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Europe is the place from where western culture was originated. Ancient Greece has a philosophical impact on western culture. All the western democratic trends are ascribed by the ancient Greece. Likewise Roman Empire put impact on law, language and government. During and after the decline of Roman Empire, there were many migrations and invasions held in Europe. That’s why this time period is termed “age of migration” by the historians.

The renaissance was the period when cultural change was originated in Florence and then later it spread out in the rest of Europe. It spread out in between 14th to 16th century. It is marked as the age of discovery, a time of exploration, creation and scientific development. It was from 16th century onwards when colonialism was established, that it played a dominant role in global dealings. It was observed that in both the world wars Europe was mainly focused, which lead to decline in Western European supremacy in world affairs. This resulted in giving power to United States and Soviet Union.

18th and 19th century was the age of enlightenment. When science and reason based thoughts were promoted. In 1914 to 1918 world war was fought which lead to the damage of the economic conditions badly. After the decolonization this made most of the European colonies as independent states. In 1989 Germany was reunited and map of Eastern Europe was redrawn.

In between 2004 and 2007 eastern European countries started joining the European Union and in the end 27 countries were a part of it. This made Europe a foremost economical and political centre of authority.

According to the positioning, Europe lies primarily in the temperate climatic zone, thus it is the reason why it is being subjected by the prevailing westerly.

Its climate is comparatively milder than the areas positioned in the same latitude around the globe. It is due to the presence of Gulf Stream. The Gulf Stream is also called “Europe’s central heating” as it influences its climatic condition and makes it humid and warmer. It does not only carry warm water to the coasts of Europe but it also warms the westerly winds, which came from Atlantic Ocean.

The average temperature which is recorded throughout the year is 16 degrees Celsius. This is higher than New York, which is present almost on the same latitude.

Europe is divided into 3 time zones:
1. Eastern European time
2. Central European time
3. Western European time
Most European countries and those who are not the part of European Union take up summer time which is day light saving time, consistently at dates and times arranged by the European Union.

Currently as a continent, Europe’s economy is the largest in the world; it is one of the richest regions in the world. In 2009 it was categorized as world’s richest nation as it got one third of the world’s total wealth. There is a variation in its wealth as Western Europe has rich states as compared to the Eastern Europe, who are still recovering and emerging from the fall down of Soviet Union and Yugoslavia.

There are 27 European states in European Union, in which 14 countries shares euro as there common currency. The economy of country is divided into different eras.

Before 1945 there was industrial growth in Europe. It was the time when feudalism ended and capitalism dominated in the western regions. The industrial revolution started in 18th century and till 19th century Western Europe was industrialized. Economies were damaged after World War I but it was recovered before the Second World War, yet in World War II it again damaged Europe’s industries.

After that the economic condition continued to suffer till the following decades. To stabilize it cross border trade was increased, this resulted in improvement of the economic conditions.

In 1991 communism collapsed in Eastern Europe, after which eastern states became accustomed to the free market system. The central European countries which include Poland, Slovenia and Hungary got familiar to these things quickly as compared to the eastern states like Ukraine and Russia which took longer time period. After 2000 European Union dominated in the economic structures, which involve five largest European economies of the time that is, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Spain. This was the time of integration and reunification.

After 2008 the euro zone entered in the recession, as the rate of unemployment remarkably increased in 2009. Later in early 2010 many countries in Europe especially Greece, Ireland, Spain, and Portugal got the fear of monarch dept crises, for that immediate measures were taken by the euro zone, especially for Greece.

Human beings who are classified as exceptional species grew very slowly, but after 1800, its number increases rapidly in rich countries and from twentieth century, in the rest of the world.

After the renaissance Europe had a foremost authority in traditions, finances and public movements in the world even the most momentous inventions were originated from western world, which is mostly by Europe and the United States. It was reported that approximately 70 million European died in 1914 to 1945 due to warfare and famine. Religious emigration, financial immigration, waning in birth rates and an aging population, these are some past and recent issues which are faced by European demographics. Even in countries like Ireland and Poland abortion is restricted. Abortion is still illegal in the countries like Malta, where Catholicism is the main religion.

It is reported that Europe had almost quarter of world’s population. Among the continents it has the highest population density after Asia. Netherland is reported to be the most densely populated country of Europe. There is considerable disparity in the fertility rates. The average number of children per female is higher in Muslim part of Europe as compared to other regions due to this there is a steady decline in population in Eastern Europe regions.

Nowadays, large number of population of European pedigree is found in every continent. European descent prevails in North America and to a minor level in South America, particularly in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. Australia and New Zealand rare the countries which have great European derived populations. Likewise in Northern Asia especially Russia and parts of northern Kazakhstan and Israel dominates in European ancestry.

Europe population figures vary accordingly with the description of which European boundaries is used. According to the United Nation in 2005, inside the standard geographical boundaries 731 million populations were recorded. Likewise in 2011, approximately 857 million is recorded. The population growth is slow but comparatively from world’s other countries it is high.

Europe is one of the second smallest continents. It does not follow one culture or tradition; instead it is illustrated by number of related cultures. There had always been a movement or cultural modernism at every stage, which made common values and principles complex.

The bases of European culture were put down by the Greeks mainly but later it was fortified by the Romans. In the end it was alleviated by the Christianity. It was reformed and updated in fifteenth century, which is the time of renaissance and restoration and in between sixteen and twentieth century when it was globalized by consecutive European empires. Consequently the European culture is the extended version of a very intricate phenomenon of an extensive variety of philosophy. In result of globalization, European culture urges to adopt and influence other trends, due to this in nineteenth century, European culture and way of life, education and Christianity was on its peak. Due to this outcome, it was categorized as a “global culture”.

It has been observed in the history that Europe has always been manipulated by European art, civilizations, values and laws. According to the Euro barometer poll held in 2005, in that it was observed that 52% of the citizens of European states do believe in GOD, while other 27% believe in spirits, 18% do not believe in spirits or God and 3% of them decline to answer.

However the largest religion which is practiced in Europe is Christianity by Catholics. It was only in 989 when Russia converted to Christianity, after this it open way for eastern tradition to spread out northwards to the coast of Arctic ocean and eastwards to the coast of Pacific Ocean. After this in south east countries like Bosnia, Albania, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, North Cyprus, Turkey and Azerbaijan, Islam is followed. Apart from them Buddhism and Tibetan are also practiced in countries like Kalmykia. Judaism and Hinduism are alternative religions.

Europe is a said to be a secular continent which has an increasing number of atheists and irreligious people. Places like Sweden, Germany, France, Estonia, and Czech Republic have high number of such community.

European language is mostly categorized in three indo European languages. First and basic language is romance languages, which is derived from Latin of Roman Empire it is mostly spoken in south Western Europe also in Romania and Moldova, in central or Eastern Europe. Other is German languages, whose precursor language comes from Scandinavia; it is mostly spoken in north Western Europe and in some part of central Europe. However the third and last language is Slavic languages which are spoken in Central, Eastern and South Eastern Europe.

Apart from these many other languages exist in Europe. Which includes Baltic group which is Latvian and Lithuanian, Celtic group which is Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Manx, welsh, Cornish and Breton. Other than these, Greek, Armenian, Albanian, Uralic languages which is spoken in Finland, Estonia and Hungary, while Kartvelian language which is mainly spoken in Georgia and Basque are also spoken.

Multilingualism and the fortification of local and minority languages are renowned political goals in Europe today. The Council of Europe Framework Convection for the Protection of National Minorities and the Council of Europe’s European Charter for Regional or Minority languages lay down officially authorized structure for language rights in Europe.