Eurasia is the world’s largest landmass. It is made up of the continents of Europe and Asia, and much of it lies in the northern latitudes. There the climate is colder and the growing season is shorter than in countries farther to the south.

The continent of Europe is made up of 48 countries, and each country is about the size of an average state in the U.S. Included on the European continent is part of Russia, the largest country in the world. Beyond the Ural Mountains that mark the boundary between Europe and Asia, the Russian region of Siberia extends for thousands of miles across northern Asia.

Europe has four major land regions: The ancient mountains for the NORTHWESTERN

HIGHLANDS are found in the northern parts of France, Great Britain, and Scandinavia. The mountains have been eroded by centuries of wind and weather. Few people live here where the climate is severe, the soil is thin, and the farming is poor.

The NORTH EUROPEAN PLAIN extends from southern England and France to the feet of the Ural Mountains in Russia. This is a region of rich soil, productive farmland, and a high population density, which is the average number of people living in an area.

The CENTRAL UPLANDS stretch across the center of southern Europe. This region is made up of mountains and plateaus, which are large raised areas of level land. The soil in the Uplands is too rocky for farming, but the land is rich in minerals and is good for grazing goats and sheep.

The ALPINE MOUNTAIN SYSTEM is a series of high mountain ranges that cover Europe from Spain to the Balkans and extend to Georgia east of the Black Sea. The Alps in Switzerland are a spectacular part of this region, and the majestic, snow-capped peaks are a favorite vacation spot for hikers and skiers. The region to home to families who work small farms in the valleys and meadows high in the mountains.

SIBERIA. To the east of the Ural Mountains lies a vast, low, marshy expanse called the West Siberian Plain. It covers more than a million square miles. It is known for its long, cold winters, harsh (difficult) living conditions, and small, scattered population. Summers are cool and short. Snow covers the ground for six months of the year, with winter temperatures often falling to -500F.

At the eastern edge of the plain, the Central Siberian Plain slopes upward. The land continues to rise, forming the East Siberian Uplands. This is a desolate (deserted, abandoned) region of rugged mountains, stark (plain) plateaus, and more than twenty active volcanoes.

RIVER RESOURCES AND TRANSPORTATION CORRIDORS

The highlands of Europe and Russia are the source for many important rivers. High in the Swiss Alps, melting glaciers form two streams that combine to become the Rhine River. The Rhine River winds its way for 865 miles through forests and plains, past castles, factories, and cities before ti flows into the North Sea. The Rhine River and its canals and tributaries, which are smaller rivers and streams that connect to the main channel, form a network of transportation corridors (like a highways) that reach every part of Western Europe.

The Volga River is the longest river in Europe. If flows for 2, 193 miles through western Russia and empties into the Caspian Sea. Its tributaries and canals link the Volga River to the Arctic Ocean and the Baltic Sea. However, the river is frozen for three months of the year, so during the winter months the Volga River and many other rivers in Russia are not navigable, which means ships cannot travel on them.

The Danube River begins in the mountains of Germany and flows through eight countries before it empties into the Black Sea. The Danube River is the second longest river in Europe, and it is navigable all year round. The factors make it an important corridor for trade and travel. Ships from the Mediterranean Sea can travel up the Danube River to ports in Romania. From there, the cargo (freight) can be transferred to smaller boats that can continue up the river.

The continent of Europe forms a peninsula, a body of land that is surrounded by water on three sides. It juts into the Atlantic Ocean (west side) and is bordered on the north by the North, Norwegian, and Baltic Seas, and is bordered on the south by the Mediterranean, Caspian, and Black Seas.

The entire continent is affected by all of this water. The warm ocean current called the Gulf Stream (which begins in the Gulf of Mexico) flows northeast to join the Atlantic Ocean in the north. The warm water in the Gulf Stream keeps the northern coastlines of Great Britain and Norway from freezing in the winter, even if the land is covered in ice and snow. The waves that have battered the coastline for millions of years have formed many bays, inlets, coves, harbors, and fjords.

