Mineral resources of foreign Europe. Natural conditions and resources of Western Europe

The unity and integrity of the Western European region are conditioned by a common cultural and civilizational idea, following the principles that were laid down in ancient Greece. These principles - "conscientious work as a path to prosperity" and "fair competition as a path to self-affirmation" - formed the basis of political, labor and everyday ethics not only in Europe, but also in English-speaking America, Australia, New Zealand and even (with all historical reservations) Japan. These principles are most clearly expressed here and have the deepest roots.

Territory. natural conditions and resources. Western Europe occupies the extreme west of the Eurasian continent (3.7 million km 2). The coastline of this part of the world is highly indented, more than half of the surface is islands and peninsulas. It is surrounded by seas on three sides, and only in the east there is a wide front of land borders with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and in the northeast - with Russia (Finland).

The large indentation of the coast is combined with a strong dissection, mosaic relief. Here, lowlands, hilly plains and old destroyed low (rare peaks over 1.5 thousand m) Paleozoic mountains are widely represented, to which most mineral deposits are confined, as well as young high mountains of the Alpine (or Mediterranean) system, forming the main watershed of the mainland. Here is Mont Blanc (4807 m) - the highest peak of the region. Many mountains are cut by valleys, inhabited and mastered by man, railways and roads are laid through the passes.

In the bowels of the region there are many types of mineral raw materials: oil, coal and natural gas, metal ores (iron, lead, zinc, bauxite, gold, mercury), potassium salts, native sulfur, marble and other types of minerals. However, these numerous and diverse deposits in general do not meet the needs of the region in major types energy carriers and metal ores. Therefore, the local economy is heavily dependent on their imports.

The main part of Western Europe is located in the temperate and subtropical climate zone, has favorable conditions for many industries. Agriculture temperature and moisture conditions. Mild winters and a long growing season in the middle and southern parts The region contributes to the almost year-round vegetation of many crops - cereals, herbs, vegetables. The Atlantic part of the region is characterized by excessive moisture, and the Mediterranean countries are characterized by a lack of precipitation in summer time; in some areas agriculture needs artificial irrigation. The Mediterranean climate is the most favorable for human life.

Soils are very diverse, but in their natural state, as a rule, they had low fertility. In the process of centuries of their use, it was possible to significantly improve their quality. It was in Europe that a system for artificially improving the chemical composition of soils with the help of organic and chemical fertilizers was introduced for the first time in the world.

More than 20% of the territory is occupied by forests, and in most countries (except Sweden and Finland) these are mainly artificial cultivated tree plantings. Their main modern functions are environmental, sanitary and hygienic, recreational, and not industrial and raw materials.

The water resources of Western Europe are plentiful. The Rhine, Danube and other rivers of the plains, as well as canals, are convenient transport routes, and the rivers of Scandinavia, the Alps and other mountain systems have a large hydropower potential. However, the huge consumption of water for the needs of the population and the economy has led to severe pollution of a significant part of the water supply, and in many places there is a shortage clean waters.

The high population density has long contributed to the intensive development and use of the natural resources of the region. Cultural landscapes predominate, but there is also degradation natural environment; environmental problems, especially acute in large industrialized urban areas, deterioration of the state of nature in national parks and reserves, depletion of many mineral and water resources, etc.

Features of development. This region is one of the main centers of world civilization. On its territory there are 24 independent states (with a total area of ​​3.7 million km 2 with 380 million inhabitants), differing from each other in size, state structure and level of socio-economic development, but united by geographical proximity and long-established broad economic, political and cultural ties, the commonality of many features of development in the 20th century ..

Industry. The region's mineral resources are quite diverse, but the reserves of many minerals are small and close to depletion. Large stocks hard coal(Great Britain, Germany and other countries) and iron ore(France, Sweden served as the base for the development of heavy industry in the region in the 19th century. But the modern cost of coal is high due to the difficult geological conditions of mining, and metallurgists now use mostly iron-rich ores from other parts of the world. Brown coal reserves in Germany, natural gas in the Netherlands, bauxite (Greece, France), zinc-lead ores (Germany, Ireland, Italy), potassium salts (Germany, France), uranium (France). An important event was the exploration and start of exploitation (1975) of oil and gas fields at the bottom of the North Sea (sectors of Great Britain and Norway), explored oil reserves - 2.8 billion tons, gas - 6 trillion m 3 .

In general, Western Europe is provided with mineral raw materials much worse than North America, which determines, firstly, the more modest importance of the mining industry than in the USA and Canada, the curtailment of many of its industries, and secondly, the greater dependence of industry on the import of mineral raw materials. from other regions of the world.

About half of the consumed energy carriers are imported. Only Norway, Great Britain and the Netherlands are well supplied with energy resources. The main thing in the energy policy of the EU and individual countries is saving and more efficient use of energy, expanding their own energy base through oil and gas production in the North Sea, and especially the development of nuclear energy and the use of non-traditional inexhaustible energy sources (solar, wind, sea tides and etc.), reduction of oil imports and diversification of the countries - its suppliers. In 1995, Western Europe produced 275 million tons of oil (more than 90% in the North Sea), and consumed more than 550 million tons. Russia. To transport imported oil, a network of oil pipelines has been laid from seaports to consumption centers. The most important of them are: Rotterdam - Cologne - Frankfurt am Main Marseille - Lyon - Strasbourg - Karlsruhe, Genoa - Ingolstadt, Trieste - Ingolstadt Oil refineries are capable of processing more than 600 million tons of oil annually. The first country in terms of refinery capacity is Italy, whose energy is based on oil for 2/3. In the supply of oil, as well as in its processing and marketing of petroleum products in | | local markets, decisive positions are occupied by American and British monopolies included in the international oil cartel.

