Today is Europe Day, so here are ten facts about Europe:
The name comes from Europa, a princess in Greek mythology. Her name means 'wide-gazing' or 'broad of aspect'.
The first recorded usage of Europe as a geographic term is in the Homeric Hymn to Delian Apollo, in reference to the western shore of the Aegean Sea.
It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east and covers about 10.18 million km2 (3.93 million square miles), or 2% of Earth's surface. It’s the second smallest continent after Oceania.
The population of Europe was about 745 million (about 10% of the world population) in 2021.
Europe comprises about fifty sovereign states. About 200 different languages are spoken.
Both the smallest town and the smallest country in the world are located in Europe. The smallest country is Vatican City and the smallest town is Hum, in Croatia, which has a population of just 30 people. Hum is also famous for a type of brandy called biska, which is made from mistletoe. According to legend, ancient Celtic Druids left the recipe in Hum around 2,000 years ago.
The largest country in Europe is Russia, which accounts for 39% of the area and 15% of the population.
Russia also has the tallest building in Europe, the Lakhta Center in St Petersburg, which is 462 metres high and has 87 stories.
The largest church in Europe is St. Peter’s Basilica.
Europe even has a rain forest. The Perućica Rainforest is in Bosnia/Herzegovina.
The six richest people in Britain decide to hold a contest to settle the question of which of them is most successful. It will be a gladiator style contest with each entrant fielding a team of ten super-powered combatants. Entrepreneur Llew Powell sets out to put together his team, which includes his former lover, an employee of his company with a fascinating hobby, two refugees from another dimension (a lonely giant and a drunken sailor), two sisters bound together by a promise, a diminutive doctor, a former Tibetan monk initiate and two androids with a history. As the team train together, alliances form, friendships and more develop, while others find the past is not easy to leave behind.
Meanwhile, a ruthless race of aliens has its eyes on the Earth. Already abducting and enslaving humans, they work towards the final invasion which would destroy life on Earth as we know it. Powell’s group, Combat Team Alpha, stumble upon one of the wormholes the aliens use to travel to Earth and witness for themselves the horrors in store if the aliens aren’t stopped. Barely escaping with their lives, they realise there are more important things to worry about than a fighting competition.
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