The deep position of the countries of foreign Europe. European Countries Assessment: Largest country by area and population

Europe is a part of the world located in the northern hemisphere, on the territory of which there are 47 states. A number of them are partially recognized. Since a single continent called Eurasia is formed together with Asia, a number of states are partially located in one and the other part of the world.

The population is not large when compared to other major land regions, at 746 million. The most big country in Europe by territory and number of citizens - a topic that we will talk about in detail.

General characteristics of European countries

Europe is part of a large mainland. It was decided to draw a generally accepted border along the course of the Ural Mountains by the Russian engineer Tatishchev, after which this position became generally accepted. It is necessary to include the nearest islands here, except for the Greek ones located off the coast of Turkey, which are geographically closer to Asia.

Important! A number of organizations refer to the European zone Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Cyprus, Armenia. This decision is political and not related to geographical features.

Part of the world covers an area of ​​10.18 million km 2. The population density is high, it is 75.8 inhabitants per 1 km 2. Countries by location are divided into:

• Eastern;
• Southern;
• Northern;
• Western.

This division is not precise, but rather related to political influences in the region. Territories that are partially located in this part of the world, but are not considered geographically European (in parentheses, the percentage of zones lying within Europe is indicated):

• Republic of Kazakhstan (14%);
• Azerbaijan (10%);
• Georgia (5%);
• Turkey (3%).

Unrecognized or partially recognized are:

• Donetsk People's Republic (part of Ukraine);
• Kosovo (part of Serbia);
• Luhansk People's Republic (part of Ukraine);
• Transnistria (part of Moldova).

View of Pristina, the capital of partially recognized Kosovo

The shores are washed by two oceans, the Arctic and the Atlantic, as well as the seas that make up the composition. The climate is temperate, in the south - Mediterranean, arctic - in the north.

Ranking of the largest countries in Europe

The size of the state can be estimated according to two parameters:

• by population;
• by the area of ​​the territory.

Note that the local countries are mostly small in size. The smallest and largest state in the world is also located here.

By area

For many centuries, European nations have fought bloody wars for possession and influence over other peoples. Wars did not subside in the XX century, the lands from the Atlantic to the course of the Dnieper are a springboard for the struggle of the capitalist system with the socialist. Modern history has many examples of the collapse of large states into smaller ones. We present a list of the largest countries in Europe in terms of territory.

The sign "*" denotes an area in accordance with the Constitution and the declared rights to land.

The largest country in terms of area in Europe is Russia. Its area within the declared borders is 17,125,191 square kilometers, including the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, to which Ukraine also claims. An area unparalleled in the world rivals the continent of South America, which is only 715,000 km 2 larger than it.

Astrakhan is the city of the largest country in Europe, located on the border of Europe and Asia

The table does not include countries, a small part of which is geographically located in Europe. For example, Kazakhstan, which has a large area of ​​2.724 km 2. Part of the country (380,000 km 2) lies within the geographic European border. If the Republic were included in the list, it would be on the 7th line, surpassing Germany.

The territory of the Russian Federation does not lie entirely within the borders of Europe. The two parts of the world are separated by a strip of the Ural Mountains and an ancient strait, the Kumo-Manych depression. If we talk about the largest country in Europe besides Russia, which is located in two parts of the world at the same time, then it will be Ukraine.

The declared possession of Ukraine exceeds 600,000 square kilometers. If we take into account the lack of actual control over the Crimean peninsula, the territory of the state in 2014 decreased by 27,000 km 2. Note that the table contains information about the Spanish possessions, which belong to the European ones. Sovereign zones (islands, cities) located in Africa are not counted.

Comparative sizes of the largest and smallest countries in Europe by area

The most big country Northern Europe is Sweden.

The population size is an indicator according to which the size of the state is also determined.

By population

Despite the small area, a number of European countries boast a high population density. Note that demographic policy does not produce positive results. The main social problems of European states:

• low fertility (1-2 children per family on average);
• aging of the nation (as a consequence of the above point);
• a large number of divorces.

