Europe was first populated in about 35,000 BC by Homo Sapiens – Cro Magnon Man. The first literate civilization in Europe were the Minoans on the island of Crete from approximately 2700 BC to 1500 BC. Eventually, the Mycenaeans absorbed the Minoans and this civilization lasted until about 1100 BC.

Europe evolved at that point from Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome until the fall of the Roman Empire in about 500 AD. The Holy Roman Empire and feudal kingdoms rose to power from around 800 AD which lasted until the 18th to 19th Century. Most European states had become constitutional monarchies by the late 1800’s. In 1993, the European Union was established which includes 27 countries.

Most European languages fall into one of three groups; Romance languages (French, Italian and Spanish), Germanic languages (German and English) or Slavic languages (Russian, Bulgarian and Polish). The most commonly spoken languages in Europe are Russian, German, French, English and Italian.