1. I. Northern Europe A. The United Kingdom
1. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
a) United Kingdom = British Isles = Britain
2. Four separate regions
a) England, Scotland, and Wales are on the island of Great Britain.
b) Northern Ireland is on the island of Ireland (The southern part of Ireland is a separate country known as the Republic of Ireland.).
c) All citizens of the U.K. are known as British.

2. I. Northern Europe B. The Land
d) Some people differentiate among them by referring to the English, the Scots, the Welsh, or the Irish.
B. The Land
1. Great Britain is separated from the rest of Europe by the English Channel.
a) Historically, connected and protected the British.
2. Rolling fertile plains cover the southern and eastern areas of England.
a) Productive farms.
b) Rough highlands and mountains are found in Scotland and in Wales.
3. In southeastern England, the Thames River helped make London a center for world trade.

3. I. Northern Europe C. The Economy D. Government
1. More than 250 years ago, British inventors and scientists sparked the Industrial Revolution.
a) Major industrialized country.
b) Manufactured goods and computer technology.
c) Service Industry like banking and health care.
2. Coal once powered the British economy, but oil and natural gas are now the leading energy sources.
a) Beneath the North Sea.
b) The U.K. exports these energy sources to other countries.
D. Government

4. I. Northern Europe
1. The government of the United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy.
a) King and queen are the heads of state, but elected officials actively run the government.
2. The British trace the roots of this form of government back to the 1200s.
a) In 1215, King John of England signed the Magna Carta, a document that took away some of the king’s powers.
b) The king could no longer collect taxes without the approval of the people.
c) People accused of crimes had a right to a trial of their peers.
3. A law making body called Parliament arose.
a) In 1628, Parliament decided that King Charles I had misused his power.
b) Parliament forced him to sign the “Petition of Right”.

5. I. Northern Europe
c) The Petition of Right said that taxes needed to be approved by Parliament and the king could not raise an army without the approval of Parliament.
d) The king could not imprison people unless they were convicted of a crime.
e) The English Bill of Rights was passed in 1689.
f) The English Bill of Rights basically told the monarchy that they couldn’t do anything without the consent of parliament.
4. Today, the U.K. is a parliamentary democracy as well as a constitutional monarchy.
a) Voters elect members of Parliament, and the leader of the party with the most elected officials becomes Prime Minister.

6. I. Northern Europe E. The People
b) The Prime Minister has to answer to Parliament regularly.
5. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have regional legislatures that have control over local matters.
E. The People
1. The United Kingdom is the 3rd most populous country in Europe.
a) 9 out of every 10 live in the cities.
b) London is the capital and largest city.
c) British people speak English, but Welsh and Scottish Gaelic are spoken by some.
2. Most people in the U.K. are Protestant Christians.
3. In the 1700s and 1800s, when the United Kingdom had a powerful empire, British culture spread to many lands.

7. I. Northern Europe F. The Republic of Ireland
a) The English language has spread to many places in the world (ex: U.S., Canada, South Africa, the Caribbean, Australia, India, New Zealand, etc.)
b) Britain’s rich literature is enjoyed worldwide as well.
F. The Republic of Ireland
1. When people mention Ireland they usually mean the Republic of Ireland.
a) Southern 5/6 of the island of Ireland.
b) The Republic of Ireland won its independence from the U.K. in 1922.
c) The country is Catholic, while Northern Ireland which is controlled by the U.K. is Protestant.

8. I. Northern Europe G. The Land H. The Economy
1. Ireland has the shape of a shallow bowl.
a) The interior is a lowland plain while the coastal areas are rocky highlands with steep cliffs.
2. Ireland’s regular rainfall produces lush, green fields.
a) “The Emerald Isle”
b) Low-lying areas are rich in peat or plants that have partly decayed in water.
c) Peat is dug from bogs, or low swampy lands.
H. The Economy

9. I. Northern Europe
1. Irish farmers raise sheep and cattle and grow vegetables such as sugar beets and potatoes.
a) Potatoes was Ireland’s chief crop in the 1800s.
b) Ireland was struck with a Potato blight and 1 million people starved and another million emigrated to the United States.
2. Today, manufacturing employs more Irish than farming does.
a) Clothing, pharmaceuticals, computer equipment, etc.
b) The productivity, or the amount of work a person does in a certain amount of time, of Ireland’s workers has helped the country.