Problems are compensated by migrants from Asia and Africa. In order to find out what is the largest country in Europe in terms of population, we have compiled a table of official indicators.

The highest population density is noted in small states, the Vatican and Monaco. Despite the fact that both occupy the last two places in terms of territory, 1 km2 in the Italian enclave, the Vatican, is home to 1913.6 citizens, in Monaco - 16403.6 people.

Germany ranks second after Russia in the ranking of the largest European states in terms of population

The most populous country in Northern Europe, which is not represented in the top 10, is Sweden with a population of 10.005 million citizens.

Europe as a political union

European countries are united in various political, economic and military alliances. The main political alliances are:

• EU Customs Union;
• Council of Europe;
• Area of ​​validity of the Schengen Agreement;
• Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE);
• Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

Map of the European Union showing official and invited members

The European Union is the unification of most of the western regions. As a political and economic association, it has been operating since 1993, uniting 28 members with political centers in the cities of Brussels, Strasbourg, Luxembourg. Uniform customs rules are in effect throughout the territory, borders have been simplified, Single currency- the euro, which has become a reserve.

Among them are 26 territories included in the Schengen zone, which have abolished border controls among themselves.

General characteristics of the territory of Foreign Europe

A number of European states previously formed a single whole with Russia. The USSR included:

• Latvia;
• Lithuania;
• Moldova;
• Ukraine;
• Belarus;
• Estonia.

Foreign Europe developed within different boundaries, betting on the formation of a market economy, a free market, and democracy. Today, it is customary to divide the CIS and the possessions foreign to the union, which are located to the west of its borders.

France, Germany, Great Britain and Italy occupy the leading places in determining the political and economic situation EU. The political agenda dictated by them becomes dominant and is rarely criticized within the association.

conclusions

European states are 47 dominions, united in political alliances. The boundaries of this area are defined in different ways, some territories are part of it. The largest country in this zone of the world in terms of area and number of inhabitants is Russia.

Europe is the part of the world lying in the western part of the continent of Eurasia in the Northern Hemisphere, and together with Asia forming a single continent. Its area is 10 million km 2, about 20% of the total population of the Earth (743 million people) live here. Europe is the largest economic, historical and political center of great importance throughout the world.

Geographical position

Europe is washed by the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, its coastline is highly indented, the area of ​​its islands is 730 thousand km 2, ¼ part of the entire area is occupied by peninsulas: Kola, Apennine, Balkan, Iberian, Scandinavian, etc. along the eastern coast of the Ural Mountains, the Emba River, the Caspian Sea. Kumo-Manychskaya depression and the mouth of the Don.

Main geographic characteristics

The average height of the surface is 300 meters, the highest point is Mount Elbrus (5642 m, the Caucasus Mountains in Russia), the lowest is -27 m (Caspian Sea). Most of the territory is occupied by plains (East European, Lower and Middle Danube, Central European), 17% of the surface is mountains and plateaus (Ural, Carpathians, Pyrenees, Alps, Scandinavian mountains, Crimean mountains, mountains of the Balkan Peninsula), Iceland and the Mediterranean islands are in the zone of seismic activity.

The climate of most of the territory is temperate (the western part is temperate oceanic, the eastern part is temperate continental), the northern islands lie in the arctic and subarctic climatic zones, southern Europe is a Mediterranean climate, the Caspian lowland is semi-desert.

The amount of water runoff in Europe is about 295 mm, it is the second largest in the world after South America, however, due to the much smaller area of ​​the territory, the volume of water runoff (2850 km 3) exceeds the readings of Africa and Antarctica. Water resources distributed across Europe unevenly, the flow of inland waters decreases from north to south and from west to east. Most of the rivers belong to the basin of the seas of the Atlantic Ocean, a smaller part - to the basin of the Arctic Ocean and the basin of the internal flow of the Caspian Sea. The largest rivers in Europe are located mainly in Russia and Eastern Europe; there are also large rivers in Western Europe. The largest rivers: Volga, Kama, Oka, Danube, Ural, Dnieper, Don, Dniester, Rhine, Elbe, Vistula, Tahoe, Loire, Oder, Neman. The lakes of Europe are of tectonic origin, which determines their significant depth, elongated shape and highly indented coastline; these are the lowland lakes Ladoga, Onega, Vettern, Imandra, Balaton, mountain lakes - Geneva, Como, Garda.

