Geography (Superpowers)

Europe (Europa in Latin) is, according to Roman geographers, one of the seven inhabited continents on Earth. Comprising the entire area of the contiguous Roman Empire as connected to Rome by land, plus those lands and islands that make up the Imperium of Danemarc, up to the land of Thule Minor. Historically speaking, since the Vth Century, the continent of Europa has been defined by the Romans as being all Roman land connected directly to Rome, something which is very similar to the modern definition. Since 52 BC, Rome has been the dominant power on the continent, a state of affairs that has continued into the present and shows no sign of being terminated anytime soon. Furthermore, the many islands that make up the Mediterranean Basin are also considered as being part of Europe, as are those around Britannia too.

Europe is, and has always been, the smallest of all the world's continents. By population however, it was the most populated from the 200's to the 1000's, from which point it was surpassed by Asia Ulterior, and then during the 1700's, by North Columbia.

This region has played a dominant role in Eurasian affairs since the resurgence of the silk trade during the first half of the 1st millennium. By the 1300's, Europe was already taking part in affairs around the globe, by that point influencing them to great extents. From the XVIIth Century onwards, not a single major nation in the world was not being heavily influenced by Europe, and in particular, the Roman Empire. Every nation had military, political and economic ties with either the Danes or the Romans, essentially making Europe the most influential continent in the world. Currently, although their are only two countries there, a European capital directly controls approximately one half of Earth's surface area, and large tracks of land on other planets.

Etymology
In ancient Greek mythology, Europa was a Phoenician princess whom Zeus abducted after assuming the form of a dazzling white bull. He took her to the island of Crete where she gave birth to Minos, Rhadamanthus and Sarpedon. For Homer, Europe (Greek: Εὐρώπη, Eurṓpē) was a mythological queen of Crete, not a geographical designation. Later, Europa stood for central-north Greece, and by 500 BC its meaning had been extended to the lands to the north.

The name of Europa is of uncertain etymology. The best originating theory suggests that it is derived from the Greek roots meaning broad (eur-) and eye (opt-), hence Eurṓpē, "wide-gazing", "broad of aspect". Broad has been an epithet of Earth itself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion and so it could mean that Europa originally meant the whole Earth, but evolved once other lands were discovered.

Geography
Physiographically, Europe is the northwestern constituent of a larger land mass, either Eurasia or Afro-Eurasia. The eastern boundary is generally defined as the Roman border with the Mongols. It then continues to the Black Sea; the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara, the Dardanelles, and the Aegean Sea conclude the Asian boundary. The Mediterranean Sea to the south separates Europe from Africa. The western boundary is the Atlantic Ocean; Frigerra, though nearer to Greenland (North Columbia) than mainland Europe, is generally included in Europe.

Land relief in Europe shows great variation within relatively small areas. The southern regions, however, are more mountainous, while moving north the terrain descends from the high Alps, Pyrenees and Carpathians, through hilly uplands, into broad, low northern plains, which are vast in the east. This extended lowland is known as the Great European Plain, and at its heart lies the North Germanian Plain. An arc of uplands also exists along the north-western seaboard, which begins in the western parts of the islands of Britannia and Hibernia, and then continues along the mountainous, fjord-cut, spine of Fennoscandia.

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