'…when Gorbachev's naïve effort at reform triggered its collapse a state founded on terror fell apart without violence in a debacle
unprecedented in history.'
—John Gray, Black Mass (2007)
Population of the 10 most populous countries in
Europe, all ages: 1950-2010
Notes: France's population overtook Italy's in 1990 and the UK's in 1993.
Italy's population was slightly bigger than the UK's from 1979 to 1985.
Notes: France's population overtook Italy's in 1990 and the UK's in 1993. Italy's population was slightly bigger than the UK's from 1979 to 1985.
Source of data: United Nations Population Division, "World Population Prospects: The 2006 Revision".