欧 - Yawn... EUROPE

Readings & Meanings:

オウ

Europe

Common Usage:

西欧諸国

欧州

Examples:

西欧諸国では環境への意識が高い。

くじで欧州一周旅行のチケットが当たった。

Translations:

(People in) European countries are more aware of the environment.

I won a one-week trip ticket to Europe in the lottery.

Radical:

An Akubi radical! 久しぶり!

欠 shows a bent person with a wide-open mouth. Fitting, because あくび means yawn.

区 means division or sector.

So does this mean Japan thinks Europe is a sector where people with huge mouths live? Not at all. This is just one example of the random kanji that the Japanese use to match the pronunciation of that country's name.

Arbitrary? Perhaps. But when you think that Japan's name, for Japan, is Nihon, our Western naming conventions look positively strange in comparison.

References:

http://www.kanjinetworks.com/indices/radindex.html
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/kanji/o.htm