People of Europe facts for kids
731 million people live in Europe. The largest countries, by population, are Russia (143 million but many of these live in Asian parts of Russia) and Germany (80 million). The smallest countries, by population, are the Vatican City (1,000 inhabitants), Monaco, San Marino and Liechtenstein.
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Religion
The major religion in Europe is Christianity. Most countries in Europe have a majority of people who are Christian - generally Roman Catholic (most of southern Europe, central Europe and Ireland), Protestant varieties (the UK, Germany and parts of central Europe) and Orthodox (eastern and south-eastern Europe). Large minorities of Jews live in the UK and France (and Poland, Germany and central Europe in the past). Turkey, Albania, Kosovo and Azerbaijan have majority Muslim populations with large numbers also in Bosnia Herzegovina and Russia. Several countries including Czech Republic, Estonia and the United Kingdom have large numbers of people who don't follow any religion.
Languages
Over 100 languages are spoken today in Europe and many hundreds of others were spoken in the past. The [[../EU|European Union]] has 24 official languages although there are 28 countries in the EU. This is because some languages are spoken in more than one country. English is spoken in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Malta. German is an official language in Germany, Austria and parts of Belgium. French is spoken in France and Belgium. Russian is the main language in Russia and is also spoken by large numbers of people in Ukraine, Belarus and other countries which were formerly part of the Soviet Union. Italian is spoken in Italy and also in parts of Slovenia and Croatia.
The most spoken native EU language is German. English is spoken by more people as a second language than any other language in the EU.
There are many languages in Europe which don't have large numbers of native speakers like Manx and Kashubian.
Images for kids
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Simplified model for the demographic history of Europeans during the Neolithic period and the introduction of agriculture.
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The Great Migrations of Late Antiquity.
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Map showing the distribution of Slavic tribes between the 7th–9th centuries AD.
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Europa Regina (Representation of Europe printed by Sebastian Munster (1570).
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Ethnographic map of Europe, The Times Atlas (1896).
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Gagauz people in Moldova
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Sámi family in Lapland of Finland, 1936.
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Eurobarometer Poll 2005 chart results
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See also
In Spanish: Etnias de Europa para niños
