This dataset represents the administrative boundaries of the 38 EEA countries and the United Kingdom at various aggregation levels using the NUTS classification (Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics): country (NUTS0), NUTS1, NUTS2, and NUTS3 regions. The dataset has been created in raster format with a spatial resolution of 100m grid size. This dataset has been created as a reference layer for performing spatial analysis and calculating statistics at country level for the European territory as needed by accounting activities such as Land and Ecosystem Accounting (LEAC). The dataset has been derived from the EuroBoundaryMap 2020 (EBM 2020) from EuroGeographics, while coastal areas were derived from the Economic Exclusive Zone dataset version 11 (from the Flanders Marine Institute IMIS). The Eurostat GISCO database has also been used to validate/check eventual gaps in EBM 2020.

The delineation of European mountain areas was carried out by using digital elevation models, considering different criteria combination of thresholds of altitude, climate, and topography variables (IP2008 8.2.7 Regional and territorial development of mountain areas, ETC/LUSI - EEA). This dataset was created in 2008, covers the full European continent and is a reference layer for the EEA Report No 6/2010 on Europe's ecological backbone: recognising the true value of our mountain (https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/europes-ecological-backbone).

This dataset is based on the Environmental Stratification of Europe (EnS) dataset from the University of Edinburgh, a statistically derived land classification which provides a novel global spatial framework for the integration and analysis of ecological and environmental data (Metzger, Marc J. 2018). It provides a robust spatial analytical framework for the aggregation of local observations, identification of gaps in current monitoring efforts and systematic design of complementary and new monitoring and research. The version 8 of the source EnS dataset, used for the creation of this dataset, distinguishes 84 strata that are relatively homogeneous in environmental conditions and can be aggregated into 13 environmental zones: • Alpine North (ALN) • Boreal (BOR) • Nemoral (NEM) • Atlantic North (ATN) • Alpine South (ALS) • Continental (CON) • Atlantic Central (ATC) • Pannonian (PAN) • Lusitanian (LUS) • Anatolian (ANA) • Mediterranean Mountains (MDM) • Mediterranean North (MDN) • Mediterranean South (MDS) The original dataset (vector format, 1 km spatial resolution) has been rasterised into pixel size of 100m to align with Corine Land Cover. Its spatial coverage has been extended as follows: • Turkey is covered only partially in the original dataset. Missing parts are supplemented by a comparable national dataset provided by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry of Turkey. • The dataset is extended along the coastline to fully cover the spatial extent of CORINE Land Cover. • Canary Islands, Madeira archipelago and the Azores are not included in the original dataset and added as environmental zone “Macaronesia (MAC)”. • Iceland is not included in the original dataset and added as environmental zone “Arctic (ARC)”