Natural Environments of Europe

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Natural Environments of Europe
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Physical Features

• Borders Atlantic Ocean to the Ural Mountains,
  from the Arctic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea
• Four major landforms Northwest Highlands,
  Northern European Plain, Central Uplands, Alpine
  Mountain System (Alps)

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• Northwest Highlands rugged hills, low
  mountains. Includes Ireland, England, Scotland,
  Scandinavia (Norway, Finland, Sweden)
• Northern European Plain many rivers, Paris,
  Berlin developed here
• Central Uplands hills and small plateaus, many
  coal fields
• Alps- young mountain range in southern Europe.
  Steep, rocky mountains

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Swiss Alps
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Water

• Europe is nearly surrounded by water.
• Peninsula of peninsulas
• Many rivers allow for easy trade
• Rhine and Danube are most important rivers

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Rhine River
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Polders

• Dutch (people in the Netherlands) have increased
  their land by building dikes (walls) in the
  ocean, and pumping water out. The land is called
  a polder.

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Climates

• Europe has 3 major climates
• Marine west coast (British Isles, Spain to
  Poland) northern and western Europe. Mostly
  cloudy, drizzly, and foggy.
• Humid continental (Scandinavia) 4 seasons, cold
  snowy winter, mild to cool summer.
• Mediterranean (Southern Europe) little rainfall,
  long, dry, sunny summers

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Mediterranean
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North Atlantic Current

• The North Atlantic Current is a warm-water
  current that brings mild temperatures to most of
  Europe.

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Natural Resources

• Most of Europes land is used for farming.
• Loess fine-grained, wind-blown soil that is
  very fertile
• Europe produces many crops such as grapes,
  olives, potatoes, and wheat
• Efficient methods and modern technology lead to
  high output

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• Fishing is a large part of the European economy
• Coastal waters are excellent fishing grounds.
• Overfishing and pollution do threaten the future
  of the fishing industry in the Mediterranean and
  North Atlantic

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English Fishing Village
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Energy and Minerals

• Europe has large deposits of coal, but must
  import other energy sources (oil natural gas)
• Germanys Ruhr coal field is one of the worlds
  largest.
• Hydroelectricity is produced in the mountains of
  Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland.

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Northern and Western Europe
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The British Isles

• 2 Countries Republic of Ireland, United Kingdom
  of Great Britain
• The UK includes 4 political regions England,
  Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland
• England has been ruled by many peoples.
  Scottish, Welsh, Irish, Anglos, Saxons, Vikings,
  Normans (French) Each left their mark.
• This is called sequent occupance

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British Isles
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The British Empire

• In the 1600s and 1700s, British explorers
  founded colonies around the world. By the
  1800s, more than 1/4th of the world was ruled by
  the British Empire
• Most of these places (Ireland, United States)
  have won their independence.

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Ireland

• Ireland won independence in 1921
• Potato Famine 1845-1852 - crop failure about
  1 million Irish died, and many were forced to
  migrate

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Famine Memorial
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Culture

• Ireland and Great Britain share many cultural
  features.
• Soccer, rugby, and cricket are popular
• English is the main language
• Life is centered around local eateries

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(No Transcript)
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Government

• Ireland and Britain are democracies, but
  organized differently.
• Ireland is a republic (President is the head of
  the government)
• Britain is a constitutional monarchy king or
  queen is the head of the government, but
  parliament is led by a prime minister and serves
  as the lawmaking branch

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Religion

• Ireland Roman Catholic
• United Kingdom Protestant
• Northern Ireland (part of the UK) is Protestant
• Long fighting between Republic of Ireland and
  Northern Ireland (The Troubles)

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The Troubles
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• Dublin Capital and biggest city in Ireland
• London Largest city in the British Isles, world
  financial and cultural center. Capital of the
  UK.