Physical Geography of Europe

Peninsulas A Peninsula is a piece of land that sticks out in the ocean and has three sides of water. Europe is often called a peninsula of peninsulas. Europe itself is a peninsula of Asia. It also has many peninsulas attached to it. Water may be more important regarding business and pleasure in Europe than any other continent because there is so much. The Northern most peninsula is the Scandinavian Peninsula (Norway and Sweden). Glaciers tore much of the useful soil off a long time ago making farming extremely difficult.

Jutland and the Southern Peninsulas Fjords- U-Shaped valleys that connect to the sea. The Jutland Peninsula (Denmark) is South of the Scandinavian Peninsula. Jutland Peninsula is very hilly and green unlike Scandinavia. Iberian Peninsula-Spain and Portugal-Pyrenees Mountains. Italian Peninsula is shaped like a boot and extends into the Mediterranean. The Balkan Peninsula is in the Southeastern most part of Europe. Mountains make transportation very difficult.

Human Environment Interaction The Netherlands or Holland is probably one of the best examples of how people change their environment to their advantage. In recent years the population of Holland has exploded. The problem was they did not have enough land. 40% of the land used to be under water. Polder is a process of building a dam, draining the water, wash the salt, then plant fertile land. People have built dikes to hold back the sea, and built extremely secure structures to protects against the seas (terpen).

Zuiderzee and Venice Possibly the most impressive construction in Holland is Zuiderzee. They were able to take part of the North Sea (salt water) and turn it into a fresh water lake. Venice is made up of 120 islands making traveling by boat very usual. Venice was found completely by mistake. People running away from German and Hun barbarians while Rome was under attack. It was a safe place to go because nobody wanted to live there bc it was so swampy.

Problems Venice has had to cut down many forests to support their city because they built into a swamp. They needed to use large wooden beams to build into the ground underneath buildings for support. Much of Europe, not just Venice, have cut down forests. The height of deforestation in Europe was during the Industrial Revolution. When sulfur, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen oxide combine with water vapor; it can create acid rain. Europe has been suffering from acid rain for a while, but they are reducing pollution to stop.

Islands and Mountains The main islands in Europe are England, Scotland, and Ireland in the North; in the South there is Sardinia, Sicily and Crete. There are many mountain ranges in Europe that block access to other countries. This can be a source of protection, but it has also slowed communication and the exchange of goods and ideas. However, these mountains have not effected Europe as negatively as other places like South America because of multiple waterways. The Alps are in Northern Italy and the Apennine cut it in half.

Uplands and Rivers Uplands are very low mountains. Many old European mountains have been eroded by natural causes or beat down by glaciers. These uplands make some areas of Europe very hilly. (Think Appalachian) Europe does not have rivers that rival the Amazon and Mississippi regarding length but they have many smaller rivers that makes communication and trading very easy. The Danube (East and West) and Rhine (North and South) rivers are the two most important rivers in all of Europe.

Natural Resources The Northern part of Europe is a large chunk of flat land (plains) that can grow a lot of food and raise animals on. Those plains can be very vulnerable to invasion by foreign armies. Europe does not have very many natural resources, but the ones they do have are very important (Coal and iron ore). That’s part of the reason that the Industrial Rev started in England. Europe used to be made up of many forests, but they went away with industrialization. Some countries without coal burn peat instead.

Water and Pollution Because waterways are more important in Europe, it is more important for them to keep better care of them. Chemicals and waste from factories and mines create most of the pollution. Many restrictions have been enforced, but they are expensive, and it may be too late at this point. All the countries in Europe have to work together because rivers run through multiple countries. Also, they are working together to make sure the air is cleanish.

Turmoil in the Balkans Eastern Europe has lagged behind much of Western Europe regarding people having their separate country. There are many very small, but important differences regarding ethnicity and culture. When small groups of people have been deprived of their independence it has frequently resulted in really terrible things like World War I. Also these different groups of people have been fighting over land. They were ruled my Muslims for a century in 1400 till Finally they began to start to rule each other.

WWI and WWII After WWI the people united (1918), and formed a country called Yugoslavia. The Nazis conquered Yugoslavia during WWII (1939). The Croatians sided with Nazis and participated in many massacres. Josip Broz Tito (Communist) fought the Croatians and Nazis successfully during WWII using guerilla tactics. He became President after the Nazis fell in Everybody loved him and he unified all the people. After he died in 1980, no one was able to take his spot.

Bosnia The leader of Serbia, Slobodan Milosevic, tried to expand control of Serbia, and he stopped a Croatian from becoming President. Several groups of people rebelled against Milosevic. He sent the military in to crush the rebellion. There was a Civil War as everyone began fighting. The US and the UN were able to negotiate peace and Milosevic let some people gain their independence. In 1992 Bosnia declared independence. Milosevic killed 200,000 people and forced 2,000,000 people to leave their country.

Kosovo Muslims lived in a place in Yugoslavia called Kosovo. Milosevic tried to destroy their culture. The people rebelled by attacking the Yugoslavian government. Milosevic responded by trying to kill as many people as he possibly could and torture the survivors. The US and the world had had enough. They began to bomb Milosevic. Milosevic was locked in prison for War Crimes, and he died in prison in After a full decade of war, the region has been much more peaceful, but many people still don’t get along.