Russia is the largest country in Europe, and also the largest in the world, its total size amounting to 17 million square kilometers (km2). It should be noted, however, that over three quarters of Russia is located in Asia, and the Ural mountains are often viewed as the meeting point of the two continents in Russia; nonetheless, European Russia is still significantly larger than any other European country. Ukraine, the second largest country on the continent, is only 603,000 km2, making it about 28 times smaller than its eastern neighbor, or seven times smaller than the European part of Russia. France is the third largest country in Europe, but the largest in the European Union. The Vatican City, often referred to as the Holy Sea, is both the smallest country in Europe and in the world, at just one km2. Population Russia is also the most populous country in Europe. It has around 144 million inhabitants across the country; in this case, around three quarters of the population live in the European part, which still gives it the largest population in Europe. Despite having the largest population, Russia is a very sparsely populated country due to its size and the harsh winters. Germany is the second most populous country in Europe, with 83 million inhabitants, while the Vatican has the smallest population. Worldwide, India and China are the most populous countries, with approximately 1.4 billion inhabitants each. Cities Moscow in Russia is ranked as the most populous city in Europe with around 13 million inhabitants, although figures vary, due to differences in the methodologies used by countries and sources. Some statistics include Istanbul in Turkey* as the largest city in Europe with its 15 million inhabitants, bit it has been excluded here as most of the country and parts of the city is located in Asia. Worldwide, Tokyo is the most populous city, with Jakarta the second largest and Delhi the third.

In 2024, Russia had the largest population among European countries at ***** million people. The next largest countries in terms of their population size were Turkey at **** million, Germany at **** million, the United Kingdom at **** million, and France at **** million. Europe is also home to some of the world’s smallest countries, such as the microstates of Liechtenstein and San Marino, with populations of ****** and ****** respectively. Europe’s largest economies Germany was Europe’s largest economy in 2023, with a Gross Domestic Product of around *** trillion Euros, while the UK and France are the second and third largest economies, at *** trillion and *** trillion euros respectively. Prior to the mid-2000s, Europe’s fourth-largest economy, Italy, had an economy that was of a similar sized to France and the UK, before diverging growth patterns saw the UK and France become far larger economies than Italy. Moscow and Istanbul the megacities of Europe Two cities on the eastern borders of Europe were Europe’s largest in 2023. The Turkish city of Istanbul, with a population of 15.8 million, and the Russian capital, Moscow, with a population of 12.7 million. Istanbul is arguably the world’s most famous transcontinental city with territory in both Europe and Asia and has been an important center for commerce and culture for over 2,000 years. Paris was the third largest European city with a population of ** million, with London being the fourth largest at *** million.

Russia is the largest country in the world by far, with a total area of just over 17 million square kilometers. After Antarctica, the next three countries are Canada, the U.S., and China; all between 9.5 and 10 million square kilometers. The figures given include internal water surface area (such as lakes or rivers) - if the figures were for land surface only then China would be the second largest country in the world, the U.S. third, and Canada (the country with more lakes than the rest of the world combined) fourth. Russia Russia has a population of around 145 million people, putting it in the top ten most populous countries in the world, and making it the most populous in Europe. However, it's vast size gives it a very low population density, ranked among the bottom 20 countries. Most of Russia's population is concentrated in the west, with around 75 percent of the population living in the European part, while around 75 percent of Russia's territory is in Asia; the Ural Mountains are considered the continental border. Elsewhere in the world Beyond Russia, the world's largest countries all have distinctive topographies and climates setting them apart. The United States, for example, has climates ranging from tundra in Alaska to tropical forests in Florida, with various mountain ranges, deserts, plains, and forests in between. Populations in these countries are often concentrated in urban areas, and are not evenly distributed across the country. For example, around 85 percent of Canada's population lives within 100 miles of the U.S. border; around 95 percent of China lives east of the Heihe–Tengchong Line that splits the country; and the majority of populations in large countries such as Australia or Brazil live near the coast.

