There are a number of things to note about this map. Starting in the east, we have the massive kingdom of Poland-Lithuania, (pale blue with a red border) and to the south of it the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire (purple), the most powerful state in Europe. The Turks had overrun the Balkans and attacked as far as Vienna, and in addition ruled Syria, the Near East and Egypt. These two huge states blocked the westward expansion of Russia (pale green) for another century, after which they both began to decline.
By contrast, Germany was then a chaotic mess of more than three hundred independent states, some of which were Protestant and some Catholic. They were all nominally subject to the Holy Roman Emperor, who was always a member of the Habsburg family (whose ancestral lands are shown in dark green). Within a few years Germany was to collapse into the appalling slaughter of the Thirty Years' War.
Italy was also disunited, with the Popes ruling the centre and Naples and Sicily to the south being part of the Spanish empire (in orange). Spain also ruled what is now Belgium, but had recently lost control of the Protestant-dominated provinces to the north (pale green) which had become the Dutch Republic. The proud Spanish Empire was entering a long period of decline. By contrast France was smaller than today, but was about to embark on the "splendid century" which would see French frontiers expand to the Rhine and the Alps, and French culture dominate Europe.
England and Scotland were shortly to be united under King James I (James VI of Scotland). Fifty years earlier, Henry VIII had given himself the title of "King of Ireland", but as the map shows, large areas of Ireland were not yet under English control.
