Europe
European Geographical Facts
1. Europe is the world’s 6th largest continent,
making up 6.5% of the earth’s total land area.
2. Europe is the 3rd most populous continent,
with a population of around 739 million.
3. Europe is the northwestern peninsula of the
“supercontinent” Eurasia.
4. Europe and Asia are divided by the Ural
Mountains, which are located in Russia.
Europe’s Physical Geography
1. Europe is a continent of peninsulas – bodies
of land surrounded on three sides by water.
2. Physically, Europe can be divided into four
major regions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Atlantic Highlands/Scandinavian Shield
North European Plain
Central Uplands
Alpine System
Europe’s Physical Regions
Atlantic Highlands/Scandinavian Shield
1. This region curves along the western edge of
Europe and is an area of hard, ancient rock
shaped by glaciers.
2. The region is covered by many marshlands,
lakes and fjords, which are long, narrow inlets
of the sea surrounded by high, rugged cliffs.
Fjords
Northern European Plain
1. Also known as the Great European Plain, this is
the most densely populated area of Europe.
2. This is Europe’s most productive agriculture
region.
3. As this region extends into Russia, it become
know as the steppes.
4. This region has a mild climate due to:
1.
2.
North Atlantic Drift
prevailing westerly winds
North European Plain
1. The North Atlantic Drift
is a warm water current
that is an extension of
the Gulf Stream.
2. This warm current
brings a milder climate
to Western Europe and
plenty of precipitation,
which aids the Northern
European Plain region in
regard to agriculture.
North Atlantic Drift
Prevailing
Westerlies
1. The prevailing
westerlies are a
constant flow of air from
the west to the east in
the temperate zones of
the earth.
2. In Europe, these winds
blow across the
Northern European
Plain, keeping the
climate milder than
what its latitude would
indicate.
Central Uplands
1. The Central Uplands extend across a small
part of Central Europe.
2. This region is also heavily forested and
sparsely populated except for certain river
valleys.
Central Uplands
Alpine System
1. The Alpine System consists of the Alps, the
Pyrenees, the Apennines, the Dinaric Alps, the
Balkan Mountains and the Carpathian
Mountains.
2. Mont Blanc, of the Alps, is Western Europe’s
highest point at 15,782 feet above sea level.
3. Europe’s highest point is Mt. Elbrus (18,510
feet above sea level), located in the Caucasus
of Russia.
4. This region also has several active volcanoes,
including Mt. Etna and Mt. Vesuvius of Italy.
Alpine System
Mont Blanc
Mt. Elbrus
Mt. Etna and Mt. Vesuvius
Communism and the Cold War
1. Communism is a system of government in which
the government controls the means of production.
2. After World War II, much of Eastern Europe was
dominated by the Soviet Union, which was a
communist Russia.
3. Known as the Communist Bloc, this region
suffered under the harsh control of Joseph Stalin.
4. Economically, Eastern Europe fell way behind
Western Europe and continues to try to make up
ground today.
The Communist Bloc
The Iron Curtain
Western Europe’s Human Geography
1. In regard to human geography, Western
Europe is divided into three regions:
1. The British Isles and the Nordic Nations
2. Central Western Europe
3. Mediterranean Europe
The British Isles and the Nordic
Nations
The British Isles
1. Great Britain is the largest of the British Isles
2. The second largest, Ireland, is known as the
Emerald Isle.
3. The Channel Tunnel, or Chunnel, connects the
islands of Great Britain to mainland Europe –
it’s the longest undersea rail tunnel in the world
(a little over 30 miles).
Ireland
The Nordic Countries
1. The Nordic Countries are Iceland, Norway,
Sweden, Finland and Denmark.
2. The northern regions has very long winters
due to its northern latitude.
3. Iceland produces geothermal energy, which is
produced from the heat of the earth’s interior.
The Sami
1. The Sami are the
indigenous people of
the Nordic Countries.
2. They have traditionally
lived in the northern
area known as
Lapland.
3. They are most well
known for reindeer
herding.
