CHAPTER 12PHYSICAL

GEOGRAPHY OF EUROPE

PENINSULAS AND ISLANDS

EUROPE IS A CONTINENT OF PENINSULAS: SCANDINAVIAN-Norway,Sweden,Finland

JUTLAND-Denmark

IBERIAN-Spain, Portugal

ITALIAN-Italy

BALKAN-Greece, Albania, and former Yugoslavia

ISLANDS

BRITISH ISLES: Great Britain, Ireland GREENLAND: Controlled by Denmark MEDITERRANEAN ISLANDS:

Balearic Islands: Spain Corsica: France Sardinia and Sicily: Italy Crete: Greece Cyprus

How have these physical landforms affected the development of Europe?

Peninsulas and islands gave many countries access to the sea and trade routes.

Peninsulas provided excellent harbors for ships and shipbuilding, allowing nagivation and exploration.

MOUNTAINS AND UPLANDS MOUNTAIN CHAINS

INCLUDE Kjolen in Scandinavia Alps in northern Italy Apennines in Italy Pyrenees in northern

Spain

Balkans in the former Yugoslavia

Pindus in Greece

UPLANDS SEVERAL

UPLANDS, INCLUDING THE

MESETA IN SPAIN MASSIF

CENTRAL IN FRANCE

SCOTTISH UPLANDS

RIVERSTWO MAJOR RIVERS, THE DANUBE AND THE RHINE

RIVERS HELPED CONNECT EUROPEANS TO THE REST OF THE WORLD

MOST RIVERS ARE LARGE ENOUGH FOR SHIP TRAVEL

RIVERS HELPED THE MOVEMENT OF IDEAS, GOODS, AND PEOPLE

FERTILE PLAINSThe Northern European Plain

stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Ural Mountains

in Russia.HOW DID THE EUROPEAN PLAIN

HELP THE DEVELOPMENT OF EUROPE?

RESOURCES LOOK ON PAGE 276 OF YOUR BOOK.

WHERE ARE MAJOR PETROLEUM DEPOSITS? WHICH COUNTRY HAS RELATIVELY FEW

NATURAL RESOURCES?

AGRICULTURE: ONE THIRD OF LAND IS USED FOR AGRICULTURE

TIMBER IS CUT FROM FORESTS IN SCANDINAVIA

PEAT IS HARVESTED FROM BOGS IN THE BRITISH ISLES.

CLIMATE AND VEGETATION

MILDER CLIMATE North Atlantic Drift, a warm current to the

west

Prevailing westerlies are winds that carry the warmer air from the North Atlantic

Drift

HARSHER CLIMATES INLAND

THE MEDITERRANEAN THE MISTRAL IS A THE COLD AND DRY WIND IN THE

WINTER THE SIROCCO IS THE HOT SOUTH WIND THAT

BLOWS FROM AFRICA IN THE SUMMER

LAND OF THE MIDNIGHT SUN BECAUSE SOME OF

SCANDINAVIA IS ABOVE THE ARCTIC

CIRCLE, WINTER DAYS ARE VERY

SHORT AND SUMMER NIGHTS ARE VERY LONG

LOOK ON PAGE 280. WOULD YOU LIKE TO

STAY IN THE ICE HOTEL?

Now, let's get to a few of the many guest rooms, each custom-designed and one more spectacular than the next. The beds -- yes, this is a real hotel -- are mounted on a large block of ice and covered with reindeer skins. Atop the deer skins, you sleep in a sleeping bag ; hopefully, you are covered in long underwear with lots of layers of pajamas. Although it may be -30° outside, it's never less than -8° inside the hotel, so don't worry too much.Guests are awakened early with a glass of hot lingonberry juice. Then a breakfast buffet and morning sauna. Don't be surprised if you're out by 10:00 A.M. and can't return to your lodging before 6:00 P.M. During the day, the IceHotel functions as a museum. For those of you who can't tolerate the cold, there are lodgings very nearby that are heated.

SCENES FROM THE ICEHOTEL, SWEDEN