This dataset provides values for GDP reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

In 2025, Moscow was the largest city in Europe with an estimated urban agglomeration of 12.74 million people. The French capital, Paris, was the second largest city in 2025 at 11.35 million, followed by the capitals of the United Kingdom and Spain, with London at 9.84 million and Madrid at 6.81 million people. Istanbul, which would otherwise be the largest city in Europe in 2025, is excluded as it is only partially in Europe, with a sizeable part of its population living in Asia. Europe’s population is almost 750 million Since 1950, the population of Europe has increased by approximately 200 million people, increasing from 550 million to 750 million in these seventy years. Before the turn of the millennium, Europe was the second-most populated continent, before it was overtaken by Africa, which saw its population increase from 228 million in 1950 to 817 million by 2000. Asia has consistently had the largest population of the world’s continents and was estimated to have a population of 4.6 billion. Europe’s largest countries Including its territory in Asia, Russia is by far the largest country in the world, with a territory of around 17 million square kilometers, almost double that of the next largest country, Canada. Within Europe, Russia also has the continent's largest population at 145 million, followed by Germany at 83 million and the United Kingdom at almost 68 million. By contrast, Europe is also home to various micro-states such as San Marino, which has a population of just 30 thousand.

Among European Union countries, Slovakia is the most dependent on Russian oil and petroleum products. In 2020, Russia was the origin country for 78 percent of the country's total imports of such commodities. In Germany, Russian oil products held a 30 percent market share. This has become cause for concern for the EU as it tries to distance itself from Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. An already unfolding energy crisis was worsened as a result.

Europe is Russia’s largest oil export market

When EU leaders began debating how to sanction Russia, it illuminated an unfortunate predicament. Namely, the fact that many European countries had grown strongly dependent on energy supplies from their oil and gas-rich neighbor. Apart from Norway, Russia is the only country located on the European continent with sizable reserves of these fossil fuels. Buoyed by their relative close proximity, EU member states such as the Netherlands (a refinery hub), Germany, and Poland have thus been among Russia’s main crude oil export destinations for years.

Rising energy costs and insecurity

When the EU decided to cut out Russian oil and gas imports as much as possible, it put further upward pressure on an already hot commodity market. The Russia-Ukraine war had led to many market traders anticipating some of the worst oil constraints seen since the oil crisis of 2014, and benchmark prices rose significantly. As energy prices are largely determined by the price of fossil fuels, a respectable share of Europeans has been struggling to pay their energy bills.

The number of people with Russian citizenship living in European countries as of January 1, 2023, was by far the highest in Germany. The country's population includes around 260,000 Russian citizens. That was more than double the number of Russian citizens living in Spain. To compare, over 35,400 Russian nationals resided in Czechia.

Russia had the most powerful military in Europe according to its PowerIndex score of ****, which compares the strength and capability of different countries. According to this ranking, as of 2025, the UK had the second-strongest military in Europe, followed by France and then Turkey.

The population of Europe was estimated to be 745 million in 2024, an increase of around 4 million when compared with 2012. Over 35 years between 1950 and 1985, the population of Europe grew by approximately 157.8 million. But 35 years after 1985 it was estimated to have only increased by around 38.7 million. Since the 1960s, population growth in Europe has fallen quite significantly and was even negative during the mid-1990s. While population growth has increased slightly since the low of -0.07 percent in 1998, the growth rate for 2020 was just 0.04 percent. Which European country has the biggest population? As of 2024, the population of Russia was estimated to be approximately 144.8 million and was by far Europe's largest country in terms of population, with Turkey being the second-largest at over 87 million. While these two countries both have territory in Europe, however, they are both only partially in Europe, with the majority of their landmasses being in Asia. In terms of countries wholly located on the European continent, Germany had the highest population at 84.5 million, and was followed by the United Kingdom and France at 69.1 million and 66.5 million respectively. Characteristics of Europe's population There are approximately 384.6 million females in Europe, compared with 359.5 million males, a difference of around 25 million. In 1950, however, the male population has grown faster than the female one, with the male population growing by 104.7 million, and the female one by 93.6 million. As of 2024, the single year of age with the highest population was 37, at 10.6 million, while in the same year there were estimated to be around 136 thousand people aged 100 or over.

Abstract

Regular assessments of species’ status are an essential component of conservation planning and adaptive management. They allow the progress of past or ongoing conservation actions to be evaluated and can be used to redirect and prioritize future conservation actions. Most countries perform periodic assessments for their own national adaptive management procedures or national red lists. Furthermore, the countries of the European Union have to report on the status of all species listed on the directives of the Habitats Directive every 6 years as part of their obligations under Article 17. However, these national level assessments are often made using non-standardized procedures and do not always adequately reflect the biological units (i.e., the populations) which are needed for ecologically meaningful assessments.

