2024 Facts & Figures: Europe

NUMBER of 2-ton blocks of ice needed to construct the Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi, SWEDEN, north of the Arctic Circle. Workers harvest the ice from the frozen Torne River and use it to build everything—from the floors, walls, and ceilings to the furniture inside. Only about 800 people live in the town, but thousands of visitors stay in the frozen hotel every winter. 

^{Sources: Clad News; Biveros Bulletin}

SIZE of VATICAN CITY, the world’s smallest independent nation-state. With just 1,000 people living there, it also has the smallest population. Vatican City, which is the Pope’s official home, has its own telephone system, post office, radio station, and banking system, and it mints its own version of the euro. 

^{Source: Encyclopedia Britannica}

In October 2022, Rishi Sunak became the first person of color to serve as prime minister of the UNITED KINGDOM. He’s also the first Hindu to hold the office. 

^{Source: U.K. Office of National Statistics}

PERCENTAGE INCREASE of RUSSIA’s monthly trade with India since the start of the war with Ukraine. While many Western countries, including the U.S., imposed sanctions and restricted trade with Russia, other countries such as India, Türkiye, and China have increased trade with Russia. 

^{Source: The New York Tmes}

PERCENTAGE of all new cars sold in the European Union in 2022 that are powered only by electricity. The sale of electric cars is surging in Europe. In 2019, fewer than 2 percent of new car sales were electric. The E.U. is moving to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035. 

^{Source: euronews}