List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Europe
The list below includes all entities falling even partially under any of the various common definitions of Europe, geographical or political. Fifty generally recognised sovereign states, Kosovo with limited, but substantial, international recognition, and four largely unrecognised de facto states with limited to no recognition have territory in Europe and/or membership in international European organisations. There are eight entities that are not integral parts of a European state or have special political arrangements.
Boundary of Europe
Geographical
Under the commonly used geographic definition, the boundary between the continents of Asia and Europe stretches along the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, and the Caspian Sea in the east, the Greater Caucasus range, and the Black Sea with its outlets, the Bosporus and the Dardanelles, in the south. Based on such a commonly used division of the continents, the transcontinental countries of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkey have territory in both Asia and Europe.The island of Cyprus in Western Asia is close to Anatolia but is often considered to be a part of Europe and is a member of the European Union. Like Cyprus, Armenia is also entirely in Western Asia but is a member of several European organisations.
Although the Mediterranean Sea provides a clearer divide between Africa and Europe, some traditionally European islands such as Malta, Pantelleria, the Pelagie Islands, and Sicily are actually located on the African Plate. The island of Iceland is part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, straddling the Eurasian Plate and the North American Plate.
Some territories which are geographically outside of Europe have strong connections with European states. Greenland, for example, has socio-political connections with Europe and is part of the Kingdom of Denmark but is located closer to the continent of North America and is usually grouped with that continent.
Other territories are part of European countries but are geographically located on other continents, such as the French overseas regions, the Spanish Canary Islands and the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla on the coast of Africa, and the Dutch BES islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba in the Caribbean.
Political
The political boundaries of Europe vary with the definition of Europe that is used by different political organizations. For instance, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights include 46 countries in their definition of Europe. The European Higher Education Area includes 48 countries, and the European Cultural Convention and the European Olympic Committees include 50 countries in their definitions.Sovereign states
A sovereign state is a political association with effective sovereignty over a population for whom it makes decisions in the national interest. According to the Montevideo Convention, a state must have a permanent population, a defined territory, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other states.UN member states and UNGA non-member observer state
There are 50 sovereign states with territory located within the common definition of Europe and/or membership in international European organisations that are almost universally recognized internationally. All are either member states of the United Nations or non-member observer states at the United Nations General Assembly, and all except Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Vatican City are members of the Council of Europe. 44 countries have their capital city located within Europe, and 27 of those countries are member states of the European Union, which means that they are highly integrated with one another and share their sovereignty through EU institutions.Each entry in the list below has a map of its location in Europe. Territory in Europe is shown in dark-green; territory not geographically in Europe is shown in a lighter shade of green. The lightest shade of green represents other states in the EU and is shown on the maps of all territories within the EU. For candidate members of the EU, see potential enlargement of the European Union.
| Flag | Map | English short, formal names, and ISO | Domestic short and formal name | Capital | Population | Area | Currency | EU Membership |
| Albania Republic of Albania ALB | Tirana | Albanian lek | Candidate negotiating | |||||
| Andorra Principality of Andorra AND | Andorra la Vella | Euro | No | |||||
| Armenia Republic of Armenia ARM | Yerevan | Armenian dram | No | |||||
| Austria Republic of Austria AUT | Vienna | Euro | Yes | |||||
| Azerbaijan Republic of Azerbaijan AZE | Baku | Azerbaijani manat | No | |||||
| Belarus Republic of Belarus BLR | | Minsk | Belarusian rouble | No | ||||
| Belgium Kingdom of Belgium BEL | Brussels | Euro | Yes | |||||
| Bosnia and Herzegovina BIH | Bosnian: Bosna i Hercegovina Croatian: Bosna i Hercegovina Serbian: Босна и Херцеговина | Sarajevo Bosnian: Sarajevo Croatian: Sarajevo Serbian: Сарајево | Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark | Candidate | ||||
| Bulgaria Republic of Bulgaria BGR | Sofia | Euro | Yes | |||||
| Croatia Republic of Croatia HRV | Zagreb | Euro | Yes | |||||
| Cyprus Republic of Cyprus CYP | | Nicosia | Euro | Yes | ||||
| Czechia Czech Republic CZE | Prague | Czech koruna | Yes | |||||
| Denmark Kingdom of Denmark DNK | Copenhagen | Danish krone | Yes | |||||
| Estonia Republic of Estonia EST | Tallinn | Euro | Yes | |||||
| Finland Republic of Finland FIN | Helsinki | Euro | Yes | |||||
| France French Republic FRA | Paris | Euro | Yes | |||||
| Georgia GEO | საქართველო | Tbilisi / T'bilisi თბილისი | Georgian lari | Candidate | ||||
| Germany Federal Republic of Germany DEU | Berlin | Euro | Yes | |||||
| Greece Hellenic Republic GRC | Athens | Euro | Yes | |||||
| Hungary HUN | Budapest | Hungarian forint | Yes | |||||
| Iceland ISL | Reykjavík | Icelandic króna | No | |||||
| Ireland IRL | Dublin | Euro | Yes | |||||
| Italy Italian Republic ITA | Rome | Euro | Yes | |||||
| Kazakhstan Republic of Kazakhstan KAZ | | Astana | Kazakhstani tenge | No | ||||
| Latvia Republic of Latvia LVA | Riga | Euro | Yes | |||||
| Liechtenstein Principality of Liechtenstein LIE | Vaduz | Liechtenstein franc | No | |||||
| Lithuania Republic of Lithuania LTU | Vilnius | Euro | Yes | |||||
| Luxembourg Grand Duchy of Luxembourg LUX | Luxembourg | Euro | Yes | |||||
| Malta Republic of Malta MLT | Valletta | Euro | Yes | |||||
| Moldova Republic of Moldova MDA | Chișinău | Moldovan leu | Candidate negotiating | |||||
| Monaco Principality of Monaco MCO | Monaco | Euro | No | |||||
| Montenegro MNE | Podgorica | Euro | Candidate negotiating | |||||
| Netherlands Kingdom of the Netherlands NLD | Amsterdam The Hague | Euro | Yes | |||||
| North Macedonia Republic of North Macedonia MKD | Skopje | Macedonian denar | Candidate negotiating | |||||
| Norway Kingdom of Norway NOR | Oslo | Norwegian krone | No | |||||
| Poland Republic of Poland POL | Warsaw | Polish złoty | Yes | |||||
| Portugal Portuguese Republic PRT | Lisbon | Euro | Yes | |||||
| Romania ROU | Bucharest | Romanian leu | Yes | |||||
| Russia Russian Federation RUS | Moscow | Russian rouble | No | |||||
| San Marino Republic of San Marino SMR | San Marino | Euro | No | |||||
| Serbia Republic of Serbia SRB | Belgrade | Serbian dinar | Candidate negotiating | |||||
| Slovakia Slovak Republic SVK | Bratislava | Euro | Yes | |||||
| Slovenia Republic of Slovenia SVN | Ljubljana | Euro | Yes | |||||
| Spain Kingdom of Spain ESP | Madrid | Euro | Yes | |||||
| Sweden Kingdom of Sweden SWE | Stockholm | Swedish krona | Yes | |||||
| Switzerland Swiss Confederation CHE | Bern / Berne Italian and Romansh: Berna | Swiss franc | No | |||||
| Turkey Republic of Türkiye TUR | Ankara | Turkish lira | Candidate with frozen negotiations | |||||
| Ukraine UKR | | Kyiv | Ukrainian hryvnia | Candidate negotiating | ||||
| United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland GBR | London | Sterling | No | |||||
| Vatican City Vatican City State VAT | Vatican City | Euro | No |