Europe

Europe is a continent in the Old World. Since the 16th Century, Europe has been home to the most powerful nations on earth, with it being the location of Spain, France, Germany, The Netherlands, and Sweden; the major colonial powers of the Age of Explorations.

Europe reached the peak of its power in the mid 20th century, before entering into a steep decline with the conclusion of the Great War and the Red War. Since this time, the power has gradually begun to equalize, with America and Asia becoming centers of power as European supremacy fizzles out.

In the Middle Ages, Europe was the site of the Black Empire, which arose from the land of Dacia to spread across the Balkans and into Mesopotamia. The influx of peoples displaced by the earlier Neo-Heilong Empire in Central and East Asia contributed to a "New Peopling" of Europe that was termed "The Second Migration Period" by anthropologists. During this time, peoples from Central Asia and the Middle-East poured en mass into Europe, causing mass chaos, and carving up lands for themselves. Likewise, European peoples began to migrate west, seeking out new lands as well. As a result, Europe is a very ethnically heterogenous continent, with many small but ethnically distinct countries existing, as well as large countries containing various smaller ethnic minorities within their borders.

Political Divisions
Europe has traditionally be said to have contained 36 independent countries.

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Demographics
Europe has historically been a bastion of Western Christianity, primarily divided between Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Reformed Protestant Christianity. Following the Second Migration Period, new religions became introduced. Of the greatest note was Islam, which became wildly popular among the pagan East Slavs. Of note as well is the religion of Litavism, the ethnic religion of the Baltic Peoples, particularly the Lithuanians and Livonians (Latvians and Curonians). [[File:Europe-religions.png|thumb|220x220px|Majority Religions of Europe in 2015. Beige: Roman Catholicism;

Purple: Eastern Orthodoxy;

Green: Islam

Blue: Protestant Christianity

Yellow: Oriental Orthodoxy

Cyan: Judaism ]] The largest ethnic group in Europe are the Russians, who live primarily in Russia, Ukraine, and Lithuania.

French is the most widely spoken language on the continent and considered to be the European Lingua Franca.