Population decline
Contemporary decline by country
Table:
Population decline by country

Country

Population estimate
(1 July 2020)

Avg annual rate of population change

(%)

2015–2020[17]

Notes

Albania

2,877,797

−0.09

low birth rate, emigration

Belarus

9,449,323

+0.02

low birth rate, emigration, population increased in 2014 due to positive net migration rate following war in Ukraine due to refugee flow

Bosnia and Herzegovina

3,280,819

−0.89

low birth rate, emigration, Bosnian War

Bulgaria

6,948,445

−0.71

low birth rate, high death rate, high rate of abortions, population is old, emigration, a relatively high level of emigration of young people and a low level of immigration and lack of good policies encouraging parents[24]

Croatia

4,105,267

−0.61

low birth rate, population is old, emigration, War in Croatia, difference in statistical methods[25]

Estonia

1,326,535

+0.17

low birth rate, emigration

Germany

83,783,942

+0.48

low birth rate, population is old, population increased since 2013 due to positive net migration rate following civil war in Syria due to refugee flow

Georgia

3,989,167

−0.18

(figure includes Abkhazia and South Ossetia) high death rate, declining births, high rate of abortions, emigration and a low level of immigration

Greece

10,423,054

−0.45

low birth rate, economic crisis, emigration, population is old

Hungary

9,660,351

−0.24

low birth rate, emigration

Italy

60,461,826

−0.04

low birth rate, economic crisis, population is old, population increased in 2012, 2013, and 2014 due to positive net migration rate

Japan

126,476,461

−0.24

low birth rate, population is old and a low level of immigration

Latvia

1,886,198

−1.15

low birth rate, emigration

Lithuania

2,722,289

−1.48

high death rate, low birth rate, emigration

Moldova

4,033,963

−0.18

(includes the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic) low birth rate, emigration

Poland

37,846,611

−0.10

low birth rate, emigration

Portugal

10,196,709

−0.33

low birth rate, population is old, economic crisis, emigration

Puerto Rico

2,860,853

−3.34

low birth rate, population is old, economic crisis, emigration to the U.S. mainland, effects of Hurricane Maria

Romania

19,237,691

−0.70

low birth rate, high death rate, high rate of abortion, emigration, population is old

Russia

145,934,462

+0.13

high death rate, low birth rate, high rate of abortions, emigration and a low level of immigration until recently[26] Population increased slightly since 2014 due to positive natural change and positive net migration rate

With reference to the table plus the supporting evidence provided.

Provide an answer to this question: What is the Human Development Index of a Country that significantly influenced Slavic cultures by developing the Cyrillic script ? Output only the correct answer as {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Use only the information given.

