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Europe is a developed continent, but there is a great difference between the economies of Western and
Eastern Europe .
Why? Because in the 20th century some countries in the East were part of the Soviet Union and had a communist economic system: the government owned all the means of production free market did not exist.
Now the communism is in the past, but the economy in Eastern Europe is still not as well developed as in the West.

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In Western Europe the primary sector employs only
2%-4% of the labour force, but it is still very productive thanks to: agricultural machinery fertilizers
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 advanced farming techniques.
In Eastern Europe agriculture is less mechanized and more people work on farms.

People working in the primary sector in some
European countries:

1) Northern Europe  forest
Climate: cold
Main activity in the primary sector: forestry
Resources: barley and timber
Barley = orzo
Timber = legname

2) Atlantic and Baltic coastal areas
 pasture lands and cattle breeding
Climate: oceanic (humid)
Main activity in the primary sector: cattle breeding for milk production
Resources: fodder, cattle
Fodder = foraggio

3) Plains in central and eastern Europe
 mixed agriculture
Climate: continental (hot summer, not too humid)
Main activity in the primary sector: agriculture, cattle and swine breeding for meat production
Resources: cereals, industrial crops, fruit and vegetables, cattle and swine swine

4) Southern Europe
 Mediterranean agriculture
Climate: mediterranean (mild, with dry summer)
Main activity in the primary sector: agriculture, ovine breeding
Resources: cereals, citrus fruit, grapes, olives, ovine

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Most common cereals : wheat and barley.
Main cereal producing countries: Russia, France,
Germany and Ukraine.
Top beer producing nations: Germany and Russia.
Beer is a traditional beverage in Belgium and in the
Netherlands, where it is still brewed in monasteries .

Belgium (green) and the Netherlands
(orange)

Vine
Wine
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Top wine producing nations: France, Italy and Spain.
Top olive oil and citrus fruit producing nations:
Spain, Italy, Greece.
Citrus fruit

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Potato : north-eastern Europe
Industrial crops : crops grown to produce goods to be used in the production sector. For example: sugar beet, soy, sunflowers.
 Sugar beet : a typical European crop.
Top producing countries: France, Germany, Poland.
sugar beets soy sunflowers

Draniki, a potato pancake, is classic recipe from Belarus.
Belarus has the highest per capita potato consumption in the world.
Vegetable oils

 bovine : cows are the most common livestock in
Europe and are used to produce milk and meat.
Top bovine raising nations: France, the United
Kingdom, Russia, Germany and in the Padan Plain .
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 swine : pigs are raised especially in Germany, Spain,
Poland, Russia and in the Padan Plain.
ovine : sheep and goats are raised especially for producing wool.
Top ovine raising nations: the United Kingdom,
Spain, Russia and Italy .

 Dairy products
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Leading producers in Europe (and among the first in the world): Russia, Germany and France .
 Cheese production is also very important in the Netherlands .

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Fishing is an important activity, especially in the
North Sea and Atlantic Ocean.
Leading fishing countries: Russia, Norway, Iceland,
Spain, Denmark, the United Kingdom and France.

1) Metals : many different types, but in small amounts spread over many countries.
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Mines were very important for the industrial progress of our continent, but now a lot of them are closed.
Iron : mined in Russia, Ukraine, Sweden and France .
 Other nations buy iron from extra-European countries, like Brazil and Australia.

Ag = silver (argento)
Hg = mercury
K= potash
Mn = manganese
Ni = nikel
Pb = lead (piombo)
Pt = platinum
S = sulfur (zolfo)
Sn = tin (stagno)
Zn = zinc
W = tungsten
(rame)

2) Coal : many coal deposits in central and northern
Europe (United Kingdom, Ruhr basin in Germany,
Poland, Ukraine).
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They were exploited in the 19th and 20th centuries, but many of them are no longer in use .
Why? Because coal mining is very expensive and coal pollutes the environment.
Leading coal producing countries: Russia (mines coal from Siberia, in Asia), Poland, Ukraine .

The first industrialisation in Europe (19 th century)

3) Oil : not common in Europe.
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Top oil producing countries: Russia (in Siberia), Norway and the United Kingdom (both these nations exploit the oil fields under the North Sea).
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Other European countries buy oil from Arab nations or from Northern Africa.
4) Natural gas : leading producer is Russia , which sells it to many European nations.
Other gas producing countries: the Netherlands, the
United Kingdom and Norway (they extract natural gas from the floor of the North Sea).
 In Italy natural gas production meets half the energy needs.