Transcript Western Europe

Western Europe
Europe is a giant peninsula of peninsulas ……
 It juts out from the huge landmass of Eurasia
• Europe consist of 5 major peninsulas,
• 3 major islands, and many rivers.
•
5 Peninsulas:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Scandinavian Pen. (Norway)
Iberian Pen. (Spain)
Jutland Pen. (Denmark)
Apennine Pen. (Italy)
Balkan Pen. (Greece)
3 Major Islands:
1. Iceland
2. Ireland
3. United Kingdom
Modern Ingenuity:
Western Europe
In the 1700’s was a place of new technological advances.
Many of which resulted in machines powered by water, steam, and fuel.
Languages:
Most of the natural forests in Western Europe have been cleared
to make way for farms and to provide timber for building materials.
The two major languages of Western Europe are :
Romance and Germanic.
EU (European Union) –
#1 CURRENCY SUPERPOWER
 w the Fall of Communist Russia
All share common currency
People move freely across borders
No tariffs
NOT ALL COUNTRIES ARE MEMBERS
Not lilke NAFTA because :
NAFTA only economic union
Physical Europe
Jutland
Marine West Coast Climate
Due to :
North Atlantic Drift
Warm ocean currents
Alps - Mnts
Massif
Central
Balkan
Iberian
Countries of Western Europe
Iceland
Norway
Sweden
Finland
W. European Nations
Get most raw material
From underdeveloped
Countries
Denmark
Northern Ireland
Netherlands
Ireland
England
Germany
Belgium
France
Luxembourg
Switzerland
Italy
Portugal
Spain
GREECE
Arctic ocean
Norwegian
Sea
Bodies of WaterWestern Europe
Baltic
Sea
North
Sea
Atlantic ocean
Bay of
Biscay
Tyrrhenian
Sea
Ionian
Sea
Strait of Gibraltar
Mediterranean Sea
Aegean Sea
1
The British Isles and
Nordic Nations
Scotland and Wales
England
The Two Irelands
The Nordic Nations
England
England is divided into three different areas:
Highlands,
Midlands, Lowlands
The Highlands along the west coast are rocky
and rise up to 3,000 feet, making the land
difficult to farm.
The Midlands are to the southeast, and the
thick veins of coal that were there fueled
England’s Industrial Revolution, which built up
the population density in the area.
In the south and east are the Lowlands,
which have fertile soil that produces
abundant crops.
Rise of London as a Trade Center
In the late 1400s, improvements in ships and
navigational devices allowed Europeans to cross
the Atlantic Ocean.
Britain has a strategic, central location for Atlantic
trade, and as trade across the Atlantic increased,
Britain’s relative location improved.
England
London lies only 70 miles from the continent of Europe.
London is located on the Thames River estuary.
By the 1500s, London had become a bustling sea port.
Economic Activities
In the 1500s, Britain shipped mostly agricultural products.
Some of the earliest technological advances of the Industrial Revolution 
Used in the textile industry, using first water and then coal to power machines.
Britain possessed large amounts of coal and iron ore, or rocky material
containing a valuable mineral.
The Industrial Revolution brought wealth, also changed the English landscape.
Without coal, INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTI)ON
would not have started in Britain!!!!
Much of the region’s coal supply has been used up, and since the
1970s Britain began using oil and natural gas taken from under the
North Sea as sources of fuel.
To offset the loss of heavy industry, the government has fostered the
growth of tertiary economic activities such as finance and tourism.
Scotland’s Physical Characteristics
The Highlands
• The Highlands region is a large, high plateau with many lochs, or lakes.
• Moors, or broad, treeless rolling plains, cover much of the Highlands and are dotted with
Bogs  areas of wet, spongy ground.
• The Highlands are well suited to fishing and sheep herding.
The Central Lowlands
• The long Central Lowlands region, stretching from
Edinburgh to Glasgow, is home to 75 percent of
Scotland’s people.
• Glasgow was a huge shipbuilding center in the 1800s
and early 1900s.
• Heavy industry in the Lowlands hit hard times in the
mid-1900s.
The Southern Uplands
The Southern Uplands is primarily a sheep-raising region,
and it is near the English border.
The Cheviot Hills give way to rolling plateaus that have
been worn down by glaciers.
Scottish Culture
•
•
•
•
•
•
New industries are slowly taking the place of mining, steel making, and shipbuilding.
