Geography of Europe Totally Explained

Everything about Geography Of Europe totally explained

Europe is traditionally reckoned as one of seven continents. Geology justifies this tradition as reasonable. Physiographically, however, it's the northwestern peninsula of the larger landmass known as Eurasia (or Afro-Eurasia): Asia occupies the eastern bulk of this continuous landmass (save the Suez Canal separating Asia and Africa) and all share a common continental shelf. Europe's eastern frontier is delineated by the Ural Mountains in Russia. The south-east boundary with Asia isn't universally defined. Most commonly the Ural or, alternatively, the Emba River serve as possible boundaries. The boundary continues to the Caspian Sea, the crest of the Caucasus Mountains or, alternatively, the Kura River in the Caucasus, and on to the Black Sea; the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles conclude the Asian boundary. The Mediterranean Sea to the south separates Europe from Africa. The western boundary is the Atlantic Ocean; Iceland, though nearer to Greenland (North America) than mainland Europe, is generally included in Europe. There is ongoing debate on where the geographical centre of Europe is. (See Transcontinental nation for a more detailed description of the boundary between Asia and Europe).

Overview

The idea of a European "continent" isn't universally held. Some geographical texts refer to a Eurasian Continent, or to a European subcontinent, given that Europe isn't surrounded by sea and is, in any case, much more a cultural than a geographically definable area.
   In terms of shape, Europe is a collection of connected peninsulas. The two largest of these are "mainland" Europe and Scandinavia to the north, divided from each other by the Baltic Sea. Three smaller peninsulas—Iberia, Italy and the Balkans—emerge from the southern margin of the mainland into the Mediterranean Sea, which separates Europe from Africa. Eastward, mainland Europe widens much like the mouth of a funnel, until the boundary with Asia is reached at the Ural Mountains.
   Land relief in Europe shows great variation within relatively small areas. The southern regions are mountainous, while moving north the terrain descends from the high Alps, Pyrenees and Carpathians, through hilly uplands, into broad, low northern plains, which are vast in the east. An arc of uplands also exists along the northwestern seaboard, beginning in the western British Isles and continuing along the mountainous, fjord-cut spine of Norway.
   This description is simplified. Sub-regions such as Iberia and Italy contain their own complex features, as does mainland Europe itself, where the relief contains many plateaus, river valleys and basins that complicate the general trend. Iceland and the British Isles are special cases. The former is a land unto itself in the northern ocean which is counted as part of Europe, while the latter are upland areas that were once joined to the mainland until rising sea levels cut them off.
   The few generalizations that can be made about the relief of Europe make it less than surprising that the continent's many separate regions provided homes for many separate nations throughout history.

Geology

Europe's most significant feature is the dichotomy between highland and mountainous Southern Europe and a vast, partially underwater, northern plain ranging from England in the west to Ural Mountains in the east. These two halves are separated by the mountain chains of Pyrenees and Alps/Carpathians. The northern plains are delimited in the west by the Scandinavian Mountains and the mountainous parts of the British Isles. Major shallow water bodies submerging parts of the northern plains are the Celtic Sea the North Sea, the Baltic Sea complex and Barents Sea.
The northern plain contains the old geological continent of Baltica, and so may be regarded as the "main continent", while peripheral highlands and mountainous regions in south and west constitute fragments from various other geological continents.

Rivers

Important rivers of Europe with approximate length:

Volga 3,690 km
Danube 2,860 km
Ural 2,428 km
Dnieper 2,290 km
Don 1,950 km
Pechora 1,809 km
Kama 1,805 km
Oka 1,500 km
Belaya 1,430 km
Tisza 1,358 km
Dniester 1,352 km
Rhine 1,320 km
Elbe 1,091 km
Vistula 1,047 km
Tagus 1,038 km
Loire 1,012 km
Ebro 960 km
Sava, 933 km
Rhône, 815 km
Seine, 776 km
Po, 652 km

Lakes and inland seas

Major islands

Iceland, Faroe Islands, Great Britain, Ireland, the rest of the British Isles, part of the Azores, Madeira, Balearic Islands, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Malta, Ionian Islands, Crete, Aegean Islands, Åland Islands, Gotland, Saaremaa, Canary Islands, Cyprus, Svalbard, Hinnøya, Senja, Zealand, Fyn and North Jutlandic Island.
See also List of European islands by area and List of European islands by population

Plains and lowlands

East European Plain, the largest landscape feature of Europe

Northern European Lowlands

Pannonian plain

Meseta Central is a high plain (plateau) in central Spain (occupies roughly 40% of the country)

