How Many Countries Are in Europe? (2026)
Europe has 44 countries, counting UN member states under the UN’s regional scheme. It’s the answer with the most footnotes per square kilometer, because Europe is less a landmass than a peninsula of Asia that got its own continent through sheer historical confidence, and its eastern edge has never fully agreed on itself.
| Country | Capital | Population |
|---|---|---|
 Albania | Tirana | 2,350,000 |
 Andorra | Andorra la Vella | 83,000 |
 Austria | Vienna | 9,210,000 |
 Belarus | Minsk | 9,090,000 |
 Belgium | Brussels | 11,900,000 |
 Bosnia and Herzegovina | Sarajevo | 3,140,000 |
 Bulgaria | Sofia | 6,430,000 |
 Croatia | Zagreb | 3,880,000 |
 Cyprus | Nicosia | 1,370,000 |
 Czechia | Prague | 10,900,000 |
 Denmark | Copenhagen | 6,010,000 |
 Estonia | Tallinn | 1,370,000 |
 Finland | Helsinki | 5,650,000 |
 France | Paris | 68,700,000 |
 Germany | Berlin | 83,500,000 |
 Greece | Athens | 10,400,000 |
 Hungary | Budapest | 9,510,000 |
 Iceland | Reykjavík | 392,000 |
 Ireland | Dublin | 5,480,000 |
 Italy | Rome | 58,900,000 |
 Latvia | Riga | 1,850,000 |
 Liechtenstein | Vaduz | 41,000 |
 Lithuania | Vilnius | 2,890,000 |
 Luxembourg | Luxembourg | 687,000 |
 Malta | Valletta | 580,000 |
 Moldova | Chișinău | 2,360,000 |
 Monaco | Monaco | 38,000 |
 Montenegro | Podgorica | 623,000 |
 Netherlands | Amsterdam | 18,100,000 |
 North Macedonia | Skopje | 1,820,000 |
 Norway | Oslo | 5,610,000 |
 Poland | Warsaw | 36,400,000 |
 Portugal | Lisbon | 10,800,000 |
 Romania | Bucharest | 19,000,000 |
 Russia | Moscow | 143,500,000 |
 San Marino | City of San Marino | 34,000 |
 Serbia | Belgrade | 6,550,000 |
 Slovakia | Bratislava | 5,410,000 |
 Slovenia | Ljubljana | 2,130,000 |
 Spain | Madrid | 49,400,000 |
 Sweden | Stockholm | 10,600,000 |
 Switzerland | Bern | 9,090,000 |
 Ukraine | Kyiv | 39,000,000 |
 United Kingdom | London | 69,500,000 |
Who’s in
The 44 runs from Iceland and Portugal in the west to Russia in the east, and yes, Russia counts as European: the UN files it under Eastern Europe, since its capital, its population center, and most of its history sit west of the Urals, even though most of its enormous area doesn’t. That single classification call is the biggest swing factor between different sources’ Europe counts.
The list also includes the five microstates that quizzes adore: Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino, and Vatican City, the smallest country on Earth. Malta joins them as the small-island member. Forgetting the microstates is the most common reason people’s mental Europe count comes in low; remembering them is worth five instant points on any Europe quiz.
The newest additions to Europe’s roster arrived through breakups rather than discovery: the Soviet, Yugoslav, and Czechoslovak dissolutions of the 1990s, capped by Montenegro’s split from Serbia in 2006, the continent’s most recent UN member.
Who’s out, and why
Turkey holds real European territory, about 3% of its land including half of Istanbul, and is classified by the UN as Western Asia. The EU-candidate history keeps the confusion evergreen.
Cyprus is in the European Union, sends entries to Eurovision, and is classified by the UN as Asia. This is the single most reliable “gotcha” in continent-sorting trivia, and it’s on this site’s quizzes with the UN’s answer.
Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan likewise read culturally European by several measures and count as Western Asia in the UN scheme, so none of the three appear in 44.
Kosovo declared independence in 2008 and is recognized by many governments but isn’t a UN member, so it sits outside the count, the European entry in the partially-recognized limbo that the how many countries are there page explains.
Greenland, despite appearances and continental-plate arguments, belongs to Denmark and counts nowhere on its own.
Putting the roster to work
44 countries is an achievable full-mastery target, and Europe rewards it faster than anywhere: the Europe map quiz locks the layout including all five microstates, the Europe capitals quiz attaches the cities, and the Europe flag quiz sorts the continent’s tricolor families. Three quizzes and you own the continent people assume is easy.
Frequently asked questions
Is Russia in Europe or Asia?
Europe, by UN classification and general convention, because Moscow, St. Petersburg, and roughly three-quarters of Russia’s population sit west of the Urals. Geographically it spans both continents, holding the largest share of Asia’s land of any country. Quiz answer: Europe.
Why isn’t Cyprus counted in Europe?
The UN classifies Cyprus as Western Asia on plain geography: it’s an eastern Mediterranean island closer to Asia’s coast. EU membership is a political arrangement, not a continental one. Cyprus-the-EU-member-in-Asia is among the best trivia facts this side of the geography trivia page.
What’s the smallest country in Europe?
Vatican City, which is also the smallest in the world at 0.44 km², an enclave inside Rome. Europe stacks the global small-country podium: San Marino, Monaco, and Liechtenstein all rank among the smallest countries in the world too.
How many European countries are in the EU?
Fewer than people assume: the EU’s membership is a subset of Europe’s 44, with notable non-members including the UK, Norway, Switzerland, and the Balkan candidates. “European country” and “EU member” get used interchangeably in casual speech and never should be in a quiz.