Europe: Physical Geography
Notes
Europe
• 2nd smallest continent• Shares land mass with Asia• Known as a “Peninsula of peninsulas” =
encouraged sea travel and trade
The Shape of Europe
• Collection of peninsulas: – Scandinavian– Jutland– Iberian– Apennine – Balkan– Crimean– Anatolian– Peloponnesian
The Shape of Europe
•Long jagged coastline •Surrounded by:Atlantic OceanMediterranean SeaNorth SeaBaltic Sea
The Shape of Europe
• Scandinavian peninsula has narrow inlets called fjords
Northern Peninsulas
Jutland Peninsula
Scandinavian Peninsula
Southern Peninsulas
Iberian Peninsula
Apennine Peninsula
Balkan Peninsula
AnatoleanPeninsula
CrimeanPeninsula
Peloponnesian Peninsula
Mountains & Plains: “Giant Sandwich”
• Northern Mts – older (top piece of bread)_• Southern Mts – Younger & Steeper (bottom piece)
1. Alps – Spain to Greece-N2. Pindus, Pyrenees, & Apennines – all shaped
by glaciers-S• North European Plain: Major agriculture area
(France to Poland) – (middle of sandwich)
The Land of Europe• North European Plain
The Land of Europe
• Dense Forests
• Black Forest in Germany
Moutains
&
Peaks
Alps Mts.Pyrennes Mts.Apennines Mts.
Dinaric Alps
Carpathian Mts.Caucasus Mts.
Ural Mts.
Mt. Etna ^
Mt. Vesuvius ^Mt. Olympus ^
The Alps
Cover most of Switzerland, Austria, and parts of Italy and France.
Mt. Blanc in the Alps
Highest mountain in the Alps: 15,771 feet
The Caucasus Mountains
The origin of the word Caucasian.
Transylvania in the Carpathian Mountains
Home of Vlad Tepeš, the Drakul (“Count Dracula”)
Ural Mountains: “The Great Divide”
Divides the European and Asian sections of Russia.
1500
mile
s
The Ural Mountains
Pyrenees Mountains- Spain and France
Glaciers
Seas & Oceans
• Following Seas & Oceans touch Europe:– Baltic, North, Mediterranean, & Black– Atlantic & Artic
• Most Europeans live within 300 miles of major waterways.
Bodies
of
Water
Mediterranean Sea
North Sea
AtlanticOcean Baltic
Sea
BlackSea
AegeanSea
Adriatic Sea
Strait ofGibraltar
ArcticOcean
English Channel
CaspianSea
Islands & Rivers
• Iceland – volcanic activity• British Isles- Great Britain (England & Scotland) &
Ireland• Several in Mediterranean Sea: • Rivers- good for trade, transportation (linked by
canals), irrigation, and electricity production. – Rhine, Danube, Po, Siene, Thames, Rhone, Elle, Loire,
Tiber, & Vulga
Rhine River
Rhine River Map
The Danube River
1770 miles
The Danube River
Flows through the 12 countries of Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania, and the Ukraine.
Where Buda & Pest MeetBiking Along
the Danube
The Volga River
The longest river in Europe --> 2,300 miles.
The Volga River
e The river is so polluted that the sturgeon catch has been decreased by 60%.
Resources
• Energy– Nuclear Power, Hydroelectric, Gas & Coal
• Rich farmlands in North European Plain• Waterways• Minerals– Coal & Iron– goods needed for the growth of the
modern industrial age. (1800’s Industrial Revolution)