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Profile
Geographically small , covering about 10,390,000 square kilometres
(4,010,000 sq mi) , Europe is home to two-thirds of a billion people
representing a shifting mosaic of cultures, languages. Europe is
bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic
Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea, and to the southeast
by the waterways adjoining the Mediterranean to and including the
Black Sea, and the Caucasus Mountains (in Caucasia).It witnessed
two world wars, its division by the Cold War, and a decade of conflict
in the Balkans in the 20th century.
The European Union now consists
of 25 member countries and its citizens proudly identify themselves
as Europeans. The challenge facing Europe in the 21st century is
to create a model of peace and prosperity—built on freedom and diversity—that
embraces all its countries.
The people
The vast majority of Europe's inhabitants are of the European (or
Caucasoid) geographic race, characterized by white or lightly pigmented
skins and variability in eye and hair colour and by a number of
biochemical similarities; there is also an increasing number of
people of African and Asian ancestry, although their proportion
of the population is still small. The origins of the Europeans as
a distinct group may never be learned. It is known, however, that
the continent had a scanty population of now-extinct hominid species
before modern humans appeared some 40,000 years ago and that throughout
its prehistoric period it received continual waves of immigrants
from Asia.
Festivals:
European festivals are as numerous as they are varied. More than
a distraction from the mundane everyday life, they are the very
stuff of everyday life!
St. Patrick's Day
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