EUROPE I
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Europe I
MAJOR GEOGRAPHIC
QUALITIES
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WESTERN EXTREMITY OF EURASIA
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Peninsular Europe in 2 senses
Moderate climate
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Gulf stream, marine west coast
Moisture laden westerlies
Continental east
Mediterranean climate
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Hot dry summer
Cool wet winter
MAJOR GEOGRAPHIC
QUALITIES
WORLD INFLUENCE
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Numerous NATION-STATES
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Rome to Britannia, Imperialism
Manufacturing dominance
Cradle of industrial revolution
Fragmented and differentiated
Linguistic pluralism
AGING URBANIZED POPULATION
PARADOX of INTEGRATION and DEVOLUTION
REGIONS
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Western Europe
Eastern Europe
British Isles
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UK+
Northern Europe
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Scandinavia
=NSD +
Mediterranean
Europe
PHYSICAL
LANDSCAPES
• Western
Uplands
• North European
Lowland
• Central Uplands
• Alpine System
RELATIVE LOCATION
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Central to the land hemisphere
Maximum efficiency for contact with
the rest of the world
Close to the sea.
Navigable waterways
Airline connectivity
Moderate distances
Europe’s Situation
VON THUNEN’S
ISOLATED STATE
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A classic model in geography
Fashioned in 1826 to explain the economic
patterns developing in Europe
Based on concentric land use rings
surrounding a market town
Land use was a function of land rent, itself
determined by transportation costs.
The Isolated State became the foundation
for modern location theory.
VON THUNEN’S
ISOLATED STATE
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
‘industrial intensification’
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Developed 1st in the UK between 1750-1850
Evolved from technical innovations that
occurred in British industry
Proved to be a major catalyst for increased
urbanization
Diffuses from Britain outward into
Western Europe