Many slides and photos courtesy of Matt Ebiner,
El Camino College

POPULATION
• Germany - #1
• France
• United Kingdom
• Italy
• Spain

Europe vs.
North
America

ENVIRONMENT - Climate
•
Mild Climate
• North Atlantic
Drift
– Warm…
• Coldest
Winters…

EUROPE’S
CLIMATE
• Rain decreases:
– Eastward
– Southward
• Winter temperature cooler:
– Northward
– Eastward

• North European Plain
– Dense population
– Agriculture
• Mountains in Southern Half
– Alps
– Pyrenees

Italian Alps

ENVIRONMENT - Rivers
•
Rhine
– Oriented westward…
– Trade route
•
Danube
– Oriented eastward

Recent Immigration

Religions
• Christian
– Catholic
– Orthodox
– Protestant
• Lutheran
• Anglican
• Muslim

Bosnian Mosque

British
Isles

British Isles
• Rep. of Ireland
•
United Kingdom
– Northern Ireland
– Scotland
– England
– Wales

Great Britain’s Environment
• Mostly
Highlands
– low mountains
• Up to 4400’
• Lowlands
– S.E. England
– Agriculture
– Farmers - 2% of UK labor force
– UK imports 60% of its food

LONDON •
On Thames River
– founded 2000 years ago
– best place to cross river
• bridge...
• Relative Location...
– Close to mainland Europe...

Old Industrial Cities
• Birmingham
– Steel
• Manchester
– Cotton Textiles
• Liverpool
– Seaport

Liverpool
• Music-Tourism
– Beatles…
– The Clash
– Punk Rock

Industry
• UK - top industrial power in 1700s, 1800s
– Industrial Revolution began in England…
– Abundant coal
– Colonization - free resources
• 20 th Century
– New industrial competition
– Depletion of coal in Britain
• North Sea Oil since 1970s
– Loss of colonies (and resources)

Wales & Scotland
• Celtic Culture
– Celtic Languages
• Scots Gaelic
• Welsh

EDINBURGH
• Scotland’s Capital
• Scottish Parliament
– Some Autonomy

Northern Ireland - Religious Division

Northern
Ireland

60% Protestant

Loyal to U.K.

Mural in Belfast

N. Ireland - 40% Catholic
• Catholics Want
One Ireland

Republic of Ireland
• “Emerald Isle”
– Green Landscape
– Rainy and Cool

Ireland - 95% Catholic
• St. Patrick 

Celtic Culture
• Irish Language

Dublin
• 30% of Ire. Pop.
• Relative Location…

Ireland’s Agriculture
• 10% of Irish labor force
• Population of Rep. of Ireland
– 5 million in 1840
– Potato Famine in 1840s
– 4.1 million in 2005

FRANCE
• Mountains
– Alps
– Pyrenees
•
Coastlines
– Mediterranean
– Bay of Biscay
– English
Channel
“Chunnel”

• Founded on island in Seine River
– Amid great farmland

Agriculture
• #1 food producer in Europe
– Wheat...
– Dairy Cattle...
– Grapes...
• Champagne

Industry
• Cars
– Renault
– Peugeot
– Citroen

Tourism in France • Most visited country in world
• Attractions
- French Riviera
- Cannes…

French
Riviera
 Monaco…

Monte Carlo

Tourism
• French
Alps
– Mont
Blanc

Mont Blanc

Tourism
• Loire River
– Famous for…

Loire River Chateaux (Castles)

Tourism to Paris
• Museums • Churches
– Louvre – Cathedral of Notre Dame

Paris
• Monuments
– Eiffel Tower

“Low Countries”
• Netherlands
• Belgium
• Luxembourg

Netherlands
• “Holland”
• Home to the Dutch
• “Low Country”
• Flat
• ½ of Land – below sea level