Albania ( /ælˈbeɪniə , ɔːl-/ ( listen ) a ( w ) l-BAY-nee-ə ; Albanian : Shqipëri or Shqipëria ; Gheg Albanian : Shqipni or Shqipnia also Shqypni or Shqypnia ) , officially the Republic of Albania ( Albanian : Republika e Shqipërisë , pronounced [ ɾɛpuˈblika ɛ ʃcipəˈɾiːsə ] ) , is a country in Southeast Europe on the Adriatic and Ionian Sea within the Mediterranean Sea . It shares land borders with Montenegro to the northwest , Kosovo [ a ] to the northeast , North Macedonia to the east , Greece to the south and maritime borders with Greece , Montenegro and Italy to the west . Geographically , the country displays varied climatic , geological , hydrological and morphological conditions , defined in an area of 28,748 km2 ( 11,100 sq mi ) . It possesses remarkable diversity with the landscape ranging from the snow-capped mountains in the Albanian Alps as well as the Korab , Skanderbeg , Pindus and Ceraunian Mountains to the hot and sunny coasts of the Albanian Adriatic and Ionian Sea along the Mediterranean Sea . Historically , the country has been inhabited by numerous civilisations such as the Illyrians , Thracians , Ancient Greeks , Romans , Byzantines , Venetians and Ottomans . The Albanians established the autonomous Principality of Arbër in the 12th century . The Kingdom of Albania and Principality of Albania formed between the 13th and 14th centuries . Prior to the Ottoman conquest of Albania in the 15th century , the Albanian resistance to Ottoman expansion into Europe led by Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg won them acclaim over most of Europe . Between the 18th and 19th centuries , Albanians gathered both spiritual and intellectual strength which conclusively led to the Albanian Renaissance . After the defeat of the Ottomans in the Balkan Wars , the modern nation state of Albania declared independence in 1912 . In the 20th century , the Kingdom of Albania was invaded by Italy which formed Greater Albania before becoming a protectorate of Nazi Germany . Enver Hoxha formed Communist Albania after the Second World War and launched the Albanians on a path of oppression and decades of isolation .
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Albania , including population density , ethnicity , education level , health of the populace , economic status , religious affiliations and other aspects of the population . The demography of the Albania is monitored by the Institute of Statistics of Albania . The institute has performed demographic censuses since the 1924s . The latest census in Albania was performed in April 2011 , and has been deemed as unreliable both within and outside Albania . Albania is a fairly linguistically homogeneous country with ethnic Albanians forming the majority in the country . Albania has 2,876,591 inhabitants according to the INSTAT calculations current as of January 1 , 2017 . The first official population statistics for Albania was the 1923 census , when the country had a total of 823,000 inhabitants . Previous censuses carried out by the Ottoman Empire , which are not yet available . A shift in administrative borders in 1913 made comparison of various periods more complicated . Maddison from 2001 , estimates that in Albania , about 200,000 people lived up to the year 1600 , and that the population grew to 300,000 by 1700 , implying an annual average growth rate of 0.4% in that period . However , population growth accelerated from the declaration of independence in 1912 to 1944 to 0.7% per year . This was due in part because Albania had the largest birth rate and the smallest death rate in Europe at the time .
Belarus ( /bɛləˈruːs/ ; Belarusian : Беларусь , IPA : [ bʲɛlaˈrusʲ ] ) , officially the Republic of Belarus ( Belarusian : Рэспубліка Беларусь , Russian : Республика Беларусь ) , formerly known by its Russian name Byelorussia or Belorussia ( Russian : Белоруссия ) , is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe bordered by Russia to the northeast , Ukraine to the south , Poland to the west , and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest . Its capital and most populous city is Minsk . Over 40% of its 207,600 square kilometres ( 80,200 sq mi ) is forested . Its major economic sectors are service industries and manufacturing . Until the 20th century , different states at various times controlled the lands of modern-day Belarus , including the Principality of Polotsk ( 11th to 14th centuries ) , the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth , and the Russian Empire . In the aftermath of the 1917 Russian Revolution , Belarus declared independence as the Belarusian People 's Republic , which was conquered by Soviet Russia . The Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia became a founding constituent republic of the Soviet Union in 1922 and was renamed as the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic ( Byelorussian SSR ) . Belarus lost almost half of its territory to Poland after the Polish-Soviet War of 1919-1921 . Much of the borders of Belarus took their modern shape in 1939 , when some lands of the Second Polish Republic were reintegrated into it after the Soviet invasion of Poland , and were finalized after World War II . During WWII , military operations devastated Belarus , which lost about a quarter of its population and half of its economic resources . The republic was redeveloped in the post-war years . In 1945 the Byelorussian SSR became a founding member of the United Nations , along with the Soviet Union and the Ukrainian SSR .
The demographics of Belarus is about the demographic features of the population of Belarus , including population growth , population density , ethnicity , education level , health , economic status , religious affiliations , and other aspects of the population . The ethnic majority in Belarus are called Belarusians .
The net migration rate is the difference between the number of immigrants ( people coming into an area ) and the number of emigrants ( people leaving an area ) throughout the year . When the number of immigrants is larger than the number of emigrants , a positive net migration rate occurs . A positive net migration rates indicates that there are more people entering than leaving an area . When more emigrate from a country , the result is a negative net migration rate , meaning that more people are leaving than entering the area . When there is an equal number of immigrants and emigrants , the net migration rate is balanced . The net migration rate is calculated over a one-year period using the mid year population and a ratio . Migration occurs over a series of different push and pull factors that revolve around social , political , economical , and environmental factors according to Migration Trends . Social migration is when an individual migrates to have a higher standard of living , to be closer to family or to live in a nation with which they identify more . Political migration then is when a person is going in as a refugee to escape war or political persecution . This form of migration is also can also be called forced migration . This happens when refugees are moving to neighboring countries or more developed countries . Neighboring countries , especially the ones in the middle east are depended on to shelter the refugees .
The War in Donbass is an armed conflict in the Donbass region of Ukraine . From the beginning of March 2014 , protests by Russian-backed anti-government groups took place in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine , commonly collectively called the Donbass , in the aftermath of the 2014 Ukrainian revolution and the Euromaidan movement . These demonstrations , which followed the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation ( February to March 2014 ) , and which were part of a wider group of concurrent pro-Russian protests across southern and eastern Ukraine , escalated into an armed conflict between the separatist forces of the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk People 's Republics ( DPR and LPR respectively ) , and the Ukrainian government . In the Donetsk People 's Republic , from May 2014 until a change of the top leadership in August 2014 , some of the top leaders were Russian citizens . According to the Ukrainian government , at the height of the conflict in mid-2014 , Russian paramilitaries were reported to make up between 15% to 80% of the combatants . Between 22 and 25 August 2014 , Russian artillery , personnel , and what Russia called a humanitarian convoy crossed the border into Ukrainian territory without permission of the Ukrainian government . Crossings occurred both in areas under the control of pro-Russian forces and in areas that were not under their control , such as the south-eastern part of Donetsk Oblast , near Novoazovsk . These events followed the reported shelling of Ukrainian positions from the Russian side of the border over the course of the preceding month . Head of the Security Service of Ukraine , Valentyn Nalyvaichenko characterised the events of 22 August as a direct invasion by Russia of Ukraine , while other western and Ukrainian officials described the events as a stealth invasion of Ukraine by Russia . Russia 's official position on the presence of Russian forces in Donbass has been vague : while official bodies have denied presence of regular armed forces in Ukraine , it has on numerous occasions confirmed presence of military specialists , along with other euphemisms , usually accompanied by an argument that Russia was forced to deploy them to defend the Russian-speaking population . As a result of the August 2014 events , DPR and LPR insurgents regained much of the territory they had lost during the Ukrainian government 's preceding military offensive . Ukraine , Russia , the DPR and the LPR signed an agreement to establish a ceasefire , called the Minsk Protocol , on 5 September 2014 .
