A LAND OF CONTRASTS Europe is the second-smallest continent in the world taking up barely one-fifteenth of the planet’s land mass Yet this relatively small space holds a world of contrasts and about 50 independent nations Europe is home to very different climates from the warm Mediterranean region to the frozen Arctic North More than 60 different languages are indigenous to Europe and immigrant populations from around the world bring even more With all its differences however Europe has a distinctive culture Geographical factors like wide-open spaces and a dense transportation network bring the continent together and allow people and information to flow across borders Despite the long history of war between nations in Europe recent decades have seen peace and cooperation NOT QUITE A CONTINENT Although we know Europe as one of the world’s seven continents it is actually a part of the supercontinent of Eurasia which also includes Asia To be a true continent Europe would need to be surrounded by water on all sides Although there is some debate over Europe’s borders the Ural Mountains the Ural River and the Black and Caspian Seas are usually considered the boundary between Europe and Asia Russia and Turkey are both transcontinental nations with land in both continents 4
THINK LIKE GEOGRAPHER These photographs of Greece above and Norway below show just how different the geography and climates of Europe can be A EUROPE AND ASIA BOTH SIT ON THE SAME TECTONIC PLATE CALLED THE EURASIAN PLATE 5
THINK LIKE GEOGRAPHER PENINSULA OF PENINSULAS Europe lies at the western end of Eurasia Most of Europe is a peninsula of Eurasia Its bordering waters are the Atlantic Ocean to the west the Arctic Ocean to the north and the Mediterranean the Black and the Caspian Seas in the south The greater peninsula of Europe is actually made up of smaller peninsulas that extend out from the main body of Europe the Iberian the Italian or Apennine and the Balkan Peninsulas in the south and the Scandinavian and the Jutland Peninsulas in the north These include the British Isles Iceland the southern islands of Greece and Malta and Norway’s Svalbard archipelago near the North Pole Europe also includes many islands off the coast of its mainland A EUROPE’S CLOSEST POINT TO AFRICA COMES AT THE STRAIT OF GIBRALTAR A CHANNEL OF WATER THAT CONNECTS THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA TO THE ATLANTIC OCEAN AT THE STRAIT’S NARROWEST POINT THE DISTANCE BETWEEN SPAIN IN EUROPE AND MOROCCO IN AFRICA IS 8 MILES 12 9 KM PENINSULA A PIECE OF LAND THAT IS CONNECTED TO A MAINLAND AND IS SURROUNDED ON THREE SIDES BY WATER 6
WORLD'S LARGEST ISLAND The world's largest island is a part of Europe sort of Greenland which lies in the northern Atlantic Ocean is part of the Kingdom of Denmark although it is much closer to North America It even shares geographical structures such as the Canadian Shield with North America In fact it is only 16 miles 25.7 km from Canada's Ellesmere Island while its nearest European neighbor Iceland is around 200 miles 321.9 km away Despite being part of the Danish kingdom Greenland's population of around 5,000 people has a home rule government or is self governing This satellite image of Europe shows the shape of the land made up of many peninsulas reaching out into the sea CANADIAN SHIELD THE PLATEAU REGION OF EASTERN CANADA AND THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES MAKING UP THE LARGEST MASS OF EXPOSED PRECAMBRIAN ROCK ON EARTH 7
