Virginia SOLs

WG.7a: The student will analyze the characteristics of the European region by

a) identifying and analyzing the location of major geographic regions and major cities on maps and globes;

b) describing major physical and environmental features; 

c) explaining important economic characteristics; 

d) recognizing cultural influences and landscapes.

Essential Understandings

Europe, considered the third-smallest continent, is the western peninsula of Eurasia and is located in the Northern Hemisphere.

Europe is composed of many peninsulas, islands, large plains, and mountains.

Europe’s abundance of natural resources has helped to develop and shape lifestyles and the economy.-

Europe’s cultural landscape has been and is currently being changed by its settlers and by global, religious, and ethnic conflicts. As a result, diversity has increased.

Essential Knowledge

Major regions and countries

• Northern Europe

• • 1. Ireland, United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Baltic states

• Low Countries

• • 1. Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg

• Central Europe

• • 1. France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria

• Mediterranean Europe

• • 1. Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, Balkan states

• Eastern Europe

• • 1. Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Romania, Ukraine

Major cities

• London

• Paris

• Berlin

• Rome

• Athens

• Kiev

• Vienna

• Budapest

Major physical and environmental features

• Part of large landmass called Eurasia

• Peninsulas: Iberian, Italian, Scandinavian, Balkan

• Islands: Great Britain, Ireland, Sicily, Iceland

• Mountains: Alps, Pyrenees

• North European Plain

• Fjords

• Water features

• • 1. Rivers: Danube, Rhine, Seine

    2. Seas: Mediterranean, Baltic, Black, North

    3. Oceans: Atlantic, Arctic

    4. Strait of Gibraltar

• Varied climatic regions: middle to high latitudes

• Effects of the North Atlantic Drift and prevailing westerlies on Europe’s climates

• Reclaimed land: Polders in the Netherlands

Economic characteristics

• Mountain regions: Tourism, recreation, mineral resources

• Areas threatened by air and water pollution because of industry

• • 1. Rivers and canals serving as major transportation links

    2. Oil reserves in the North Sea

• Well-educated workforce: Industrial and technological societies

• Advanced farming techniques, high crop yields, fertile soils, black earth (chernozem)

• Well-developed infrastructure (e.g., the Chunnel)

• Differences in Western and Eastern European industrial development due to differing economic systems in prior years

• Replacement of communism with capitalism in Eastern Europe

• European Union; trade interdependence

• Large role of government in some economies 

Cultural influences

• Birthplace of western culture: Greece and Rome

• Spread of European culture to many other parts of the world (through exploration, colonization, imperialism)

• Birthplace of the Industrial Revolution

• Highly urbanized

• Many ethnic groups with different languages, religions, and customs

• Sporadic conflict among groups (wars, revolutions)

• One of the world’s most densely populated areas

• North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

Cultural landscape

• Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Tower of London

• Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe, Louvre, Eiffel Tower

• Colosseum, Leaning Tower of Pisa, St. Peter’s Basilica

• Parthenon

• Windmills

• Neuschwanstein Castle