Since the early 2000’s the Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe (a Specialist Group of the IUCN’s Species Survival Commission) has been coordinating periodic surveys of the status of large carnivores across Europe (e.g., von Arx et al. 2004; Salvatori & Linnell 2005, Kaczensky et al. 2013). These have covered the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), the wolf (Canis lupus), the brown bear (Ursus arctos) and the wolverine (Gulo gulo). The golden jackal (Canis aureus) has been added to the LCIE prerogatives in 2014. The species is rapidly expanding in Europe (Trouwborst et al. 2015; Männil & Ranc 2022), a large-scale phenomenon that resembles that of the other large carnivores. Golden jackals are thriving in human-dominated landscapes (Ćirović et al. 2016; Lanszki et al. 2018; Fenton et al. 2021), where they are often functioning as the top predators, despite having smaller body size that is typical for large carnivores. The expansion of the species triggers many questions among scientists, stakeholders, and policy makers (Trouwborst et al. 2015; Hatlauf et al. 2021), that are closely connected to those raised by the other large carnivores (e.g., potential conflicts with livestock or hunting). In this context, monitoring the species’ expansion, delineating populations, assessing the species' legal and protection status, and addressing the concerns raised by this rapidly expanding carnivore requires a high level of coordination among regional experts.

These surveys involve the contributions of the best available experts and sources of information. While the underlying data quality and field methodology varies widely across Europe, these coordinated assessments do their best to integrate the diverse data in a comparable manner and make the differences transparent. They also endeavor to conduct the assessments on the most important scales. This includes the continental scale (all countries except for Russia, Belarus, Moldova and the parts of Ukraine outside the Carpathian Mountain range), the scale of the EU 28 (where the Habitats Directive operates) and of the biological populations which reflect the scale at which ecological processes occur (Linnell et al. 2008). In this way, the independent LCIE assessments provide a valuable complement to the ongoing national processes.

Our last assessments covered the period 2006-2011 (Kaczensky et al. 2013; Chapron et al. 2014) but, at the time, did not include golden jackals. The current assessment is based on the period 2012-2016 and broadly follows the same methodology. Explicit distinctions are made between classification based on empirical data and expert opinion. The population definitions used in this report follow those proposed in (Ranc et al. 2018); areas whose presence category was defined by expert opinion were not assigned to a specific population, though.

Methods

The mapping approach follows the methods described in Chapron et al. (2014) and Kaczensky et al. (2013). It updates the published Species Online Layers (SPOIS) to the period 2012-2016.

In short, large carnivore presence was mapped at a 10x10 km ETRS89-LAEA Europe grid scale. This grid is widely used for the Flora-Fauna-Habitat reporting by the European Union (EU) and can be downloaded at: http://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/data/eea-reference-grids-2

The map encompasses the EU countries plus the non-EU Balkan states, Switzerland, Norway, and the Carpathian region of Ukraine. Presence in a grid cell was ideally mapped based on carnivore presence and frequency in a cell resulting in:

1 = Permanent (presence confirmed in >= 3 years in the last 5 years OR in >50% of the time OR reproduction confirmed within the last 3 years)

3 = Sporadic (highly fluctuating presence) (presence confirmed in <3 years in the last 5 years OR in <50% of the time)

5 = Expert-based presence (high confidence) (expert-based opinion; very suitable habitat near permanent presence areas)

6 = Expert-based presence (low confidence or unconfirmed records) (expert-based opinion; suitable habitat near presence areas or unconfirmed C3 records of jackal presence)

7 = Expert-based absence (high confidence) (jackal presence according to coarse-resolution hunting bag data but experts think, with high confidence, the species is not present)

8 = Expert-based absence (low confidence) (jackal presence according to coarse-resolution hunting bag data but experts think the species is not present)

Where grid cells were assigned different values between neighboring countries; the “disputed” cells were given the “higher” presence values e.g., a cell categorized as “sporadic” by one country and “permanent” by another was categorized as “permanent”. Data-based categories (1,3) were given priority over expert-based categories (5 through 8).

To assess the quality of carnivore signs we used the SCALP criteria developed for the standardized monitoring of Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in the Alps (Molinari-Jobin et al. 2012):

Category 1 (C1): “Hard facts”, verified and unchallenged large carnivore presence signs (e.g., dead animals, DNA, verified camera trap images);

Category 2 (C2): Large carnivore presence signs controlled and confirmed by a large carnivore expert (e.g., trained member of the network), which requires documentation of large carnivore signs; and

Category 3 (C3): Unconfirmed category 2 large carnivore presence signs and all presence signs such as sightings and calls which, if not additionally documented, cannot be verified.

