Eastern Europe Chapter 4 Section 1 Chapter Atlas

Physical Features Main landforms in Eastern Europe mountains Balkan Peninsula Balkan Mountains Dinaric Alps Carpathian Mountains Transylvanian Alps broad plains Great Hungarian Plain between the Carpathian Mountains and Transylvanian Alps North European Plain stretches from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea Most of the Eastern European farms and cities are located here

Balkan Peninsula

Physical Features The physical features of the northern Eastern Europe were shaped by an ice age. time of lower temperatures when much of the land is covered in ice Ice piled up as deep as 2 miles thick. Glaciers – heavy sheets of ice scraped up rocks and soil as they moved slowly dropping materials as they melted created ridges of hills that extend for hundreds of miles across the region formed lakes and rivers

Physical Features Reading Check What effects have glaciers had on the physical features of Eastern Europe? Glaciers have created ridges of hills, dug out land for lakes, and deposited material that blocked the flow of rivers.

Climate and Agriculture Latitude is the main factor affecting climate in Eastern Europe. Southern Latitudes summers are dry and winters are rainy Northern Latitudes winters are very cold and summers are generally mild The continental cool summer climate covers much of Eastern Europe.

Climate and Agriculture Rainfall on the Adriatic Coast is different from east of the Dinaric Alps On the coast, 200 inches of rain may fall in a year. Inland areas may get only 30 inches.

Climate and Agriculture The difference in climate between coastal and inland areas is caused by: Air rising over the mountains cools and drops its moisture as rain on the coastal side of the mountains. Air that reaches the inland side of the mountains is quite dry so it brings little rain. Rain Shadow Effect

Climate and Agriculture The growing season on the North European Plain is shorter than the growing season farther south in the region. Mechanized Farming farming with machines easy on large expanses of flat land Wheat and rye are common crops in this region well suited to the cooler climate and easy to harvest with machines

Climate and Agriculture Reading Check How is agriculture in the north of Eastern Europe different from that in the south? In the north, agriculture is mostly mechanized. In the south it mostly uses human labor instead of machines.

Natural Resources and the Environment Physical geography influences industry as well as agriculture. The location of Eastern Europe’s factories depends on the location of natural resources. Poland coal Ukraine iron ore steel is an important industrial product

Natural Resources and the Environment Oil and gas are in very short supply in Eastern Europe. countries import what they need to develop industry

Natural Resources and the Environment The need for energy to fuel industry has created serious environmental problems. Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine 1986 explosion Winds spread radioactive pollution over a huge area in Europe. Many people became sick and died from the radiation. Farmland was contaminated, so that the food grown there was no longer safe to eat. 20 years later, the area around the power plant was still contaminated.

Chernobyl, Ukraine

Natural Resources and the Environment Eastern European countries have drawn on their coal reserves. Burning coal and other fossil fuels sends chemicals into the air that cause acid rain. precipitation that is acidic Forests have been destroyed soils are too contaminated for crops polluted water and soil have cause higher rates of birth defects, cancer, and other diseases

Natural Resources and the Environment To join the European Union, countries must install equipment to make power plants cleaner.

Natural Resources and the Environment Reading Check What has caused damage to the forests of Eastern Europe? acid rain

Religious Diversity in Eastern Europe Christianity is the dominant religion in Eastern Europe. Divided into the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church Catholic Church headed by the pope in Rome Eastern Orthodox Church headed by an Ecumenical Patriarch Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew of the Eastern Orthodox Church Pope Benedict XVI of the Catholic Church

Religious Diversity in Eastern Europe Muslims are the largest group of non-Christians who live mainly in Bosnia, Albania, Kosovo, and the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine. the southern part of Eastern Europe has been a borderland where the Christian and Muslim worlds meet

Religious Diversity in Eastern Europe Judaism During the Holocaust of the 1940s, 2/3 of the Jews in Europe were murdered. During and after the Holocaust, many Jews left Europe. there has been a revival of Jewish communities in some areas Jews still continue emigrate, or leave Europe. 30,000 Jews leave Ukraine each year for the United States, Israel, and other places

Religious Diversity in Eastern Europe The laws of the Soviet Union restricted religion. Eastern European governments discouraged religion under Soviet rule. Today, many people in Eastern Europe do not belong to any religion. More than half of the people in the Czech Republic and 40% of those in Estonia claim no religious faith.

Religious Diversity in Eastern Europe Religious life has become more active since the end of communism. people have more opportunities to start and join religious organizations Eastern Europeans have had the chance not only to return to traditional religious practices, but also to live more freely in other areas of their lives.

Religious Diversity in Eastern Europe Reading Check Where are many Muslims found in this region? Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Albania, Serbia, and Bulgaria