Europe has been the center of much of Western Civilization throughout the history of mankind. Here are 20 interesting things about Europe you should know, but may not.

20 Interesting Things About Europe

With the amazing history of Europe, picking 20 things out can be a controversial effort to say the least, but here we go anyway.

1. Europe is the second smallest continent with roughly 4 million square miles.

2. Europe is designated as a continent for political reasons. There is no geographic basis for the claim.

3. Europe is home to more than 700 million people, but birth rates are stagnant.

4. Most scholars believe Europe was named after Europa, a Phoenician Princess in Greek mythology.

5. The smallest country in Europe is the Vatican, which is considered a separate country from Italy even though it is in the middle of Rome.

6. The largest city in Europe is Paris with a population of just under 10 million people.

7. La Sapienza University in Rome is the largest university in Europe with a whopping 184,000 students.

8. Europe produces just over 18 percent of all the oil in the world.

9. The European Union has 25 country members.

10. 80 to 90 percent of Europe was once covered in forest, but this has been reduced to 3 percent in Western Europe.

11. Europe has one of the lowest fertility rates in the world.

12. Europe has been racked with war throughout its history to the point where more than 70 former countries have been conquered and no longer appear on maps.

13. The great Roman inventions so often cited by scholars actually were created by Etruscans, a small empire in the south of present day Italy.

14. The Dark Ages in Europe lasted from 476 to 1,000 A.D. or twice as long as the United States has been a country.

15. The Renaissance followed this period and lasted roughly 200 years.

16. The first country to join the industrial revolution in Europe was Great Britain.

17. The First World War lasted from 1914 to 1918 and resulted in four empires radically changing or dissolving completely: the German, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman and the Russian.

18. Adolf Hitler was not German. He was Austrian, born in the small town of Braunau am Inn.

19. It is estimated that 62 million people died in World War II, 2.5 percent of the world’s population at that time.

20. The 10 most generous countries in the world when it comes to charitable giving are all located in Europe.

To be honest, the 20 items mentioned about Europe cited above are just scratching the surface. If you have a hankering for history, Europe is a fascinating subject to study.

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