Bosnia and Herzegovina , [ a ] abbreviated BiH or B & H , [ b ] sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia , is a country of South and Southeast Europe , located within the Balkans . Sarajevo is the capital and largest city . Bosnia and Herzegovina is an almost landlocked country - to the south it has a narrow coast on the Adriatic Sea , about 20 kilometres ( 12 miles ) long and surrounding the town of Neum . It is bordered by Serbia to the east , Montenegro to the southeast , and Croatia surrounding north and southwest . In the central and eastern interior of the country the geography is mountainous , in the northwest moderately hilly , and the northeast predominantly flatland . The inland , Bosnia , is a geographically larger region and has a moderate continental climate , with hot summers and cold and snowy winters . The southern tip , Herzegovina , has a Mediterranean climate and mostly mountainous topography . Bosnia and Herzegovina traces permanent human settlement back to the Neolithic age , during and after which it was populated by several Illyrian and Celtic civilizations . Culturally , politically , and socially , the country has a rich history , having been first settled by the Slavic peoples that populate the area today from the 6th through to the 9th centuries . In the 12th century the Banate of Bosnia was established , which evolved into the Kingdom of Bosnia in the 14th century , after which it was annexed into the Ottoman Empire , under whose rule it remained from the mid-15th to the late 19th centuries . The Ottomans brought Islam to the region , and altered much of the cultural and social outlook of the country . This was followed by annexation into the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy , which lasted up until World War I .
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina , including population density , ethnicity , education level , health of the populace , economic status , religious affiliations and other aspects of the population .
The Bosnian War ( Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian languages : Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини ) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995 . Following a number of violent incidents in early 1992 , the war is commonly viewed as having started on 6 April 1992 . The war ended on 14 December 1995 . The main belligerents were the forces of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and those of the self-proclaimed Bosnian Serb and Bosnian Croat entities within Bosnia and Herzegovina , Republika Srpska and Herzeg-Bosnia , which were led and supplied by Serbia and Croatia , respectively . The war was part of the breakup of Yugoslavia . Following the Slovenian and Croatian secessions from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1991 , the multi-ethnic Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina - which was inhabited by mainly Muslim Bosniaks ( 44 percent ) , as well as Orthodox Serbs ( 32.5 percent ) and Catholic Croats ( 17 percent ) - passed a referendum for independence on 29 February 1992 . This was rejected by the political representatives of the Bosnian Serbs , who had boycotted the referendum . Following Bosnia and Herzegovina 's declaration of independence ( which gained international recognition ) and following the withdrawal of Alija Izetbegović from the previously signed Cutileiro Plan ( which proposed a division of Bosnia into ethnic cantons ) , the Bosnian Serbs , led by Radovan Karadžić and supported by the Serbian government of Slobodan Milošević and the Yugoslav People 's Army ( JNA ) , mobilised their forces inside Bosnia and Herzegovina in order to secure ethnic Serb territory , then war soon spread across the country , accompanied by ethnic cleansing . The conflict was initially between the Yugoslav Army units in Bosnia which later transformed into the Army of Republika Srpska ( VRS ) on the one side , and the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( ARBiH ) which was largely composed of Bosniaks , and the Croat forces in the Croatian Defence Council ( HVO ) on the other side . Tensions between Croats and Bosniaks increased throughout late 1992 , resulting in the Croat-Bosniak War that escalated in early 1993 . The Bosnian War was characterised by bitter fighting , indiscriminate shelling of cities and towns , ethnic cleansing and systematic mass rape , mainly perpetrated by Serb , and to a lesser extent , Croat and Bosniak forces . Events such as the Siege of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica massacre later became iconic of the conflict .
Bulgaria ( /bʌlˈɡɛəriə , bʊl-/ ( listen ) ; Bulgarian : България , romanized : Balgariya ) , officially the Republic of Bulgaria ( Bulgarian : Република България , romanized : Republika Balgariya , IPA : [ rɛˈpublikɐ bɐɫˈɡarijɐ ] ) , is a country in Southeast Europe . It is bordered by Romania to the north , Serbia and North Macedonia to the west , Greece and Turkey to the south , and the Black Sea to the east . The capital and largest city is Sofia ; other major cities are Plovdiv , Varna and Burgas . With a territory of 110,994 square kilometres ( 42,855 sq mi ) , Bulgaria is Europe 's 16th-largest country . One of the earliest societies in the lands of modern-day Bulgaria was the Neolithic Karanovo culture , which dates back to 6,500 BC . In the 6th to 3rd century BC the region was a battleground for Thracians , Persians , Celts and ancient Macedonians ; stability came when the Roman Empire conquered the region in AD 45 . The Eastern Roman , or Byzantine , Empire lost some of these territories to an invading Bulgar horde in the late 7th century . The Bulgars founded the First Bulgarian Empire in AD 681 , which dominated most of the Balkans and significantly influenced Slavic cultures by developing the Cyrillic script . This state lasted until the early 11th century , when Byzantine emperor Basil II conquered and dismantled it . A successful Bulgarian revolt in 1185 established a Second Bulgarian Empire , which reached its apex under Ivan Asen II ( 1218-1241 ) . After numerous exhausting wars and feudal strife , the Second Bulgarian Empire disintegrated in 1396 and its territories fell under Ottoman rule for nearly five centuries . The Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78 resulted in the formation of the current Third Bulgarian State .
The demography of the Republic of Bulgaria is monitored by the National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria . This article is about the demographic features of the population of Bulgaria , including population density , ethnicity , education level , health of the populace , economic status , religious affiliations and other aspects of the population . Bulgaria has a very high Human Development Index of 0.813 , ranking 51st in the world in 2018 and holds the 38th position in Newsweek 's rankings of the world 's best countries to live in , measuring health , education , political environment and economic dynamism .
Croatia ( /kroʊˈeɪʃə/ ( listen ) , kroh-AY-shə ; Croatian : Hrvatska , pronounced [ xř̩ʋaːtskaː ] ) , officially the Republic of Croatia ( Croatian : Republika Hrvatska , listen ( help·info ) ) , [ d ] is a country in Southeast Europe . It borders Slovenia to the northwest , Hungary to the northeast , Serbia to the east , Bosnia and Herzegovina , and Montenegro to the southeast , sharing a maritime border with Italy . Its capital , Zagreb , forms one of the country 's primary subdivisions , along with twenty counties . Croatia has an area of 56,594 square kilometres ( 21,851 square miles ) and a population of 4.28 million , most of whom are Roman Catholics . Croatia has been inhabited since the Paleolithic Age . The Croats arrived in the area in the 6th century and organised the territory into two duchies by the 9th century . Croatia was first internationally recognized as an independent state on 7 June 879 during the reign of duke Branimir . Tomislav became the first king by 925 , elevating Croatia to the status of a kingdom , which retained its sovereignty for nearly two centuries . During the succession crisis after the Trpimirović dynasty ended , Croatia entered a personal union with Hungary in 1102 . In 1527 , faced with Ottoman conquest , the Croatian Parliament elected Ferdinand I of Austria to the Croatian throne . In October 1918 , in the final days of World War I , the State of Slovenes , Croats and Serbs , independent from Austria-Hungary , was proclaimed in Zagreb , and in December 1918 it was merged into the Kingdom of Serbs , Croats and Slovenes ( renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929 ) . Following the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941 , most of the Croatian territory was incorporated into a Nazi-backed client-state , the Independent State of Croatia .
The demographic characteristics of the population of Croatia are known through censuses , normally conducted in ten-year intervals and analysed by various statistical bureaus since the 1850s . The Croatian Bureau of Statistics has performed this task since the 1990s . The latest census in Croatia was performed in April 2011 . The permanent population of Croatia at the 2011 census had reached 4.29 million . The population density is 75.8 inhabitants per square kilometre , and the overall life expectancy in Croatia at birth was 78 years in 2012 . The population rose steadily ( with the exception of censuses taken following the two world wars ) from 2.1 million in 1857 until 1991 , when it peaked at 4.7 million . Since 1991 , Croatia 's death rate has continuously exceeded its birth rate ; the natural growth rate of the population is negative . Croatia is in the fourth or fifth stage of the demographic transition . In terms of age structure , the population is dominated by the 15 - to 64 - year - old segment . The median age of the population is 41.4 , and the gender ratio of the total population is 0.93 males per 1 female . The country is projected to lose 350,000 citizens by 2045 . Croatia is inhabited mostly by Croats ( 90.4% ) , while minorities include Serbs ( 4.36% ) , and 21 other ethnicities ( less than 1% each ) .
