EUROPE Geography and Regions

-Margaret Thatcher, first and only female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom ( ) “Europe, in anything other than the geographical sense, is a wholly artificial construct. It makes no sense to lump together Beethoven and Debussy, Voltaire and Burke, Vermeer and Picasso, Notre Dame and St. Paul’s, boiled beef and bouillabaisse, and portray them as elements of a ‘European’ musical, philosophical, artistic, architectural, or gastronomic reality. If Europe charms us, as it has so often charmed me, it is precisely because of its contrasts and contradictions, not its coherence and continuity.”

FACTS ABOUT EUROPE Second smallest continent in the world Extends from the island nation of Iceland to the Ural Mountains of Russia Northernmost point: Svalbard archipelago of Norway Sourthernmost points: Islands of Greece and Malta Described as a “peninsula of peninsulas”

BODIES OF WATER Bordered by the Arctic Ocean Atlantic Ocean North Sea Baltic Sea Mediterranean Sea Black Sea Caspian Sea

LANDMASSES AND PHYSICAL REGIONS Southern peninsulas are Iberian (Spain), Italian, and Balkan (Greece) Northern peninsulas are Scandinavian and Jutland Four major physical regions: Western Uplands North European Plain Central Uplands Alpine Mountains

WESTERN UPLANDS Includes areas in: Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Denmark), Finland, Iceland, Scotland, Ireland, Bretagne in France, Spain, and Portugal Uplands: hard, ancient rock shaped by glaciation As glaciers receded, they left distinct physical features (marshlands, lakes, fjords) Fjord: long, narrow inlet of the sea that is surrounded by high, rugged cliffs

NORTH EUROPEAN PLAIN Extends from southern United Kingdom east to Russia Includes parts of France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Poland, the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania), and Belarus Home to many navigable rivers: Rhine, Weser, Elbe, Oder, and Vistula Climate supports variety of seasonal crops Physical features allowed for early communication, travel, and agricultural development Most densely populated region of Europe

CENTRAL UPLANDS Extend east-west across central Europe and includes: western France and Belgium, southern Germany, the Czech Republic, and parts of northern Switzerland and Austria Lower in altitude than the Alpine region, and heavily wooded Important highlands: Massif Central and the Vosges in France, Ardennes in Belgium, the Black Forest and Taunus in Germany, and the Ore and Sudeten in the Czech Republic Sparsely populated except for the river valleys: Rhine, Rhne, Elbe, and Danube

ALPINE MOUNTAINS Includes mountain ranges in the Italian and Balkan peninsulas, northern Spain, and southern France Area is defined by: high elevations, rugged plateaus, and steeply sloping land Alps, Pyrenees, Apennines, Dinaric Alps, Balkans, and Carpathian mountain ranges Highest peak in Europe: Mount Elbrus (18,510 ft) in Caucasus mts of Russia Includes active volcanoes: Mount Etna and Mount Vesuvius in Italy