Pre AP Social Studies

Pre AP Social Studies

Physical Geography of Europe

Europe forms a large peninsula at the western end of a huge landmass called Eurasia. Europe is called "peninsula of peninsulas" with 5 major peninsulas: Scandinavian-Norway and Sweden, Jutland-Denmark, Iberian-Spain and Portugal, Apennine or Italian-Italy, Balkan (means mountain in Turkish)-Greece. Europealso has many important islands. These factors combined result in Europe having more coastline than any other continent even though it is the 2nd smallest continent.

Landforms of Europe

• Northwest Highlands: is an ancient eroded region of rugged hills and low mountains. Glacial activity left poor rocky soil and thousands of lakes. Is found in northern Europe and the Iberian Peninsula

• Northern European Plain: is the largest landform region in Europe and extends from the Atlantic coast of France into Russia. It has low elevation and in the Benelux countries it is below sea level. This region is a major agricultural, industrial and population region of Europeand is therefore considered the heart of Europe. There are no natural barriers on the European Plain, which left Europeopen to many migrations of peoples and armies across the plain resulting in great cultural diversity in Europe.

• Central Uplands: an ancient, hilly area of Europe that forms the transition from the European Plain to the higher southern mountains.

• Southern Mountains: younger and higher than the northern mountains the Southern Mountains include the Alpine system (Swiss, French, Italian and Austrian Alps) that reaches up to 15,000 feet high. The summit (highest point) in Europe is Mont Blanc in the France Alps. Other southern mountains include the Apennine which run the length of the Italian peninsula, the Pyrenees which form a natural boundary between Spain and France, the Dinaric and Balkan in Greece and the Carpathian in Eastern Europe. The southern mountains are still building therefore there is tectonic activity (example: Mt.Vesuvius) in southern Europe. Lowlands within mountain ranges were usually created by rivers (example: Po River Valley in northern Italy), and are important to the region because that is where you find the greatest population concentrations and industrial centers.

Climate Regions of Europe: Europe lies at the same latitude as the northeastern United States and Canada in the high latitudes, but Europe is milder than Canada. The reason is because of the North Atlantic Drift, a warm water ocean current that flows from the Gulf of Mexico north, across the Atlantic Ocean bringing warmer climates to the region.

• Marine west coast: is the dominant climate of Western Europe. This climate has mild temperatures and is rainy all year. It is found north of the Alps and south of the Scandinavian Peninsula. Deciduous trees once dominated the region but they have either been cleared for farming or destroyed by acid rain. It is an area with very fertile soil.

• Humid continental: is a transitional climate between the marine west coast and the colder climates found in northern Europe. It as primarily found in northern and Eastern Europe away from the influence of the North Atlantis Drift. This climate has warm summers, cold and snowy winters (like the northeastern US).

• Mediterranean: This climate region is found in the south along the Mediterranean Sea. It is characterized by hot and dry summers, rainy and mild winters.

• Highland: is found in the Alps where temperature and rainfall vary with elevation.

• Humid subtropical: climates are mainly in the Po Valley of northern Italy and extended into the Balkan region between the Adriatic and BlackSeas. They are characterized by hot summers and warm winters with rain year round (like the southeastern US).

• Subarctic and Tundra: climatic regions are the farthest northern regions of Norway, Sweden, Finlandand Russia.

Natural and Human Resources of Europe:

• Natural Resources: Water is a vital natural resource in Europe for transportation. No part of Western Europe is more than 300 miles from the sea and there are 100's of ice-free natural harbors as well as many navigable rivers (a river that is deep and wide enough for ships) like the Po, Thames, Seine, Rhone, Loire and Danube. In fact the Rhine River System carries more volume of freight than any other in the world and Rotterdam at the mouth of the Rhine is the world's busiest port. To take full advantage of these navigable rivers the Europeans have built canals linking rivers. As a result one can travel through Europe by boat from the Atlantic Ocean to the Black Sea. Pollution is a major problem in Europe's rivers and seas--cleaning up and controlling pollution in Europe's waters is a serious environmental challenge today.

• Energy Resources: Fossil Fuels such as oil and natural gas are found in the North Sea and the Netherlands; however Europe does not produce enough oil to satisfy demands therefore they must import oil from other countries. Europeans have also turned to alternate sources of energy like nuclear, hydroelectric, solar, tidal and geothermal.

• Coal: Another important energy resource for Europe. It is found in large quantities in the United Kingdom and Germany and is a very important resource because it was a source of energy to fuel the Industrial Revolution (the Industrial Revolution began in England then spread to Germany). It is also found in the Benelux countries, the CzechRepublic and Russia.

• Iron: A mineral essential for industry and the industrial revolution iron is found throughout Europe especially in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Sweden, the CzechRepublic, the Benelux countries and Russia.

• The European scenery is another important resource since tourism is a major part of Europe's economy.

• Human Resources: people are the most important resource in Europe. All the countries of Western Europe are developed countries: they have high literacy rates, high standards of living and low growth rates (some countries have a zero growth rate like Italy). Manufacturing and trade is important and most people live in urban areas. Farming methods are modern and commercial. Western Europe is densely populated.