In accordance with the laws of latitudinal zonality, the entire territory of Europe is located in various natural zones: the extreme north is the zone of arctic deserts, then there is the tundra and forest-tundra, the zone of deciduous and mixed forests, forest-steppe, steppe, subtropical Mediterranean forest vegetation and shrubs, the extreme south is the semi-desert zone ...

Countries of Europe

The territory of Europe is divided between 43 independent states officially recognized by the UN, there are also 6 officially unrecognized republics (Kosovo, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Transnistria, LPR, DPR) and 7 dependent territories (in the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans). Due to their very small size, 6 states are referred to as so-called microstates: Vatican, Andorra, Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, San Marino. Partially in Europe are the territories of such states as Russia - 22%, Kazakhstan - 14%, Azerbaijan - 10%, Georgia - 5%, Turkey - 4%. 28 European states are united in national association The European Union (EU), have a common currency, the euro, and have common economic and political views. According to cultural, geographical and political characteristics, the entire territory of Europe is conventionally divided into Western, Eastern, Northern, Southern and Central.

List of countries in Europe

Major European countries:

(with a detailed description)

Nature

Nature, plants and animals of Europe

The presence in Europe of several natural and climatic zones determines a rich and varied flora and fauna, which are under the influence of economic activity humans have undergone a number of changes, which led to a decrease in their biodiversity and even to the complete disappearance of some species ...

In the Far North, in an arctic climate, mosses, lichens, polar buttercups, and poppies grow. Dwarf birch, willow and alder appear in the tundra. To the south of the tundra there are vast expanses of taiga, which is characterized by the growth of such typical coniferous trees as cedar, spruce, fir, larch. Due to the temperate climatic zone dominating most of Europe, significant areas are occupied by huge forests of deciduous and mixed trees (aspen, birch, maple, oak, fir, hornbeam). In the steppe and forest-steppe zone, there are oak forests, steppe grasses, grasses, shrubs: feather grass, irises, steppe hyacinths, blackthorn, steppe cherry, and wolfberry. The Black Sea subtropics are characterized by the predominance of forests of fluffy oak, juniper, boxwood, black alder. Southern Europe is characterized by subtropical vegetation, there are palms and lianas, olives, grapes, citrus fruits, magnolias, cypresses grow.

The foothills of the mountains (Alps, Caucasian, Crimean) are characterized by the growth of conifers, for example, such as relict Caucasian plants: boxwood, chestnut, Eldar and Pitsunda pines. In the Alps, pines and spruces give way to subalpine tall-grass meadows, on the peaks there are alpine meadows, striking with the beauty of their emerald greenery.

In the northern latitudes (subarctic, tundra, taiga), where the influence of man on the surrounding nature is manifested to a lesser extent, there are more predators: polar bears, wolves, arctic foxes. Reindeer, polar hares, walruses, and seals live there. In the Russian taiga, deer, brown bears, lynxes and wolverines, sables and ermines are still found, wood grouses, hazel grouses, black grouse, woodpeckers, nutcrackers live here.

Europe is a highly urbanized and industrially developed region, so large mammals are practically absent here, the largest inhabitants of European forests are deer and fallow deer, wild boars and chamois still live in the Alps, Carpathians and the Iberian Peninsula, mouflons are still found on the islands of Sardinia and Corsica, Poland and Belarus are famous for their relic animals from the genus of bison bison, which are listed in the Red Book and live exclusively in reserves. The lower tiers of deciduous and mixed forests are inhabited by foxes, hares, badgers, ferrets, weasels, and squirrels. Beavers, otters, muskrats and nutria live on the banks of rivers and water bodies. Typical inhabitants of the semi-desert zone: gazelles, jackals, a large number of small rodents, snakes.

