Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth.Europe is the world's second-smallest continent in terms of area. The only continent smaller than Europe is Australia. The origins of Western democratic and individualistic culture are often attributed to Ancient Greece: these Greek political ideals were rediscovered in the late 18th century by European philosophers and idealists. Another major influence on Europe came from the Roman Empire which left its mark on law, language and government. It also saw the legitimization of Christianity after three centuries of imperial persecution. After the decline of the Roman Empire, Europe entered a long period of changes arising from what is known in America as the Age of Migrations. That period has been known as the "Dark Ages" to Renaissance thinkers.

Isolated monastic communities in Ireland, Scotland and elsewhere carefully safeguarded and compiled written knowledge accumulated previously, but much literature, philosophy, mathematics, and other thinking from the classical period was lost from European popular currency until reintroduced from Arab sources during the renaissance.As a continent, the economy of Europe is currently the largest on Earth. The European Union, or EU, an intergovernmental body composed of most of the European states, is one of the two largest in the world. There are several linguistic groups widely recognised in Europe. These sometimes (but not always) coincide with cultural and historical connections between the various nations, though in other cases religion is considered a more significant distinguishing factor.

Tourism is travel for predominantly recreational or leisure purposes or the provision of services to support this leisure travel. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited". Tourism has become a popular global leisure activity. In 2006, there were over 842 million international tourist arrivals.

Tourism is vital for many countries, due to the income generated by the consumption of goods and services by tourists, the taxes levied on businesses in the tourism industry, and the opportunity for employment in the service industries associated with tourism. These service industries include transportation services such as cruise ships and taxis, accommodation such as hotels, restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues, and other hospitality industry services such as spas and resorts