Moist, warm air blows inland from the coast, sweeping across the North European Plain. West of the mountains, rainfall is heavy. When the moist air rises over the mountains, it cools and falls as snow along the ridges of the Alpine Mountain System. Not much moisture makes it over the mountains, so this area – around the Mediterranean Sea – warmer and dryer. It is in the rain shadow of the Alps Mountains, an area on the dry, sheltered side of a mountain that receives little precipitation (rain, snow, hail, sleet).

CAN YOU FIND THE FIVE (5) PENINSULAS INSIDE EUROPE?

Taiga Steppe

Temperature, rainfall, altitude, and latitude are four factors that determine the natural vegetation, or plant life, of an area. Deciduous forests, made up of trees that lose their leaves, once covered most of Europe. Over many years, people cleared the forests to create farmland and build cities. (What is this interaction with the environment called?) In northern Europe and Russia there are large coniferous forests, which have trees with needles and cones.

In Russia, the taiga, as the forested region is called, covers more than four million square miles. The soil is not so good for farming, and the growing season is short. The North European Plains were once covered with grasslands called prairies. People created farmland in this region. In Russia, the grasslands are called steppe. The fertile, black soil is good for farming.

The tundra is a treeless plain where only grasses and mosses grow. Here, the ground is permafrost, or frozen soil, and there is only a short growing season when the top layer of soil thaws. In Iceland, Norway, and northern Russia, the people have had to find ways to raise their food and construct shelters without the natural resources that forests provide. (What is this interaction with the environment called?)

Europe is a wealthy region and a world leader in economic development. Part of the wealth and success comes from Europe’s rich supply of natural resources, such as fertile soil, water, and fuels. Russia has a wide variety of resources, but its harsh climate, frozen rivers, and huge transportation distances have made it difficult to turn their resources into wealth.

Fossil fuels in the form of oil, natural gas, and coal provide energy for industries. They are called fossil fuels because they are formed over millions of years from the remains of ancient animals and plants. Fossil fuels are nonrenewable resources; once they are used up, they are gone.

Millions of years ago, marine plants and animals called plankton died and settled on the ocean floor. Over the years, the plankton was covered with mud and sand. The weight of the material gradually changed the plankton into oil trapped inside of porous rock. Oil drilling equipment cuts through the rock and removes the oil, which is called crude oil. Crude oil is then cleaned to make refined oil products that are used to run cars and heat homes.

There are oil and gas deposits under the ocean floor in the North Sea and Siberia. However, these resources in remote parts of Russia are thousands of miles from the country’s industrial centers. They must be transported by pipeline.

Coal is made from ancient plants and animal materials that decay to form peat. Over millions of years, the pressure of materials heaped on top of the peat deposits gradually changed the peat into brown coal. Increased pressure gradually turned the brown coal into what is called soft coal that is used in industries worldwide.

Coal is mined in Great Britain; the Ruhr Valley of Germany; in the industrial center called Silesia, which is where Poland, Germany, and the Czech Republic come together; in Ukraine; and in Russia, which has one-third of the world’s coal reserves.

Russian also has great reserves of iron ore, which is used to make steel. Most of these mineral deposits are west of the Ural Mountains, which is where Russian’s industrial centers are located.

In western Europe water is an important resource. People use the water supply for personal use, irrigating crops, transportation, in industries, and for energy. The force of water flowing from a waterfall or from a dam on a river can spin machines called turbines. Spinning turbines generate, or create, electricity. Hydroelectricity, therefore, is the power generated from the force of moving water. Norway gets all of its electric power from hydroelectricity, and Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, and Portugal all run on power generated by dams on rivers that flow out of the mountains.

Except in the southern and western part of the country, the frozen rivers of Russia and Siberia cannot be used to generate power because they are polluted by industrial waste. These polluted rivers will need to be restored before they can be developed as a natural resource.

Over thousands of years, winds have deposited fertile, dust-like soil called loess across the North European Plan. This soil, combines with the plentiful rainfall and long growing seasons, enable European farmers to produce abundant crops. In the Ukraine, a black soil called chernozem is very fertile. It is extremely important for food production in the region.