Europe is a large continent, with a cold and icy border in the Arctic Ocean to the North and a pleasantly warm Mediterranean to the south. To the east the Ural watershed in the Russian Federation forms the border with Asia. Iceland is Europe's most westerly country.

The robust Homo Erectus showed up first some 1.8 million years ago in what is now Georgia, much later followed by Neanderthals and modern Cro-Magnon. Since a few years we know that they interbred and present day Europeans carry a few percent of Neanderthal genes.

The Western Culture originated 2500 years ago in Ancient Greece, and was spread over the continent by the mighty legions of the  Roman Empire.

In the Middle Ages Christianity was rolled out, the Vikings discovered Canada and crusades were launched against Muslims in the Middle East and pagans in the Baltics.

 

From the 15th century onwards several European countries colonized much of the rest of the world.

 

After two devastating World Wars in the 20th century alone, awareness rose that  this aggressive nationalism had to be contained. It was the driver to build  the European Union, one of the world's most powerful economic entities.