EUROPE

IN THE BEGINNING… In Greek mythology, Europa was a princess abducted by Zeus (in the form of a dazzling white bull). Zeus took Europa to Crete where she gave birth to Minos (who became a judge of the dead in Hades) For Homer (author of The Odyssey) Europe was a mythological queen of Crete Mainland Greece became known as Europa By 500BC it came to refer to the lands north of Greece as well

Sangria

HISTORY Prehistory  homo georgicus: existed 1.8 million years ago  found in Georgia Classical Antiquity  Ancient Greece  Concepts of the city-state and philosophy  Ancient Rome  Law and government, architecture and engineering, language Dark Ages (approx. 500AD to 1000AD)  Invasions and migrations Middle Ages (approx. 1000AD to 1300AD)  Feudalism, the Black Death and the Roman Catholic Church

HISTORY Renaissance (approx. 1300AD to 1700AD)  Began in Italy – intellectual pursuits, educational reform Age of Enlightenment (18 th century)  Scientific and reason-based thought  French Revolution resulted in the nation-state  Colonisation of Asia, Africa and the Americas Industrial Revolution (19 th century)  Began in Great Britain – invention and implementation of new technologies 20 th century  Europe’s power declines after world wars – rise of USSR and USA

Burn from a pizza oven

GEOGRAPHY One of the traditional seven continents  Sub-continent of EURASIA  Separated from Asia by the Ural Mountains, the Ural River and the Caspian Sea Covers about square kilometres  2% of the Earth’s surface area  6.8% of Earth’s land area Number of sovereign states varies (about 50)  Includes western Russia, the world’s largest country  Includes the Vatican, the world’s smallest country

Political map of Europe

Topographic map of Europe

CLIMATE Generally mild, particularly in comparison to places in Asia and North America of the same latitude.  Gulf Stream Longer, colder winters and shorter, cooler summers in the north than in the south Longer, colder winters and shorter, hotter summers in the east than in the west Most rain falls just west of mountains  Britain, Norway Least rain falls east of mountains, far from the Atlantic and along the Arctic coast  Spain, Scandinavia, Russia

Climatic map of Europe

POPULATION 3rd most populous continent  After Asia and Africa or 11% of the world’s total population  Last century, Europe had 25% of the world’s population  Projected population in 2050 is or 7% of the world’s total population Influences on Europe’s demography…  Religious emigration  Race relations  Economic immigration  Declining birth rate  Aging population

POPULATION Europe’s largest cities are…  Istanbul  Moscow  London  Paris  Madrid  Barcelona  Saint Petersburg  Milan  Berlin  Rome  Athens

Fast food in the Netherlands

ETHNICITY Europe’s largest ethnics groups are (in order)…  Russians (90million)  Germans (76million)  French (63million)  Italians (58million)  English (45million)  Spanish (42million)  Poles (42million)  Ukrainians (41million)

Where am I from?

Dutch beer menu

LANGUAGE Europe has 30 to 40 major languages The EU recognised 23 official languages in 2007 There are 8 language families The seven most natively spoken languages are…  German18%  French13%  Italian12%  English12%  Spanish9%  Polish9%  Dutch5%

LANGUAGE However, the top eight languages spoken in Europe are…  English51%  German33%  French28%  Italian16%  Spanish15%  Polish10%  Russian7%  Dutch6%

In a Dutch sandwich shop

POLITICS 1957: European Economic Community  Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands 1967: European Communities  Merging of EEC, the European Coal and Steel Community and Euratom (European Atomic Energy Community) 1993: European Union  Political centre is in Brussels  27 member states, which are…  Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK

Political map of the development of the European Union from 1957

Scottish staple

Fija de Espana

In memory of mi amigo, Nacho