Land Below Sea Level
• “Polder land”
– Is drained land
– Was under water
– Formation:
• Dike built around shallow water
• Water pumped out
– Mostly for agriculture
• Grasses for dairy cattle
– Cheese
• Flowers

Dutch Cities
• Rotterdam
– #1 Seaport
– Rhine River
• Amsterdam
– Museums
• Van Gogh

Amsterdam
• Liberal Attitudes

Amsterdam

Belgium
• 2 Cultures
– Flemish
• Speak Dutch
– Walloons
• Speak French

Dutch & French

Germany
• 1945-1990
– East/West Division
• Reunited 1990
• Capital at Berlin

Germany
• #1 in Europe
– Population
– Industry
• Along the Rhine
• The Ruhr…

The Ruhr
(river and region)
Rhine River

Bavaria
• So. Germany
• Alps…
• Munich

Munich – _____ Cars

Munich
Beer & Oktoberfest

German Alps - Bavaria

Austria
• German-speaking
• Catholic
• Danube River
– Vienna
– Capital
• Alps
– Salzburg

VIENNA

Salzburg
• Classical Music
– Mozart…
– “Sound of Music”

Switzerland
• Languages
– German, French, Italian, Romansch
• Religion
– 1/2 Catholic, 1/2 Protestant

Switzerland
• Peaceful…
• Neutral
• International Organizations
– Geneva
United Nations International Red Cross

Economic Status
• Few Nat. Resources, but
Wealthy
• Skilled Industries
– Watches
• Rolex, Swatch
• Banking
– Centered in Zurich

Tourism • Alpine Towns

Matterhorn & Zermatt

Dairy
Farming
• Cheese
• Chocolate
– Toblerone
– Nestlé

N. Europe
• Denmark
• Norway
• Sweden
• Finland
• Iceland

RELIGION
• Lutheran
– State religion
Lutheran Church
Finland

Languages
• Germanic
– Norwegian
– Swedish 
– Except…

Finnish

Northern
Europe
• Social Welfare
Programs
– Free/Low-Cost
Health Care,
Education,…
• High income taxes...

Denmark
• Jutland Peninsula
• Flat
• Climate...
• Agriculture
• Wind Power
• Copenhagen
– #1 in N. Europe

Norway • Oslo = Capital
• Oil from North Sea
• Landscape
– Barren Mountains
– Glaciers
– Fjords
• Long, narrow inlets of the sea

Glacial Cave & Meltwater

Fjords
• Carved by glaciers
• Cruise Ship Tourism

Norway

Sweden
• Stockholm = capital

Sweden
• Most Forests in Europe
– Furniture
• Ikea

Cars
• Volvo
• Saab

Iceland “Land of Fire and Ice”

Volcanoes

Hot Springs

Geysers

Climate
• Mild on south coast due to…
• Reykjavik

CLIMATE – S. Europe
• Mediterranean Climate (like California)
– Rainy Winter, Dry Summer
– Grapes, Oranges, Olives

Iberian
Peninsula
• Spain
• Portugal

SPAIN
• Madrid
– Capital
– Geographic Center
• Barcelona
– Economic center
– Catalonia region
• Catalan language

Minority
Regions in Spain

Basque Region  Cool, rainy all year
 Basque Language...

Spanish & Basque Language

Italy
• Po River Basin
– Agriculture
– Industry
• Milan…
– Fashion…
• Turin
– Fiat cars
– Venice
• Canals
• Islands
• Tourists

Canals of Venice

Florence
• Birthplace of:
– Michelangelo
• Sculpture of David

Rome
• Capital &…

Vatican City • Smallest Country…

Vatican City
Catholic Church

• Michelangelo

Naples
• Mt. Vesuvius
– Still Active

Pompeii • Destroyed, 79 AD

Greece
• Tourism
– Aegean Sea Islands
– Historical Sites
• Athens

Ancient Athens

Modern Athens

Cyprus
• Ethnic Separation
– 75% Greek Cypriots
• Greek Orthodox
– 25% Turkish Cypriots
• Muslim