Oil extraction in the North Sea has helped the economies of some cities.
Computer and electronics businesses developed along the Tweed and Clyde rivers
have given the Clyde Valley the nickname “Silicon Glen.”
Scotland and England have been politically united,
but Scotland has retained its own culture.
English and Scottish parliaments were united by the Act of Union in 1707, but
Scotland retained many trading and political rights.
In 1997, Scottish voters approved the creation of a new Scottish parliament, and
some Scots want Scotland to become independent.
Wales Wales possesses a distinct culture, but it has been strongly influenced
•
•
•
•
since being conquered by England in 1284.
The landscape of Wales is similar to that of Scotland, and it receives
more rain than England.
About 20 percent of the Welsh population speaks Welsh as their first
language, and Welsh patriots have won the right to broadcast television
programs entirely in Welsh.
Industry and coal mining have changed the landscape and economy of
southern Wales, but by the 1980s most of the coal mines had closed.
In the 1990s, high-tech industries provided new jobs in Wales.
The Two Irelands
“The Emerald Isle”
A stable Government
100% Literacy rate
Great location
– close to England
Excellent area for Film industry
Ireland is shaped like a huge bowl, with hills ringing most of the coastline.
Moist climate keeps vegetation a brilliant green, making its nickname “The Emerald Isle.”
1/6th of the island is covered by peat.
 Spongy material containing waterlogged mosses and plants that can be used as fuel.
Ireland recently developed a method of using peat in power plants,
Now : almost one quarter of the nation’s electricity comes from PEAT
Ireland’s history has been shaped by invasions and wars.
Religious Conflicts
•
In the early 1500s, Protestants broke from
the Catholic Church in the Reformation.
•
The Protestant minority controlled much of
the wealth, and Irish Catholics were poor.
•
•
Conflict between Irish Protestants and Irish
Catholics led to cultural divergence, or
deliberate efforts to keep the cultures
separate.
1 mil poor Irish died in the Potato Famine of
the 1840s, inflaming anti-British feelings
and causing many Irish to emigrate to the
USA.
Government and Citizenship
•
Irish rebellions in 1916 and 1921 led to free
state status under British supervision, with the
exception of six counties in the northeast that
remained part of the U.K.
•
The free state declared total independence in
1949 as the Republic
•
•
of Ireland.
Catholics in Northern Ireland favor
reunification, while Protestants oppose it.
Protestant and Catholic extremists in Northern
Ireland have used violence to try to win control
of Northern Ireland.
Economic Activities
•
•
•
•
In the 1990s, the Republic of Ireland invested in education and modern telecommunications.
Foreign high-tech companies located administrative offices in Ireland.
Irish economic growth became the highest in Europe in the late 1990s,
Per capita income increased dramatically as unemployment fell.
New economic climate pulled immigrants to Ireland and
lured back many emigrants in the United States.
A Varied Landscape
The region is a collection of islands
and peninsulas separated by water,
and the landscape varies from very
flat to very mountainous.
Natural Resources
Icelanders have learned to
produce geothermal energy
from the heat of the earth’s
interior.
The
Nordic
Nations
The Ocean and the Climate
Despite the long winter, the climate is very mild due to warm ocean currents.
Dutch reclaimed land
By building dams to
Protect from seas, and
lakes
Environmental Change
The landscape of the Scandinavian
Peninsula is the product of the last
Ice Age.
The fjords of Scandinavia
were carved out by glaciers and
later filled with water.
Long Winters, Short
Summers
The aurora borealis shine
most brightly in the
Nordic regions in winter.
In midsummer, the sun
never really sets for
several weeks.
The Nordic countries possess
strong cultural ties.
Dutch reclaimed land
By building dams to
Protect from seas, and
lakes
Understanding the Past
•
Between A.D. 800 and A.D. 1050,
Vikings from Scandinavia
raided and later colonizedparts of
Western Europe.
•
The Nordic nations were united at
times.
•
Most Nordic peoples belong to the
Lutheran Church, established during
the Reformation.
•
Nordic languages, except Finnish,
have common roots, and students
are required to learn English as well..
Economic Systems
•
Nordic countries share certain
political and economic beliefs.
•
All Nordic countries practice a
mixture of free enterprise and
socialism in mixed economies, or
systems combining different degrees
of government regulation.
