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)