什麼是歐洲

世界上僅大於大洋洲的大陸，臨北冰洋、大西洋、地中海、黑海與裏海。歐洲大陸東部邊界（由北向南）沿烏拉山脈烏拉山脈（Ural Mtns.）東麓直抵恩巴河。包括許多島嶼、羣島和半島。歐洲大陸海岸線全長約24,000哩（38,000公里），多海灣、峽灣和內海，極爲曲折。面積4,000,000平方哩（10,400,000 平方公里）。人口約542,578,000（1997）。歐洲大部分爲起伏不大的低地，有約3/5的陸地在海拔600尺（180公尺）以下，另有1/3在海拔600～3,000尺（180～900公尺）之間。歐洲大陸以南爲一系列山系，有歐洲最高峯。這些山脈包括庇里牛斯山脈、阿爾卑斯山、亞平寧山脈、喀爾巴阡山脈（Carpathians）和巴爾幹山脈（Balkan Mtns）。歐洲大陸水量充沛，多河川，但大湖極少。冰川覆蓋面積約爲44,800平方哩（116,000平方公里），大部分在北方。歐洲大約有1/3的土地爲可耕地，大約有一半用於生產穀物，主要爲小麥和大麥。1/3爲森林所覆蓋。歐洲是世界各主要地區中率先發展以商業化農業和工業開發爲基礎的現代經濟地區。它現在仍是世界上的主要工業地區，個人平均收入居世界之首。歐洲人口約佔世界總人口的1/7。絕大部分歐洲居民屬歐洲（高加索）地區人種。歐洲有許多獨立的語言和民族。六十種本民族語言絕大部分屬於羅曼諸語言（Romance languages）、日耳曼諸語言和斯拉夫諸語言（Slavic languages）。歐洲居民絕大部分信奉基督教。

歐洲大陸在距今約4萬年以前，曾有尼安德塔人（Neanderthal）散居各處。到西元前2千紀初，人口集團已普遍居有定所，並由此出現了歐洲歷史上的各個民族和國家。歐洲向文明躍進的第一步出自希臘人。古希臘文化與中東更早的先進文化有了接觸，並最終將這些文化的許多特色傳到了西歐。希臘人以其自身的傑出成就，爲歐洲文明奠定了基礎。西元前2世紀中葉，希臘人受到羅馬的統治。羅馬爲其所征服的歐洲部分帶來了希臘人創始的文明，在羅馬帝國統治下，基督教滲入歐洲。西羅馬帝國於5世紀垮臺。於是引起西歐古典文明全面崩潰。直到15～16世紀的文藝復興得以復甦。這個時期是現代歐洲傳統在科學、探險和發現等領域的開始。16世紀的基督教改革運動結束了羅馬教會對西歐和北歐的統治，17和18世紀的啓蒙運動強調理性至上。18世紀末，啓蒙運動的理想推動了法國大革命。這場革命推翻了歐洲最強大的君主政權，擔當起爭取民主、平等運動的先鋒。18世紀晚期，標誌着工業革命的開端，保證了歐洲下個世紀在世界大部分地區的軍事和政治控制地位。到20世紀初，歐洲列強在第一次世界大戰中相互爲敵，結果造成君主政權倒臺和在中、東歐領土上一批新興國家的建立。第二次世界大戰卻標誌着世界大權已不再爲歐洲國家所掌握。戰爭的結果使蘇聯得以控制東歐各國，在那裏建立起一些共產黨政權。於是，在歐洲大陸出現了兩個針鋒相對的政治集團。20世紀晚期，蘇聯共產主義的瓦解，許多附屬於該共產集團的國家紛紛獨立。東德和西德統一。亦請參閱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.