These are the richest billionaires in 18 European countries - and this is how they made their money

Europe's wealthiest individuals are a mixed group.

Some of them hold fortunes derived from centuries-old dynasties, while others are hard-nosed entrepreneurs who scrabbled up from humble backgrounds.

There are those in eastern Europe who made their money recently after the collapse of the Soviet Union, there are industrialists from Scandinavia with fortunes derived from old industry, and there are some in Western Europe with ancient royal connections.

Business Insider has used Forbes' rich list to determine the wealthiest individual in each European state, ranked from the least-wealthy upwards.

In some countries, no residents made the Forbes list, and the countries were therefore not included in this ranking.

Mike Bird contributed to an earlier version of this post.