Europe is a continent whose boundaries are generally regarded as being: the Atlantic Ocean in the west, the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Ural Mountains and Ural River (or Emba River) in the east, the Caspian Sea, Caucasus mountains (or the Kuma-Manych Depression) and Black Sea in the southeast, and the Mediterranean to the south. Together with Asia, Europe forms the supercontinent Eurasia, of which Europe is the western fifth.

In terms of population it is the third largest continent after Asia and Africa. The population of Europe in 2001 was estimated to be 666,498,000: roughly one seventh of the world's population.