EUROPEAN HUMAN GEOGRAPHY Population and culture

World population by continent Asia 3,737,000,000 Africa 823,000,000 Europe 729,000,000 North America 486,000,000 South America 351,000,000 Oceania (incl. Australia)   31,000,000 Antarctica no permanent population

Europe’s Population Europe is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Europe is highly urbanized → it has many large cities that serve as centres of culture and trade. Characteristics of Europeans: long life expectancy low infant mortality rate low population growth

Long Life Expectancy Men on average live 75-78 years Women on average live 80-83 years

Low infant mortality rate Defined as the number of infants per year who do not survive more than twelve months The infant mortality rate is less than ten per 1000

European population growth in history From the 18th century, Europe’s population greatly increases. Reasons: medical advances and improved hygienic conditions introduction of new foods, especially the potato Industrial Revolution

Low population growth today Now, the European population is growing at a slow rate. Some countries have negative growth.

Where people live Favourable climates Plains Fertile soil Mineral resources Inland waterways Most densely populated areas: United Kingdom to France into the Czech Republic and Poland Southeastern France to Northern Italy

Most populated countries in Europe The six European countries with the highest number of inhabitants are: Russia Germany France United Kingdom Italy Spain

Culture Europe has many different ethnic groups, languages, religions and customs. Most people in Europe are Christians: Catholics are the largest Christian group, followed by Orthodox and Protestant Christians. Most languages in Europe belong to the Indo-European family. This family is divided into a number of branches.

Major Religious Groups in Europe

Indo-European languages Most languages in Europe, the Middle-East, and India appear to descend from a common ancestral language. The term Indo-European is essentially geographical, because these languages are spoken from Western Europe to Northeast India. The most important languages in the Indo- European family are Romance, German and Slavic languages.

Languages in Europe

Standard of living Europeans are healthy, wealthy and wise: high life expectancy high income per person high literacy rate

High literacy rate Over 95% of Europeans know how to read and write

From emigration to immigration 1800’s and early 1900’s: many Europeans emigrated to the Americas or to Australia for economic opportunities. Now people are immigrating into Europe! Immigration increased from 1980. There is also internal migration: people from Eastern Europe move to the richer countries in Western Europe