Mountain ranges

Some of Europe's major mountain ranges are:

Ural Mountains, which separate Europe and Asia

Caucasus Mountains, which also separate Europe and Asia, and is the namesake of the Caucasian race, not to be confused with Caucasian peoples

Carpathian Mountains, a major mountain range in Central and Southern Europe

Alps, the famous mountains known for their spectacular slopes

Apennines, which run through Italy

Pyrenees, the natural border between France and Spain

Cantabrian Mountains, which run across northern Spain

Scandinavian Mountains, a mountain range which runs through the Scandinavian Peninsula, includes the Kjølen mountains

Dinaric Alps, a mountain range in the Balkans

Balkan mountains, a mountain range in central Balkans Land area in different classes of European mountainous terrain (classification from UNEP-WCMC

>= 4500m	3500- 4500m	2500- 3500m	1500- 2500m & slope>=2°	1000- 1500m & slope >=5° or local elevation range >300m	300-1000m & local elevation range >300m	Mountainous TOTAL	Europe TOTAL
0 km²	225 km²	497886 km²	145838 km²	345255 km²	1222104 km²	2211308 km²	10180000 km²
0.00%	0.00%	4.89%	1.43%	3.39%	12.00%	21.72%	100.00%

Temperature and precipitation

The high mountainous areas of Europe are colder and have higher precipitation than lower areas, as is true of mountainous areas in general. Europe has less precipitation in the east than in central and Western Europe. The temperature difference between summer and winter gradually increases from coastal northwest Europe to southeast inland Europe, ranging from Ireland, with a temperature difference of only 10 °C from the warmest to the coldest month, to the area north of the Caspian Sea, with a temperature difference of 40 °C. January average range from 18°C in Tenerife, Spain to -20°C in northeastern part of European Russia.
Western Europe and parts of Central Europe generally fall into the temperate maritime climate (Cfb), the southern part is mostly a Mediterranean climate (mostly Csa, smaller area with Csb), the north-central part and east into central Russia is mostly a humid continental climate (Dfb) and the northern part of the continent is a subarctic climate (Dfc). In the extreme northern part (northernmost Russia; Svalbard), bordering the Arctic Ocean, is tundra climate (Et). Mountain ranges, such as the Alps and the Carpathian mountains, have a highland climate with large variations according to altitude and latitude.

Landlocked countries

Andorra

Armenia

Austria

Belarus

Czech Republic

Hungary

Kazakhstan

Kosovo

Luxembourg

Liechtenstein

Republic of Macedonia

Moldova

San Marino

Serbia

Slovakia

Switzerland

Vatican Notes:

Liechtenstein is doubly landlocked

Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Kosovo, Hungary, Serbia, and the Republic of Macedonia constitute a contiguous landlocked agglomeration of nine countries in Central Europe and the Balkans, stretching from Geneva all the way to Greece

All other landlocked countries (Luxembourg, Andorra, Vatican, San Marino, Belarus, Moldova, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan) are "standalone" landlocked countries, not bordering any other such European one (the emphasis is necessary, since Kazakhstan borders Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan, thus forming a vast landlocked expanse in Central Asia)

Countries consisting solely of islands or parts of islands

Iceland

United Kingdom

Ireland

Malta

Cyprus

Countries bordering or spanning another continent

Eurasia

Azerbaijan

Georgia

Kazakhstan

Russia

Turkey

Europe-Africa

Spain (Ceuta and Melilla)

Countries that share a name with their capital

Luxembourg

Monaco

San Marino

Vatican

Countries whose capital isn't their largest city

Europe

Liechtenstein (capital: Vaduz; largest city: Schaan)

Malta (capital: Valetta; largest city: Birkirkara)

San Marino (capital: San Marino; largest city: Serravalle)

Scotland (capital: Edinburgh; largest city: Glasgow)

Switzerland (capital: Bern; largest city: Zürich)

Eurasia

Kazakhstan (capital: Astana; largest city: Almaty)

Turkey (capital: Ankara; largest city: Istanbul)

List of countries by the number of other countries they border

14: Russia (Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea)

9: Germany

8: Austria, France, Serbia, Turkey

7: Hungary, Poland, Ukraine

6: Italy

5: Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Switzerland, Belarus, Spain, Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Republic of Macedonia

4: Belgium, Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan

3: Finland, Norway, Luxembourg, Bosnia and Herzegovina

2: Sweden, Netherlands, Andorra, Liechtenstein, Estonia, Moldova

1: Denmark, Ireland, United Kingdom, Monaco, Portugal, Vatican City, San Marino

0: Iceland, Malta, Cyprus

Geography by country

Further Information

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