•
Nordic countries guarantee certain
goods and services to everyone and
operate some industries that are
private in the United States.
•
Nordic countries tend to be
politically neutral in foreign affairs.
Denmark and Sweden :
Flat land and a climate suitable for agriculture.
Fishing is important to the Nordic countries,
particularly Norway.
The region profits from oil and gas production,
high-grade ores, and expanses of forest.
Central Western Europe
France
Germany
The Benelux Countries
Switzerland and Austria
France
North, Paris is the political, economic, and
cultural capital, and it is a center of industry.
Southwestern France is known for its wine
production.
The Alps hindered movement between Italy and
France until a tunnel was built under Mont
Blanc.
The French Riviera is renowned for its beaches
and international film festival.
The Rhine Valley provinces in the east are rich in
natural resources.
Gaul was conquered by the Romans and adopted the Latin language and later the Christian religion.
Charlemagne, the greatest Frankish ruler, set up an efficient administration, but his empire fell apart after his death.
Hugh Capet became the ruler of Paris and its surrounding lands in A.D. 987
Under his heirs the monarchy grew strong and expanded the country until its borders were almost the same as those
of modern France.
1789, the monarchy came to a bloody and violent end in the French Revolution.
Since --- France has had several different forms of government, including republics, empires, and a constitutional
monarchy.
Germany
Divided German States
Once part of Charlemagne’s
empire, Germany broke up
into many small states after
his death.
The Protestant Reformation
divided Germany further.
Prussia merged many
German states into a
confederation, and after
defeating France in war, the
new German Empire was
forged.
One People, Two Countries
Germany was divided during the Cold War into :
West and East Germany
In 1989, a wave of protests overturned the
Communist East German government,
opening the borders and leading to a
reunited Germany.
United Germany’s Defeats
Defeated in World War I,
Germany was forced to pay
reparations:n which caused
inflation and economic
collapse.
Adolph Hitler and the Nazis
rose to power during the
1930s, promising to restore
German glory.
Germany was defeated again
in World War II by Allied
countries.
Germany’s land can be divided into three bands.
Northern Germany is covered by the North
German Plain, with important industries,
Germany’s largest cities, and access to the
North Sea and the Baltic Sea.
Central Germany is one of the most
important industrial areas in the world, and
it is also home to Germany’s banking center
at Frankfurt.
Southern Germany borders the Bavarian
Alps, and its largest city, Munich, became
Germany’s cultural center after World War II.
Germany is Western Europe’s leading industrial power and
3rd  most technologically powerful economy after the United States and Japan.
Germany retains strong economic ties with Eastern Europe and Northern Eurasia,
and it is a leading member in the European Union.
An aging population has pushed social security outlays to exceed contributions from workers.
$100 billion every year-- to upgrade the economy of the eastern lands once under Communist control.
Unemployment:
Violence against foreign workers, and environmental pollution are other problems Germany faces.
Benelux Countries
Netherlands
Belgium
Luxemburg
The Netherlands
When the Romans conquered the area, they built dikes, or
embankments of rock and earth, to hold back the sea water.
The Dutch became more skillful at creating new land, building dikes,
pumping out water, and creating :
Polders, land reclaimed from the sea.
Beginning in the 1200s, Dutch used windmills to power the pumps.
Almost one third of the country is below sea level.
The Netherlands has an extremely high population density, and
almost half of the land is used for agriculture.
The Dutch government devotes special attention to preserving rural
land and preventing the densely populated area from expanding into
it.
Situated at the mouth of the Rhine, Rotterdam serves as a link
between much of Europe and the world.
human-environment interaction
of Belgians speak French and call themselves Walloons
Belgium 3055 percent
percent speak a dialect of Dutch called Flemish.
After Belgium gained independence from the Netherlands,
relations between Walloons and Flemings grew more tense, as the
only official language was French.
To resolve the conflict,
the national government made Flemish an official language.
The Belgian Parliament has recently passed laws to decentralize
its government, or transfer power to smaller regions.
Luxembourg
Luxembourg covers only 990 square miles (2,564 sq km).
Luxembourg maintains cultural ties with Belgium, Germany, and
France, and three languages are spoken there.
Luxembourg has one of the highest standards of living in Europe.
The economy has diversified from steel-making into high-tech firms + service industries.
Luxembourg is a member of the European Union.