10. I. Northern Europe I. The People J. Conflict Over Northern Ireland
1. The Irish trace their ancestry to the Celts, who settled the island hundreds of years ago.
a) Irish Gaelic and English are the 2 languages.
b) 60% live in cities or towns with Dublin, the capital, being the largest city.
2. Irish music and folk dancing are performed around the world.
J. Conflict Over Northern Ireland
1. The Irish are strong Catholics, and many Catholics in Northern Ireland would like to unite with them.

11. I. Northern Europe K. Scandinavia L. The Land
a) This has led to violence especially from 1960 to the 90s.
K. Scandinavia
1. Scandinavia is made up of 5 nations: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland.
a) All share similar cultural background except for Finland.
b) High standard of living.
L. The Land
1. Warm winds from the North Atlantic currents give southern and western Scandinavia a mild climate.
a) Central Scandinavia have long cold winters.

12. I. Northern Europe
b) In the far north, within the Arctic Circle, in the summer the sun never sets and in the winter the sun never rises.
2. Scandinavia’s physical landscape is quite varied due to its large size.
a) Many islands.
b) Lowland plains in Denmark and southern Sweden and Finland.
c) Mountains form on the border of Norway and Sweden.
d) Several lakes
e) Above the Arctic Circle there is tundra.
3. Iceland and Norway have special features.

13. I. Northern Europe M. The Economies
a) Iceland sits on a place in the North Atlantic where two tectonic plates are moving away from each other.
b) Hot magma rises to the surface creating hot springs and geysers.
4. Norway is known for its fjords, which are narrow inlets of the sea with steep cliffs.
a) Fjords provide inland waterways that supply fish for food and export.
M. The Economies
1. The countries of Scandinavia are wealthy and prosperous.
a) Mix of agriculture, manufacturing, and service industries.

14. I. Northern Europe
2. For energy, Norway relies on its own oil and natural gas, taken from the North Sea.
a) Iceland taps geothermal energy from the molten rock beneath its surface.
b) Finland uses hydroelectric power while, Sweden uses nuclear and oil.
3. Some Scandinavian countries have abundant mineral and forest resources that support various industries.
4. Denmark plays an important part in world trade.

15. I. Northern Europe N. People and Culture
a) Copenhagen, Denmark’s capital, sits at the entrance of the Baltic Sea where ships unload and load cargo.
N. People and Culture
1. Most of the Scandinavian countries are less densely settled than other European countries.
a) Denmark’s geography and climate is the only Scandinavian country that has high population density.
2. Iceland, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden’s people all descended from Germanic tribes and speak similar languages.
a) Finland’s people descended from Siberian tribes.
b) Most people in Scandinavia belong to the Lutheran Church.

16. I. Northern Europe
3. During the Middle Ages, Scandinavian sailors and traders known as Vikings raided areas of western Europe and explored the North Atlantic Ocean.
a) Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Iceland.
b) For many hundreds of years, Sweden controlled Finland and then for a time Russia controlled Finland before gaining its independence.
4. Today, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden are constitutional monarchies.
a) Finland and Iceland are republics.
b) Iceland’s legislature, the Althing, first convened in A.D. 930, making it one of the oldest legislatures in the world.

17. I. Northern Europe
5. The Scandinavian countries take pride in providing extensive services to their citizens.
a) health care
b) child care
c) elder care
d) retirement benefits
e) Due to these services, the Scandinavian people pay the highest taxes in the world.