Intro to Europe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8brpoU_HNI
NOTES:
 Europe and Russia are in the Northern Hemisphere
 Europe is the 2nd smallest continent (Australia is smaller)
 Asia and Europe are on the same land mass, separated by the Ural Mountains
 Russia is located on both continents; it is the largest country in the world; 2X the size of the US
 Europe (peninsula) is bordered on three sides by water
o North – Arctic Ocean
o West – Atlantic Ocean
o South – Black, Caspian, Mediterranean Seas
 Europe is the 2nd most densely populated continent (Asia is most densely populated)
 Europe is highly urbanized
 Humans have lived in Europe for tens of thousands of years; favorable geography
 1/3 of land in Europe is arable (“good for farming”)
 Northern forests offer timber for most of Europe
 Water currents from the Gulf of Mexico allow a mild climate in Europe
 Large rivers offer transportation corridors throughout Europe; Volga is the longest river
 Europe is mostly low elevation, except for the Alpine regions (run E-W)
o North of the Alps – colder, wetter, and heavily forested
o South of the Alps (a natural barrier to the north winds; rain shadow) – warmer, dryer
 Regions
o Western Europe
o Easter Europe
o Russia
 Russia
o About 4800 miles from Europe to Pacific Ocean
o Extends the full length of the northern border of Asia
o Larger land mass in Asia, but most of the citizens live in Europe side
o Siberia is least hospitable area on Earth, with winter temps dipping to -900
o Frozen tundra for top 1/3 of land mass
o Taiga (forest zone; mostly conifers) cover much of Siberia; source of most of Europe’s
lumber
o Has great oil, gas, coal, iron & mineral deposits, but obstacles to getting them (climate,
heavily forested/frozen land, distance from population/transportation sources)
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
 U.S.S.R. was a collection of states/republics, many of which became independent in the 19801990s.
 Europe, a peninsula itself, includes five (5) peninsulas
o Norway/Sweden
o Denmark
o Italy
o Greece
o Spain/Portugal
 Scandinavia includes Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark.