Physical Geography: Europe

Peninsulas & Islands

  • Europe is a large peninsula of Asia
  • Has its own peninsulas known as “the peninsula of peninsulas”
  • Northern Peninsula
  • The Scandinavian Peninsula includes Norway & Sweden
  • Ice age glaciers leave thin rocky soil
  • Glaciers create fjords in Norway
  • Jutland Peninsula forms a large part of Denmark and small part of Germany
  • Southern Peninsula
  • Iberian Peninsula: Spain & Portugal
  • Italian Peninsula includes Italy
  • Balkan Peninsula is surrounded by Adriatic, Mediterranean and Aegean Seas
  • Islands
  • Great Britain, Ireland, Iceland and Greenland

Mountains & Uplands

  • Mountain Chains
  • Alps is Europe’s most famous chain
  • Crosses France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria & the Balkans
  • Cuts Italy off from the rest of Europe
  • Pyrenees block movement from Spain/Portugal and France
  • Apennine Mts. Divide Italy between East & West
  • Balkan Mountains block of Peninsula and separate Ethnic groups
  • Uplands
  • Uplands: Hills or low mountains, may have mesas, high plateaus
  • Include: Scandinavian KjolenMtns, Scottish Highlands, Brittany in France and Mesta plateau in Spain
  • Massif central uplands in France border mountainous areas

River’s Europe’s Links

  • Rhine River & Danube Rivers have historically acted like highways
  • Rivers connects good, people and ideas and aid in economic growth

Fertile Plains:

  • Northern European Plain is one of the most fertile agricultural regions in the world
  • Includes France, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Germany & Poland
  • Provides tons of food, but flat lands also provide invaders an east route to Europe

Resources

  • Coal & Iron need to create steel for industrialization: Belgium, Netherlands, France, Germany, Poland
  • Ruhr Valley is a major industrial zone
  • Oil/Natural Gas: found in North Sea in 1959. Petroleumis supplied by Norway, Netherlands and Britain
  • Farming: 33% of Europe is suitable for agriculture (world average is only 11%)
  • Distribution of resources creates regional differences
  • Peat: a partially decayed plant matter from bogs that Irish burn for fuel

Climate

  • North Atlantic Drift: warm-water tropical current flows by west coast carries warm current
  • Sirocco: Hot North African winds carries seas moisture or dessert dust
  • Land of the Midnight Sun: north of the arctic circle some winter days have no sun and some summer days have no night

Creating Holland

  • 40% of the Netherlands was once under water
  • They used dikes (earthen banks that hold back the sea) to create polders: land reclaimed by diking and draining
  • Seaworks: structures like dikes that control the sea’s destructive force
  • Terpen: High earthen platforms that provide safe ground during floods

Venice:

  • Venice is made of 120 islands and runs through 150 canals
  • Current issues are the city is sinking and major water pollution

Deforestation

  • Demand for wood and acid rain has led to deforestation