Approximately 1/3 of the produced gas (total in the region 240 bcm in 1994) comes from the Netherlands (the Groningen field in the northeast of the country) and 1/2 from the North Sea. Importance to meet the needs of the region in natural gas is the implementation of the "deal of the century" in 1984 on the supply of gas from Russia (USSR) to Western Europe. more than 70 billion m 3 of Russian gas is exported here annually.

Coal mining has decreased by 2.5 times since the 1950s (135 million tons in 1994) for many reasons: oil and gas competition, development of better seams, reduction in specific coke consumption in iron smelting, reduction in industrial gas production, competition cheaper coal from the USA, Poland and other countries. It is planned to further reduce the role of coal in the energy sector of the region. The main areas of consumption of hard coal are power plants and coke production. During the post-war years, the geography of coal mining has changed significantly. Now it is concentrated in the UK (55 million tons in 1994) and Germany (62 million tons), and in these countries in the largest basins - in the Ruhr (Germany), Northumberland-Durham and South Wales (UK), while Coal mining in France and Belgium was greatly reduced, and in the Netherlands it was stopped. Almost 3/4 of brown coal production (285 million tons, 1994) is concentrated in Germany, another 1/5 - in Greece.

Western European countries produce 1/5 electricity world, however, in this regard, they are far behind the United States due to the low development of the electric power industry in Portugal, Spain, Greece, Ireland (although Norway ranks first in the world in terms of electricity production per capita).

The power industry in Western Europe differs from the US power industry in the higher role of hydroelectric power plants, which produce about 20% of electricity (in Norway, Sweden and Switzerland - the main type of power plant) and nuclear power plants (33%). The hydropower potential of the region has already been developed; there are many small hydroelectric power stations located in groups on mountain rivers, there are systems of relatively large hydroelectric power stations on the Rhone and its tributaries, on the Rhine, on the river. Luleelv in Sweden and the Duero river in Spain. The main part of the thermal power plant is located near coal mining sites , in port areas (on imported fuel) and near large cities - large consumers of energy. More than 1/3 of all nuclear power plants in the world operate in Western Europe, and in nuclear power France dominates, second only to the United States in nuclear capacity. Nuclear power plants have made France the first exporter of electricity in the region. A dense network of power lines contributes to a wide exchange of electricity between regions and countries.

AT modern structure manufacturing industry the main thing is the production of means of production; The newest branches of mechanical engineering and the chemical industry are developing especially rapidly, while many old industries (metallurgy, shipbuilding, the textile industry, etc.) are lagging behind and stagnating. Western European industry is increasingly specialized in the production of science-intensive and technologically sophisticated products. There has been a convergence of the sectoral structure of the industry of Western Europe and the United States, but the "technological gap" in the industry remains: in particular, the United States is far ahead of Western Europe in the manufacture and implementation of large computers, rocket and space technology. But there are also quite a few industries in which Western Europe surpasses the United States: the manufacture of plastics and medicines, precision and optical instruments, shipbuilding, many types of machine tools, etc.

By the volume of smelting cast iron and steel(106 and 154 million tons in 1995) Western Europe occupies a prominent place in the world (1/5 of production), however, ferrous metallurgy (a significant part of which is nationalized) is experiencing a severe protracted crisis due to a drop in demand for its products both domestically, as well as in international markets. The capacities of factories are used by 50-60%. In order to overcome the difficult situation, this industry is being modernized: many old factories, located, as a rule, in the vicinity of coal and iron ore mining, are closed. The importance of powerful full-cycle plants built in the 1950s and 1960s in seaports (Dunkirk, Taranto, Bremen, etc.) in order to receive imported raw materials is being built. Iron ore mining in the region decreased from 140-150 million tons in the 1960s to 25 million tons in 1994 (Sweden - 20 million tons, France - 4 million tons), while more than 100 million tons of rich ore are imported annually from America, Africa and Australia. Ruhr coals are widely used to produce coke. The first place in metallurgy is occupied by Germany (30 million tons of pig iron and 42 million tons of steel in 1995), followed by Italy (28 million tons of steel), France and Great Britain (16-18 million tons). Major steel exporters are Germany, France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Non-ferrous metallurgy of Western Europe widely uses ore concentrates from Africa America, and only its most important industry - aluminum production (3.3 million tons of primary metal in 1992) - approximately half relies on local raw materials: more than 2 million tons of bauxite are mined annually in Greece . The first countries in aluminum smelting are Norway (0.9 million tons) and Germany (0.6 million tons). Large-scale production of refined lead, zinc, copper is available in Germany, Great Britain, France, Belgium; tin - in the UK.

Leading industry in Western Europe - engineering, which accounts for more than 1/3 of all products employed in industry.

