Europe splits vertically into high-notability West (Germany, Italy westwards) and low-notability East. Large western nations like Germany, France, UK, Italy combine big populations with high per capita rates over 30 per million. Eastern nations with large populations still have per capita rates below 5 per million. Small western nations like Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark show exceptionally high per capita rates. Cities like Florence, Bologna, Leipzig, Padua, Basel produce outsized notable scientists relative to urban populations. Population size matters but fails to explain regional notability gaps. Eastern Europe's low totals reflect even lower per capita rates. Methodological variations like birth-time populations yield same east-west pattern. Bloody Eastern European history aligns with low genius density. Polish areas gained from Germany post-WW1 show lowest performance matching pre-1850 patterns.