See Hatlauf and Böcker (2022) for best practices regarding golden jackal records.

Usage Notes

The data available consists of a shapefile at a 10 x 10 km resolution compiled for the period 2012-2016 for the Large Carnivore Initiative of Europe IUCN Specialist Group and for the IUCN Red List Assessment.

References

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Fenton, S., Moorcroft, P.R., Ćirović, D., Lanszki, J., Heltai, M., Cagnacci, F., Breck, S., Bogdanović, N., Pantelić, I., Ács, K. and Ranc, N. 2021. Movement, space-use and resource preferences of European golden jackals in human-dominated landscapes: insights from a telemetry study. Mammalian Biology, 101: 619–630.

Hatlauf, J. and Böcker, F. 2022. Recommendations for the documentation and assessment of golden jackal (Canis aureus) records in Europe. BOKU reports on wildlife research and willdife management 27. Ed: Institute of Wildlife Biology and Game Management (IWJ), University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna. ISBN: 978-3-900932-94-7

Hatlauf, J., Bayer, K., Trouwborst, A. and Hackländer, K. 2021. New rules or old concepts? The golden jackal (Canis aureus) and its legal status in Central Europe. European Journal of Wildlife Research, 67, 25.

Kaczensky, P., Chapron, G., Von Arx, M., Huber, D., Andrén, H. and Linnell, J. 2013. Status, management and distribution of large carnivores - bear, lynx, wolf and wolverine - in Europe. Istituto di Ecologia Applicata, Rome, Italy.

Lanszki, J., Schally, G., Heltai, M. and Ranc, N. 2018. Golden jackal expansion in Europe: first telemetry evidence of a

In 2024, Spain imported over 131 terawatt-hours of natural gas from Algeria. Meanwhile, the import volume from the United States was nearly 57 terawatt-hours. That same year, Spain's total natural gas imports reached approximately 339 terawatt-hours. Liquefied natural gas imports Whereas other European Union countries – such as Germany – rely solely on pipelines for natural gas imports, Spain obtains over half of its imports in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG). LNG is transported in liquid state by ships, which are known as gas carriers or tankers, and upon arrival it is transformed back into its original state in regasification plants. Spain is the country with the fourth largest regasification capacity worldwide, accounting for roughly one-third of the EU’s total. Liquefied natural gas imports Home to the largest storage and regasification capacity within the European Union, Spain could counteract the gas shortage triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In addition to the energy independence provided by its regasification plants, Spain’s pipeline connection with Algeria – where the Mediterranean country imports most of its natural gas from – ensures a suitable alternative to Russian gas supply. On the other hand, Spain lacks connections with the central European gas system, which leaves the country quite isolated from the rest of the continent in terms of energy.

Over 1.2 million refugees from Ukraine due to the Russian invasion fled to Germany as of April 2025. Furthermore, the second-highest number was recorded in Poland. In total, around 5.1 million Ukrainian refugees were registered across Europe and 5.6 million worldwide as of May 2025. Most of them fled the country by crossing the border with Poland. Ukrainian refugees in Germany The first increases in the number of Ukrainian refugees in Germany were registered in March and April 2022. The figure exceeded one million refugees in September of that year. Germany had the highest monthly financial allowance for Ukrainians who fled the war compared to other European countries as of June 2022. Temporary protection for Ukrainian refugees in the EU European Union (EU) members implemented the Temporary Protection Directive (TPD), which guaranteed access to accommodation, welfare, and healthcare to refugees from Ukraine. People fleeing the war had a right to a residence permit in the EU, enter the labor market, and enroll children in educational institutions. The protection is granted until March 4, 2026, but it can be extended in the future depending on the situation in the country.