The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the government of Croatia - which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ( SFRY ) - and the Serb-controlled Yugoslav People 's Army ( JNA ) and local Serb forces , with the JNA ending its combat operations in Croatia by 1992 . In Croatia , the war is primarily referred to as the Homeland War ( Domovinski rat ) and also as the Greater-Serbian Aggression ( Velikosrpska agresija ) . In Serbian sources , War in Croatia ( Рат у Хрватској / Rat u Hrvatskoj ) and ( rarely ) War in Krajina ( Рат у Крајини / Rat u Krajini ) are used . A majority of Croats wanted Croatia to leave Yugoslavia and become a sovereign country , while many ethnic Serbs living in Croatia , supported by Serbia , opposed the secession and wanted Serb-claimed lands to be in a common state with Serbia . Most Serbs sought a new Serb state within a Yugoslav federation , including areas of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina with ethnic Serb majorities or significant minorities , and attempted to conquer as much of Croatia as possible . Croatia declared independence on 25 June 1991 , but agreed to postpone it with the Brioni Agreement and cut all remaining ties with Yugoslavia on 8 October 1991 . The JNA initially tried to keep Croatia within Yugoslavia by occupying all of Croatia . After this failed , Serb forces established the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina ( RSK ) within Croatia . After the ceasefire of January 1992 and international recognition of the Republic of Croatia as a sovereign state , the front lines were entrenched , the United Nations Protection Force ( UNPROFOR ) was deployed , and combat became largely intermittent in the following three years . During that time , the RSK encompassed 13,913 square kilometers ( 5,372 sq mi ) , more than a quarter of Croatia . In 1995 , Croatia launched two major offensives known as Operation Flash and Operation Storm , these offensives effectively ended the war in its favor . The remaining United Nations Transitional Authority for Eastern Slavonia , Baranja and Western Sirmium ( UNTAES ) zone was peacefully reintegrated into Croatia by 1998 .
Estonia ( Estonian : Eesti [ ˈeːsʲti ] ( listen ) ) , officially the Republic of Estonia ( Estonian : Eesti Vabariik ) , is a country on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe . It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland with Finland on the other side , to the west by the Baltic Sea with Sweden on the other side , to the south by Latvia ( 343 km ) , and to the east by Lake Peipus and Russia ( 338.6 km ) . The territory of Estonia consists of the mainland and of 2,222 islands in the Baltic Sea , covering a total area of 45,227 km2 ( 17,462 sq mi ) , water 2,839 km2 ( 1,096 sq mi ) , land area 42,388 km2 ( 16,366 sq mi ) , and is influenced by a humid continental climate . The official language of the country , Estonian , is the second-most-spoken Finnic language . The territory of Estonia has been inhabited since at least 9,000 BC . Ancient Estonians became some of the last European pagans to adopt Christianity - following the Livonian Crusade in the 13th century . After centuries of successive rule by Germans , Danes , Swedes , Poles and Russians , a distinct Estonian national identity began to emerge in the 19th and early 20th centuries . This culminated in independence from Russia in 1920 after a brief War of Independence at the end of World War I . Initially democratic prior to the Great Depression , Estonia experienced authoritarian rule from 1934 during the Era of Silence . During World War II ( 1939-1945 ) , Estonia was repeatedly contested and occupied by the Soviet Union and Germany , ultimately being incorporated into the former . After the loss of its de facto independence , Estonia 's de jure state continuity was preserved by diplomatic representatives and the government-in-exile . In 1987 the peaceful Singing Revolution began against Soviet rule , resulting in the restoration of de facto independence on 20 August 1991 .
The demographics of Estonia in the twenty-first century result from historical trends over more than a thousand years , as with most European countries , but have been disproportionately influenced by events in the last half of the twentieth century . The rise and fall of the Soviet Union , including the annexation and eventual independence of Estonia , has had a major effect on Estonia 's ethnic makeup and educational achievement . Languages spoken in Estonia largely reflect the ethnic groups composing the country , and thus have changed with historical trends affecting the ethnic makeup of the country . Religion plays a small part in the lives of most Estonians , largely as a result of the Soviet occupation from 1944 to 1991 . Overall , the quality-of-life indices for Estonia indicate a modern industrial state . The population declined annually from 1991 until 2016 , except for a brief pause in 2010 . Since 2016 immigration has exceeded emigration , making the overall population grow .
Germany ( German : Deutschland , German pronunciation : [ ˈdɔʏtʃlant ] ) , constitutionally the Federal Republic of Germany ( German : Bundesrepublik Deutschland , listen ( help·info ) ) , [ f ] is a country in Central and Western Europe . It borders Denmark to the north , Poland and the Czech Republic to the east , Austria and Switzerland to the south , France to the southwest , and Luxembourg , Belgium , and the Netherlands to the west . Germany includes 16 constituent states , covers an area of 357,386 square kilometres ( 137,988 sq mi ) , and has a largely temperate seasonal climate . With 83 million inhabitants , it is the second most populous state of Europe after Russia , the most populous state lying entirely in Europe , as well as the most populous member state of the European Union . Germany is a very decentralised country . Its capital and largest metropolis is Berlin , while Frankfurt serves as its financial capital and has the country 's busiest airport . Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity . A region named Germania was documented before AD 100 . Beginning in the 10th century , German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire . During the 16th century , northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation . After the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire , the German Confederation was formed in 1815 . The German revolutions of 1848-49 resulted in the Frankfurt Parliament establishing major democratic rights .
The demography of Germany is monitored by the Statistisches Bundesamt ( Federal Statistical Office of Germany ) . According to the first census since reunification , Germany 's population was 82,790,700 ( 9 May 2011 ) , making it the sixteenth-most populous country in the world and the most populous in the European Union . The total fertility rate was rated at 1.57 in 2018 . In 2008 , fertility was related to educational achievement ( women with lower levels of education were having more children than women who had completed higher education ) . In 2011 , this was no longer true for Eastern Germany , where more highly educated women now had a somewhat higher fertility rate than the rest of the population . Persons who said they had no religion tend to have fewer children than those who identify as Christians , and studies also found that conservative-leaning Christians had more children compared to liberal-leaning Christians . In vitro fertilisation ( IVF ) is legal in Germany , with an age limit of 40 years . The United Nations Population Fund lists Germany as host to the third-highest number of international migrants worldwide , behind the United States and Saudi Arabia . More than 16,000,000 people are descended from immigrants ( first and second generation , including mixed heritage and ethnic German repatriates and their descendants ) . 96.1% of those reside in western Germany and Berlin . About 7,000,000 of these 16,000,000 are foreign residents , defined as those without German citizenship . The largest ethnic group of non-German origin are the Turkish .
Georgia ( Georgian : საქართველო , translit . : sakartvelo , IPA : [ sɑkʰɑrtʰvɛlɔ ] ( listen ) ) , known until 1995 as the Republic of Georgia ( Georgian : საქართველოს რესპუბლიკა , translit . : sakartvelos resp'ublik ' a ) is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia . Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe , it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea , to the north by Russia , to the south by Turkey and Armenia , and to the southeast by Azerbaijan . The capital and largest city is Tbilisi . Georgia covers a territory of 69,700 square kilometres ( 26,911 sq mi ) , and its 2017 population is about 3.718 million . Georgia is a unitary parliamentary republic , with the government elected through a representative democracy . During the classical era , several independent kingdoms became established in what is now Georgia , such as Colchis and Iberia . The Georgians officially adopted Christianity in the early 4th century . The Georgian Orthodox Church had enormous importance for the spiritual and political unification of early Georgian states . The unified Kingdom of Georgia reached its Golden Age during the reign of King David the Builder and Queen Tamar the Great in the 12th and early 13th centuries . Thereafter , the kingdom declined and eventually disintegrated under the hegemony of various regional powers , including the Mongols , the Ottoman Empire and successive dynasties of Iran .
The demographic features of the population of Georgia include population growth , population density , ethnicity , education level , health , economic status , religious affiliations , and other aspects of the population .
Abkhazia [ a ] ( /æbˈkɑːziə/ ( listen ) , /æbˈkeɪziə/ ; ) is a de facto sovereign state that is internationally recognized as an autonomous republic of Georgia . It lies in the South Caucasus on the eastern coast of the Black Sea , south of the Greater Caucasus mountains in northwestern Georgia . It covers 8,660 square kilometres ( 3,340 sq mi ) and has a population of around 240,000 . Its capital is Sukhumi . The status of Abkhazia is a central issue of the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict and Georgia-Russia relations . The polity is recognised as a state by Russia , Venezuela , Nicaragua , Nauru and Syria . While Georgia lacks control over Abkhazia , the Georgian government and most United Nations member states consider Abkhazia legally part of Georgia , whose constitution designates the area as the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia . The region had autonomy within Soviet Georgia at the time when the Soviet Union began to disintegrate in the late 1980s . Simmering ethnic tensions between the Abkhaz - the region 's titular ethnicity - and Georgians - the largest single ethnic group at that time - culminated in the 1992-1993 War in Abkhazia which resulted in Georgia 's loss of control of most of Abkhazia , the de facto independence of Abkhazia , and the ethnic cleansing of Georgians from Abkhazia . Despite the 1994 ceasefire agreement and years of negotiations , the dispute remains unresolved . The long-term presence of a United Nations Observer Mission and a Russian-led Commonwealth of Independent States ( CIS ) peacekeeping force failed to prevent the flare-up of violence on several occasions . In August 2008 , Abkhaz and Russian forces fought a war against Georgian forces , which led to the formal recognition of Abkhazia by Russia , the annulment of the 1994 ceasefire agreement , and the termination of the UN mission .
Ossetia ( /ɒˈsɛtjə , ɒˈsiːʃə/ ; Ossetian : Ир , Ирыстон , romanized : Ir , Iryston ; Russian : Осетия , romanized : Osetiya ; Georgian : ოსეთი , translit . Oseti ) is an ethnolinguistic region located on both sides of the Greater Caucasus Mountains , largely inhabited by the Ossetians . The Ossetian language is part of the Eastern Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages family . The Ossetian-speaking area south of the main Caucasus ridge is recognized by most countries as within the borders of Georgia , but under the control of the Russian-backed de facto government of the Republic of South Ossetia . The northern portion of the region consists of the republic of North Ossetia-Alania within the Russian Federation .
Greece ( Greek : Ελλάδα ) , officially the Hellenic Republic ( Greek : Ελληνική Δημοκρατία ) , historically also known as Hellas , is a country located in Southeast Europe . Its population is approximately 10.7 million as of 2018 ; Athens , the nation 's capital , is its largest city , followed by Thessaloniki . Situated on the southern tip of the Balkan Peninsula , Greece is located at the crossroads of Europe , Asia , and Africa . It shares land borders with Albania to the northwest , North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north , and Turkey to the northeast . The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland , the Ionian Sea to the west , the Cretan Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south . Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km ( 8,498 mi ) in length , featuring many islands , of which 227 are inhabited . Eighty percent of Greece is mountainous , with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2,918 metres ( 9,573 ft ) . The country consists of nine traditional geographic regions : Macedonia , Central Greece , the Peloponnese , Thessaly , Epirus , the Aegean Islands ( including the Dodecanese and Cyclades ) , Thrace , Crete , and the Ionian Islands . Greece is considered the cradle of Western civilisation , being the birthplace of democracy , Western philosophy , Western literature , historiography , political science , major scientific and mathematical principles , Western drama and the Olympic Games . From the eighth century B.C. , the Greeks were organised into various independent city-states , known as poleis ( singular polis ) , which spanned the entire Mediterranean region and the Black Sea . Philip of Macedon united most of the Greek mainland in the fourth century BC , with his son Alexander the Great rapidly conquering much of the ancient world , from the eastern Mediterranean to India . Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century B.C. , becoming an integral part of the Roman Empire and its successor , the Byzantine Empire , which adopted the Greek language and culture .
The Demographics of Greece refer to the demography of the population that inhabits the Greek peninsula . The population of Greece was estimated by the United Nations to be 10,522,246 in 2018 ( including displaced refugees ) .
Hungary ( Hungarian : Magyarország [ ˈmɒɟɒrorsaːɡ ] ( listen ) ) is a country in Central Europe . Spanning 93,030 square kilometres ( 35,920 sq mi ) in the Carpathian Basin , it borders Slovakia to the north , Ukraine to the northeast , Romania to the east and southeast , Serbia to the south , Croatia and Slovenia to the southwest , and Austria to the west . With about 10 million inhabitants , Hungary is a medium-sized member state of the European Union . The official language is Hungarian , which is the most widely spoken Uralic language in the world , and among the few non-Indo-European languages to be widely spoken in Europe . Hungary 's capital and largest city is Budapest ; other major urban areas include Debrecen , Szeged , Miskolc , Pécs and Győr . The territory of modern Hungary was for centuries inhabited by a succession of peoples , including Celts , Romans , Germanic tribes , Huns , West Slavs and the Avars . The foundations of the Hungarian state were established in the late ninth century CE by the Hungarian grand prince Árpád following the conquest of the Carpathian Basin . His great-grandson Stephen I ascended the throne in 1000 , converting his realm to a Christian kingdom . By the 12th century , Hungary became a regional power , reaching its cultural and political height in the 15th century . Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526 , Hungary was partially occupied by the Ottoman Empire ( 1541-1699 ) . It came under Habsburg rule at the turn of the 18th century , and later joined Austria to form the Austro-Hungarian Empire , a major European power . The Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed after World War I , and the subsequent Treaty of Trianon established Hungary 's current borders , resulting in the loss of 71% of its territory , 58% of its population , and 32% of ethnic Hungarians .
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Hungary , including population density , ethnicity , education level , health of the populace , economic status , religious affiliations and other aspects of the population . Hungary 's population has been declining since 1980 .
Italy ( Italian : Italia [ iˈtaːlja ] ( listen ) ) , officially the Italian Republic ( Italian : Repubblica Italiana [ reˈpubblika itaˈljaːna ] ) , is a European country consisting of a peninsula delimited by the Alps and surrounded by several islands . Italy is located in south-central Europe , and it is also considered a part of Western Europe . The country covers a total area of 301,340 km2 ( 116,350 sq mi ) and shares land borders with France , Switzerland , Austria , Slovenia , and the enclaved microstates of Vatican City and San Marino . Italy has a territorial exclave in Switzerland ( Campione ) and a maritime exclave in the Tunisian Sea ( Lampedusa ) . With around 60 million inhabitants , Italy is the third-most populous member state of the European Union . The capital and largest city is Rome ; other major cities are Milan , Naples , Turin , Palermo , Genoa , Bologna , Florence and Venice . Due to its central geographic location in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean , Italy has historically been home to myriad peoples and cultures . In addition to the various ancient peoples dispersed throughout what is now modern-day Italy , the most predominant being the Indo-European Italic peoples who gave the peninsula its name , beginning from the classical era , Phoenicians and Carthaginians founded colonies mostly in insular Italy , Greeks established settlements in the so-called Magna Graecia of Southern Italy , while Etruscans and Celts inhabited central and northern Italy respectively . An Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom in the 8th century BC , which eventually became a republic with a government of the Senate and the People . The Roman Republic initially conquered and assimilated its neighbours on the Italian peninsula , eventually expanding and conquering parts of Europe , North Africa and Asia . By the first century BC , the Roman Empire emerged as the dominant power in the Mediterranean Basin and became a leading cultural , political and religious centre , inaugurating the Pax Romana , a period of more than 200 years during which Italy 's law , technology , economy , art , and literature developed . Italy remained the homeland of the Romans and the metropole of the empire , whose legacy can also be observed in the global distribution of culture , governments , Christianity and the Latin script .
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Italy , including population density , ethnicity , education level , health of the populace , economic status , religious affiliations and other aspects of the population . At the beginning of year 2017 , Italy had an estimated population of 60.4 million . Its population density , at 201 inhabitants per square kilometre ( 520/sq mi ) , is higher than that of most Western European countries . However , the distribution of the population is widely uneven ; the most densely populated areas are the Po Valley ( that accounts for almost half of the national population ) in northern Italy and the metropolitan areas of Rome and Naples in central and southern Italy , while other vast areas are very sparsely populated , like the plateaus of Basilicata , the Alps and Apennines highlands , and the island of Sardinia . The population of the country almost doubled during the twentieth century , but the pattern of growth was extremely uneven due to large-scale internal migration from the rural South to the industrial cities of the North , a phenomenon which happened as a consequence of the Italian economic miracle of the 1950-60 's . In addition , after centuries of net emigration , from the 1980s Italy has experienced large-scale immigration for the first time in modern history . According to the Italian government , there were an estimated 5,234,000 foreign nationals resident in Italy on 1st of January 2019 . High fertility and birth rates persisted until the 1970s , after which they started to dramatically decline , leading to rapid population aging . At the end of the first decade of the 21st century , one in five Italians was over 65 years old . However , as a result of the massive immigration of the last two decades , Italy has , in recent years , experienced a significant growth in birth rates . The total fertility rate has also climbed from an all-time low of 1.18 children per woman in 1995 to 1.41 in 2008 . Since the 1984 Lateran Treaty agreement , Italy has no official religion .
Japan ( Japanese : 日本 , Nippon [ ɲippoꜜɴ ] ( listen ) or Nihon [ ɲihoꜜɴ ] ( listen ) ) is an island country located in East Asia . It is bordered by the Sea of Japan to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the east , and spans more than 3,000 kilometers ( 1,900 mi ) along the coast of the continent from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Philippine Sea in the south . Part of the Pacific Ring of Fire , Japan encompasses a stratovolcanic archipelago of about 6,852 islands , with five main islands ( Hokkaido , Honshu , Kyushu , Shikoku , and Okinawa ) comprising 97% of the country 's total area of 377,975 square kilometers ( 145,937 sq mi ) . Japan is officially divided into 47 prefectures and traditionally into eight regions . Approximately two-thirds of the country 's terrain is mountainous and heavily forested , and less than one-eighth of land is suitable for agriculture . Consequently , Japan is among the most densely populated and urbanized countries in the world , with over 90% of its population living in urban areas . The largest of these is the metropolitan area centered on the capital city of Tokyo , which is the most populous in the world and home to more than 38 million people . Japan itself is the world 's eleventh most populous country with a population of 126.2 million , of which 97.8% are ethnically Japanese . The kanji ( or Chinese characters ) that make up the name of Japan in the Japanese language mean sun origin ; in the Western world , the country is often known by the sobriquet Land of the Rising Sun . Periods of influence from other regions , primarily China , followed by periods of isolation , particularly from Western Europe , have characterized the history of Japan . While archaeological evidence indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period , the first written mention of the archipelago appears in Chinese texts from the first century AD . Between the fourth and ninth centuries , the kingdoms of Japan became gradually unified under an Emperor and imperial court based in Heian-kyō ( modern Kyoto ) .
The demographic features of the population of Japan include population density , ethnicity , education level , health of the populace , economic status , religious affiliations and other aspects regarding the population .
Latvia ( /ˈlɑːtviə/ or /ˈlætviə/ ( listen ) ; Latvian : Latvija [ ˈlatvija ] , Livonian : Lețmō ) , officially known as the Republic of Latvia ( Latvian : Latvijas Republika , Livonian : Lețmō Vabāmō ) , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe . Since its independence , Latvia has been referred to as one of the Baltic states . It is bordered by Estonia to the north , Lithuania to the south , Russia to the east , Belarus to the southeast , and shares a maritime border with Sweden to the west . Latvia has 1,957,200 inhabitants and a territory of 64,589 km2 ( 24,938 sq mi ) . The country has a temperate seasonal climate . The Baltic Sea moderates climate , although it has four distinct seasons and snowy winters . After centuries of Swedish , Polish and Russian rule , a rule mainly executed by the Baltic German aristocracy , the Republic of Latvia was established on 18 November 1918 when it broke away from the Russian Empire and declared independence in the aftermath of World War I . However , by the 1930s the country became increasingly autocratic after the coup in 1934 establishing an authoritarian regime under Kārlis Ulmanis . The country 's de facto independence was interrupted at the outset of World War II , beginning with Latvia 's forcible incorporation into the Soviet Union , followed by the invasion and occupation by Nazi Germany in 1941 , and the re-occupation by the Soviets in 1944 ( Courland Pocket in 1945 ) to form the Latvian SSR for the next 45 years . The peaceful Singing Revolution , starting in 1987 , called for Baltic emancipation from Soviet rule and condemning the Communist regime 's illegal takeover . It ended with the Declaration on the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia on 4 May 1990 and restoring de facto independence on 21 August 1991 . Latvia is a democratic sovereign state , parliamentary republic and a very highly developed country according to the United Nations Human Development Index .
This article is about the demographic features of the population of the historical territory of Latvia , including population density , ethnic background , education level , health of the populace , economic status , religious affiliations and other aspects of the population .
The first known record of the name of Lithuania ( Lithuanian : Lietuva ) is in a 9 March 1009 story of Saint Bruno in the Quedlinburg Chronicle . The Chronicle recorded a Latinized form of the name Lietuva : Litua ( pronounced [ litua ] ) . Due to the lack of reliable evidence , the true meaning of the name is unknown . Nowadays , scholars still debate the meaning of the word and there are a few plausible versions . Since Lietuva has a suffix ( -uva ) , the original word should have no suffix . [ citation needed ] A likely candidate is Lietā . Because many Baltic ethnonyms originated from hydronyms , linguists have searched for its origin among local hydronyms . Usually , such names evolved through the following process : hydronym → toponym → ethnonym . Lietava , a small river not far from Kernavė , the core area of the early Lithuanian state and a possible first capital of the eventual Grand Duchy of Lithuania , is usually credited as the source of the name . However , the river is very small and some find it improbable that such a small and local object could have lent its name to an entire nation . On the other hand , such naming is not unprecedented in world history . Artūras Dubonis proposed another hypothesis , that Lietuva relates to the word leičiai ( plural of leitis ) .
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Lithuania , including population density , ethnicity , level of education , health , economic status , and religious affiliations .
Moldova ( /mɒlˈdoʊvə/ ( listen ) , sometimes UK : /ˈmɒldəvə/ ) , officially the Republic of Moldova ( Romanian : Republica Moldova ) , is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe , bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north , east , and south . The capital city is Chișinău . Most of the Moldovan territory was a part of the Principality of Moldavia from the 14th century until 1812 , when it was ceded to the Russian Empire by the Ottoman Empire ( to which Moldavia was a vassal state ) and became known as Bessarabia . In 1856 , southern Bessarabia was returned to Moldavia , which three years later united with Wallachia to form Romania , but Russian rule was restored over the whole of the region in 1878 . During the 1917 Russian Revolution , Bessarabia briefly became an autonomous state within the Russian Republic , known as the Moldavian Democratic Republic . In February 1918 , the Moldavian Democratic Republic declared independence and then integrated into Romania later that year following a vote of its assembly . The decision was disputed by Soviet Russia , which in 1924 established , within the Ukrainian SSR , a Moldavian autonomous republic ( MASSR ) on partially Moldovan-inhabited territories to the east of Bessarabia . In 1940 , as a consequence of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact , Romania was compelled to cede Bessarabia to the Soviet Union , leading to the creation of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic ( Moldavian SSR ) , which included the greater part of Bessarabia and the westernmost strip of the former MASSR ( east of the Dniester River ) . On 27 August 1991 , as the dissolution of the Soviet Union was underway , the Moldavian SSR declared independence and took the name Moldova . The constitution of Moldova was adopted in 1994 . The strip of the Moldovan territory on the east bank of the Dniester has been under the de facto control of the breakaway government of Transnistria since 1990 . Due to a decrease in industrial and agricultural output following the dissolution of the Soviet Union , the service sector has grown to dominate Moldova 's economy and is over 60% of the nation 's GDP .
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Moldova , including distribution , ethnicity , languages , religious affiliation and other statistical data .
Transnistria or Transdniestria , officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic [ a ] ( PMR ; Russian : Приднестровская Молдавская Республика ) , is a breakaway state in the narrow strip of land between the river Dniester and the Ukrainian border that is internationally recognized as part of Moldova . Its capital is Tiraspol . Transnistria has been recognised only by three other mostly non-recognised states : Abkhazia , Artsakh , and South Ossetia . Transnistria is designated by the Republic of Moldova as the Transnistria autonomous territorial unit with special legal status ( Romanian : Unitatea teritorială autonomă cu statut juridic special Transnistria ) , or Stînga Nistrului ( Left Bank of the Dniester ) . After the dissolution of the USSR , tensions between Moldova and the breakaway Transnistrian territory escalated into a military conflict that started in March 1992 and was concluded by a ceasefire in July of the same year . As part of that agreement , a three-party ( Russia , Moldova , Transnistria ) Joint Control Commission supervises the security arrangements in the demilitarised zone , comprising twenty localities on both sides of the river . Although the ceasefire has held , the territory 's political status remains unresolved : Transnistria is an unrecognised but de facto independent semi-presidential republic with its own government , parliament , military , police , postal system , currency and vehicle registration . Its authorities have adopted a constitution , flag , national anthem and coat of arms . It is the only country still using the hammer and sickle on its flag , despite not being a communist state . After a 2005 agreement between Moldova and Ukraine , all Transnistrian companies that seek to export goods through the Ukrainian border must be registered with the Moldovan authorities . This agreement was implemented after the European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine ( EUBAM ) took force in 2005 . Most Transnistrians also have Moldovan citizenship , but many Transnistrians also have Russian and Ukrainian citizenship .
