GEO chapter 8
What are the current impacts of climate change in Europe?
Dwindling sea ice, melting glaciers, sparse snowfall in Scandinavia - More frequent droughts in Mediterranean region - Rising sea levels threaten the Low Countries and Venice - Alpine ski resorts at risk Hotter summers
In which region of Europe are environmental conditions the worst?
Eastern Europe
Which European country has the highest percentage of people living in poverty?
Greece
Economic cooperation in Western Europe at the end of World War II centered on what commodity (commodities)?
coal and steel
How does Europe compare in size (area) to the United States?
it is about two-thirds the size of North America
Where does Europe rank in the world in terms of its environmental sensitivity and its efforts to improve its environment?
it is the greenest
What is the major reason why people have migrated from East Germany to West Germany?
labor shortages
What three historical eras are represented in European city landscapes?
1. medieval 2. Renaissance- Baroque 3. industrial
The number of speakers of Romance and Germanic languages in Europe is roughly equal. About how many speakers does each group have in Europe?
200 million
How many countries does Europe contain?
41
What is the approximate population of Europe?
531 million
Iron Curtain
A political barrier that isolated the peoples of Eastern Europe after WWII, restricting their ability to travel outside the region
Berlin Wall
A wall separating East and West Berlin built by East Germany in 1961 to keep citizens from escaping to the West
What explain(s) the environmental diversity of Europe?
Complex geology with newest and oldest formations - Latitudinal extent (from Arctic to Mediterranean subtropics) - Modification of latitudinal controls by land and water interaction - Thousands of years of human settlement
What is Europes longest river?
Danube River
In which country of Europe did the Industrial Revolution start?
England
What is the currency of the European Monetary Union?
Euro
Which country of Europe has a large Muslim migrant population?
France
What are the anchor countries of the European Union?
France Germany Italy Netherlands Belgium and luxembourg
What is the first and second-most widely spoken Germanic languages in Europe?
German and English
Which country of Europe has the largest population in the region?
Germany
What are the causes of the economic hard times facing Eastern Europe today?
Has never been rich in natural resources and has been controlled by outside forces
Why have many European countries encouraged immigration of foreign populations into their borders in the recent past?
Immigrants provide low-wage labor; tax revenues, support retirees
When did the first Eastern European countries join the European Union?
May 2004
Why did the population of Jews in Europe drop from 9.5 million before World War II to less than 2 million today?
Nazi Germany focused there extermination on the jews
In what part of Europe is Roman Catholicism the dominant religion?
Netherlands, Belgium, and switzerland
What do the letters in NATO stand for?
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
By what other name is The European Lowland known?
Northern European Plain
In which European country would you find fjords?
Norway
Which European Romance language contains many Slavic words?
Romanian
What is the name of the agreement to reduce border formalities within the European Union?
Schengen Agreement
Which of the following is the destination of choice for smugglers bringing illegal immigrants into Europe?
Sea route
What is the name of the agreement that established the European Union?
Treaty of Mastricht
Germany's population includes a large number of guest workers (and their descendants) from which country of Southwest Asia and North Africa?
Turkey
Europe was the battleground for which wars during the 20th century?
WW1 and WW2
buffer zone
a neutral area serving to separate hostile forces or nations.
What kind of organization is the European Union?
a supranational organization
collectivization
a system in which private farms are eliminated and peasants work land owned by the government
What has damaged half of the forests of Poland and three-quarters of the forests of the Czech Republic?
air pollution and acid rain
What mountain range in Europe is over 500 miles long and has peaks reaching 15,000 feet?
alpine mountains
What is a fjord?
flooded coastal glacial valley
Balkanization
geopolitical process of small-scale independence movements based on ethnic lines
What are the reasons for opposing unlimited migration into Europe discussed in class?
high unemployment rates and current economic stress, also fear that the influx of foreign migrants aggravates high domestic unemployment rates as migrants work off the books
What is the word for a state policy of reclaiming lost lands or lands inhabited by people of the same ethnicity in another state?
irredentism
In what part of Europe is Protestantism the dominant religion?
northern Germany, the Scandinavian countries, and England
What difference might you observe between Protestant and Catholic areas of Europe?
protestant churches are much more subdued compared to the huge cathedrals of catholic churches
What is the major factor determining whether a particular Slavic language uses the Latin alphabet or the Cyrillic alphabet in its written form?
religion... roman catholic heritage or the orthodox church
In Europe, with what type of feature are the names Rhine, Loire, Thames, Danube, and Elbe associated?
rivers
What do we call the widespread movement away from the historically prominent organized religions that has occurred in Europe?
secularization
What events took place after the end of the Cold War?
tearing down of the berlin wall and warsaw pact revolutions leading to division
Which part of Europe is the region's unquestionable focus of intensive agriculture, large cities, and major industrial activities?
the European lowland
Which river divides the unglaciated part of the European lowland in the south from the glaciated plains in the north?
the Rhine river
What event has been an important cause of the surge of immigration to European countries such as Germany since the beginning of the 1990s?
the collapse of soviet border controls
What was the Cold War?
the state of tension without actual fighting between the US and the Soviet Union
Why did Jewish people cluster in the Muslim lands of the Iberian Peninsula around 900 CE?
there Islam showed greater tolerance for Judaism than christianity
What events and/or developments have contributed to the low population growth in Europe?
urbanization and industrialization
What is the natural growth rate in Europe?
very slow to none at all, some countries have a negative growth rate
Which of the following was a major determinant of the early industrial regions of Europe?
water sources, coal mines, ports