Climatic conditions

Seasons, weather and climate of European countries

Europe is located in four climatic zones: arctic (low temperatures, in summer not higher than +5 C 0, precipitation - 400 mm / year), subarctic (mild maritime climate, t January - +1, -3 °, July - + 10 °, the prevalence of cloudy days with fogs, precipitation - 1000 mm / year), moderate (maritime - cool summers, mild winters, and continental - long winters, cool summers) and subtropical (hot summers, mild winters) ...

The climate of most of Europe belongs to the temperate climatic zone, the west is influenced by the Atlantic oceanic air masses, the east is continental, the south is Mediterranean air masses from the tropics, the north is invaded by the arctic air. The territory of Europe has sufficient moisture, precipitation (mainly in the form of rain) is unevenly distributed, their maximum (1000-2000 mm) falls on Scandinavia, the British Isles, the slopes of the Alps and the Apennines, at least 400 mm in the east of the Balkan Peninsula and the southeast of the Pyrenees ...

Peoples of Europe: culture and traditions

The European population (770 million) is diverse and ethnic. In total, 87 nationalities are read, of which 33 are the national majority in some separate independent state, 54 are a minority (105 million or 14% of the total population of Europe) ...

In Europe, there are 8 groups of peoples, whose number exceeds 30 million, together they represent 460 million people, which is 63% of the total European population:

• Russians of the European part (90 million);
• Germans (82 million)
• French (65 million)
• British (55-61 million)
• Italians (59 million)
• Spanish (46 million)
• Ukrainians (46 million);
• Poles (38 million).

About 25 million European inhabitants (3%) are members of the non-European diaspora, the population of the EU (approximately 500 million people) is 2/3 of the total population of Europe.

Introduction

Foreign (in relation to the CIS countries) Europe occupies an area of ​​5.1 million km 2 with a population of 500 million people (1995). There are about 40 sovereign states here, linked by a common historical destiny, close political, economic and cultural relations. Foreign Europe is one of the centers of world civilization, the birthplace of the Great Geographical Discoveries, industrial upheavals, urban agglomerations, international economic integration... And although, as you already know, the era of “Eurocentrism” is a thing of the past, this region still occupies a very important place in world politics and economics today.

general characteristics overseas Europe

Territory, boundaries, position

The territory of foreign Europe stretches from north to south (from Spitsbergen to Crete) for 5 thousand km, and from west to east for more than 3 thousand km. Among European countries there are more and less large, but most of them are relatively small.

The economic and geographical position of the countries of foreign Europe is determined by two main features.

First, the neighboring position of these countries in relation to each other. With a relatively small size of the territory, its shallow "depth" and good transport "passability", these countries either directly border or are separated by short distances. In addition, their borders run mainly along such natural boundaries that do not create significant obstacles to transport links. foreign europe economic geographic

Secondly, the coastal position of the vast majority of countries, many of which are located near the busiest sea routes. In the western part of the region there is no place more than 480 km away from the sea, in the east - 600 km. The whole life of Great Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece since ancient times is closely connected with the sea, "daughter of the sea" - so you can say about each of them.

Political map of the region throughout the XX century. underwent major changes three times: after the first and second world wars and in last years(the unification of Germany, the acquisition of independence by the Baltic countries, the collapse of Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, a change in the social system in the countries of Eastern Europe).

In foreign Europe, both republics and monarchies are represented, both unitary and federal states.

Europe is the smallest and at the same time the "closest" part of the world in the world. Its closest neighbor is Asia, and together they form the largest continent - Eurasia. But today the focus is on Europe Abroad.

General information

There are various approaches to dividing Europe into regions. Until the end of the 80s of the last century, in history and geography, the term "Western Europe" was understood as a set of independent European states that, after the end of the Second World War, continued their capitalist development. There were 32 of them, and the countries of the socialist camp - Eastern Europe - served as a counterbalance to them. In 1991, after the collapse of the USSR and the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a new concept “Europe Abroad” appeared.