Western Europe occupies a leading position in chemical industry peace; about 1/3 of all chemicals in the world are produced here and more than half of their world exports are born. After the Second World War, for many years the growth rate of the chemical industry far outstripped that of industry as a whole. The petrochemical industry grew especially rapidly, focusing mainly on imported raw materials. Industry enterprises were built mainly near seaports. However, recently there has been a slowdown in growth rates and an increase in crisis phenomena in the petrochemical industry. The main reasons are: reduction in demand for many "traditional" chemicals, restructuring of production technology, curtailment of economically harmful industries, expansion of imports of chemicals at lower prices. Chemicals account for about 20% of the total value of industrial products in the region. Goods of fine organic synthesis are especially important for export. Many countries are characterized by specialization: Germany - dyes and plastics, France - synthetic rubber, Belgium - chemical fertilizers and soda production, Sweden to Norway - electrical and wood chemistry, Switzerland - pharmaceuticals, etc. In the entire chemical industry of the region, the role of Germany is especially high, followed by France and Great Britain.

Difficult times going through light industry Western Europe at the beginning of the 20th century. dominated the world. One of the reasons is the loss of foreign markets due to the rapid growth in the production of fabrics, clothing and footwear in developing countries and the widespread import of these goods, especially outerwear. As a result of the chronic crisis in many industries light industry their importance in overall production is declining. Western Europe retains leadership in the production and consumption of woolen fabrics, products of such "upper floors" of light industry as furs, carpets, luxury sports equipment, expensive furniture and utensils, toys, and jewelry. Here the first producing countries are Germany and Italy. Leading exporters of all types of forest products (including paper) are Finland and Sweden.

Cultivation of soils and artificial increase in the productivity of agrocenoses.

Agriculture in Western Europe as a whole is characterized by a high level of development, high productivity and marketability, and occupies a prominent place in world agriculture; 12-15% of grain, about 20% of meat and 30% of milk are produced here. During the three post-war decades, the technical re-equipment and intensification of agriculture led to the "washing out" of a significant part of small farms, "liberated" 2/3 of the workers from the land and led to an increase in the average size of farms and specialization of production, an increase in labor productivity, and an increase in the importance of agro-industrial complexes.

The growth rate of agricultural production outpaced population growth, which markedly increased the degree of self-sufficiency of the inhabitants of the region with basic foodstuffs; moreover, since the 1980s there has been a large chronic overproduction of food grains, butter, sugar, and many other products. In the 1990s, only tropical agricultural imports were of great importance.

In a crisis of overproduction important influence agricultural development is supported by the EU agrarian policy (“Green Europe” plans), which absorbs about half of all Union budget expenditures. The EU authorities strictly control the agricultural market and product prices, ensure the protection of local production of imports of cheaper goods and encourage the export of surplus products; the quota system is aimed at reducing the scale of production of grain, milk, sugar, wines. Special attention is given to improving the quality of agricultural products, production efficiency, improving the agro-industrial complex, protecting the natural environment, using those unproductive lands that are excluded from agricultural use for planting forests, building and for other purposes. Plans for European agrarian integration are difficult to implement due to the conflict of interests between the largest buyers of agricultural products (Germany, Great Britain) and their suppliers (France, the Netherlands, Denmark).

Under the influence of the integration of the region, the specialization of the countries' agriculture has sharply increased. Not without reason, Italy is now called the "garden and vegetable garden", and Denmark - the "livestock farm" of the united Europe. An outstanding place in agriculture not only in the region, but also in the world is occupied by the Netherlands both in terms of its level of development and the scale of exports of high-quality goods (dairy products, eggs, vegetables, flowers, etc.). In terms of the total value of agricultural products, France and the united Germany are approximately equal, but as exporters of these products to the region, France and the Netherlands are in the lead.

In agrarian relations and in terms of the level of development of agriculture, its specialization and marketability, there are still large differences between countries. While in the countries of Northern and Central Europe the transition to large-scale commercial specialized production has been basically completed (dairy cattle breeding, pig breeding and poultry farming dominate), in the south of Europe feudal remnants in agriculture still remain. Landlord latifundia are combined with small semi-subsistence farms, laborers with allotments are numerous. Here, the levels of specialization and marketability of production are lower (the main thing is plant growing, especially the production of vegetables and fruits), its; qualitative indicators. Everywhere great importance have agricultural cooperatives and land leases.

Socio-economic and natural factors predetermined a more pronounced livestock profile of agriculture than in the USA and Russia; crop production largely serves the needs of animal husbandry. In some countries, fodder crops cover larger areas than food crops.

The most important grain crops are wheat and barley (approximately 45 and 30% of the total grain harvest), corn produces another 12-15% of the grain. Grain yields are on average almost 2 times higher than in the USA (more than 50 centners per hectare), since here the land is used more intensively, more mineral fertilizers are applied. About 1/3 of the grain harvest falls on the share of France - the only one in the region major exporter grains. Western Europe is a major producer of potatoes (the first were Germany and the Netherlands), sugar beets (France, Germany, Italy), vegetables and fruits (Italy), grapes and grape wines (France, Italy, Spain), olives (Spain, Italy), but a modest place is occupied by fibrous crops (flax, cotton).

Animal husbandry has a dairy and meat bias; produces twice as much milk as the US, but general production meat, both regions are approximately equal, with Western Europe differing from the United States in the greater role of pig farming and the lesser importance of poultry farming. A very high productivity of livestock is characteristic; the average milk yield per cow in the EU is 4.2 thousand liters of milk per year, and in the Netherlands - 6.1 thousand liters. Since the market for many dairy products is more saturated, the importance of beef cattle breeding is growing, primarily due to the number of pigs and poultry, as well as the production of beef (with a decrease in demand for lamb), but areas of purely beef cattle breeding are still not typical for Western Europe.

