkey's southern and eastern border with Syria, Iraq and Iran as the boundary between Asia and Europe because of political and cultural reasons. Also, despite being very close to Asia, Cyprus Island is often included in Europe due the same considerations.

COUNTRIES OF EUROPE:

Name of region and territory, with flag	Area (km²)	Population (1 July, 2002 est.)	Population density (per km²)	Capital
Eastern Europe:
Belarus	207,600	10,335,382	49.8	Minsk
Bulgaria	110,910	7,621,337	68.7	Sofia
Czech Republic	78,866	10,256,760	130.1	Prague
Hungary	93,030	10,075,034	108.3	Budapest
Moldova	33,843	4,434,547	131.0	Chişinău
Poland	312,685	38,625,478	123.5	Warsaw
Romania	238,391	21,698,181	91.0	Bucharest
Russia	3,960,000	106,037,143	26.8	Moscow
Slovakia	48,845	5,422,366	111.0	Bratislava
Ukraine	603,700	48,396,470	80.2	Kiev
Northern Europe:
Åland (Finland)	1,552	26,008	16.8	Mariehamn
Denmark	43,094	5,368,854	124.6	Copenhagen
Estonia	45,226	1,415,681	31.3	Tallinn
Faroe Islands (Denmark)	1,399	46,011	32.9	Tórshavn
Finland	336,593	5,157,537	15.3	Helsinki
Guernsey	78	64,587	828.0	St Peter Port
Iceland	103,000	307,261	2.7	Reykjavík
Ireland	70,280	4,234,925	60.3	Dublin
Isle of Man	572	73,873	129.1	Douglas
Jersey	116	89,775	773.9	Saint Helier
Latvia	64,589	2,366,515	36.6	Riga
Lithuania	65,200	3,601,138	55.2	Vilnius
Norway	324,220	4,525,116	14.0	Oslo
Svalbard and Jan (Norway)	62,049	2,868	0.046	Longyearbyen
Sweden	449,964	9,090,113	19.7	Stockholm
United Kingdom	244,820	61,100,835	244.2	London
Southern Europe:
Albania	28,748	3,544,841	123.3	Tirana
Andorra	468	68,403	146.2	Andorra la Vella
Bosnia and Herzegovina	51,129	4,448,500	77.5	Sarajevo
Croatia	56,542	4,390,751	77.7	Zagreb
Gibraltar (UK)	5.9	27,714	4,697.3	Gibraltar
Greece	131,940	10,645,343	80.7	Athens
Italy	301,230	58,751,711	191.6	Rome
Macedonia	25,333	2,054,800	81.1	Skopje
Malta	316	397,499	1,257.9	Valletta
Montenegro	13,812	616,258	44.6	Podgorica
Portugal	91,568	10,084,245	110.1	Lisbon
San Marino	61	27,730	454.6	San Marino
Serbia	88,361	9,663,742	109.4	Belgrade
Slovenia	20,273	1,932,917	95.3	Ljubljana
Spain	504,851	45,061,274	89.3	Madrid
Vatican City	0.44	900	2,045.5	Vatican City
Western Europe:
Austria	83,858	8,169,929	97.4	Vienna
Belgium	30,510	10,274,595	336.8	Brussels
France	547,030	59,765,983	109.3	Paris
Germany	357,021	83,251,851	233.2	Berlin
Liechtenstein	160	32,842	205.3	Vaduz
Luxembourg	2,586	448,569	173.5	Luxembourg
Monaco	1.95	31,987	16,403.6	Monaco
Netherlands	41,526	16,318,199	393.0	Amsterdam
Switzerland	41,290	7,507,000	176.8	Bern
Central Asia:
Kazakhstan	150,000	600,000	4.0	Astana
Western Asia:
Azerbaijan	7,110	175,200	24.6	Baku
Georgia	2,000	37,520	18.8	Tbilisi
Turkey	24,378	11,044,932	453.1	Ankara
Total	10,176,246	709,608,850	69.7

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