The Physical Geography of Europe and Russia

1. The Physical Geography of Europe and Russia

2. Landforms(4 major regions): • Northwest Highlands:rugged hills & low mountains, Iberian Peninsula is part of this (fjords) • Northern European Plain: broad coastal plain (from coast of France to Urals) • Central Uplands: hills, small plateaus & fertile valleys • Alpine Mountains System: includes a series of ranges that stretch across Europe

3. Mountain Ranges: • Alpine Mountain System – across southern Europe to the Balkan Peninsula • Ranges such as the Alps, Apennines, Pyrenees, and Carpathians make-up this system (cover most of Switzerland and Austria – parts of Italy and France).

4. Mountain Ranges: • Ural Mountains • Divide the region • Areas west are part of Europe, to the east, Asia

5. Peninsulas: • The Northern Peninsulas: • Scandinavian Peninsula = Norway and Sweden • Fjords: long, steep-sided glacial valley now filled by seawater • Jutland = Denmark

6. Peninsulas (cont.): • The Southern Peninsulas: • Iberian Peninsula = Spain and Portugal (semi-arid plateau) • Apennine Peninsula = Italy (mountainous) • Balkan Peninsula = former Yugoslav republics, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey - very mountainous

7. Scandinavian Peninsula

8. Iberian Peninsula Apennine Peninsula

9. Major Water Features: • Mediterranean Sea: lies to the south of Europe (connected to the Black Sea and Bosporus) • North Sea: along the shores of northern Europe (south of the Scandinavian Peninsula & northeast of the British Isles) – key for trading and fishing • Atlantic Ocean: lies to the west of the European continent

10. Water Features:

11. Rivers: • Rhine – most important river in western Europe – flows from Switzerland to the North Sea • Danube – flows 1,776 miles from Germany to the Black Sea • Thames – allows oceangoing ships to reach the port of London • Rhone – runs through Switzerland and France towards Lake Geneva

12. Rivers of the Region: The Rhone The Danube near the Romanian – Siberian border The River Thames

13. The Volga River: • Located in the southwestern part of Russia near Volgograd • South flowing river • Plays a major role in the shipping industry as well as a source of hydroelectric power

14. Siberia: • is a vast region on the eastern and North-Eastern part of Russia • It extends eastward from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, and southward from the Arctic Ocean to the hills of north-central Kazakhstan and the national borders of both Mongolia and China

15. Siberia: