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Union geography

22 member countries are influenced by extensive coastlines and oceanic climate, (Mediterranean, Greece) 22 member countries are influenced by extensive coastlines and oceanic climate, (Mediterranean, Greece)

Although most of the European Union is on the European continent, see Geography of Europe, the EU is not coterminous with Europe: significant parts of the continent (e.g. Switzerland, Norway, European Russia) are outside of the EU. The member states of the EU have land borders with 21 other nations.

It is estimated that the coastline of the European Union is over 150,000 km long, bordering the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, Baltic Sea and Adriatic Sea. European mountain ranges include the Alps, Carpathian Mountains, Balkan Mountains and Scandinavian Mountains with the tallest mountain in the Union being Mont Blanc.

Several overseas territories and dependencies of various member states are also formally part of the EU (e.g. the Azores, Madeira, French Guiana, Martinique, Guadeloupe or the Canary Islands) while in other cases territories associated with member states are not part of the EU (e.g. Greenland, the Faroe Islands, most territories associated to the United Kingdom, Aruba, the Netherlands Antilles or New Caledonia).

Including overseas territories of member states, the EU includes most types of climate from Arctic to tropical. Meteorological averages for the EU as a whole are therefore not meaningful. The majority of the population live in areas with a Mediterranean climate (southern Europe), a temperate maritime climate (western Europe), or a warm summer continental or hemiboreal climate (in eastern member states).

Largest cities

The European Union is home to more global cities than any other region in the world. Over 16 cities with populations over one million inhabitants, counted in its city proper. Densely populated regions that have no single core but have emerged from the connection of several cites and are now encompassing large metropolitan areas are Rhine-Ruhr having approximately 10.5 million inhabitants (Cologne, Dortmund, et al.), Randstad approx. 7 million (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague et al.), the Flemish Diamond approx. 5.5 million, Frankfurt Rhine Main Area approx. 4 million (Frankfurt, Wiesbaden et al.) and the Upper Silesian Industry Area approx. 3.5 million.