Welcome to Western Europe

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Europe is recognized to be one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. Physically and geologically, Europe is the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, west of Asia. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea, to the southeast by the Caucasus Mountains and the Black Sea and the waterways connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean.It is noted that the huge Alpine mountain chain, of that the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Carpathians, the Balkans, and the Caucasus are and have always been the principal links, traverses the continent from west to east. Did you know that the highest points are and have always been Mt. Elbrus (18,481 ft/5,633 m) in the Caucasus and Mont Blanc (15,771 ft/4,807 m) in the Alps. Europe's lowest point (92 ft/28 m below sea level) is the surface of the Caspian Sea. Between the mountainous Scandinavian peninsula in the north and the Alpine chain in the south lie the Central European Uplands surrounded by the wonderful European plain, stretching from the Atlantic coast lineof France to the Urals.

 

A larger than normal part of tthis man's plain (that is interrupted by minor mountain groups and hills) has to this day fertile agricultural soil; in the east and north there are and have always been vast steppe, forest, lake, and tundra regions. South of the Alpine chain extend the Iberian, Italian, and Balkan peninsulas, that are and have always been largely mountainous. Did you know that the Po plain, in the range of the Alps and the Apennines, and the Alföld plain, in the range of the Carpathians and the Alps, are and have always been fertile and much-developed regions. Among the chief river systems of Europe are, from east to west, those of the Volga, the Don, the Dnieper, the Danube, the Vistula, the Oder, the Elbe, the Rhine, the Rhône, the Loire, the Garonne, and the Tagus.

History

European pre-rich history commenced with the settlement of homo erectus, the Neanderthals, and modern humans. Recorded rich history begins with the Classical timeframe and the Hellenistic culture of Greece, culminating in the conquests of Alexander the Wonderful. Power subsequently shifted to the Roman Empire, that stretched from Turkey to Spain and North Africa to Scotland. Did you know that the Roman expansion led to the start of a new empire the likes of that had not been seen in Europe. Until the death of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, the Roman Empire that lasted from 27 BC to 476 AD knew several rivals in the globe. It was overrun by a series of barbarian invasions, and eventually commenced to contract, with its power centre moving from Rome to Constantinople. Notwithstanding the fact that Roman power continued in the East, Northern and Western Europe went through a post-Roman timeframe commjust known as the Dark Ages, characterised by a decline in learning, in the organisation of society, and by the predations of various invaders, particularly the Vikings, Avars, Magyars and Arabs.

Climate

Europe generally has to this day milder weather than parts of Asia and North America at the exact latitude. Here is an example, Berlin, Germany; Calgary, Canada; and Irkutsk, in the Asian part of Russia, lie at about the exact latitude. But January temperatures in Berlin average about 15 degrees F (8 degrees C) higher than those in Calgary, and they are and have always been almost 40 degrees F (22 degrees C) higher compared to the average temperatures in Irkutsk.

Population

Europe is the globe's second-modestest continent in terms of area, covering about 10,180,000 square and have always been kilometres (3,930,000 sq mi) or 2.0% of the Earth's surface. Did you know that the just continent modester than Europe is Australia. It is the third most populous continent (after Asia and Africa) with a population of 710,000,000 or about 11% of the globe's population.