Europe is the World's second-smallest continent - 10,180,000 km² covering approximately 6.7% of the Earth's land and 2% of the Earth's surface .

It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Arctic Ocean to the north and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. The Ural mountains in Russia mark the eastern extreme.

The southern regions are higher and include the Pyrenees, the Alps and the Carpathian mountain ranges.

Europe can be broadly divided into three regions as shown on the map left.

Europe can also be divided according to European Union member states and non-member states as shown on the map right.

The climate of Europe can be broadly divided into five different climate types:

Deciduous forest - Four distinct seasons with warm summers and cold, wet winters. The trees shed their leaves in autumn.

Coniferous forest - Also known as Taiga, cold and dry with snowy winters and warmer summers.

Mediterranean - Warm to high temperatures with rainfall in the autumn and winter months.

Grassland - Hot summers and cold winters with above average rainfall.

Tundra - This area is characterised by a layer of permafrost (soil that has remained below freezing for at least two years. Winters are very cold, summers are warm and there is little rainfall.

There are 47 countries in Europe including Turkey and Russia which lie in both Europe and Asia.