Transcript Chapter 1 - Europe

GEOG 101 – World Regional Geography
Professor: Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue
Chapter 1 – Europe
A – European Revolutions
B – Contemporary Europe
C – European Integration
D – Regions of Europe
Europe
■ Why begin with Europe?
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Western extremity of Eurasia
3% of the world’s land surface.
Maximum efficiency for contact with the rest of the world.
Every part of Europe is close to the sea; moderate distances.
■ Significant global influence
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Economic transformations (industrial revolution).
Social transformations (working class).
Political transformations (modern nation-state).
Technological transformations (modern warfare).
■ High standards of living
• The outcome of more than 200 years of modernization.
• Social sophistication linked with a long cultural history.
The Centrality of Europe
Europe
■ Continental and maritime limits
• Continental limits:
• The Urals and the Caucasus.
• Maritime limits:
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The Black Sea and Bosporus.
The Mediterranean and Mediterranean islands (Malta, Cyprus?).
The Strait of Gibraltar.
Iceland, Greenland (belongs to Denmark), and the Faeroes.
■ Numerous nation-states
• East / West division:
• Communist countries of the East and capitalist/socialist countries of the
West.
• Country size:
• Small city-states such as Liechtenstein, Monaco, the Vatican and Andorra,
to the continent-sized country of Russia.
Physical Landscape of Europe
North Sea
North European Lowlands
Alps
Atlantic Ocean
Balkans
Mediterranean Ocean
A European Revolutions
■ Agrarian revolution
• Began in Europe in the 1750s.
• Based on new agricultural innovations:
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Mechanization and fertilizers.
Scientific and commercial agriculture.
Crop rotation and complementarity.
Declining food prices.
• New crops (e.g. Potato, Tomato).
• Enabled increased food production.
• Enabled sustained population increase.
European Revolutions
■ Industrial revolution
• Developed in the UK between 1750-1850.
• Technical innovations that occurred in British industry:
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Use of new materials (steel, iron, chemicals).
Usage of thermal energy to produce mechanical energy.
Substitution of machines to human and animal labor.
Production (factory).
Transportation (rail).
• Health (medicine).
• Proved to be a major catalyst towards increased urbanization.
• Freeing ever-larger numbers of people from the land to work in
the cities.
• Improved considerably European power.
Share of the Population in Agriculture, 1820-1910
90
80
70
60
1820
1850
1870
1910
50
40
30
20
10
0
Great Britain
France
Germany
United States
European Revolutions
■ Political revolutions
• Creation of the modern Nation – state:
• The concept of nationalism (19th century).
• Common identity for groups of humans; the state.
• Democracy / Parliamentary systems:
• Rebellion against absolute political power (monarchy).
• Separation between the State and the Church.
• Communism:
• Assets belong to the collective (state).
• State decides the allocation of resources (labor, housing, raw materials,
etc.).
European Revolutions
■ Colonialism
• Territorial development strategy where a territory is occupied by
a foreign government.
• Using military power to acquire foreign territories and resources.
• Organization according to objectives related to resource
acquisition and market expansion.
• Political / religious / racist drive.
• Between 1400 and 1945, colonial movements were undertook by
Europe all over the world.
• 1400-1800:
• Spain, Portugal, Holland, France and England were the main colonial
powers.
• After 1800:
• England had a dominance over others.
European Control of the World, 1500-1950
Europe
Territory the has been controlled by an European
nation at some point from 1500 to 1950
Urbanization
■ City
• A political designation.
• Refers to a municipal entity that is governed by some kind of
administrative organization.
• The largest cities (especially capitals) are:
• The foci of the state.
• Complete microcosms of their national cultures.
■ Primate city
• A country’s largest city.
• Always disproportionately larger than the second largest urban
center -- more than twice the size.
• Expressive of the national culture (major cultural institutions).
• Usually (but not always) the capital.
• Examples: Paris, London, Athens.
European vs. American Cities
■ Urbanized population
• Both the US and Europe have a high level of urbanization.
■ Similarities
• Central core.
• Suburban ring.
■ Differences
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High suburban density.
Apartments.
Public transportation.
Land scarcity.
Centralized Urban planning.
European Population
■ Major demographic challenges
• Falling share of the world’s population:
• From 8% in 1980 to 6% in 2003.
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Low Fertility, below replacement rate in many cases.
Fewer young people.
Smaller working age population.
Aging of the population.
Many country will experience a population decline.
Immigration partially offsetting losses.
Europe’s Share of the World’s Population
7,000
6,000
5,000
4,000
World
European Union (15)
3,000
2,000
1,000
0
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2003
Population Change between 2000 and 2050 (%)
Italy
Spain
Russia
Germany
Netherlands
Poland
Britain
Sweden
France
United States
Ireland
-30
-20
-10
0
10
20
30
Population Migrations in Europe
High Income Country
Massive Population
Migration
Former Soviet Bloc Countries:
2.4 M
UK
1.9 M
Germany
6.7 M
France
3.6 M Switz.
1.2 M
Italy
1M
North Africa:
2M
Former Yugoslavia
600,000
Turkey: 2 M Guest workers,
Most in Germany
B Contemporary Europe
■ Context
• Important linguistic diversity in Europe.
