The geography of the European Union describes the geographic features of the European Union (EU), a multinational polity that occupies a large portion of Europe and covers . Its European territory extends northeast to Finland, northwest to Ireland, southeast to Cyprus in Asia and southwest to the Spanish exclaves on the Mediterranean shores of North Africa. Additionally, the EU includes numerous islands around the world, and French Guiana in South America.
Collectively, it represents the seventh largest territory in the world by area. Including all overseas territories, the EU shares borders with 20 countries.
Geography by member states The European Union has 27 member states. See the geography of each current member state:
Physical geography
Most of the European Union is on the European continent. The only member state of the EU which is geographically outside of Europe is Cyprus, which is in West Asia. The EU includes less than half of the territory of Europe. Significant parts of the continent especially in the east (e.g. European Russia, Ukraine, Belarus) and smaller parts in the north and centre are not part of the EU. The member states of the EU have land borders with 21 other countries and 3 dependent territories.
It is estimated that the coastline of the continental European Union is long,European Union CIA World Factbook bordering the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea, and the Baltic Sea. With overseas territories included, the European Union is shored by the Indian and Pacific Oceans as well as by the Caribbean Sea. European mountain ranges include the Alps, Pyrenees, Carpathian Mountains, Balkan Mountains and Scandinavian Mountains, and the border mountain ranges of the Caucasus and the Urals; the highest mountain in the Union is Mont Blanc in the Alps. Lake Vänern in Sweden is the largest lake in the Union.
Several overseas territories and dependencies of various member states are also formally part of the EU (for Spain: the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla; for Portugal: the Azores and Madeira; for France: Réunion, French Guiana, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Mayotte and Saint Martin) while in other cases territories associated with member states are not part of the EU (for Denmark: Greenland and the Faroe Islands; for the Netherlands: Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten; for France: French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna or New Caledonia).
Including overseas territories of member states, the EU includes most types of climate from Arctic to tropical. Meteorological averages for the EU as a whole are therefore not meaningful. The majority of the population live in areas with a Mediterranean climate (southern Europe), a temperate maritime climate (western Europe), or a warm summer continental or hemiboreal climate (in eastern member states).
Geology
Europe's most significant feature is the dichotomy between highland and mountainous Southern Europe and a vast, partially underwater, northern plain ranging from the British Isles in the west to Poland in the east. These two halves are separated by the mountain chains of Pyrenees, Alps, Carpathian and Balkan Mountains. The northern plains are delimited in the west by the Scandinavian Mountains. Major shallow water bodies submerging parts of the northern plains are the Celtic Sea, the North Sea, the Baltic Sea complex, and the Barents Sea.
The northern plain contains the old geological continent of Baltica, and so may be regarded as the "main continent", while peripheral highlands and mountainous regions in south and west constitute fragments from various other geological continents.
The geology of Europe is hugely varied and complex, and gives rise to the wide variety of landscapes found across the continent, like the rolling plains of Hungary.
Climate
The climate of the European Union is of a temperate, continental nature, with a maritime climate prevailing on the western coasts and a mediterranean climate in the south. The climate is strongly conditioned by the Gulf Stream, which warms the western region to levels unattainable at similar latitudes on other continents. Western Europe is oceanic, while eastern Europe is continental and dry. Four seasons occur in western Europe, while southern Europe experiences wet winters and dry summers. Southern Europe is hot and dry during the summer months. The heaviest precipitation occurs downwind of water bodies due to the prevailing westerlies, with higher amounts also seen in the Alps. Tornadoes occur within Europe, but tend to be weak. The Netherlands experiences a disproportionately high number of tornadic events.
The mildest climate within the European Union occurs in the Portuguese island of Madeira, where the average temperature varies from during the day and at night in winter to during the day and at night in summer. Also, the mildest climate occurs in the Spanish island of Gran Canaria (Canary Islands), where the average temperature varies from during the day and at night in winter to during the day and at night in summer. Both these islands lie in the Atlantic. As for the land on the European continent, the mildest climate occurs in the northwest part of Iberian Peninsula (also Spain and Portugal), between Bilbao, A Coruña and Porto. In this the coastal strand, the average temperature varies from during the day and about at night in January to during the day and at night in the middle of summer.
Rivers
The most important rivers in the European Union are Danube, Rhine, Elbe, Oder, Vistula, Seine, and Rhône, among others.