Western European countries annually catch 10-12 million tons of marine fish. The main fishing countries are: Norway, Denmark, Iceland.

Maritime transport has long been of great importance in the life of the peoples of Western Europe; it is widely used for both coastal and intercontinental cargo transportation.

Tourism.

Western Europe is the main center of international tourism, which attracts 2/3 of all foreign tourists in the world. The most visited tourist areas are the Alps and the Mediterranean, which attract people with their climate, picturesque nature, an abundance of historical monuments, and a solid material and technical base. More than 60 million tourists visit the Alps every year, which requires the implementation of special measures to protect the environment. Tourist service is an important sector of the economy of many countries, a source of large sums of money foreign exchange, a stimulator for the construction of roads, hotels and other infrastructure for tourism, trade, and the revival of handicrafts. More than 5 million people are employed in serving tourists in the region; this is the main source of income for many areas and settlements on the “economic periphery”. In terms of the number of foreign tourists and income from them, France, Spain and Italy are ahead; in the early 90s, each of these countries was visited annually by more than 30 million tourists, and receipts from foreign tourism amounted to more than 10 billion dollars. In terms of the number of tourists and the amount of income from them per 1 inhabitant, Switzerland and Austria are ahead. Germany has the largest foreign exchange deficit from the exchange of tourists.

Agro-climatic resources of the region determined by its position in the temperate and subtropical zones. In the Mediterranean, sustainable agriculture needs artificial irrigation, which is associated with a decrease in rainfall in southern Europe. Most of the irrigated land is now in Italy and Spain.

The hydropower resources of foreign Europe are quite large, but they fall mainly on the regions of the Alps, the Scandinavian and Dinaric mountains.

In the past, Western Europe was almost entirely covered with a variety of forests: taiga, mixed, deciduous and subtropical forests. But the centuries-old economic use of the territory has led to the fact that natural. forests have been reduced, and secondary forests have grown in their place in some countries. The greatest natural prerequisites for doing forestry Sweden and Finland possess, where typical forest landscapes predominate.

Western Europe also has large and varied natural and recreational resources; 9% of its territory are classified as "protected areas".

Natural conditions and resources of Germany.

The Baltic and North Seas washing Germany from the north are shallow. The absence of deep-water natural fairways to its largest seaports - Hamburg, Bremen and others - is one of the reasons for losing their competition with the largest ports of the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Italy. The only port available for tankers with a carrying capacity of up to 250 thousand tons is Wilhelmshaven, associated with open sea artificial fairway.

Surface country rises mainly from north to south. According to the nature of the relief, four main elements are distinguished in it: the North German lowland, the Middle German mountains, the pre-Alpine Bavarian plateau and the Alps. The relief of the North German Plain was formed under the influence of repeated marine transgressions and glaciations. The low-lying coast of the North Sea, subject to the strong influence of the tides, is protected by dams, behind which stretches a strip of artificially drained fertile marches. Vast swamps, by now more than 9/10 drained, had a noticeable impact on the choice of railway and highway routes, and on the resettlement of the population.

The Middle German mountains, formed during the Hercynian folding period, have been severely destroyed by now. In general, the region of the Middle German mountains did not create great difficulties either for transport or for agriculture and forestry. economic development, and vast forests in the past and significant resources of ore and non-metallic minerals contributed to their early settlement and economic development. The pre-alpine Bavarian plateau extends from the Swabian and Franconian Albs to the Alps and includes the Danube valley. The relief of the southern, alpine, part of the plateau is of glacial origin, crossed. The Alps enter the territory of Germany only by the advanced ridges of the Northern Limestone Alps; in their middle part - the Bavarian Alps - there is the highest point of the country - Mount Zugspitze (2963 m). Mountain forests, pastures, the beauty and solitude of landscapes, salubrious air and a long duration of snow cover have become the natural foundations for the development of mountain forestry, cattle breeding, resort business, skiing, tourism, and at the same time important factors in the development of this part of the country and attracting people to it. , especially the prosperous.

Climate Germany, located in the temperate zone, is transitional from oceanic to continental. Feature- great variability of the weather, due to the frequent change of oceanic and continental air masses. The severity of winters increases with the distance from the softening influence of the ocean and the height above its level.

European countries (without countries former USSR) occupy an area equal to 487 million hectares, but it contains more than 30 states with a population of almost 500 million people. European countries are very heterogeneous in terms of natural conditions, in size and volume of natural resource potential.

12% of the world's fuel and energy potential is concentrated in the depths of Europe, including 20% ​​of the world's fossil coal reserves; large reserves of metal ores (mercury, lead, zinc and others), native sulfur, potash salts and a number of other types of minerals. But almost all European countries depend to some extent on the import of raw materials, especially fuel and energy.

A variety of minerals are concentrated in the bowels of foreign Europe. Some types of mineral raw materials form rather large concentrations and can fully meet the needs of the pan-European economy (fossil coals, natural gas, mercury, lead-zinc ores, potash salts, graphite, etc.). However, most mineral resources in Europe it is quantitatively insignificant and among them are oil, manganese and nickel ores, chromites, phosphorites. Therefore, Europe is large quantities imports iron and manganese ores, tin, nickel, uranium concentrates, copper, tungsten and molybdenum, bauxite, oil. The need for mineral raw materials for the industry of Europe continues to grow steadily, although the scale of European consumption and processing of minerals far exceeds its specific supply of raw materials.