It unites 40 countries located in Europe, except for those that are part of the CIS.

Geographical position of Foreign Europe

Talking about physical and geographical location Overseas Europe, it should be said that it occupies a rather compact territory on the scale of the globe: its total area is 5.4 million square meters. km. Spitsbergen is the extreme point in the north, while Crete is in the south. The region stretches 5,000 km from north to south and 3,000 km from west to east. Foreign Europe is washed on three sides by the waters of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans and their seas. The coastline is very indented. Most of the territory is dominated by plains, and only about 17% are mountains. Among them, the main ones are the Alps, Pyrenees, Apennines, Carpathians, mountains on the Balkan and Scandinavian peninsulas. V this region four climatic zones dominate, which gradually replace each other from north to south:

• arctic (arctic islands of Europe): the Arctic maritime climate "reigns" here with very frosty winters and cold summers;
• subarctic (Iceland and the northern coast of mainland Europe): characterized by a predominance of the subarctic marine type of climate with cold, sometimes mild winters and cool summers with strong westerly winds;
• moderate (British Isles, most of mainland Europe): there are two types of climate - maritime temperate and continental temperate.
• subtropical (southern Mediterranean Europe): the climate type characteristic of these latitudes is Mediterranean with warm winters and dry, hot summers.

Rice. 1 Regions of Foreign Europe

Regional division

Geographically, Europe Abroad is divided into four regions according to the cardinal points: North, South, West and East. However, recently, in addition to Northern, Southern and Western Europe, new terms have appeared in the use of geographers - Central-Eastern and Eastern Europe. The latter includes Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova and Russia - the countries of the CIS. How many states, and to which regions of Foreign Europe are "credited", is summarized in the following table:

Rice. 2 Modern leaders of the G7 countries

Economic development

Foreign Europe is one of the most economically developed regions in the world. Both in political terms and in the sectoral and territorial structure of the region's economy, there is a variety and saturation. If Europe Abroad is presented in the form of a large four-story apartment building, then at the very bottom will be the countries with economies in transition: Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia. The second and the third are developed countries with market economy: Spain, Greece, Denmark, Norway, Iceland and others. However, their level of economic and social development has not yet reached the high bar of leaders, which include the "neighbors" from the top floor - Great Britain, Germany, France and Italy. They account for about 70% of the total GDP. They are also members of the "Group of Seven" or "G7" - an association of seven leading economically developed countries(USA, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan.

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The leaders of these states gather annually to discuss not only the problems of Foreign Europe, but the pressing issues facing humanity: political, military (general security, terrorism, reasons for exacerbating local conflicts), social (protection of human rights, support and conditions for cooperation with developing countries), environmental (global warming, climate change) and economic (science and finance, market regulation, import and export sizes).

Peculiarities

Among the many features of Europe Abroad, one important thing should be noted - the presence of a "Central Development Axis". This term means the Western European part with a length of 1600 km, which, in fact, is the center, the heart of the Old World with the largest concentration of the population (300 people per 1 km2) and the main branches of the economy. The conventional border of the "axis" originates from Manchester, then "rushes" through Hamburg, Venice, Marseille and returns to Hamburg again, forming a loop in the shape of a banana. It covers a large area of ​​Europe, including the following parts: the regions of Great Britain, the western lands of Germany, the north and south of France, Switzerland and the north of Italy.

If you look at the map of Europe, you can see that on the territory of the "Central axis of development" there are "world centers" - London and Paris, each of which houses about thirty headquarters of the largest corporations. In addition, it is a place of concentration for more than half of all industrial potential Europe: coal and metallurgical enterprises, general mechanical engineering, automotive industry, chemical industry enterprises, the latest high-tech industries, port and industrial complexes and much more.

Rice. 3 “Central Development Axis” of Europe

What have we learned?

