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Europe has a long history of cultural and economic achievement, starting
as far back as the Palaeolithic. The recent discovery at Monte Poggiolo,
Italy, of thousands of hand-shaped stones, tentatively carbon-dated to
may prove to be of particular importance.The origins of Western democratic
and individualistic culture are often attributed to Ancient Greece, though
numerous other distinct influences, in particular Christianity, can also
be credited with the spread of concepts like egalitarianism and universality
of law.The Roman Empire divided the continent along the Rhine and Danube
for several centuries. Following the decline of the Roman Empire, Europe
entered a long period of changes arising from what is known as the Age
of Migrations. That period has been known as the "Dark Ages"
to Renaissance thinkers, and as the "Middle Ages" to Enlightenment
and modern historians. During this time, isolated monastic communities
in Ireland and elsewhere carefully safeguarded and compiled knowledge
accumulated previously. The Renaissance and the New Monarchs marked the
start of a period of discovery, exploration, and increase in scientific
knowledge. In the 15th century Portugal opened the age of discoveries,
soon followed by Spain. They were later joined by France, the Netherlands
and Great Britain in building large colonial empires with vast holdings
in Africa, the Americas, and Asia.After the age of discovery, the ideas
of democracy took hold in Europe. Struggles for independence arose, most
notably in France during the period known as the French Revolution. This
led to vast upheaval in Europe as these revolutionary ideas propagated
across the continent.
The rise of democracy led to increased tensions within Europe on top
of the tensions already existing due to competition within the New World.
The most famous of these conflicts was when Napoleon Bonaparte rose to
power and set out on a conquest, forming a new French empire that soon
collapsed. After these conquests Europe stabilised, but the old foundations
were already beginning to crumble.The Industrial Revolution started in
Great Britain in the late 18th century, leading to a move away from agriculture,
much greater general prosperity and a corresponding increase in population.
Many of the states in Europe took their present form in the aftermath
of World War I. From the end of World War II through the end of the Cold
War, Europe was divided into two major political and economic blocks:
Communist nations in Eastern Europe and capitalist countries in Western
Europe. Around with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Eastern bloc disintegrated
Political and geographic boundaries in Europe do not always match. This
physical and political map shows Europe at its furthest extent, reaching
to the Urals.For further information see the article Geography of Europe.Geographically
Europe is a part of the larger landmass known as Eurasia. The continent
begins at the Ural Mountains in Russia, which define Europe's eastern
boundary with Asia. The southeast boundary with Asia isn't universally
defined. Either the Ural or Emba rivers can serve as possible boundaries.
The boundary continues with the Caspian Sea, and either the Kuma and Manych
rivers or the Caucasus mountains as possibilities, 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, but Iceland, much
farther away than the nearest points of Africa and Asia, is also included
in Europe. There is ongoing debate on where the geographical centre of
Europe is.n practice, the borders of Europe are often drawn with greater
regard to political, economic, and other cultural considerations. This
has led to there being several different Europes that are not always identical
in size, including or excluding countries according to the definition
of Europe used.Almost all European countries are members of the Council
of Europe, the exceptions being Belarus, and the Holy See
The idea of the European continent is not held across all cultures. Some
non-European geographical texts refer to the continent of Eurasia, or
to the European peninsula, given that Europe is not surrounded by sea
and is, in any case, much more a cultural than a geographically definable
area. In the past concepts such as Christendom were deemed more important.In
another usage, Europe is increasingly being used as a short-form for the
European Union and its members, currently consisting of . A number of
other European countries are negotiating for membership, and several more
are expected to begin negotiations in the future see Enlargement of the
European Union).
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, however,
are more 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. This extended lowland
is known as the Great European Plain, and at its heart lies the North
German Plain. 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.Due to the few generalisations that can be made about the relief
of Europe, it is less than surprising that its many separate regions provided
homes for many separate nations throughout history.
Having lived side-by-side with agricultural and industrial civilisations
for millennia, Europe's animals and plants have been profoundly affected
by the presence and activities of man. With the exception of Scandinavia
and northern Russia, few areas of untouched wilderness are today to be
found in Europe, except for different natural parks.The main natural vegetation
cover in Europe is forest. The conditions for its growth are very favourable.
In the north, the Gulf Stream and North Atlantic Stream warm the continent.
Southern Europe has a Mediterranean climate. There are frequent summer
droughts in this region. Mountain ridges also affect the conditions. Some
of these (Alps, Pyrenees) are oriented east-west and allow the wind to
carry large masses of water from the ocean in the interior. Others are
oriented south-north (Scandinavian Mountains, Dinarides, Carpathians,
Apennines) and because the rain falls primarily on the side of mountains
that is oriented towards sea, forests grow well on this side, while on
the other side, the conditions are much less favourable. Few corners of
mainland Europe have not been grazed by livestock at some point over the
millennia, and the cutting down of the pre-agricultural forest habitat
caused incalculable disruption to the original plant and animal ecosystems.Eighty
to 90 percent of Europe was once covered by forest. It stretched from
the Mediterranean Sea to the Arctic Ocean. Though over half of Europe's
original forests disappeared through the centuries of colonisation, Europe
still has over one quarter of the world's forests - spruce forests of
Scandinavia, vast pine forests in Russia, chestnut rainforests of the
Caucasus and the cork oak forests in the Mediterranean. During recent
times, deforestation has been stopped and many trees were planted. However,
in many cases conifers have been preferred over original deciduous trees,
because these grow quicker. The plantations and monocultures now cover
vast areas of land and this offers very poor habitats for European forest
dwelling species. The amount of original forests in Western Europe is
just two to three per cent (in the European part of Russia five to ten
per cent). The country with the smallest forest-covered area is Ireland
(eight per cent), while the most forested country is Finland .In "mainland"
Europe, deciduous forest prevails. The most important species are beech,
birch and oak. In the north, where taiga grows, a very common tree species
is the birch tree. In the Mediterranean, many olive trees have been planted,
which are very well adapted to its arid climate. Another common species
in Southern Europe is the cypress. Coniferous forests prevail at higher
altitudes up to the forest boundary and as one moves north within Russia
and Scandinavia, giving way to tundra as the Arctic is approached. The
semi-arid Mediterranean region hosts much scrub forest. A narrow east-west
tongue of Eurasian grassland—the steppe—extends eastwards
from Ukraine and southern Russia and ends in Hungary and traverses into
taiga to the north.
Glaciation during the most recent ice age and the presence of man affected
the distribution of European fauna. As for the animals, in many parts
of Europe most large animals and top predator species have been hunted
to extinction. The woolly mammoth and aurochs were extinct before the
end of the Neolithic period. Today wolves (carnivores) and bears (omnivores)
are endangered. Once they were found in most parts of Europe. However,
deforestation caused these animals to withdraw further and further. By
the Middle Ages the bears' habitats were limited to more or less inaccessible
mountains with sufficient forest cover. Today, the brown bear lives primarily
in the Balkan peninsula, in the North and in Russia; a small number also
persist in other countries across Europe (Austria, Pyrenees etc.), but
in these areas brown bear populations are fragmented and marginalised
because of the destruction of their habitat. In the far North of Europe,
polar bears can also be found. The wolf, the second largest predator in
Europe after the brown bear, can be found primarily in Eastern Europe
and in the Balkans.
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