Many people describe Europe as a peninsula of peninsulas. See if you agree. A peninsula is land surrounded by water on three sides.
Keep this definition in mind as you observe the image below of Europe as seen from space. How many peninsulas do you see coming off the main landform? Most geographers would say five. They would also say that the whole continent is itself a peninsula. The land comes very close to Africa at one point. But a narrow strip of water, called the Strait of Gibraltar, separates the two continents and clinches the case for Europe being a peninsula. Even though it’s a large peninsula, Europe is the second-smallest continent in the world. It takes up just 2 percent of the Earth’s surface. (Only Oceania – Australia and the Pacific Islands – is smaller.)
Geographers identify four regions of Europe. You can think of them like four more-or-less horizontal bands across the continent. From north to south, the regions are the Western Uplands, the North European Plain, the Central Uplands, and the Alps. Here, you may find some of the most famous landforms (and bodies of water) on the planet. Here, you will also find some well-known countries. Europe is made up of 45 countries. Each is uniquely interesting, which made deciding which ones to explore very tough for us at Kids Discover. In the end, larger countries and countries with larger populations won the day.