The peculiarities of Europe Abroad are under our focus. After considering this topic in geography for grade 10 and grade 11, we come to the following conclusion: a relatively small area on a huge continent is one of the most successful, developed in terms of the quality of life of the population, in terms of production structure, in terms of economic activity and level of technological development. Many factors contributed to this: geographical location, favorable natural conditions, the small size of countries and their close proximity, and much more.

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Foreign Europe, located in the European part of Eurasia, is a community of 40 states that have been linked since ancient times by a common history and relations of a political, cultural and economic nature. It covers an area of ​​five million square kilometers and is home to 520 million people.

General characteristics of Europe Abroad

Europe, occupying significant territory, is divided into relatively small states. For example, a high-speed train can cross Belgium in two and a half hours. Also on political map There are micro-states in the region that occupy a special place in its structure.

The economic and geographical position of Europe Abroad has two specific traits... The first is the neighboring position of states. That is, they can either directly border each other, or be separated by rather small distances - so small that most European trains plying between countries do not have sleeping cars.

Rice. 1. European express.

The second general characteristic of the countries of Foreign Europe is their coastal position. Italy, Greece, Netherlands, Denmark, Great Britain and other states are located near busy sea routes.

The modern political unity of the region, despite individual disagreements, has been formed and maintained since the late 90s of the 20th century and is dictated, among other things, by the features described above. geographic location... Then the Social Democratic parties were at the helm of most states, thanks to which the process of disintegration and unification of countries was completed. Consolidation is also facilitated by the work of the United Nations. At the same time, various types are presented in Foreign Europe state structure- from unitary monarchies to republics.

Natural conditions and reserves of fossil raw materials

The natural prerequisites for the formation of the industrial potential of the region are determined by its geography: the platform and folded parts have a different composition of minerals.

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Thus, in the northern part, fuel and iron ore deposits prevail, and in the southern part, ore deposits of a sedimentary and magmatic nature. Hydropower resources are also unevenly distributed, concentrated mainly in the Scandinavian and Dinaric mountains, as well as at the foot of the Alps.

The region is favorable for development Agriculture, but there is practically no land left in it to expand the farmland. Therefore, many states are working to "reclaim" land from the sea. Many lands are in need of artificial irrigation, especially in the Mediterranean part.

Saying that God created the land, and the Dutch created Holland, the inhabitants of this country are not exaggerating: a third of its territory is land that was once the sea and drained using a complex system of dams and dams. Work in this direction continues now.

Rice. 2. Netherlands.

Forestry is most developed in Sweden and Finland, where there are natural prerequisites for this.

In the characteristics of the economy of Foreign Europe, it is necessary to include a significantly developed natural and recreational complex.

Characteristics of the population of the region

The first and most important characteristic is the slow natural population growth. In the textbook for grade 11, it is noted that the proportion of elderly people in Europe Abroad is constantly growing. The result of this, according to forecasts of UN analysts, will be a decrease in population by the middle of the 21st century.

This leads to the second important characteristic of the population of Europe Abroad: today the share of labor immigrants has increased significantly. Most of them are in Germany, which plays the role of the main region of immigration: of the total labor resources of 20 million people, this country accounts for 7 million labor immigrants.

In Western Europe, there are many countries with a complex ethnic composition, but the most problematic regions for several centuries have been Northern Ireland, Scotland and the Basque country in Spain.

Rice. 3. Coat of arms of Northern Ireland.

The ethnic composition of Europe Abroad, however, continues to remain relatively homogeneous - a significant part of the population belongs to the Indo-European language family. The dominant religion is Christianity, divided into denominations. Due to the influx of migrants professing Islam, a small part of the population of modern Europe is Muslim.

What have we learned?

We found out where Europe Abroad is, what are the main political and natural characteristics region, received a brief description of the raw material potential. Got an idea about the features of the geographical location of the territory, its length. Learned about her internal characteristics, national composition and contemporary issues caused by the demographic crisis and the flow of labor migrants.

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