Denmark donated the most significant percentage of its 2021 gross domestic product (GDP) to help Ukraine over the period between January 2022, and June 2025. Denmark contributed 2.89 percent of its GDP in bilateral aid, followed by Estonia with 2.8 percent of GDP. Besides the Nordic and Baltic countries, the Netherlands donated the largest share of GDP. Western countries sent aid to Ukraine in view of the Russian invasion that began in February 2022. Who donated the most to Ukraine? In absolute terms, the largest bilateral aid allocations to Ukraine were made by the United States, at over 114 billion euros as of June 2025. European Union (EU) institutions, such as the European Commission and the European Council, allocated the second-largest amount of assistance, at almost 63.2 billion euros. The United Kingdom (UK) was the fourth-leading source of bilateral aid. EU aid to Ukraine The EU has supported Ukraine with over 69 billion euros in financial assistance as of January 2022. Of them, the largest share of aid has been provided as additional loans from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Among EU members, Germany allocated the largest amount of bilateral aid to Ukraine from January 24, 2022, at around 22 billion euros, while Estonia allocated the largest share of GDP.

In 2024, Monaco was the European country estimated to have the highest fertility rate. The country had a fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman. Other small countries such as Gibraltar or Montenegro also came towards the top of the list for 2024, while the large country with the highest fertility rate was France, with 1.64 children per woman. On the other hand, Ukraine had the lowest fertility rate, averaging around one child per woman.

The Russian-Ukranian conflict was seen as the most important issue facing the European Union in 2025. The current international situation was seen as the second most pressing issue, ahead of security and defense.

Russia is the largest natural gas exporter in Europe. The country exported ******billion cubic meters in 2024, of which the majority were exported via pipelines. By comparison, Norway exported around *** billion cubic meters of natural gas that year.

The largest number of Russians living abroad was recorded in Europe, measuring at nearly 6.2 million people in 2020. Furthermore, over four million Russians resided in Asian countries. Northern America was a residence of nearly 482 thousand people who were born in Russia.

From January 24, 2022, to June 30, 2025, the European Union (EU) institutions, such as the Commission and the EU Council, provided around 63.2 billion euros in bilateral financial, humanitarian, and military aid to Ukraine in view of the Russian invasion that started in February 2022. The highest value of allocations was recorded from the United States at over 114 billion euros. U.S. aid to Ukraine As of June 30, 2025, the value of U.S. bilateral aid allocations to Ukraine represented 0.53 percent of 2021 donor GDP. The U.S. donated the largest amount of bilateral military, financial, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Generally, U.S. foreign aid to Ukraine has increased since 2015. Where does military aid to Ukraine come from? The U.S., Germany, the United Kingdom (UK), and Denmark were the largest suppliers of military aid to Ukraine. In monetary terms, the U.S. bilateral military assistance to the country reached approximately 64.6 billion euros as of June 30, 2025. As part of that aid, the U.S. transported over 7,700 air defense missiles and over 1,600 air defense systems to Ukraine and other European partners. Furthermore, the U.S. delivered the most units of M777 howitzer artillery to the country.

Apart from the domestic market, the largest share of Russian software companies were found in the neighboring countries as well as near abroad, Kazakhstan, and Europe in 2023. Furthermore, over ** percent of the companies were present in South and East Asia.

In 2025, India overtook China as the world's most populous country and now has almost 1.46 billion people. China now has the second-largest population in the world, still with just over 1.4 billion inhabitants, however, its population went into decline in 2023. Global population As of 2025, the world's population stands at almost 8.2 billion people and is expected to reach around 10.3 billion people in the 2080s, when it will then go into decline. Due to improved healthcare, sanitation, and general living conditions, the global population continues to increase; mortality rates (particularly among infants and children) are decreasing and the median age of the world population has steadily increased for decades. As for the average life expectancy in industrial and developing countries, the gap has narrowed significantly since the mid-20th century. Asia is the most populous continent on Earth; 11 of the 20 largest countries are located there. It leads the ranking of the global population by continent by far, reporting four times as many inhabitants as Africa. The Demographic Transition The population explosion over the past two centuries is part of a phenomenon known as the demographic transition. Simply put, this transition results from a drastic reduction in mortality, which then leads to a reduction in fertility, and increase in life expectancy; this interim period where death rates are low and birth rates are high is where this population explosion occurs, and population growth can remain high as the population ages. In today's most-developed countries, the transition generally began with industrialization in the 1800s, and growth has now stabilized as birth and mortality rates have re-balanced. Across less-developed countries, the stage of this transition varies; for example, China is at a later stage than India, which accounts for the change in which country is more populous - understanding the demographic transition can help understand the reason why China's population is now going into decline. The least-developed region is Sub-Saharan Africa, where fertility rates remain close to pre-industrial levels in some countries. As these countries transition, they will undergo significant rates of population growth.