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 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.

In the presented European countries, the homeownership rate extended from 42 percent in Switzerland to as much as 96 percent in Albania. Countries with more mature rental markets, such as France, Germany, the UK and Switzerland, tended to have a lower homeownership rate compared to the frontier countries, such as Lithuania or Slovakia. The share of house owners among the population of all 27 European countries has remained relatively stable over the past few years. Average cost of housing Countries with lower homeownership rates tend to have higher house prices. In 2023, the average transaction price for a house was notably higher in Western and Northern Europe than in Eastern and Southern Europe. In Austria - one of the most expensive European countries to buy a new dwelling in - the average price was three times higher than in Greece. Looking at house price growth, however, the most expensive markets recorded slower house price growth compared to the mid-priced markets. Housing supply With population numbers rising across Europe, the need for affordable housing continues. In 2023, European countries completed between one and six housing units per 1,000 citizens, with Ireland, Poland, and Denmark responsible heading the ranking. One of the major challenges for supplying the market with more affordable homes is the rising construction costs. In 2021 and 2022, housing construction costs escalated dramatically due to soaring inflation, which has had a significant effect on new supply.

The Treaty of Versailles reduced Germany's territory in Europe by approximately 13 percent, and stripped Germany of all its overseas territories and colonies. If a map of these territories is transposed on to a modern map of the world, we can see that these territories are situated in 28 modern countries. In Europe, all of this land was given to neighboring states (including Lithuania, which bordered German East Prussia at the time), with the largest areas of land being annexed by France and Poland. The Treaty of Versailles also established the Free City of Danzig (modern-day Gdańsk, Poland) as a semi-autonomous city-state under League of Nations protection.

German Africa

Germany's African colonies were administered in three zones, the largest of which was German West Africa (approximately 2.7 million square kilometers), which was mostly situated in modern Cameroon and Ghana, but also included parts of modern Nigeria, Togo and the Central African Republic. After this was German East Africa (also known as Tanganyika) which primarily makes up Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania today, and also included parts of Chad, Kenya and Mozambique. The third region was German South West Africa, also known as Tanganyika, which was completely situated in what is Namibia today. Although it is difficult to know the exact parameters of Germany's African territories, it is estimated that German Africa was at least 4.5 million square kilometers (modern Germany is just over 357,000 square kilometers).

Pacific Germany

As with Africa, Germany had three separately administered territories in the Asia-Pacific region, however these territories were much smaller and spread out than the African colonies. Germany's Chinese territories were located in the Shandong Province, and their controversial transfer to Japan caused a ripple effect that was not resolved until 1922. Germany's largest Pacific territory was German New Guinea, which also administered all nearby Pacific colonies, apart from German Samoa. Following the Treaty of Versailles, all of these territories then passed into French, British or British Commonwealth control.

In 2025, the United States had the largest number of active military personnel out of all North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries, with almost *** million troops. The country with the second-largest number of military personnel was Türkiye, at around ******* active personnel. Additionally, the U.S. has by far the most armored vehicles in NATO, as well as the largest Navy and Air Force. NATO in brief NATO, which was formed in 1949, is the most powerful military alliance in the world. At its formation, NATO began with 12 member countries, which by 2024 had increased to 32. NATO was originally formed to deter Soviet expansion into Europe, with member countries expected to come to each other’s defense in case of an attack. Member countries are also obliged to commit to spending two percent of their respective GDPs on defense, although many states have recently fallen far short of this target. NATO in the contemporary world Some questioned the purpose of NATO after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the collapse of the Soviet Union a few years later. In 2019, French President Emmanuel Macron even called the organization 'brain-dead' amid dissatisfaction with the leadership of the U.S. President at the time, Donald Trump. NATO has, however, seen a revival after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Following the invasion, Sweden and Finland both abandoned decades of military neutrality and applied to join the alliance, with Finland joining in 2023 and Sweden in 2024.