什么是欧洲

世界上仅大於大洋洲的大陆，临北冰洋、大西洋、地中海、黑海与里海。欧洲大陆东部边界（由北向南）沿乌拉山脉乌拉山脉（Ural Mtns.）东麓直抵恩巴河。包括许多岛屿、群岛和半岛。欧洲大陆海岸线全长约24,000哩（38,000公里），多海湾、峡湾和内海，极为曲折。面积4,000,000平方哩（10,400,000 平方公里）。人口约542,578,000（1997）。欧洲大部分为起伏不大的低地，有约3/5的陆地在海拔600尺（180公尺）以下，另有1/3在海拔600～3,000尺（180～900公尺）之间。欧洲大陆以南为一系列山系，有欧洲最高峰。这些山脉包括庇里牛斯山脉、阿尔卑斯山、亚平宁山脉、喀尔巴阡山脉（Carpathians）和巴尔干山脉（Balkan Mtns）。欧洲大陆水量充沛，多河川，但大湖极少。冰川覆盖面积约为44,800平方哩（116,000平方公里），大部分在北方。欧洲大约有1/3的土地为可耕地，大约有一半用於生产谷物，主要为小麦和大麦。1/3为森林所覆盖。欧洲是世界各主要地区中率先发展以商业化农业和工业开发为基础的现代经济地区。它现在仍是世界上的主要工业地区，个人平均收入居世界之首。欧洲人口约占世界总人口的1/7。绝大部分欧洲居民属欧洲（高加索）地区人种。欧洲有许多独立的语言和民族。六十种本民族语言绝大部分属於罗曼诸语言（Romance languages）、日耳曼诸语言和斯拉夫诸语言（Slavic languages）。欧洲居民绝大部分信奉基督教。

欧洲大陆在距今约4万年以前，曾有尼安德塔人（Neanderthal）散居各处。到西元前2千纪初，人口集团已普遍居有定所，并由此出现了欧洲历史上的各个民族和国家。欧洲向文明跃进的第一步出自希腊人。古希腊文化与中东更早的先进文化有了接触，并最终将这些文化的许多特色传到了西欧。希腊人以其自身的杰出成就，为欧洲文明奠定了基础。西元前2世纪中叶，希腊人受到罗马的统治。罗马为其所征服的欧洲部分带来了希腊人创始的文明，在罗马帝国统治下，基督教渗入欧洲。西罗马帝国於5世纪垮台。於是引起西欧古典文明全面崩溃。直到15～16世纪的文艺复兴得以复苏。这个时期是现代欧洲传统在科学、探险和发现等领域的开始。16世纪的基督教改革运动结束了罗马教会对西欧和北欧的统治，17和18世纪的启蒙运动强调理性至上。18世纪末，启蒙运动的理想推动了法国大革命。这场革命推翻了欧洲最强大的君主政权，担当起争取民主、平等运动的先锋。18世纪晚期，标志着工业革命的开端，保证了欧洲下个世纪在世界大部分地区的军事和政治控制地位。到20世纪初，欧洲列强在第一次世界大战中相互为敌，结果造成君主政权倒台和在中、东欧领土上一批新兴国家的建立。第二次世界大战却标志着世界大权已不再为欧洲国家所掌握。战争的结果使苏联得以控制东欧各国，在那里建立起一些共产党政权。於是，在欧洲大陆出现了两个针锋相对的政治集团。20世纪晚期，苏联共产主义的瓦解，许多附属於该共产集团的国家纷纷独立。东德和西德统一。亦请参阅European Union、NATO。

Europe

Second smallest continent on earth. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Mediterranean, Black, and Caspian seas. The continent's eastern boundary runs along the Ural Mtns. and the Ural River. Its area includes numerous islands, archipelagoes, and peninsulas. Indented by bays, fjords, and seas, continental Europe's irregular coastline is about 24,000 mi (38,000 km) long. Area: 4,000,000 sq mi (10,400,000 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 542,578,000. The greater part of Europe combines low elevations with low relief; about three-fifths of the land is at an elevation of less than 600 ft (180 m) above sea level, and another one-third is between 600 and 3,000 ft (180 and 900 m) above sea level. The highest points are in the mountain systems crossing the southern part of the continent, including the Pyrenees, Alps, Apennines, Carpathians, and Balkan Mtns. A well-watered continent with many rivers, it has few sizable lakes. Glaciers cover an area of about 44,800 sq mi (116,000 sq km), mostly in the north. Roughly one-third of Europe is arable, and about half of that land is devoted to cereals, principally wheat and barley. One-third is forested. It was the first of the world's regions to develop a modern economy based on commercial agriculture and industry, and remains one of the world's major industrial regions, with average per capita income among the world's highest. The people of Europe constitute about one-seventh of the world's population, and the vast majority belong to the European (or Caucasoid) geographic race, although there are many divisions of language and nationality. Most of its approximately 60 native languages belong to either the Romance, Germanic, or Slavic languages. Europe's population is overwhelmingly Christian. Modern humans supplanted the scanty Neanderthal population in Europe about 40,000 years ago, and by the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC the general population groups that would become the historical peoples and nations of Europe were in place. The Greek civilizations were the earliest in Europe, and in the Classical period the Greeks were a conduit for the advanced civilizations of the Middle East, which, along with the unique Greek contribution, laid the foundation for European civilization. By the mid-2nd century BC the Greeks had come under Roman control, and the vast Roman empire brought to the conquered parts of Europe the civilization the Greeks had begun. It was through the Romans that Christianity penetrated into Europe. The Roman empire in the west finally collapsed in the 5th century AD, leading to an extensive breakdown of classical civilization, not to be revived until the Renaissance in the 15th-16th century, which began the modern European traditions of science, exploration, and discovery. The Protestant Reformation of the 16th century ended the dominance of the Roman church over western and northern Europe, and the Enlightenment of the 17th-18th century stressed the primacy of reason. In the late 18th century, Enlightenment ideals helped spur the French Revolution, which toppled Europe's most powerful monarchy and spearheaded the movement toward democracy and equality. The late 18th century also marked the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, which led to Europe's military and political dominance over much of the world for the next century. In the early 20th century the European powers were divided in World War I, which led to the effective end of monarchy in Europe and created a host of new nations in central and eastern Europe. World War II marked the passing of world power from the states of western Europe and saw the rise of communism in eastern Europe with the Soviet Union and its satellites sharply dividing the continent. In the late 20th century, with the collapse of communism in the U.S.S.R., many of its member states became independent and East and West Germany were reunified. See also European Union, NATO.