Eastern Europe
• 15 Countries
• Communist
– 1945-1990s

Landscape
•
Plains
– N. European Plain
– Along Danube River
• Hungarian Plain
•
Mountain Ranges
– Carpathians
– Transylvanian Alps

North European Plain - Lithuania

Transylvanian Alps - Romania

Alps - Slovenia

Czech Rep. & Slovakia
• United until 1993
– Czechoslovakia
– “Velvet Divorce”…

Prague – Czech Capital • Historic
Architecture
• Tourism

Prague

Tatra Mtns - Slovakia

Albania
• Muslim
• Rural & Traditional
• One of poorest countries…

Former
Yugoslavia
• Est. 1920
– Many Ethnicities
• Fragmented 1990s
– Ethnic cleansing
• 5 Countries Now

Former
Yugoslavia
• Slovenia
• Croatia
• Macedonia
• Bosnia
• Serbia &
Montenegro

Dalmatian Coast, Croatia
• Adriatic Sea
• Tourism
• Dubrovnik, Croatia

Fig. 3-16, p. 73

SUMMARY
• Europe is physically part of the great continent of Eurasia. However, because of historic distinctiveness, it is generally labeled a continent and is treated as a separate region. Europe’s population is about twice that of the United States, and Europe is more densely settled. Europe is demographically postindustrial, with a slowly declining and aging population.
• Among Europe’s most distinctive physical geographic traits are its northerly location, temperate climate, and varied topography. The North European Plain is a major belt of settlement and agricultural productivity. The marine west coast climate, continental climates, and Mediterranean climate are characteristic. The
Rhine and the Danube are the two most important rivers.
• European languages derive primarily from Indo-European roots and include
Romance, Germanic, and Slavic languages. English is a Germanic language, and like most European languages, it is enriched by many other tongues. The dominant religion is Christianity, with major followings of Protestant, Roman
Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox churches. There are significant populations of
Muslims (most of them recent immigrants) and of Jews (whose population is a small remnant of the pre-Holocaust community).
• Immigration is enriching Europe’s ethnic mosaic but also presenting economic and security dilemmas for the European countries.

SUMMARY
• From the beginning of the 16th century until late in the 19th century, Europe was at the center of global patterns of colonization and foreign settlement, longdistance trade, and agricultural and industrial innovation. During this time,
Europeans diffused crops and animals between the Old and New Worlds. The
Industrial Revolution originated in Europe, with energy derived from coal and factory technology focused on textiles and iron. Industrialization and colonization launched Europe to global economic
• and political supremacy.
• Recent decades have seen a global shift in power away from Europe. Factors such as war dislocation, rising nationalism, the ascendancy of the United
States, a shift in world manufacturing patterns, and new energy sources have combined to diminish Europe’s global centrality. Europe is nevertheless a very strong force in world economic, political, and social affairs, and its peoples are among the most prosperous in the world.
• Europe’s economy is postindustrial, making the transition from energy-hungry, labor-costly, and polluting industries to leaner high-tech industries and to services. This shift has caused unemployment. European nations often try to protect their domestic industries and have been involved in “trade wars” with the United States, which likewise wants to protect its industries. Eastern Europe has long been much poorer than Western Europe.

SUMMARY
• In recent decades, Europe has been reorganizing itself to ensure that nothing like the two world wars will happen again and to strengthen its economies. Its principal military alliance, NATO, is growing in membership and redefining its focus toward peacekeeping. The most important development is the growth of the 25-member European Union (EU), a supranational organization that pools the economic and human resources of its member countries. There have been obstacles to its achievement of common EU policies in money matters, defense, and foreign affairs. The U.S. war in Iraq highlighted major differences among EU members, and overall, there are several marked differences in the ways
Europeans and Americans view the world.

GOOD-BYE EUROPE!