Switzerland and Austria
Switzerland
Switzerland has three official languages and various cultural groups
that have maintained their distinct identities and political autonomy.
Understanding the Past
The Swiss Confederation was formed
in 1291 to fight against Austria.
Switzerland has been recognized as a
neutral country since the 1800s.
A Prosperous Market Economy
Switzerland enjoys a very high
standard of living.
Dairy farming is the most
important form of agriculture to
Switzerland.
Specializing for Global Trade
With few natural resources,
Switzerland specializes in banking,
tourism, and making products that
require skilled labor.
Cultures and Citizenship
Twenty-six cantons, or states,
make up Switzerland today.
The cantons have a great deal of
control over their own affairs.
Austria
Austria was once the seat of an empire that controlled much
of Eastern Europe, but after World War I it collapsed and was
broken into several new countries.
Because Austria is so mountainous, most people live in the
eastern lowlands.
Austria, using Switzerland as a model for
economic renewal, has created specialized
industries, but it also has mineral resources that
are sometimes extracted through strip mining.
Vienna, the country’s capital, was
the political and cultural center of
the Austrian Empire. It has declined
in population, but it still draws tourists
to its many :
cultural and historical attractions.
Mediterranean Europe
Portugal
Spain
Italy
Greece
Spain
Geographically, Spain is separated from Europe by the
Pyrenees Mountains, and steep cliffs line much of the coastline.
High plateaus rise from the narrow coastal plains, and only one of Spain’s many rivers is navigable.
Most of Spain has a Mediterranean climate, but it is also fairly dry.
Spain’s economy has shifted from agriculture to new industries in recent years.
With its central location : Madrid became the hub, or central point of activity and influence.
Local regions retain their strong, independent identities, and they seek greater local control.
Portugal
Abundant rainfall favors agriculture.
Portugal exports port wine, olive oil, and cork products.
In the fifteenth century, Portugal explored new sea routes to Asia around Africa and
established many trading colonies.
Spain and Portugal signed a treaty giving
PORTUGAL control of Brazil and most of Africa to Portugal
Spain claimed the rest of Latin America.
Portuguese and Spanish colonial empires shrank in the early 1800s,
and only in 1975 did Portugal grant its African colonies independence.
Nearly one million people from the former African colonies have
immigrated to Portugal seeking greater opportunities.
Portugal is expanding an economy once based heavily on agriculture.
Italy
The Apennine Mountains, a young mountain range that experiences
seismic activity, runs the length of Italy.
Italy has a Mediterranean climate.
Through overgrazing, much of the soil has eroded.
Populated areas are very crowded.
Many Italians from the poor south have migrated to the industrial north to find jobs.
Italy helped form the European Union, and access to wider markets
helped transform the nation’s economy from agricultural to industrial.
Northern Italy
• The Po River valley is the heartland
of this region, and is an important
agricultural and industrial center.
• Rivers in the Alps provide
hydroelectricity,
• Alps are also home to ski resorts.
• Venice suffers from pollution and
subsidence, but remains popular
with tourists.
Central Italy
• Central Italy consists of Rome
and the surrounding regions.
• Rome was chosen as the capital
of a unified Italy because of its
central location and historic ties
to the Roman Empire.
• Florence is a cultural center
made famous by artists during
the Renaissance.
Southern Italy
This region, which includes Sardinia and Sicily, is known as the Mezzogiorno.
Many southern Italians migrate to northern Italy to find jobs or to Naples,
which is very poor and has a high unemployment rate.
The Aegean Sea occupies a graben,
an area of land that dropped down between faults.
Despite poor soil and little rainfall, agriculture is
important to Greece.
1/3 of the Greek population lives in the crowded city of Athens.
Greece has one of the world’s largest commercial
shipping fleets, and shipbuilding is an important industry.
Greece has many islands, but fewer than 200
are inhabitable, or able to support permanent residents.
Greece
Greece
can be considered a Western country, because :
much of Western culture has so many roots in ancient Greece.
• Some Western ideas about democratic government are based on Greek ideals.
•
•
•
•
•
As the Roman Empire declined, Greece became an important part of the Byzantine Empire.
Greece suffered invasion from many groups over the next ----- 1,000 years.
1453, Turks conquered the city of Constantinople,
now called Istanbul, and ruled Greece for almost four centuries.
After a ten-year rebellion, Greece achieved independence from Turkey in 1829.