Poland ( Polish : Polska [ ˈpɔlska ] ( listen ) ) , officially the Republic of Poland ( Polish : Rzeczpospolita Polska [ c ] [ ʐɛt͡ʂpɔˈspɔlita ˈpɔlska ] ( listen ) ) , is a country located in Central Europe . It is divided into 16 administrative subdivisions , covering an area of 312,696 square kilometres ( 120,733 sq mi ) , and has a largely temperate seasonal climate . With a population of nearly 38.5 million people , Poland is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union . Poland 's capital and largest metropolis is Warsaw . Other major cities include Kraków , Łódź , Wrocław , Poznań , Gdańsk , and Szczecin . Poland is bordered by the Baltic Sea , Lithuania , and Russia 's Kaliningrad Oblast to the north , Belarus and Ukraine to the east , Slovakia and the Czech Republic to the south , and Germany to the west . The history of human activity on Polish soil spans almost 500,000 years . Throughout the Iron Age the area became extensively diverse , with various cultures and tribes settling on the vast Central European Plain . However , it was the Western Polans who dominated the region and gave Poland its name . The establishment of Polish statehood can be traced to AD 966 , when Mieszko I , ruler of the realm coextensive with the territory of present-day Poland , converted to Christianity . The Kingdom of Poland was founded in 1025 , and in 1569 it cemented its longstanding political association with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by signing the Union of Lublin . This union formed the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth , one of the largest ( over 1,000,000 square kilometres - 400,000 square miles ) and most populous countries of 16th and 17th century Europe , with a uniquely liberal political system which adopted Europe 's first written national constitution , the Constitution of 3 May 1791 .
The demographics of Poland constitute all demographic features of the population of Poland , including population density , ethnicity , education level , health of the populace , economic status , religious affiliations and other aspects of the population . According to the 2011 census by the Polish Central Statistical Office ( GUS ) , at the end of 2011 Poland had a population of 38,538,447 , which translates into an average population density of 123 people/km2 ( urban 1105 per 1 km² , rural 50 per 1 km² ) . 61.5% of the Polish population lives in urban areas , a number which is slowly diminishing [ correction required ] . Poland is the 33rd most populous country in the world ( 8th in Europe , with 5.4% of the European population ) . Total population of Poland is almost stagnant ( population growth was 0.08% ) . In 2018 , the average life expectancy was 77.9 years ; 74.1 for men and 82 for women . Population distribution is uneven . Ethnically , Poland is a very homogeneous country , with 96.7% of population being Polish . A number of censuses have assessed this data , including a national census in 2002 , and a survey by the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights ( HFHR ) , which confirmed there are numerous autochthonous ethnic groups in Poland . Estimates by INTEREG and Eurominority present a similar demographic picture of Poland but they provide estimates only for the most numerous of these ethnic groups . Like many developed nations , Poland is ageing . In 1950 , the median age was 25.8 : half of the Polish population was younger , half older .
Portugal ( Portuguese : [ puɾtuˈɣal ] ) , officially the Portuguese Republic ( Portuguese : República Portuguesa [ ʁɛˈpuβlikɐ puɾtuˈɣezɐ ] ) , [ note 5 ] is a country located mostly on the Iberian Peninsula , in southwestern Europe . It is the westernmost sovereign state of mainland Europe , being bordered to the west and south by the Atlantic Ocean and to the north and east by Spain . Its territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira , both autonomous regions with their own regional governments . Portugal is the oldest nation state on the Iberian Peninsula and one of the oldest in Europe and the world , its territory having been continuously settled , invaded and fought over since prehistoric times . The pre-Celtic people , Iberians , Celts , Carthaginians and Romans were followed by the invasions of the Visigoths and Suebi Germanic peoples . After the Muslim conquests of the Iberian Peninsula , most of the territory was part of Al-Andalus until their expulsion . Portugal as a country was established during the early Christian Reconquista . Founded in 868 , the County of Portugal gained prominence after the Battle of São Mamede in 1128 . The Kingdom of Portugal was later proclaimed following the Battle of Ourique in 1139 , and independence from León was recognised by the Treaty of Zamora in 1143 . On 12 December 2017 , the Portuguese Navy commemorated the 700th anniversary of its official creation by King Denis of Portugal . Tracing its origins back to the 12th century , it is the oldest continuously serving navy in the world . In the 15th and 16th centuries , Portugal established the first global empire , becoming one of the world 's major economic , political and military powers .
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Portugal , including population density , ethnicity , education level , health of the populace , economic status , religious affiliations and other aspects of the population . In 2010 Portugal had 10,572,721 inhabitants . Portugal is a fairly linguistically and religiously homogeneous country . Ethnically the Portuguese people form 95% of the total population in Portugal . The Portuguese people are mainly a combination of ancient paleolithic populations , and the proto-Celtic , Celtic and Iberian tribes , para-Celtic Lusitanians . Some other groups , like the Romans , Germanic ( Visigoths , Suevi , Buri , Alans and Vandals ) and later the Moorish ( Berber ) , Sephardic Jewish , and the French also passed through the country . Today , Ukrainians , Moldovans , Romanians , Russians , Bulgarians , Brazilians , Venezuelans and members of PALOP countries ( Portuguese-speaking African countries ) are the immigrants and form the major foreign communities in the country . Portuguese is spoken throughout the country , with only the villages of Miranda do Douro 's Mirandese language recognised as a locally co-official language .
Puerto Rico [ a ] ( Spanish for Rich Port ; abbreviated PR ) , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( Spanish : Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico , lit . Free Associated State of Puerto Rico ) [ b ] and briefly called Porto Rico , [ c ] is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the northeast Caribbean Sea , approximately 1,000 miles ( 1,600 km ) southeast of Miami , Florida . An archipelago among the Greater Antilles , located between the Dominican Republic and the US Virgin Islands , Puerto Rico includes the eponymous main island and several smaller islands , such as Mona , Culebra , and Vieques . The capital and most populous city is San Juan . The territory 's total population is approximately 3.4 million , more than 21 U.S. states . Spanish and English are the official languages of the executive branch of government , though Spanish predominates . Originally populated by the indigenous Taíno people , Puerto Rico was colonized by Spain following the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1493 . It was contested by the French , Dutch , and British , but remained a Spanish possession for the next four centuries . The island 's cultural and demographic landscapes were shaped by the displacement and assimilation of the native population , the forced migration of African slaves , and settlement from the Canary Islands and Andalusia . In the Spanish Empire , Puerto Rico played a secondary but strategic role compared to wealthier colonies like Peru and New Spain . Spain 's distant administrative control continued up to the end of the 19th century , producing a distinctive creole Hispanic culture and language that combined indigenous , African , and European elements . On September 23 , 1868 , Ramón Emeterio Betances unleashed a revolt against Spanish rule , declaring for the first time the idea of Puerto Ricans as a distinct people , with right to sovereignty .
The population of Puerto Rico has been shaped by Amerindian settlement , European colonization especially under the Spanish Empire , slavery and economic migration . This article is about the demographic features of the population of Puerto Rico , including population density , ethnicity , education level , health of the populace , economic status , religious affiliations and other aspects of the population .
The contiguous United States or officially the conterminous United States consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states ( plus the District of Columbia ) on the continent of North America . The terms exclude the non-contiguous states of Alaska and Hawaii , and all other off-shore insular areas , such as American Samoa , U.S. Virgin Islands , Northern Mariana Islands , Guam and Puerto Rico . These differ from the related term continental United States which includes Alaska ( also on the North American continent but separated from the 48 states by British Columbia , Canada ) but excludes the Hawaiian Islands and unincorporated U.S. territories in the Caribbean and the Pacific . The greatest distance ( on a Great-circle route ) entirely within the 48 contiguous states is 2,802 miles ( 4,509 km , between Florida and the State of Washington ) ; the greatest north-south line is 1,650 miles ( 2,660 km ) . Together , the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia occupy a combined area of 3,119,884.69 square miles ( 8,080,464.3 km2 ) . Of this area , 2,959,064.44 square miles ( 7,663,941.7 km2 ) is contiguous land , composing 83.65% of total U.S. land area , similar to the area of Australia . Officially , 160,820.25 square miles ( 416,522.5 km2 ) of the contiguous United States is water area , composing 62.66% of the nation 's total water area . The contiguous United States would be placed 5th in the list of sovereign states and dependencies by area ; the total area of the country , including Alaska and Hawaii , ranks third . In land area only , the country ranks third , ahead of Canada , but behind Russia and China . Brazil is 431.000 km2 larger than the contiguous United States , but smaller than the entire United States , while Russia , Canada , and China are the only three countries larger than both . The 2010 census population of this area was 306,675,006 , comprising 99.33% of the nation 's population , and a density of 103.639 inhabitants/sq mi ( 40.015/km2 ) , compared to 87.264/sq mi ( 33.692/km2 ) for the nation as a whole .
