1 / 50

Europe

Europe. European Geographical Facts. Europe is the world’s 6 th largest continent, making up 6.5% of the earth’s total land area. Europe is the 3 rd most populous continent, with a population of around 739 million. Europe is the northwestern peninsula of the “supercontinent” Eurasia .

dani
Download Presentation

Europe

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Europe

  2. European Geographical Facts • Europe is the world’s 6th largest continent, making up 6.5% of the earth’s total land area. • Europe is the 3rd most populous continent, with a population of around 739 million. • Europe is the northwestern peninsula of the “supercontinent” Eurasia. • Europe and Asia are divided by the Ural Mountains, which are located in Russia.

  3. Europe’s Physical Geography • Europe is a continent of peninsulas – bodies of land surrounded on three sides by water. • Physically, Europe can be divided into four major regions: • Atlantic Highlands/Scandinavian Shield • North European Plain • Central Uplands • Alpine System

  4. Europe’s Physical Regions

  5. Atlantic Highlands/Scandinavian Shield • This region curves along the western edge of Europe and is an area of hard, ancient rock shaped by glaciers. • The region is covered by many marshlands, lakes and fjords, which are long, narrow inlets of the sea surrounded by high, rugged cliffs.

  6. Fjords

  7. Northern European Plain • Also known as the Great European Plain, this is the most densely populated area of Europe. • This is Europe’s most productive agriculture region. • As this region extends into Russia, it become know as the steppes. • This region has a mild climate due to: • North Atlantic Drift • prevailing westerly winds

  8. North European Plain

  9. North Atlantic Drift • The North Atlantic Drift is a warm water current that is an extension of the Gulf Stream. • 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.

  10. Prevailing Westerlies • The prevailing westerlies are a constant flow of air from the west to the east in the temperate zones of the earth. • In Europe, these winds blow across the Northern European Plain, keeping the climate milder than what its latitude would indicate.

  11. Central Uplands • The Central Uplands extend across a small part of Central Europe. • This region is also heavily forested and sparsely populated except for certain river valleys.

  12. Central Uplands

  13. Alpine System • The Alpine System consists of the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Apennines, the Dinaric Alps, the Balkan Mountains and the Carpathian Mountains. • Mont Blanc, of the Alps, is Western Europe’s highest point at 15,782 feet above sea level. • Europe’s highest point is Mt. Elbrus (18,510 feet above sea level), located in the Caucasus of Russia. • This region also has several active volcanoes, including Mt. Etna and Mt. Vesuvius of Italy.

  14. Alpine System

  15. Mont Blanc

  16. Mt. Elbrus

  17. Mt. Etna and Mt. Vesuvius

  18. Communism and the Cold War • Communism is a system of government in which the government controls the means of production. • After World War II, much of Eastern Europe was dominated by the Soviet Union, which was a communist Russia. • Known as the Communist Bloc, this region suffered under the harsh control of Joseph Stalin. • Economically, Eastern Europe fell way behind Western Europe and continues to try to make up ground today.

  19. The Communist Bloc

  20. The Iron Curtain

  21. Western Europe’s Human Geography • In regard to human geography, Western Europe is divided into three regions: • The British Isles and the Nordic Nations • Central Western Europe • Mediterranean Europe

  22. The British Isles and the Nordic Nations

  23. The British Isles • Great Britain is the largest of the British Isles • The second largest, Ireland, is known as the Emerald Isle. • 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).

  24. Ireland

  25. The Nordic Countries • The Nordic Countries are Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. • The northern regions has very long winters due to its northern latitude. • Iceland produces geothermal energy, which is produced from the heat of the earth’s interior.

  26. The Sami • The Sami are the indigenous people of the Nordic Countries. • They have traditionally lived in the northern area known as Lapland. • They are most well known for reindeer herding.

  27. Central Western Europe • This region can actually be divided into three regions of its own: • France and Germany • The Benelux Countries (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) • the Alpine Countries (Switzerland and Austria)

  28. The Benelux Countries • These countries are also known as the Low Countries because most of it is low and flat. • This region is the most densely populated region of Europe. • 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. • The polder is the land reclaimed from the sea is used largely for agricultural purposes.

  29. The Netherlands

  30. The Basques • In northern Spain, in one of the most productive areas of the country, are the Basques. • The Basques are an example of cultural divergence – having the desire to protect your culture from outside influences. • The Basques desire for independence within Spain has at times led to violence between them and the Spanish government.

  31. The Vatican City • Inside of Rome, Italy, is the Vatican City. • The headquarters of the Catholic Church, the Holy See is actually a sovereign state. • It covers less than a square mile, has a population of less than 1000 and is the smallest sovereign state in the world

  32. The Vatican City

  33. The European Union • The European Union is an economic and political organization that was formed to stimulate trade and build up the economies of its member countries. • Formed in the 1950’s, it adopted a common currency in 1999 – the euro.

  34. The European Union

  35. Eastern Europe • Eastern Europe is divided into four regions. • Poland • The Czech and Slovak Republics and Hungary • The Balkan Peninsula • The Baltic States and Border States

  36. Eastern Europe and Russia

  37. Physical Geography of Eastern Europe and Russia

  38. Poland

  39. The Holocaust • The Holocaust was the execution of six million Jews in Nazi concentration camps during World War II. • More than three million Jews lived in Poland before World War II. • The Nazi’s forced them into areas known as ghettos– an area of a city where a minority is forced to live. • The Nazi’s later removed the Jews from the ghettos and took them to concentration camps, where they were forced into labor or killed. • Today, less than 10,000 Jews live in Poland.

  40. The Warsaw Ghetto

  41. The Czech and Slovak Republics and Hungary

  42. Czechoslovakia • Czechoslovakia was created from the Austro-Hungarian Empire after World War I. • During the late 1980’s, a velvet revolution occurred – a revolution without bloodshed – and Czechoslovakia gained its independence from the Soviet Union. • During the early 1990’s, growing disputes between the Czechs and Slovaks (Slavic tribes) led to a peaceful separation in 1993.

  43. The Balkan Peninsula

  44. Yugoslavia • Yugoslavia was created after World War I. • It was made up of six Slavic republics that were united under one communist government after World War II. • After the fall of communism, tensions between the different ethnic groups led to the collapse of the country.

  45. Bosnia-Herzegovina • In Bosnia, Bosniacs, Croats and Serbs battled for power for four years. • The Serbs used ethnic cleansing or genocide, killing over 250,000 and driving around 2 million from their homes. • In 1995, NATO forces were sent in reestablish order and several Serbian leaders were later found guilty of war crimes.

  46. Chernobyl • The Ukraine is an important agricultural region of Eastern Europe. • In 1986, an explosion occurred at a nuclear reactor plant in Chernobyl. • It was one of the worst nuclear accidents in history and affected not only the Ukraine but also Belarus and Russia.

  47. Russia • Russia is the world’s largest country. • The plains and plateaus of Russia are drained by some of the world’s largest rivers, including the Volga River, the longest in Europe. • The Volga drains into the Caspian Sea, the world’s largest lake. • Also located in Russia, Lake Baikal is the world’s deepest lake (over 5,000 feet deep) and the world’s largest freshwater lake. • Today, Russia is facing severe economic and environmental problems as well as problems with organized crime.

  48. Volga River

  49. Caspian Sea

  50. Lake Baikal

More Related