S: (n) Europe (the 2nd smallest continent (actually a vast peninsula of Eurasia); the British use `Europe' to refer to all of the continent except the British Isles)
S: (n) Holy Roman Empire (a political entity in Europe that began with the papal coronation of Otto I as the first emperor in 962 and lasted until 1806 when it was dissolved by Napoleon)
S: (n) Continent (the European mainland) "Englishmen like to visit the Continent but they wouldn't like to live there"
S: (n) Greece, Hellenic Republic, Ellas (a republic in southeastern Europe on the southern part of the Balkan peninsula; known for grapes and olives and olive oil)
S: (n) Roman Republic (the ancient Roman state from 509 BC until Augustus assumed power in 27 BC; was governed by an elected Senate but dissatisfaction with the Senate led to civil wars that culminated in a brief dictatorship by Julius Caesar)
S: (n) Roman Empire (an empire established by Augustus in 27 BC and divided in AD 395 into the Western Roman Empire and the eastern or Byzantine Empire; at its peak lands in Europe and Africa and Asia were ruled by ancient Rome)
S: (n) Italy, Italian Republic, Italia (a republic in southern Europe on the Italian Peninsula; was the core of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire between the 4th century BC and the 5th century AD)
S: (n) Austria-Hungary (a geographical area in central and eastern Europe; broken into separate countries at the end of World War I)
S: (n) Austria, Republic of Austria, Oesterreich (a mountainous republic in central Europe; under the Habsburgs (1278-1918) Austria maintained control of the Holy Roman Empire and was a leader in European politics until the 19th century)
S: (n) Flanders (a medieval country in northern Europe that included regions now parts of northern France and Belgium and southwestern Netherlands)
S: (n) Belgium, Kingdom of Belgium, Belgique (a monarchy in northwestern Europe; headquarters for the European Union and for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
S: (n) Scotland (one of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; located on the northern part of the island of Great Britain; famous for bagpipes and plaids and kilts)
S: (n) Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Luxemburg (a grand duchy (a constitutional monarchy) landlocked in northwestern Europe between France and Belgium and Germany; an international financial center)
S: (n) Tartary, Tatary (the vast geographical region of Europe and Asia that was controlled by the Mongols in the 13th and 14th centuries) "under Genghis Khan Tartary extended as far east as the Pacific Ocean"
S: (n) Portugal, Portuguese Republic (a republic in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula; Portuguese explorers and colonists in the 15th and 16th centuries created a vast overseas empire (including Brazil))
S: (n) San Marino, Republic of San Marino (the smallest republic in the world; the oldest independent country in Europe (achieved independence in 301); located in the Apennines and completely surrounded by Italy)
S: (n) Ukraine, Ukrayina (a republic in southeastern Europe; formerly a European soviet; the center of the original Russian state which came into existence in the ninth century)
S: (n) Spain, Kingdom of Spain, Espana (a parliamentary monarchy in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula; a former colonial power)
S: (n) Gibraltar, Rock of Gibraltar, Calpe (location of a colony of the United Kingdom on a limestone promontory at the southern tip of Spain; strategically important because it can control the entrance of ships into the Mediterranean; one of the Pillars of Hercules)
S: (n) Ottoman Empire, Turkish Empire (a Turkish sultanate of southwestern Asia and northeastern Africa and southeastern Europe; created by the Ottoman Turks in the 13th century and lasted until the end of World War I; although initially small it expanded until it superseded the Byzantine Empire)
S: (n) Low Countries (the lowland region of western Europe on the North Sea: Belgium and Luxembourg and the Netherlands)
S: (n) Silesia, Slask, Slezsko, Schlesien (a region of central Europe rich in deposits of coal and iron ore; annexed by Prussia in 1742 but now largely in Poland)
S: (n) Elbe, Elbe River (a river in central Europe that arises in northwestern Czechoslovakia and flows northward through Germany to empty into the North Sea)