Europe as a whole concentrates in its bowels about 1/5 of the world's coal reserves, significant resources of natural gas, but Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Switzerland are either completely deprived of these types of fuel, or provided with them insufficiently. Great Britain is compelled to import bauxites, ores of non-ferrous metals; Germany - iron ore, natural gas, oil.

The territory of Europe has favorable climatic resources for growing many agricultural crops. On the territory of Europe, it is possible to grow a wide range of crops of temperate and subtropical belts: early ripening cereals, vegetables and grass mixtures - in the north, and in the south - olives, citrus fruits and even cotton.

The land area of ​​Europe (without water bodies) is small - 473 million hectares, of which 30% (140 million hectares) is plowed, livestock grazes on 18% of the territory (84 million hectares), 33% (157 million hectares) is covered with forests, and the rest of the surface is 92 million hectares (19%) - occupied by settlements, highways, mining, rock outcrops, glaciers.

The modern structure of the use of the land fund of Europe has evolved over many centuries, so it reflects the features historical development economy in this part of the world.

Agricultural development of the territory in the north, in the center and in the south of Europe differs significantly. The highest coefficient of agricultural use (CUI) in Romania, Poland, Hungary, in the east of Germany, Denmark - more than 80%. In the west of Central Europe, there are fewer plowed lands: in the west of Germany and in France - 50%, in Great Britain - 40, in Ireland - only 17% of the agricultural fund. In the subtropical south, where there are few plains, arable land occupies only 1/3 of the land used in agriculture. For example, in Italy, plantations occupy up to 17% of all agricultural land, in Spain - 16%, in Portugal - 14%.

There are few reserves for expanding the area of ​​arable land in foreign Europe, according to the FAO survey - only 6 million hectares.

Natural water is one of the most important and scarce natural resources in Europe. The population and various sectors of the economy use huge volumes of water, and the amount of water consumption continues to increase. Water quality deterioration due to uncontrolled or poorly controlled economic use is the main problem in modern water use in Europe.

The total water reserves concentrated on the surface or in the bowels of Europe are quite significant: their volume is approaching 1,600 thousand cubic kilometers.

The modern economy of European countries annually takes from water sources for the needs of industry, agriculture and for water supply settlements about 360 cubic kilometers of pure water. The demand for water and water consumption is steadily increasing as the population grows and the economy develops. According to calculations, only at the beginning of the XX century. industrial water consumption in Europe increased by 18 times, significantly outpacing the production of the gross national product in terms of growth rates.

The countries of Europe have a fairly high agro-natural potential, as they are located in the temperate and subtropical geographical zones, have favorable thermal resources and moisture supply. But the increased population density characteristic of Europe in all historical eras, contributed to the long and intensive use natural resources Low fertility prompted Europeans to pay attention to the development various ways improving soils and raising their natural fertility. It was in Europe that the practice of artificially improving the chemical composition of the soil cover with the help of organic and mineral fertilizers was born, variants of crop rotation systems and other agrotechnical measures were developed.

Forests cover 157.2 million hectares in foreign Europe, or 33% of its territory. For each European, on average, there are 0.3 hectares of forest (in the world this norm is 1.2 hectares). The long history of the economic development of European lands was accompanied by intensive deforestation. Forests not affected economic activity almost never survived in Europe.

There are 138 million hectares of commercial forests in Europe with an annual growth of 452 million cubic meters. They perform not only production, but also environmental protection functions. According to FAO and UNECE forecasts, European timber production in 2000 will reach 443 million cubic meters.

Europe is the only part of the world where forest area has been increasing in recent decades. And this is happening despite high population density and a severe shortage of productive land. Long recognized by Europeans, the need to protect their very limited land resources and fertile soils from erosive destruction and to regulate flood runoff was expressed in the fact that the environmental protection functions of forest plantations were overestimated. Therefore, the soil and water protection role of the forest, its recreational value, have immeasurably grown in importance.

Europe has a dense water transport network (navigable sections of rivers and canals) with a total length of over 47 thousand kilometers. The network of waterways has reached almost 9 thousand kilometers in France, more than 6 thousand kilometers in Germany, 4 thousand kilometers in Poland, and 6.6 thousand kilometers in Finland.

The most major river Europe - the Danube; it crosses the territory of eight states and annually transports over 50 million tons of cargo. Its drainage basin is climatically and morphologically complex. The section of the Danube in the area of ​​the breakthrough of the Carpathians was the most difficult to pass. In the early 1970s, the Jerdap complex hydroelectric complex was built (a dam, two hydroelectric power stations and shipping locks), which improved the transport capabilities of the river.

The Rhine River, crossing the territory of five states, is the main transport artery of Western Europe. The Rhine and its tributaries pass through the major industrial centers of Germany (North Rhine - Westphalia, Frankfurt am Main, etc.), France, Switzerland, so the cargo traffic on the river exceeds 100 million tons per year.

There is a trans-European system of navigable canals that connects the rivers of the Central European Plain - the Bug, Vistula, Odra, Elbe, Weser.

The industrial level of impact on the mineral resources of Foreign Europe dates back several centuries. The active use of mineral resources has led to the depletion of natural materials.