• Several different cultures.
• Related to several conflicts in the past (recently: former
Yugoslavia).
■ Major language groups
• 85% of Indo-European speech.
• Roman languages:
• Direct descendents of Latin.
• Predominate in Southern Europe (Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian,
Romanian, Romansch).
• Germanic languages:
• Predominate in northwestern Europe (German, English, Flemish (Dutch),
Swedish, Danish, etc.).
Linguistic and Religious Diversity
• Slavic languages:
• Predominate in Eastern Europe (Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, Czech,
Slovak, Serbian, Lithuanian, etc.).
• Greek.
• Ural-Altaic languages:
• Finnish, Hungarian, Estonian.
• All of the above, except the last, are part of the major IndoEuropean language family that extends all the way into northern
India.
Main Languages Spoken (in millions)
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70
German
80
90
89
French
63
English
60
Italian
56
Spanish
39
Flemish
21
Greek
10
Portuguese
10
Swedish
9
Danish
5
Finnish
5
Linguistic and Religious Diversity
■ Religious diversity
• 80% of Christian faith.
• Two major schisms:
• First schism (1054) between Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox.
• Second schism (16th century); the Protestant Reformation.
• Low practice levels.
■ Roman Catholicism
• Dominates Italy, the Iberian Peninsula, France, Austria, Poland,
Lithuania, southern Germany, Ireland, Belgium, and Hungary.
• In general, the intensity level declines as one moves northward.
• Catholicism is a driving force in several Third World countries
(Latin America).
Linguistic and Religious Diversity
■ Eastern Orthodox
• Origins in the early rift between Eastern and Western
Catholicism and usually divided along national lines.
• Dominant in Greece, Russia, Byelorussia, Ukraine, and parts of
the former Yugoslavia.
■ Protestant sects
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Lutherans dominate Scandinavia and parts of northern Germany.
Anglicans dominate in Britain.
The Reformed Church is found in the Netherlands.
Presbyterians are numerous in Scotland.
Fundamentalist Protestantism has not gotten very far in Europe:
• Several Protestants moved to America.
Linguistic and Religious Diversity
■ Islam
• About 28 million Muslims in Europe.
• Islam spread into the Balkan Peninsula as a result of Turkish
imperialism:
• Dominant in Albania, Bosnia, several former Soviet republics and
European Turkey.
• Since WW II it spread into Western Europe through immigration:
• Turkey (Germany).
• North Africa (France).
• Pakistan and Bangladesh (UK).
• Important in Bulgaria, France, Belgium, and parts of the former
Yugoslavia.
C European Integration
■ Supranationalism
• A venture involving three or more states.
• Political, economic, and/or cultural cooperation to promote
shared objectives.
■ History
• 1947: Marshall Plan.
• 1948: Organization for European Economic Cooperation
(OEEC):
• Distribute funds allocated under the Marshall Plan.
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1957: Treaty of Rome.
1958: European Economic Community effective.
1959: European Free Trade Agreement signed.
1973: European Community.
Economic Rationale of Trade and Integration
Without Trade
With Trade
■ Small national markets.
■ Limited economies of scale.
■ High prices and near monopoly.
■ Limited product diversity.
■ Different standards.
Country 1
Country 2
Country 3
■ Increased competition.
■ Economies of scale.
■ Specialization.
■ Lower prices.
■ Interdependencies.
Country 4
European Integration
■ European Union (EU)
• Maastricht Treaty of 1992 (effective in 1993):
• Creation of an European citizenship.
• Three pillars:
• Economic and monetary union.
• Common foreign and security policy.
• Justice and domestic affairs.
• Original Members (12):
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• Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy,
Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, UK.
Common currency (Euro) in January 2002.
10 new members (Eastern Europe) in 2004.
2005 Crisis.
3 potential new members in 2007 (Croatia, Bulgaria and
Romania).
European Integration
■ Supranationalism problems
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Loss of autonomy.
Disparities in levels of economic development.
Technical barriers; additional levels of bureaucracy.
Cultural barriers.
May lead to devolutionary pressures.
France and the Netherlands voted no in 2005 to establish an
European constitution.
■ Devolution
• Process whereby regions within a state demand and gain
political strength and growing autonomy at the expense of the
central government.
Regions of Europe (Western Europe)
■ Four motors of Europe
• Dynamic high technology and industrial zones.
• Rhone-Alpes (France), Baden-Wurttemberg (Germany),
Catalonia (Spain) and Lombardy (Italy).
Regions of Europe (Western Europe)
■ Germany
• Most populous country (82 million).
• Most important economy of Europe:
• Powerful in the automotive sector.
