San Marino

Landlocked is one of the world's smallest countries. Surrounded by Italy, it is an echo from an era when city-states proliferated across Europe.

Mount Titano, part of the Appennine range, dominates 's landscape. Three defensive fortresses perch on Titano's slopes, looking out to the Adriatic coast.

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is said to be the world's oldest surviving republic.

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Tradition has it that the country was founded in the fourth century AD by a devout Christian stonemason called Marinus, who took refuge there and set up a small community. Its rugged isolation helped the enclave to develop and keep its independence.

An 1862 friendship and cooperation treaty with Italy, which has since been revised and expanded, reinforced 's independence.

Russia

emerged from a decade of post-Soviet economic and political turmoil to reassert itself as a world power.

Income from vast natural resources, above all oil and gas, have helped overcome the economic collapse of 1998. The state-run gas monopoly Gazprom is the world's largest producer and exporter, and supplies a growing share of Europe's needs.

Economic strength has allowed Vladimir Putin to enhance state control over political institutions and the media, buoyed by extensive public support for his policies as prime minister, president and now prime minister again.

Spanning nine time zones, is the largest country on earth in terms of surface area, although large tracts in the north and east are inhospitable and sparsely populated.

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This vast Eurasian land mass covers more than 17m sq km, with a climate ranging from the Arctic north to the generally temperate south.

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In the period of rapid privatisation in the early 1990s, the government of President Boris Yeltsin created a small but powerful group of magnates, often referred to as "oligarchs", who acquired vast interests in the energy and media sectors.

President Yeltsin's successor, Vladimir Putin, moved to reduce the political influence of oligarchs soon after taking office, forcing some into exile and prosecuting others.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former head of the Yukos oil company and a supporter of the liberal opposition, is serving eight years in a Siberian penal colony on tax and fraud charges. Yukos assets were later acquired by the state oil giant Rosneft.

resurgent

During Mr Putin's presidency 's booming economy and assertive foreign policy bolstered national pride. In particular, promoted its perceived interests in former Soviet states more openly, even at the cost of antagonising the West.

Romania

The largest of the Balkan countries, has dramatic mountain scenery and a coastline on the Black Sea.

It has seen numerous empires come and go from the Roman, to the Ottoman, to the Austro-Hungarian.

After World War II the country was under communist rule although the leadership pursued a foreign policy independent of that of the Soviet Union.

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, a slower developer than other former communist countries of eastern Europe, took a major step away from its past when it was one of seven countries to join Nato in late March 2004. Its strategic location and Black Sea air and naval bases make it attractive to the alliance.

Portugal

, a country with a rich history of seafaring and discovery, looks out from the Iberian peninsula into the Atlantic Ocean.

When it handed over its last overseas territory, Macau, to Chinese administration in 1999, it brought to an end a long and sometimes turbulent era as a colonial power.

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The roots of that era stretch back to the 15th century when Portuguese explorers such as Vasco da Gama put to sea in search of a passage to India. By the 16th century these sailors had helped build a huge empire embracing Brazil as well as swathes of Africa and Asia. There are still some 200 million Portuguese speakers around the world today.

's history has had a lasting impact on the culture of the country with Moorish and Oriental influences in architecture and the arts. Traditional folk dance and music, particularly the melancholy fado, remain vibrant.

Poland

A nation with a proud cultural heritage, can trace its roots back over 1,000 years. Positioned at the centre of Europe, it has known turbulent and violent times.

There have been periods of independence as well as periods of domination by other countries. Several million people, half of them Jews, died in World War II.

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A new era began when became an EU member in May 2004, five years after joining Nato and 15 years after the end of communist rule.

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It was the birthplace of the former Soviet bloc's first officially recognised independent mass political movement when strikes at the Gdansk shipyard in August 1980 led to agreement with the authorities on the establishment of the Solidarity trade union.

The shoots of political freedom were trampled again 16 months later when communist leader Wojciech Jaruzelski declared martial law. But the movement for change was irreversible. Elections in summer 1989 ushered in eastern Europe's first post-communist government.

The presence in the Vatican of Polish Pope John-Paul II was an important influence on the Solidarity movement throughout the 1980s. The Roman Catholic church remains a very potent force in Polish life.

Norway

Europe's northernmost country, the Kingdom of is famed for its mountains and spectacular fjord coastline, as well as its history as a seafaring power.

It also enjoys one of the highest standards of living in the world, in large part due to the discovery in the late 1960s of offshore oil and gas deposits.

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's annual oil revenue amounts to around $40bn (£21bn), and more than half of its exports come from this sector. To counter inflation, spending of oil revenue was restricted.

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The considerable surplus is invested in a sovereign wealth fund, estimated in 2009 at $400bn.

What to do with the money is one of the country's most contentious political issues. The centre-right want more of it to be used to fund infrastructure improvements, while the centre-left wants to keep it invested for future generations.

declared its independence in 1905 when the union with Sweden was dissolved. 's people value their independence and prosperity highly. The Norwegians rejected membership of the then European Economic Community in 1972, and of the European Union in 1994, despite being urged by their governments to vote "yes".

In recent decades, has forged a stronger role for itself in international politics. It has mediated between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation, and from 2000 to 2009 was the chief mediator in the conflict between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil separatists.

Netherlands

The ' name reflects its low-lying topography, with more than a quarter of its total area under sea level.

Now a constitutional monarchy, the country began its independent life as a republic in the 16th century, when the foundations were laid for it to become one of the world's foremost maritime trading nations.

Although traditionally among the keener advocates of the European Union, Dutch voters echoed those in France by spurning the proposed EU constitution in a 2005 referendum.

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The has produced many of the world's most famous artists from Rembrandt and Vermeer in the 17th century to Van Gogh in the 19th and Mondrian in the 20th. It attracts visitors from across the globe.

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After a longstanding policy of neutrality between Europe's great powers, the bitter experience of invasion and occupation during World War II led the to become a leading supporter of international cooperation.

Almost 20% of the total area of the is water, and much of the land has been reclaimed from the North Sea in efforts which date back to medieval times and have spawned an extensive system of dykes.