Geography

Europe is one of seven continents. It is the second smallest continent in size with only Oceania being smaller. Europe is a large peninsula that extends westerly out from the Eurasia super-continent land mass. Through the centuries the boundaries have shifted, that define Europe from Asia. Unlike other continents, mountains and rivers have been used to define the European-Asia boarders and Europe can be described as a sub-continent. Today it is excepted that the Ural Mountains and Ural river to the Caspian Sea define the border on the east. On the south the watershed of the Caucasus mountains from the Caspian to the Black Sea and through the Bosporus Strait to the Aegean Sea. On the south the Mediterranean Sea defines it from Africa west to the Atlantic Ocean. On the west the Atlantic Ocean forms a natural boundary as the Arctic Ocean does on the the north.

Europe is actually a collection of peninsulas with the two primary ones being the Fennoscandia in the north separated from the main European peninsula by the Baltic Sea in the south. The Fennoscandia has two major peninsulas, the Scandinavian and Kola. It is bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the west by the Atlantic Ocean and on the east by the White sea, gulf of Finland and Russia. 

The primary European peninsula is bounded on the north by the Baltic Sea, on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, on the east by the Ural mountains and in the south the Mediterranean Sea separates it from Africa. The European peninsula has three major peninsulas extending for it, Iberia, Italy and the Balkan. Even these peninsulas have smaller ones that form the geographical shape of Europe.

Some part of Europe’s natural geography should be on everyone’s list to see when visiting. The majestic Alps, with their towering peaks and alpine valleys. Serene coastlines with villages hugging the cliffs and the surf of a sea smashing against the rocks. The wandering rivers with its slopes of vineyards and castles. Islands know for their beauty and many know for beaches to bask in the sun. View more information about these natural destinations at our Natural Sights pages for Mountains-Glaciers-Valleys, Rivers- Lakes – Waterfalls and Seas – Coasts – Islands pages.

This extraordinary shape of seas and land allowed early civilizations easy navigation between one settlement and others, allowing for easier communication and trade which spurred growth over the continent between its peoples. It isn’t surprising that over the centuries, ethnic peoples from the east in Asia, migrated west to the European continent.

Listed below is the total land area for European countries and dependents . You may sort the table below by alpha country name, size or rank. Source: Central Intelligence Agency 2017.

	Country	Land Area (km2)	Land (mi2)	Eur. Rank	World Rank	Water Area (km2)
	Europe only Russia	(3,992,500)	(1542512)
	Turkey	769,632	297,157	2	37	18,170
	Ukraine	579,330	223,680	4	46	24,200
	Isle of Man	572	221	43		0
	France	549,970	212,344	3	43	1,530
	Spain	498,980	192,657	5	52	6,390
	Andorra	468	181	44	196	0
	Sweden	410,335	158,431	6	56	39,960
	Jan Mayen	377	146	45		0
	Germany	348,672	134,623	7	63	8,350
	Malta	316	122	46	208	0
	Norway	304,282	117,483	9	68	19,520
	Poland	304,255	117,473	10	70	8,430
	Finland	303,815	117,303	8	65	34,330
	Italy	294,140	113,568	11	72	7,200
	United Kingdom	241,930	93,409	12	80	1,680
	Romania	238,391	92,043	13	83	8,500
	Belarus	207,600	80,154	14	86	4,700
	Liechtenstein	160	62	47	219	0
	Greece	131,957	50,948	15	97	1,310
	Jersey	116	45	48		0
	Bulgaria	110,879	42,810	16	105	2,390
	Iceland	103,000	39,768	17	108	2,750
	Hungary	93,028	35,918	18	110	3,420
	Portugal	92,090	35,556	19	111	620
	Austria	83,871	32,382	20	114	1,426
	Czechia	78,876	30,454	21	116	1,620
	Guernsey	78	30	49		0
	Serbia	77,474	29,912	22	117	0
	Ireland	70,273	27,132	23	120	1,390
	Lithuania	65,300	25,212	24	123	2,620
	Latvia	64,589	24,937	25	124	2,340
	Svalbard	61,022	23,561	26
	San Marino	61	24	50	229	0
	Croatia	56,594	21,851	26	127	620
	Bosnia & Herzegovina	51,197	19,767	27	129	10
	Slovakia	49,035	18,932	28	131	930
	Estonia	45,228	17,462	29	133	2,840
	Denmark	43,094	16,638	30	134	660
	Netherlands	41,543	16,039	31	135	7,650
	Switzerland	41,227	15,917	32	136	1,280
	Moldova	33,851	13,069	33	140	960
	Belgium	30,528	11,786	34	141	250
	Albania	28,748	11,099	35	145	1,350
	North Macedonia	25,713	9,927	36	150	280
	Slovenia	20,273	7,827	37	155	122
	Russia	16,377,742	6,323,481	1	1	750,500
	Montenegro	13,812	5,332	38	162	360
	Kosovo	10,877	4,199	39	169	0
	Cyprus	9,251	3,571	40	171	10
	Gibraltar	6.8	2.6	51		0
	Luxembourg	2,586	998	41	179	0
	Monaco	1.98	0.76	52	254	0
	Faroe Islands	1,393	538	42		0
	Holy See – Vatican	0.44	0.169	53	257	0

In relation to cities in the United States, one of our northernmost cities, Seattle lies at 47° latitude north, compared to London at 51°and Paris 48° north. One of continental Europe’s northernmost major cities is Helsinki at 59°north.

In the south Austin at 30° north lies parallel with Cairo, Egypt and Miami below that at 25° north. View the map and table to compare the equivalent latitudes of European cities to that of the United States. 

The following table is the comparative latitude of major European cities to major cities in the U.S. starting with the northernmost location and heading south.