• Social consensus economy (enterprises and labor).
• Model compromised by heavy social costs.
• A divided Germany (1945-1990):
• Soviet and Allied (US, UK and France) administration.
• Communism established in Eastern Germany.
• Stress imposed by reunification in 1989-90.
The East / West Division of Europe (1945-1990)
EOEC
Iron Curtain
European Organization
of Economic Cooperation
COMECON
Council of Mutual
Economic Assistance
Regions of Europe (Western Europe)
■ France
• About the size of Texas.
• Mostly flat except Massif Central, Alps and Pyrenees.
• Highly suitable climate for agriculture:
• Long and rich rural tradition reflected in an elaborated gastronomy.
• Second exporter of grain in the world.
• Several minerals but no fossil fuels (oil, coal and gas):
• Derives 75% of its electrical energy from nuclear power.
• Paris:
• Primate city: 9.8 million (16% of the population).
• Important rail system (TGV):
• Speeds of 325 km/hr (200 mph).
• Linked to Great Britain through Eurotunnel.
• Specialization in luxury goods (wine, perfumes, fashion).
Regions of Europe (British Isles)
■ Geographical definition
• United Kingdom and Britain are synonym.
• England, Scotland and Whales.
• 6 counties of Ulster (Northern Ireland).
■ Great Britain
• Island nation:
• Physical separation insolated it from continental affairs.
• First economic power of the world in the 19th century.
• Relative decline throughout the 20th century.
• Oil reserves found in the North Sea in the 1970s (3% of the
world’s reserves).
• Financial power:
• London is one of the 3 financial capitals of the world.
• Insurance generates 10% of the GDP.
The British Empire, Late 19th Century
Regions of Europe (British Isles)
■ Northern Ireland
• Britain’s attempts to make Ireland a colony (13th century).
• Treating Ireland as a subordinate just as colonial powers treated
most of their colonies.
• This relationship has had a great impact on Ireland in terms of its
economic development.
• Implantation of Protestant settlers.
• The Scots Irish in the 17th century to establish a loyal base of
support for the British crown.
Regions of Europe (British Isles)
■ Irish independence in 1921
• The six predominantly Protestant counties of the North voted to
remain with Britain.
• Occasional violence, constant since the late 1960s.
• Between the Protestant majority and very sizeable Catholic
minority.
■ Segregated society
• Separate schools, churches, social institutions, holidays.
• Little meaningful contact between the two main groups.
• Belfast is divided in Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods.
Regions of Europe (Northern Europe)
■ “Lower” Europe
• Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg.
• At the Rhine delta; Europe’s largest ports.
■ Nordic Europe
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Scattered group of countries.
Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Estonia and Iceland.
Small populations (25 million; 14% of Western Europe).
Dead-end and relative isolation (water access only).
Significant natural resources (oil, lumber, minerals).
Regions of Europe (Mediterranean Europe)
■ Mediterranean Europe
• A discontinuous region on the periphery.
• Cultural continuity dates from Greco-roman times.
• Mediterranean climate:
• Hot - dry summers.
• Warm/cool - moist winters.
■ Italy
• Most populous Mediterranean state (58 million).
• Divided between a wealthy and industrialized north and a poor
and rural south (Mezzogiorno).
■ Iberia
• Composed of Spain and Portugal.
Eastern Mediterranean Europe
Regions of Europe (Mediterranean Europe)
■ Greece
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2000 islands on the Aegean sea.
Cradle of Western civilization.
Absorbed by the Roman Empire.
Took over by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century.
Independence in 1827.
■ Cyprus
• Contested territory between Greece and Turkey.
• Split since 1974 when Turkey occupied the north in response to
a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at uniting the island with Greece.
• Joined the EU in 2004 (without the Turkish section).
Regions of Europe (Eastern Europe)
■ Eastern Europe
• Europe’s largest, but weakest region.
• Caught in between the powerful countries of the West and
Russia (the Soviet Union for the greater part of the 20th century).
• The region has been unstable for many centuries.
• The nation-state concept that emerged in Western Europe has
not been as strong in Eastern Europe.
• The boundaries of Eastern Europe have been redrawn three
times in the 20th century:
• After World War I (Breaking of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, creation of
Poland).
• After World War II. (Creation of East Germany & Yugoslavia).
• After the fall of the Soviet Union (devolution of Yugoslavia, German reunification; devolution of Czechoslovakia).
Regions of Europe (Eastern Europe)
■ Balkanization
• From the verb balkanize, which means to break up (as in a
region) into smaller and often hostile units.
• Originates from a mountain range in Bulgaria.
• Applied to the southern half of Eastern Europe.
• Centrifugal forces:
• Refer to forces that tend to divide a country.
• Religious, linguistic, ethnic, or ideological differences.
• Centripetal forces:
• Forces that unite and bind a country together.
• A strong national culture, shared ideological objectives, and a common
faith.