Hurricane Maria was a deadly Category 5 hurricane that devastated Dominica , St Croix , and Puerto Rico in September 2017 . It is regarded as the worst natural disaster in recorded history to affect those islands and was also the deadliest Atlantic hurricane since Mitch in 1998 . The tenth-most intense Atlantic hurricane on record and the most intense tropical cyclone worldwide in 2017 , Maria was the thirteenth named storm , eighth consecutive hurricane , fourth major hurricane , second Category 5 hurricane , and deadliest storm of the hyperactive 2017 Atlantic hurricane season . At its peak , the hurricane caused catastrophic destruction and numerous fatalities across the northeastern Caribbean , compounding recovery efforts in the areas of the Leeward Islands already struck by Hurricane Irma . Total losses from the hurricane are estimated at upwards of $ 91.61 billion ( 2017 USD ) , mostly in Puerto Rico , ranking it as the third-costliest tropical cyclone on record . Originating from a tropical wave , Maria became a tropical storm on September 16 , east of the Lesser Antilles . Highly favorable environmental conditions allowed the storm to undergo explosive intensification as it approached the island arc . The hurricane reached Category 5 strength on September 18 just before making landfall on Dominica , becoming the first Category 5 hurricane on record to strike the island . After weakening slightly due to crossing Dominica , Maria achieved its peak intensity over the eastern Caribbean with maximum sustained winds of 175 mph ( 280 km/h ) and a pressure of 908 mbar ( hPa ; 26.81 inHg ) . On September 20 , an eyewall replacement cycle took place , weakening Maria to a high-end Category 4 hurricane by the time it struck Puerto Rico . Interaction with land further weakened the hurricane , though it regained some strength as it moved northeast of the Bahamas . Moving slowly to the north , Maria gradually degraded and weakened to a tropical storm on September 28 .
Romania ( /roʊˈmeɪniə/ ( listen ) ro-MAY-nee-ə ; Romanian : România [ romɨˈni.a ] ( listen ) ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central , Eastern , and Southeastern Europe . It has borders with the Black Sea to the southeast , Bulgaria to the south , Ukraine to the north , Hungary to the west , Serbia to the southwest , and Moldova to the east . It has a predominantly temperate-continental climate . With a total area of 238,397 square kilometers ( 92,046 square miles ) , Romania is the 8th largest country and also the 6th most populous member state of the European Union , having almost 20 million inhabitants . Its capital and largest city is Bucharest , and other major urban areas include Cluj-Napoca , Timișoara , Iași , Constanța , Craiova , Brașov , and Galați . The River Danube , Europe 's second-longest river , rises in Germany 's Black Forest and flows in a general southeast direction for 2,857 km ( 1,775 mi ) , coursing through ten countries before emptying into Romania 's Danube Delta . The Carpathian Mountains , which cross Romania from the north to the southwest , include Moldoveanu Peak , at an altitude of 2,544 m ( 8,346 ft ) . Modern Romania was formed in 1859 through a personal union of the Danubian Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia . The new state , officially named Romania since 1866 , gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1877 . Following World War I after declaring its neutrality in 1914 , when Romania fought on the side of the Allied powers starting with 1916 , Bukovina , Bessarabia , Transylvania as well as parts of Banat , Crișana , and Maramureș became part of the sovereign Kingdom of Romania . In June-August 1940 , as a consequence of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and Second Vienna Award , Romania was compelled to cede Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina to the Soviet Union , and Northern Transylvania to Hungary . In November 1940 , Romania signed the Tripartite Pact and , consequently , in June 1941 entered World War II on the Axis side , fighting against the Soviet Union until August 1944 , when it joined the Allies and recovered Northern Transylvania .
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Romania , including population density , ethnicity , education level , health of the populace , economic status , religious affiliations and other aspects of the population . About 88.9% of the people of Romania are ethnic Romanians , whose language , Romanian , is a Balkan Romance language , descended from Latin with some German , French , English , Greek , Slavic , and Hungarian borrowings . Romanians are by far the most numerous group of speakers of a Balkan Romance language today . It has been said that they constitute an island of Latinity in Eastern Europe , surrounded on all sides either by Slavic peoples or by the Hungarians . The Hungarian minority in Romania constitutes the country 's largest minority , 6.1 per cent of the population .
Russia ( Russian : Росси́я , tr . Rossiya , IPA : [ rɐˈsʲijə ] ) , or the Russian Federation , [ e ] is a European country located in Eastern Europe with a vast expanse of territory that stretches across Northern Asia . At 17,125,200 square kilometres ( 6,612,100 sq mi ) , it is by far the largest country in the world by area , covering more than one-eighth of the Earth 's inhabited land area , spanning eleven time zones , and bordering 16 sovereign nations . The territory of Russia extends from the Baltic Sea in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east , and from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Black Sea and the Caucasus in the south . With 146.7 million inhabitants living in the country 's 85 federal subjects as of 2020 , Russia is the most populous nation in Europe and the ninth-most populous nation in the world . Russia 's capital and largest city is Moscow ; other major urban areas include Saint Petersburg , Novosibirsk , Yekaterinburg , Nizhny Novgorod , Kazan and Chelyabinsk . The East Slavs emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD . Founded and ruled by a Varangian warrior elite and their descendants , the medieval state of Rus arose in the 9th century . In 988 it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire , beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium . Rus ultimately disintegrated into a number of smaller states , until it was finally reunified by the Grand Duchy of Moscow in the 15th century . By the 18th century , the nation had greatly expanded through conquest , annexation , and exploration to become the Russian Empire , which was the third largest empire in history , stretching from Poland on the west to Alaska on the east . Following the Russian Revolution , the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic ( Russian SFSR ) became the largest and leading constituent of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( USSR/Soviet Union ) , the world 's first constitutionally socialist state .
The demographics of Russia are the demographic features of the population of the Russian Federation including population growth , population density , ethnic composition , education level , health , economic status and other aspects . As of 1 January 2019 , the population of Russia is 146,804,372 including Crimea and Sevastopol , whose annexation is not recognised by most UN members . Around 77% of its population lives in European Russia , while the 23% lives in its Asian part . :6:10 According to the 2010 census , ethnic Russians make up 81% of the total population . This share remained steady over the last few decades . Six other ethnicities have a population exceeding 1 million - Tatars ( 3.9% ) , Ukrainians ( 1.4% ) , Bashkir ( 1.1% ) , Chuvash ( 1% ) , Chechens ( 1% ) and Armenians ( 0.9% ) . In total , 160 different ethnic groups live within the Russian Federation 's borders . Russia 's population density is 8.4 people per square kilometre ( 22 per square mile ) , making it one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world . The population is most dense in the European part of the country , with milder climate , centering on Moscow and Saint Petersburg . 74% of the population is urban , making Russia a highly urbanized country .
In demography , the rate of natural increase ( RNI ) is a statistic calculated by subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate of a given region . This rate gives demographers an idea of how a certain country 's population is growing . RNI excludes in-migration and out-migration , giving an indication of population growth based only on births and deaths . RNI can indicate what stage of the Demographic Transition Model ( DTM ) a country is in . Trends in RNI can predict a country 's economic stability , level of development , and other things . The DTM explains how countries move between being a developing nation to a developed nation . A country 's RNI can help determine which stage of the DTM they are in . This in turn helps policy makers and non-profit organizations , like the United Nations , determine how to allocate aid and resources . Developing countries typically have higher RNI values as they have limited infrastructure and access to healthcare which limits them to unregulated fertility levels . These countries also have higher incidence of disease and poor health outcomes leading to more deaths on top of the already high fertility . Developing countries are therefore in the earlier stages of the DTM with high fertility levels . This leads to developing countries to have high rates of natural increase .