Europe

Europe is by far world's most visited continent. It is neither Earth's most beautiful nor its warmest part, but its cultural sights and a myriad of splendidly charming towns and cities still manage to seduce sufficient numbers of travellers. Altogether there are 50 countries in Europe (the exact number actually depends on how you count them) which differ greatly one from another. Or that is, at least, what the Europeans like to believe. To the outside world the continent may not look as strikingly diverse as it does to them - just a collection of countless towns fanning out of squares with churches. The ancient civilizations of Europe developed somewhat later than those in Asia and Africa, but they soon caught up with their southeastern counterparts in matters of civilizational splendour. But shortly after the fall of the Roman Empire Europe entered its Dark Ages allowing the Islamic world, India and China to take over economically and culturally while it busied itself with the intricacies of Christian morality. But some five centuries ago the continent woke up from its Medieval slumber and once it was up it was up with a vengeance. At the beginning of the Modern Era, European nation states quickly expanded their colonial empires and eventually underwent the process of industrialization more quickly than any othe place on Earth. Today, the wealth gained in that period is patent in the many splendid churches and palaces that dot the European landscape as well as its majestic cities - always teeming with energy, but without getting too large, too ugly and too overbearing.