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Geography European Union

Location:
Europe between Eastern Europe and the North Atlantic Ocean

Map references:
Europe

Area:
total: 3,976,372 sq km

Area - comparative:
less than one-half the size of the US

Land boundaries:
total: 11,214.8 km
border countries: Albania 282 km, Andorra 120.3 km, Belarus 1,050
km, Bulgaria 494 km, Croatia 999 km, Holy See 3.2 km, Liechtenstein
34.9 km, Macedonia 246 km, Monaco 4.4 km, Norway 2,348 km, Romania
443 km, Russia 2,257 km, San Marino 39 km, Serbia and Montenegro 151
km, Switzerland 1,811 km, Turkey 206 km, Ukraine 726 km
note: data for European Continent only

Coastline:
65,413.9 km

Maritime claims:
NA

Climate:
cold temperate; potentially subarctic in the north to temperate;
mild wet winters; hot dry summers in the south

Terrain:
fairly flat along the Baltic and Atlantic coast; mountainous in the
central and southern areas

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Lammefjord, Denmark -7 m; Zuidplaspolder, Netherlands
-7 m
highest point: Mount Blanc, France/Italy 4,807 m

Natural resources:
iron ore, arable land, natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, lead,
zinc, hydropower, uranium, potash, fish

Land use:
arable land: NA
permanent crops: NA

Irrigated land:
115,807 sq km

Natural hazards:
flooding along coasts; avalanches in mountainous area; earthquakes
in the south; volcanic eruptions in Italy; periodic droughts in
Spain; ice floes in the Baltic

Environment - current issues:
NA

Environment - international agreements:
Hazardous Wastes, Biodiversity, Air Pollution, Antarctic-Marine
Living Resources, Tropical Timber 82, Tropical Timber 94, Ozone
Layer Protection, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air
Pollution-Sulphur 94, Law of the Sea, Desertification, Climate
Change; has signed, but not yet ratified: Air Pollution-Volatile
Organic Compounds, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants

People European Union

Population:
456,285,839 (July 2004 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 16.3%
15-64 years: 67.2%
65 years and over: 16.6% (July 2004 est.)

Median age:
NA

Population growth rate:
0.17% (July 2004 est.)

Birth rate:
10.2 births/1,000 population (July 2004 est.)

Death rate:
10 deaths/1,000 population (July 2004 est.)

Net migration rate:
1.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (July 2004 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: NA
under 15 ye