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urope, the planet's 6th largest continent includes 47 countries and assorted
dependencies and territories.
In exacting geographic definitions, Europe is really not a continent, but part of the peninsula of Euroasia which includes all of Europe and Asia. However, it's still widely referred to as a continent.
Europe
(in blue) is separated from Asia by Russia's Ural Mountains, and the Caspian and Black Seas.
Note:
Turkey and the Russian Federation (Russia) are considered a part of both Asia and Europe.
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HOT
PLACES |
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Paris
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Paris is the capital city of France. It is situated on the River Seine, in
northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region ("Region Parisienne"). Paris
has an estimated population of 2,153,600 inhabitants (2005 est.). The Paris
urban area has a population of 9.93 million; a vast commuter belt
around the same completes the Paris
"aire urbaine" (roughly: "metropolitan area") that, with its population
of 11.5 million, is the most populated area in
Europe, after
London and
Moscow.
The Paris region (Île-de-France)
is France's foremost
centre of economic
activity. With
^478.7 billion
(US$595.3 billion),
it produced more
than a quarter of
the
gross domestic
product (GDP) of
France of in 2005. With
La Defense, the
largest purpose
built business
district in Europe,
it hosts the head
offices of almost
half of the major
French companies, as
well as the
headquarters of ten
of the world's 100
largest companies Paris
also hosts many
international
organizations such
as UNESCO, the OECD, the ICC, or the informal Paris Club. It is regarded as one of the 4 major global cities.
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Prague
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Prague (Czech:
Praha (IPA: [ˈpraɦa]),
see also other names) is
the capital and
largest city of the Czech Republic.
Situated on the Vltava river in
central Bohemia, it is
home to approximately 1.2
million people. (It
can be derived from
jobs statistics,
however, that an
additional 300,000
work there without
having registered as
residents.)
Nicknames for Prague
have included "city
of a hundred spires"
and "the golden city".
Since
1992, the
historic center of
Prague has been
included in the
UNESCO list of
World Heritage Sites.
According to
Guinness World
Records,
Prague Castle is
the largest ancient
castle in the world.
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Venice and its
Lagoon
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Founded in the 5th
century and spread
over 118 small
islands, Venice
became a major
maritime power in
the 10th century.
The whole city is an
extraordinary
architectural
masterpiece in which
even the smallest
building contains
works by some of the
world's greatest
artists such as
Giorgione, Titian,
Tintoretto, Veronese
and others.
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Historic Centre of
Rome
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Founded, according
to legend, by
Romulus and Remus in
753 B.C., Rome was
first the centre of
the Roman Republic,
then of the Roman
Empire, and it
became the capital
of the Christian
world in the 4th
century. The World
Heritage site,
extended in 1990 to
the walls of Urban
VIII, includes some
of the major
monuments of
antiquity such as
the Forums, the
Mausoleum of
Augustus, the
Mausoleum of
Hadrian, the
Pantheon, Trajan's
Column and the
Column of Marcus
Aurelius, as well as
the religious and
public buildings of
papal Rome. |
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