Mineral resources of foreign Europe in the conditions of industrialization of the region

Reserves of mineral resources in foreign Europe, although diverse, are not large. The distribution of these resources between the northern and southern parts of Europe is uneven. There are ore deposits in the area of ​​the Hercynian folding of the Baltic Shield in the northern part of Europe. The southern part of Europe is rich in igneous minerals and bauxites.

The increased industrialization of the last two centuries has led to a significant depletion of the mineral reserves of foreign Europe.

Rice. 1 Zones of increased industrialization of foreign Europe

Provision of countries of foreign Europe with mineral resources

Deposits of metal ores in Western Europe are unevenly distributed. The Balkans, Kirun (Sweden) and French Lorraine are iron ore mining regions.

Copper, nickel and chromium are predominantly found in Finland and Sweden.

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Hungary and Greece are famous for their bauxites - non-ferrous metal ores.

Rice. 2 Ore mining

Uranium and titanium have their largest deposits in France and Norway.

The richest deposits of copper are in Poland.

Balkan Peninsula, Scandinavia and Spain have concentrated deposits of mercury, tin and polymetals.

Northern Europe is rich in bauxite, which is used to produce aluminium. The minerals of Northern Europe are mainly represented by metals, copper and iron ores.

In the south of Europe, in Italy, deposits of zinc and mercury ores are concentrated.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is rich in iron and aluminum ores.

Nickel ores are actively mined in Germany.

The development of small gold deposits discovered in the UK.

The Baltic countries are not rich in mineral resources.

In Serbia, copper and zinc are found, as well as gold and silver in small quantities.

Rice. 3. Map of the provision of countries of foreign Europe with mineral resources

The variety of mineral resources of Foreign Europe is great, but the quantity is insignificant. The growth of the region's industry strictly dictates the need for this type of raw material.

Table of Mineral Resources of Foreign Europe

Features of the mineral resources of the Scandinavian Peninsula

The countries of Europe were the first to start a large-scale impact on environment. The Scandinavian Peninsula is an exception. The resources of the earth's crust of this region remained untouched until the second half of the 20th century. The small population of Scandinavia also played a role in the preservation of the mineral resources of this region.

Zinc and copper are the main elements used in almost all European countries. The provision of European countries with this type of raw material is covered by imports.

What have we learned?

The mineral resources of the Nordic countries are diverse, but not numerous. The distribution of mineral resources in the southern and northern parts of Europe is uneven and is due to the peculiarities of the structure of the earth's crust.

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The European territory, which is located outside the countries of the former CIS, is usually called "foreign Europe". It consists of four dozen countries connected with each other by a whole bunch of historical and political relations. The territory of foreign Europe is about 5.4 million square kilometers, and the population is more than 500 million people. This area, of course, is one of the centers of world civilization and occupies an important place in world politics. Today we will talk about such a topic as the general characteristics of foreign Europe. Grade 11 school curriculum suggests consideration of this topic. Let's remember what we were taught at school and learn something new for ourselves!

States

The territory we are considering today extends 5,000 km from north to south and 3,000 km from west to east. Among them there are large and medium, but for the most part they are still small. For example, there is a joke that when you enter Belgium, you need to have time to put on the brakes, otherwise you can call in another state. A fast train passes through this country in just 140 minutes. There are many such countries in Europe. That is why in many of them there is no such thing as a sleeping car.

As the general characteristics of the countries of foreign Europe show, they, from the point of view, have two main features. The first of them is the neighboring position of the countries. With small (comparatively, of course) the size of the territory and its small "depth", the states have a well-established system of transport links. The second feature is the coastal position of the main number of European countries. Many of them are close to the busiest waterways. The life of such states as England, the Netherlands, Denmark, Iceland, Portugal, Norway, Italy and Greece has been closely connected with the sea since ancient times.

Throughout the twentieth century political map Europe has undergone significant changes three times: after the First and Second World Wars, as well as in the late 90s. Today in foreign Europe one can meet republics, monarchies, as well as unitary and federal states.

Nature and resources

It was created under the influence of natural prerequisites, namely the composition of minerals. It differs in the northern (platform) and southern (folded) parts of the region. The northern part is rich in ore and fuel minerals. The main coal basins are the Ruhr (Germany) and Upper Silesian (Poland). Among the oil and gas basins, it is worth highlighting the Severomorsky. And among the iron ore - the basin of Kiruna (Sweden) and Lorraine (France).

The southern part of the region is rich in ore deposits of igneous and sedimentary origin. As for the reserves of fuel resources, here they are not as large as in the north of Europe.

general characteristics foreign Europe in terms of energy shows that its resources here are very voluminous, but they fall mainly on mountainous regions, namely: Alpine, Scandinavian and Dinaric. In a large number of countries, resources are already nearly exhausted. The nature of the region allows for active agriculture. The only problem is the lack of land. Small coastal states are fighting it, expanding towards the seas. For example, a third of the territory of the Netherlands was "recaptured" from the sea with the help of dams and dams. locals in this connection they say: "God created the Earth, and the Netherlands - the Netherlands." This is unlikely to be written in the section of the book "Geography" (Grade 11). The general characteristics of foreign Europe, however, cannot ignore this fact.

The region is located in the temperate and subtropical (in the south) zones. In the Mediterranean region, stable agriculture is impossible without artificial irrigation. Italy and Spain mostly suffer from this. The best conditions for forestry can boast Finland and Sweden. No wonder there is a saying: "Finland without a forest is like a bear without wool." are also widely represented here.