European Union rivers by discharge Danube – 6,450 m3/s Rhine – 2,315 m3/s Rhône – 1,900 m3/s (Waal – 1,500 m3/s as main distributary of Rhine) * Sava – 1,609 m3/s (tributary of the Danube) Po – 1,460 m3/s (largest river in Italy) Vistula – 1,080 m3/s Loire – 889 m3/s * Tisza – 863 m3/s (tributary of the Danube) Elbe – 860 m3/s * Inn – 735 m3/s (tributary of the Danube)
European Union rivers by length The following are the longest rivers in the EU alongside their approximate lengths:European Rivers – Rivers of Europe, Map of Rivers in Europe, Major Rivers in Europe – Worldatlas.comRiver Systems of the World
Danube - (partially - 2628 km in the EU) Rhine – (partially – nearly 1100 km in the EU, nearly 150 km entirely in Switzerland or on its border with Liechtenstein) Elbe – Vistula – Tagus – Loire – Ebro – Meuse – Douro – Oder – Guadiana – Rhône – * Warta – (major tributary of Oder) Seine - * Mureș – (tributary of Tisza) * Prut – * (partially, border of the EU for nearly 742 km) (tributary of the Danube) * Sava – * (partially – 726 km) (tributary of the Danube) * Drava – (tributary of the Danube) Po – Guadalquivir – * Olt – (tributary of the Danube) * Tisza – * ( before 1880) (partially – 605 km in the EU)danube.panda.org/wwf/web/search/details.jsp?pid=139 (tributary of the Danube) Garonne – * Siret – * (partially – 559 km) Kemijoki – (longest river in Finland) * Moselle (major left tributary of Rhine) * Main (major right tributary of Rhine) Torne – (very small part near the source is in Norway) Dalälven – (longest river entirely in Sweden) * Inn (river) (tributary of the Danube) Marne – (major tributary of the Seine) Maritsa – (partially – 513 km in the EU: 309 km entirety in Bulgaria; the lower course forms the border of the EU for 204 km) Júcar – Dordogne – * Saône – (major tributary of Rhône) Neman – * (partially – 475 km in the EU, 116 km of them as border of the EU) Ume – ** Mur – (tributary of Drava, Danube) Ångerman – * Klarälven – (major tributary of the Göta älv) Lule – * (a very small part near the source is in Norway) Gauja – Weser – Kalix – * Vindel River – (major tributary of the Ume River) Ljusnan – Indalsälven – * Vltava – (major tributary of the Elbe) Ialomița – Struma – ** Someș – (tributary of Tisza, Danube) Adige – Skellefte – Tiber – * Vah – (tributary of the Danube) Pite – * Faxälven – (major tributary of the Ångerman) Vardar – Charente – * Iskar – (longest river entirely in Bulgaria) (tributary of the Danube) Shannon – Daugava – * (partially – 357 km in the EU) Minho – * Tundzha – (partially – 328 km) (major tributary of Maritsa) Segura –
Human geography
Demographics
The most populous member state is Germany, with an estimated 82.1 million people, and the least populous member state is Malta with 0.5 million. Birth rates in the EU are low with the average woman having 1.6 children. The highest crude birth rates is in the Republic of Ireland with 16.876 births per thousand people per year and in France with 13.013 births per thousand people per year. Germany has the lowest birth rate in Europe with 8.221 births per thousand people per year.
+ Population and land area of the 27 member states of the European Union(1 January 2014 estimate)Member StatePopulationLand areaPop. densityPeople/km2 No. % oftotal (km2) % oftotal EUAustria8,507,7861.68%83,8581.9%99.7Belgium11,203,9922.21%30,5100.7%352.0Bulgaria7,245,6771.43%110,9122.5%68.5Croatia4,246,7000.84%56,5941.3%75.8Cyprus858,0000.17%9,2500.2%86.6Czech Republic10,512,4192.07%78,8661.8%132.8Denmark5,627,2351.11%43,0941.0%128.1Estonia1,315,8190.26%45,2261.0%29.6Finland5,451,2701.07%337,0307.6%15.8FranceFigures for France include the four overseas departments (French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion) which are integral parts of the European Union, but do not include the overseas collectivities and territories, which (but Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin) are not part of the European Union.65,856,60912.98%643,54814.6%99.6Germany80,780,00015.92%357,0218.1%229.9Greece10,992,5892.17%131,9573.0%85.4Hungary9,879,0001.95%93,0302.1%107.8Ireland4,604,0290.91%70,2801.6%64.3Italy60,782,66811.98%301,3206.8%200.4Latvia2,001,4680.39%64,5891.5%35.0Lithuania2,943,4720.58%65,2001.5%51.4Luxembourg549,6800.11%2,5860.1%190.1Malta425,3840.08%3160.0%1,305.7Netherlands16,829,2893.32%41,5260.9%396.9Poland38,495,6597.59%312,6857.1%121.9Portugal10,427,3012.05%92,9312.1%114.4Romania19,942,6423.93%238,3915.4%90.2Slovakia5,415,9491.07%48,8451.1%110.8Slovenia2,061,0850.41%20,2530.5%101.4Spain46,507,7609.17%504,78211.4%93.4Sweden9,644,8641.90%449,96410.2%20.6EU507,416,607100.00%4,324,782100.0%116.0
Largest cities
The European Union is home to more global cities than any other region in the world. Over 16 cities with populations over one million inhabitants, counted in its city proper. Densely populated regions that have no single core but have emerged from the connection of several cities and are now encompassing large metropolitan areas are Rhine-Ruhr having approximately 11.5 million inhabitants (Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund et al.), Randstad approx. 7 million (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague et al.), the Flemish Diamond approx. 5.5 million, Frankfurt/Rhine-Main approx. 4 million (Frankfurt, Wiesbaden et al.) and the Upper Silesian Industry Area approx. 3.5 million. (Katowice, Sosnowiec et al.).Indicators for larger urban zones 1999 – 2003 , Eurostat. Accessed 25 January 2007
City proper PopulationCity limitsin millions Densityper km2Urban area PopulationUrban areain millionsMetro area PopulationMetro areain millions Berlin, Germany 3.8 4,210 Paris, France 10.1 Paris, France 11.7 Madrid, Spain 3.1 1,985 Madrid, Spain 6.2 Rhine-Ruhr, Germany 10.6 Rome, Italy 2.7 5,198 Ruhr, Germany 5.1 Randstad, Netherlands 7.0 Paris, France 2.2 24,672 Berlin, Germany 4.8 Madrid, Spain 6.8 Bucharest, Romania 1.9 9,131 Barcelona, Spain 4.5 Berlin-Brandenburg, Germany 6.2 Hamburg, Germany 1.8 2,310 Milan, Italy 3.8 Frankfut Rhine-Main, Germany 5.9 Warsaw, Poland 1.7 3,258 Rotterdam–The Hague, Netherlands 3.3 Barcelona, Spain 5.3 Budapest, Hungary 1,7 3,570 Athens, Greece 3.2 Milan, Italy 4.3 Vienna, Austria 1.7 3,931 Naples, Italy 2.9 Athens, Greece 3.9
Environment