Central Western Europe
1. This region can actually be divided into three
regions of its own:
1. France and Germany
2. The Benelux Countries (Belgium, the
Netherlands and Luxembourg)
3. the Alpine Countries (Switzerland and Austria)
The Benelux Countries
1. These countries are also known as the Low
Countries because most of it is low and flat.
2. This region is the most densely populated
region of Europe.
3. In the Netherlands, 1/5 of the land is actually
reclaimed from the sea with a series of dikes,
which are embankments of earth and rock used
to hold back the sea.
4. The polder is the land reclaimed from the sea is
used largely for agricultural purposes.
The Netherlands
The Basques
1. In northern Spain, in one of the most
productive areas of the country, are the
Basques.
2. The Basques are an example of cultural
divergence – having the desire to protect
your culture from outside influences.
3. The Basques desire for independence within
Spain has at times led to violence between
them and the Spanish government.
The Vatican City
1. Inside of Rome, Italy, is the Vatican City.
2. The headquarters of the Catholic Church, the
Holy See is actually a sovereign state.
3. It covers less than a square mile, has a
population of less than 1000 and is the
smallest sovereign state in the world
The Vatican City
The European Union
1. The European Union is an economic and
political organization that was formed to
stimulate trade and build up the economies
of its member countries.
2. Formed in the 1950’s, it adopted a common
currency in 1999 – the euro.
The European Union
Eastern Europe
1. Eastern Europe is divided into four regions.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Poland
The Czech and Slovak Republics and Hungary
The Balkan Peninsula
The Baltic States and Border States
Eastern Europe and Russia
Physical Geography of Eastern Europe
and Russia
Poland
The Holocaust
1. The Holocaust was the execution of six million
Jews in Nazi concentration camps during World
War II.
2. More than three million Jews lived in Poland
before World War II.
3. The Nazi’s forced them into areas known as
ghettos – an area of a city where a minority is
forced to live.
4. The Nazi’s later removed the Jews from the
ghettos and took them to concentration camps,
where they were forced into labor or killed.
5. Today, less than 10,000 Jews live in Poland.
The Warsaw Ghetto
The Czech and Slovak Republics and
Hungary
Czechoslovakia
1. Czechoslovakia was created from the AustroHungarian Empire after World War I.
2. During the late 1980’s, a velvet revolution
occurred – a revolution without bloodshed –
and Czechoslovakia gained its independence
from the Soviet Union.
3. During the early 1990’s, growing disputes
between the Czechs and Slovaks (Slavic tribes)
led to a peaceful separation in 1993.
The Balkan Peninsula
Yugoslavia
1. Yugoslavia was created
after World War I.
2. It was made up of six
Slavic republics that
were united under one
communist government
after World War II.
3. After the fall of
communism, tensions
between the different
ethnic groups led to the
collapse of the country.
Bosnia-Herzegovina
1. In Bosnia, Bosniacs, Croats and Serbs battled
for power for four years.
2. The Serbs used ethnic cleansing or genocide,
killing over 250,000 and driving around 2
million from their homes.
3. In 1995, NATO forces were sent in reestablish
order and several Serbian leaders were later
found guilty of war crimes.
1. The Ukraine is an
important agricultural
region of Eastern Europe.
2. In 1986, an explosion
occurred at a nuclear
reactor plant in
Chernobyl.
3. It was one of the worst
nuclear accidents in
history and affected not
only the Ukraine but also
Belarus and Russia.
Chernobyl
Russia
1. Russia is the world’s largest country.
2. The plains and plateaus of Russia are drained by
some of the world’s largest rivers, including the
Volga River, the longest in Europe.
3. The Volga drains into the Caspian Sea, the
world’s largest lake.
4. Also located in Russia, Lake Baikal is the world’s
deepest lake (over 5,000 feet deep) and the
world’s largest freshwater lake.
5. Today, Russia is facing severe economic and
environmental problems as well as problems
with organized crime.
Volga River
Caspian Sea
Lake Baikal