Now it's time to consider the next point of the conversation on the topic "General characteristics of foreign Europe."

Population of foreign Europe

The national composition is quite homogeneous. Most peoples belong to the Indo-European family. The dominant religion in the region is Christianity. However, the southern part is also inclined towards Catholicism, while the northern part is towards Protestantism. Foreign Europe is considered one of the most densely populated regions of the Earth. The population density here is more than 100 people per square kilometer. Location is determined mainly by the geography of peoples. In terms of urbanization, Europe also occupies a high position. On average, about 78% of the population lives in cities. There are countries where this figure reaches 90%.

For recent years Europe's population began to grow too slowly. Population decline is observed in 15 states. In addition, its composition is changing - the number of older people is growing. This affected the share of the region in the global mechanism of external migrations. Gradually, foreign Europe turns into a hotbed of labor emigration. There are about 20 million workers from abroad here. 7 million of them live in Germany.

Grade 11 of the school curriculum analyzes such issues superficially, but we will touch on them in more detail. As an integral region, foreign Europe has the world championship in terms of the scale of exports of goods, the size industrial production and development of tourism. First of all, the economic power of the region rests on such countries as: France, Great Britain, Italy and Germany. Over the past decade, the leader of this four has become Germany, whose economy is developing very dynamically. "Workshop of the world" - Great Britain, began to lose ground. Among the other states, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain and Sweden have the greatest weight. They, unlike the "main four", focus on individual industries.

Industry

Leading foreign Europe - mechanical engineering. It accounts for one third of the region's production and two thirds of exports. It's no secret that Europe is famous for its cars. First of all, mechanical engineering gravitates towards big cities, including capitals. In this case, as a rule, each sub-sector is oriented in a certain region of the state.

In second place is the chemical industry. Germany is particularly successful in this direction. Chemical industry region before the Second World War focused mainly on coal (stone and brown), salts (cooking and potash) and pyrites. Then there was a reorientation of the industry to hydrocarbon raw materials. The largest centers of petrochemistry are located in the estuaries of the Seine, Thames, Elbe, Rhine and Rhone. Here, this industry is intertwined with oil production.

Natural gas and oil produced in the fields of the North Sea are sent to different countries through a huge system of main pipelines. Gas from Algeria is transported in methane tankers. Russian gas, which is bought by 20 European countries, also plays an important role.

The next largest industry is metallurgy. It was formed here even before the beginning of the scientific and technological revolution. Ferrous metallurgy is most widely developed in Germany, England, Spain, France, the Czech Republic and Poland. A large share is also occupied by aluminum and non-ferrous metallurgy. Aluminum is smelted not only in countries with vast bauxite reserves, but also in countries with developed electricity production.

The timber industry is concentrated mainly in Finland and Sweden, while the light industry is concentrated in southern Europe. Italy is the second largest footwear manufacturing country in the world after China. And Portugal is considered the main "seamstress" of the region. In most countries, to this day, national traditions for the production of musical instruments, furniture, glass products.

Agriculture

The general characteristics of the economy of foreign Europe were touched upon above, now let's talk in more detail. Most countries in the region are fully self-sufficient in agricultural products and actively sell them abroad. After the Second World War, the region moved from a small peasant economy to a specialized high-commodity one. The main industries - crop production and animal husbandry, spread throughout Europe and are closely intertwined with each other. Natural and historical conditions caused the formation of such types of agriculture: North European, Central European and South European.

The North European economy is common in Finland, Scandinavia and Great Britain. It is characterized by intensive dairy farming, which is served by crop production of brown bread and fodder crops. In the Central European type, the main role is played by meat and dairy farming, as well as poultry farming.

The South European type is characterized by the predominance of crop production. Crops are directed mainly to grain crops, however, the production of grapes, olives, citrus fruits, tobacco, nuts and ethereal plants is considered an international specialty in the southern part of Europe. The main "garden" of Europe - the coast mediterranean sea. Usually each state has its own specialization of agriculture. For example, Holland is famous for growing flowers, France and Switzerland for cheese production, and so on.

Tourism

The general characteristics of foreign Europe cannot do without tourism. Europe was, is and will be the main region of international tourism. Here it is manifested in all directions. The most popular are France, Italy, Spain, Great Britain and others major countries. And in small states such as Andorra, Monaco and others, tourism is a currency-forming industry. The main types of tourism in foreign Europe are mountain and sea.

Transport connection

Today we give a general description of foreign Europe, and without a transport system it is impossible. Europe is inferior in terms of transportation distance to America and Russia, but in terms of the provision of a transport network, it is the leader in the whole world. The density of traffic is very high. The main role in the transportation of passengers and goods is played by road transport. The railway network in most states is being actively reduced.

The land transport network has a complex configuration. It is formed by meridional and latitudinal highways, most of which are of international importance. River routes are also oriented to these directions. The Rhine River plays a special role. More than two hundred million tons of cargo are transported through it annually. In places where land and waterways intersect, transport hubs arose, which eventually turned into real port industrial complexes. For example, it annually ships about 350 million tons.

Western Europe is an example of how huge natural barriers are no longer an obstacle to the transport system. Railway and road routes, as well as pipelines, cross the Alps in all necessary directions. The shores of the Baltic, Mediterranean and North Seas are connected by ferries.

