European countries

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting the Black and Aegean Seas.

Described below are some example countries falling even partially under any of the various common definitions of Europe, geographical or political.

France
The French Republic, more commonly known as France, and sometimes known as l’Hexagone ("The Hexagon") for its geometric shape, is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe, with various territories on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans, and is the founder of the French Foreign Legion. It's capital is Paris, derived from Elysium, the Greek paradise of the afterlife. It is also known as the world capital of art and culture, and its primary language is French. It is the birthplace of ornithologist and Militaires Sans Frontières member Cécile Cosima Caminades and Zanzibar Land mercenary Running Man. Pieuvre Armement, one of the world's largest PMCs in 2014, was also based in France.

The name France is derived from the Latin word "Francia" which translated to "Country of the Franks." France during its history also had an immense rivalry with Great Britain, which was at the time one of the most powerful nations in the known world. Because of this rivalry, France also had some involvement in America's fight for independence against the British during the Revolutionary War. Shortly after the Revolutionary War, the French people also underwent a revolution of their own by disposing of King Louis XVI. Afterwards, it underwent a reign of terror by Robespierre, resulting in several people being executed by the guillotine until Napoleon took power. The national anthem for France, La Marseillaise, was derived from the French Revolution.

France also acted as one of the allied powers of Europe in World War I. In World War II, however, it ended up occupied by Nazi Germany. Several French scientists also defected to America to avoid it, which also led to them partaking in the Manhattan Project. The tide eventually turned during the Battle of Normandy, where the Allied Forces stormed the beaches, and eventually drove out the Germans occupying the area. The Boss also gave birth to Revolver Ocelot while she was storming Normandy to take out V2 missile launch sites. France was also the country that developed the HALO jump, in large part because it became a popular sport due to its usage after World War II. It also became a member of NATO by the Cold War, alongside West Germany. In 1954, France fought a war against one of its colonies that wanted independence, Algeria, of which the Umbrellas of Cherbourg was based on. By the 1960s, as a result of the French scientists defecting to America during World War II, the French became the fourth nuclear power with their nuclear test "Gerboise Bleue." As a consequence, it also held the Algerian War in check. In May 1968, a large protest occurred that nearly brought down De Gaulle's presidency, and was also believed to be one of the more successful long-term protests. In 1972, the wine industry in France suffered, with some refusing to drink wine made in that year because of it.

The city of Lyon in France also did transplant surgeries, with Ocelot receiving one between 2005 and 2007 with Liquid's arm to replace the one he lost to Gray Fox in the Shadow Moses Incident. Ocelot later remarked, after Liquid's possessions were coming back to him, that he "never trust(s) a Frenchman."

Georgia
Georgia is a country that was involved in a power struggle against Russia, as well as a former Soviet satellite state.

In 2017, the country was hit with a bombing that was suspected to have originated from the PMC Desperado, as well as Abkhazian terrorist Andrey Dolzaev, who themselves were likewise were suspected to have been responsible for a massacre in St. Petersburg two years earlier.

Abkhazia
Abkhazia is a disputed territory between Russia and Georgia. It is located on the Eastern shore of the black sea, between Russia and Georgia.

In 2018, a military coup, instigated by the PMC Desperado and Abkhazian extremist Andrey Dolzaev, wiped out most of the parliamentary government, and turned the country into a military junta. Raiden, a Maverick agent, was dispatched to the region to drive out Desperado and have the former government regain control. Although most of the population of the capital, Sukhumi, were evacuated, stragglers remained, and frequently avoided the sights of the Desperado soldiers, lest they end up killed by them for simply being present.

Germany
Germany, officially known as the Federal Republic of Germany, and known by the natives as Deutschland, is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. It possessed the largest economy in Europe and was the founder of various paramilitary groups such as the GSG-9 antiterrorism group as well as SEK. It is the birthplace of the psychic woman known as both Elisa and Ursula, the Outer Heaven mercenary Fire Trooper, the Dead Cell strategist and former Wehrmacht soldier Old Boy, and the Cyberneticist surgeon and researcher known as "Doktor" (with Elisa/Ursula and Doktor specifically originating from Communist-occupied East Germany).

Germany was involved in World War I as one of the Central Powers. After the war, Germany also ended up getting a lions share of the blame, being put under a lot of debt. As a result, by the time of the Great Depression, Germany's economy collapsed. It also came to be known as the Weimar Republic, and had a lot of its territory shrink down, until the rise of Nazism in Germany during the Great Depression. Germany then began invading its neighbors, leading into World War II. The Philosophers, as part of their blueprint of defeating Germany, also formed a pact to save up a hundred billion dollars for the war effort. After the war, both the American and Russian factions of the Philosophers utilized portions of the money to gain the most intelligent scientists within Germany. The Soviet Union also invaded the eastern portion of Germany. During the 1960s, because of The Boss's mission to orchestrate sabotages within the Soviet Union via an anti-Moscow faction of the Philosophers, The Boss also arranged with clandestine meetings with the anti-Moscow faction in Berlin. In addition, the Berlin Wall was also developed during the Cold War in Berlin, splitting it into East and West, with various defectors often crossing over the wall, including Nikolai Stepanovitch Sokolov. The Berlin Wall collapsed during the 1990s, signifying the end of Communism in Europe. Consequentially, the reunification also led to some researchers being left without a job, as well as several weapons contracts being cancelled.

Montenegro
Montenegro (meaning "Black Mountain") is a middle-income country in Southeastern Europe, located to the west of Croatia, to the northwest of both Bosnia and Herzegovina, to the northeast of Serbia, to the east of Kosovo, and to the south-east of Albania, as well as being near the coast to the Adriatic Sea. In the 10th century, it was composed of three Slavic principalities: Duklja to the southernmost half, Travulia to the west, and Rascia to the north. Eventually, Duklja gained independence from a revolt. It's primary language was Montenegrin.

In the mid-to-late 2010s, the Private Military and Security Company Maverick Security Consulting, Inc. did a brief mission in Montenegro that Raiden, whom at the time had just recently joined the PMSC, was involved in. However, Raiden apparently had some initial difficulty carrying out the mission despite having already covered the briefing materials prior to commencing the mission. Kevin Washington, a fellow Maverick member, briefly referenced this mission, and Raiden's apparent difficulty in carrying it out, when citing that Raiden should listen to his quick briefing on a mission to Abkhazia, regardless of whether he had already covered the materials beforehand, four years later.

Because of Kevin Washington's line about Montenegro in the demo for Rising, depicting the initial part of the Abkhazia mission, some press sources have erroneously claimed that the location in the prologue for the game was Montenegro, rather than the unnamed country in Africa.

United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, more commonly known and referred as the United Kingdom, the UK, and Great Britain, is a sovereign state comprising England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, and is the founder of various military groups such as the Special Air Service and the Secret Intelligence Service. It was the birthplace of David Oh, a.k.a. Zero, and Strangelove, as well as the country in which Liquid Snake was raised following his birth. Praying Mantis, one of the world's largest PMCs by 2014, was also based in Britain.

In 1776, Great Britain fought against its thirteen colonies in North America, which sought independence after being taxed without representation. Britain later fought the United States of America in the War of 1812, which it ultimately lost, although not before burning down portions of the U.S. capital, Washington, D.C. In the first half of the 20th Century, Britain served alongside America as a member of the Allied Forces during the two World Wars. In World War II, it was faced with several bombing runs by Nazi Germany. During the war, the newly formed SAS carried out a dummy run in Heliopolis and conducted nighttime raids during the North African campaign. In addition, a researcher named Alan Turing decoded the Enigma, allowing Britain to eventually use their communications against Nazi Germany, which contributed greatly to the Allies' victory in the war.

Britain became a member of NATO, and one of the Western powers in competition with the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It also became one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and was the third country to develop a nuclear weapons arsenal (with its first atomic bomb test in 1952). Despite his contributions in World War II, Alan Turing was later arrested under the charge of practicing homosexuality. The "James Bond" novels were first published in Britain, beginning in 1953, with Major Zero becoming a fan of the later film series that they would inspire. During the 1960s, Britain began to grant its remaining colonies independence, including Zimbabwe (then known as Rhodesia). In the 1980s, Britain fought against Argentina over the disputed territory of the Falkland Islands, in the Falklands War. The British later participated in the First and Second Gulf Wars in the 1990s and 2000s, respectively.