The mountains of Europe form several distinct groups or systems of very different geological dates, the loftiest mountain masses being in the south central region. The Scandinavian mountains in the north-west, to which the great northern peninsula owes its form, extend above 900 miles from the Arctic Ocean to the south point of Norway. The highest summits are about 2450 metres. The Alps, the highest mountains in Europe (unless MountElbruz in the Caucasus is claimed as European), extend from the Mediterranean first in a northerly and then in an easterly direction, and attain their greatest elevation in Mont Blanc (4810 metres), Monte Rosa, and other summits. Branching off from the Alps, though not geologically connected with them, are the Apennines, which run south-east through Italy, constituting the central ridge of the peninsula. The highest summit is Monte Corno (2908 metres). MountVesuvius, the celebrated volcano in the south of the peninsula, is quite distinct from the Apennines. By south-eastern extensions the Alps are connected with the Balkan and the Despoto-Dagh of the south-eastern peninsula of Europe.
Among the mountains of South-western Europe are several massive chains, the loftiest summits being in the Pyrenees, and in the Sierra Nevada in the south of the Iberian Peninsula. The highest point in the former, La Maladetta or Mont Maudit, has an elevation of 3403 metres; Mulahacen, in the latter, is 3567 metres, and capped by perpetual snow. West and north-west of the Alps are the Cevennes, Jura, and Vosges; north and north-east, the Harz, the Thuringerwald Mountains, the Fichtelgebirge, the Erzgebirge and Bohmerwaldgebirge. Further to the east the Carpathianchain incloses the great plain of Hungary, attaining an elevation of 2440 or 2590 metres.
A great part of northern and eastern Europe is level. The great plain of North Europe occupies part of France, Western and Northern Belgium, Holland, the northern provinces of Germany, and the greater part of Russia. A large portion of this plain, extending through Holland and North Germany, is a low sandy level not unfrequently protected from inroads of the sea only by means of strong dykes. The other great plains of Europe are the plain of Lombardy (the most fertile district in Europe) and the plain of Hungary. Part of Southern and South-eastern Russia consists of steppes.
The main European watershed runs in a winding direction from south-west to north-east, at its northeastern extremity being of very slight elevation. From the Alpsdescend some of the largest of the European rivers, the Rhine, the Rhone, and the Po, while the Danube, a still greater stream, rises in the Black Forest north of the Alps. The Volga, which enters the Caspian Sea, an inland sheet without outlet, is the longest of European rivers, having a direct length of nearly 2720 km, including windings 3840 km. Into the Mediterranean flow the Ebro, the Rhone, and the Po; into the Black Sea, the Danube, Dnieper, Dniester, and Don (through the Sea of Azov); into the Atlantic, the Guadalquivir, the Guadiana,, the Tagus, and Loire; into the English Channel, the Seine; into the North Sea, the Rhine, Elbe; into the Baltic, the Oder, the Vistula, and the Duna; into the Arctic Ocean, the Dwina.
The lakes of Europe may be divided into two groups, the southern and the northern. The former run along both sides of the Alps, and among them, on the north side, are the lakes of Geneva, Neuchatel, Thun, Lucerne, Zurich, and Constance; on the south side, Lago Maggiore, and the lakes of Como, Lugano, Iseo, and Garda. The northern lakes extend across Sweden from west to east, and on the east side of the Baltic a number of lakes, stretching in the same direction across Finland on the borders of Russia, mark the continuation of the line of depression. It is in Russia that the largest European lakes are found - LakesLadoga and Onega.
The geological features of Europe are exceedingly varied. The older formations prevail in the northern part as compared with the southern half and the middle region. North of the latitude of Edinburgh and Moscow there is very little of the surface of more recent origin than the strata of the Upper Jura belonging to the mesozoic period, and there are vast tracts occupied either by eruptive rocks or one or other of the older sedimentary formations. Denmark and the portions of Germany adjoining belong to the Cretaceous period, as does also a large part of Russia between the Volga and the basin of the Dnieper. Middle and Eastern Germany with Poland and the valley of the Dnieperpresent on the surface Eocene formations of the tertiary period. The remainder of Europe is remarkable for the great diversity of its superficial structure, rocks and deposits belonging to all periods being found within it, and having for the most part no great superficial extent. Europe possesses abundant stores of those basic minerals which are of most importance to industry, such as coal, gas and iron, Britain long being particularly favoured in respect of coal and iron, though by the end of the 20th century Britain's iron, coal and tin mineral wealth had been exhausted. Coal and iron were also traditionally obtained in France, Belgium, Germany and Poland. Gold is found to an unimportant extent, and silver is widely spread in small quantities. The richest silver ores are in Norway, Spain, the Erzgebirge, and the HarzMountains. Spain is also rich in quicksilver. Copper ores are abundant in the UralMountains, Thuringia, Cornwall, and Spain. Tin ores were found in Cornwall until the 1980s, and in the Erzgebirge, and Brittany.
Several circumstances concur to give Europe a climate peculiarly genial, such as its position almost wholly within the temperate zone, and the great extent of its maritime boundaries. Much benefit is also derived from the fact that its shores are exposed to the warm marine currents and warm winds from the south-west, which prevent the formation of ice on most of its northern shores. The eastern portion has a less favourable climate than the western. The extremes of temperature are greater, the summer being hotter and the winter colder, while the lines of equal mean temperature decline south as we go east. The same advantages of mild and genial temperature which western has over eastern Europe, the continent collectively has over the rest of the Old World.
Europe is occupied by several different peoples or races, in many parts now greatly intermingled. The Celts once possessed the west of Europe from the Alps to the British Islands. But the Celtic nationalities were broken by the wave of Roman conquest, and the succeeding invasions of the Germanic tribes completed their political ruin. At the present day the Celtic language is spoken only in the Scotch Highlands (Gaelic), in some parts of Ireland (Irish), in Wales (Cymric), and in Brittany (Armorican).
Next to the Celtic comes the Teutonic race, comprehending the Germanic and Scandinavian branches. The former includes the Germans, the Dutch, and the English. The Scandinavians are divided into Danes, Swedes, and Norwegians. To the east, in general, of the Teutonic race, though sometimes mixed with it, come the Slavonians, that is, the Russians, the Poles, the Czechs or Bohemians, the Servians, Croatians, etc. In the south and south-east of Europe are the Greek and Latin peoples, the latter comprising the Italians, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. All the above peoples are regarded as belonging to the Indo-European or Aryan stock.
To the Mongolian stock belong the Turks, Finns, Lapps, and Magyars or Hungarians, all immigrants into Europe in comparatively recent times. The Basques at the western extremity of the Pyrenees are a people whose affinities are debated. Research Europe
Abbreviations
Gazetteer
Research Europe