General characteristics of foreign Europe: science and money

In Europe today there are many technopolises that make it one of the world's centers of science. The largest of them are located in the vicinity of Munich and Cambridge. And in the southern part of France, the “High Technology Road” was formed.

Europe hosts the lion's share of the world's largest banks. Switzerland has become the benchmark for banking. About 50% of securities from all over the world are stored in the safes of its banks.

Environmental Protection

The general characteristics of foreign Europe shows that the issue of nature protection is resonant in its territories. Due to the high population density and the active development of industry, Europe has long been faced with a number of environmental issues. Some of them are associated with the extraction and processing of coal. Others - with an abundance of petrochemical and metallurgical plants in major cities. Still others - with an increasing number of cars on the streets. Fourth - with the development of tourism, which leads to the degradation of nature. Well, and so on.

All countries located in the region pursue an active environmental policy. As a result, more and more drastic measures are being taken: the promotion of bicycles and electric vehicles, the active restoration of vegetation, and so on.

Conclusion

Today, the topic of our conversation was a general description of foreign Europe. Grade 11 is a time when a huge burden falls on the shoulders of schoolchildren, so they lose sight of many fundamental things. We reminded ourselves of everything that could have been forgotten, and learned something new on the topic "General characteristics of foreign Europe." Presentation (Grade 11) with the help of this article will be an easy task for any student.

The bowels of foreign Europe contain many types of mineral raw materials: oil, coal and natural gas, ores of ferrous and non-ferrous metals (iron, lead, bauxite, gold, zinc, mercury), "potassium salts, native sulfur, marble and other minerals. However, numerous and deposits of various profiles as a whole do not meet the needs of the region in the most important types of energy carriers and metal ores.Therefore, the European economy is largely dependent on their imports.

The European region is located in a temperate and subtropical climate zone, has favorable temperature and moisture regimes for many branches of agriculture. Mild winters and a long growing season in the middle and southern parts of the region contribute to the almost year-round vegetation of many crops - cereals, herbs, vegetables. The Atlantic part of the region is characterized by excessive moisture, and the Mediterranean countries are characterized by a lack of precipitation in summer period. The Mediterranean climate is the most favorable for human life.

Forests in foreign Europe occupy more than 20% of the territory, and in most countries (except Sweden and Finland) these are artificial tree plantings. Of all parts of the world, Europe is the most "civilized". Only 2.8% of its territory is free from any traces of human activity.

The region has significant water resources. The Rhine, Danube, numerous rivers of the plains, as well as canals are convenient transport routes, and the rivers of Scandinavia, the Alps and other mountain systems have a large hydropower potential.

In Europe (without the CIS countries) in 2017, about 753.8 million people lived (including 100.4 million - residents of the European part of Russia) or about % of the world's population. This is a region of ancient settlement and development, one of the most densely populated in the world: an average of about 100 people per sq. km. km (more only in Asia - about 127 people per sq. km). From a hotbed that gave flows of emigrants to all corners of the world, Western Europe turned into a magnet for emigrants - "guest workers", refugees, residents of former colonial empires. Germany dominates in terms of the number of foreigners.

For foreign Europe is characterized by a very colorful ethnic composition population. More than fifty large and small peoples live here. Most of them have developed in the nation, some are national minorities.

The peoples of foreign Europe speak mainly the languages ​​​​of the Indo-European linguistic family, represented here by three main groups: Germanic, Romance and Slavic. The peoples of the Germanic group, whose languages ​​have similar features, inhabit mainly the northern and central part Europe. They are divided into two subgroups: the western one, in which the Germans, the British, the Dutch, the Flemings, and the Austrians are the most numerous, and the northern one, which unites the Scandinavian peoples.

The peoples of the Romance group include Italians, French, Spaniards, Portuguese, Romanians.

The peoples of the Slavic group are represented by two subgroups: the Western Slavs, which include Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, and the southern Slavs inhabiting the Balkan Peninsula - Bulgarians, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Macedonians and Montenegrins.

The languages ​​belonging to the Indo-European family are also spoken by the Irish, Greeks, and Albanians.

The Uralic family of languages ​​includes Hungarian and Finnish.

Europe is the most urbanized region in the world. In EU countries, the share of the urban population ranges from 63-68% (Southern Europe) to 74-92% (the "core" of the EU). Only in the XX century. the area of ​​urban landscapes has increased 10 times. Only within the EU, there are 36 millionaire cities (of which 14 are capitals). Some of the European capitals have important international functions. In Paris, London, Geneva, Brussels, Vienna, Madrid are the headquarters of major international organizations, including the UN. Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg are the "capitals of the EU", where its leading bodies are located. The embodiment of urban Europe has become the European megalopolis - a giant cluster of cities stretching from Manchester and Greater London in the extreme north-west of Europe through the Dutch Ranstadt (includes the effectively merged Amsterdam - The Hague and Europort No. 1 - Rotterdam) and further through the Ruhr and Frankfurt to Germany, Paris in France as far as Milan in the south. Because of the shape, curved from northwest to southwest, this megalopolis is called "banana". The European "banana" is the world's most saturated metropolis with modern infrastructure. From high speed British railways and London Airport, the Eurotunnel under the English Channel, opened in 1994, leads to the continent, through which a stream of cars and high-speed Eurostar trains move. The journey from London to Paris, which had previously taken five hours, was reduced to three hours. On the continent, this line joins the unified European network of motorways and high-speed railways.