Hey explorers, Bryan here. So we've been discussing the kind of wishy-washy way
in which we've been defining what Europe is and where Europe is, but today finally
we're going to be well just about as wishy-washy. Just as Europe's formal regions
are largely defined by people's perceptions and Europe's functional regions based on people's
perceptions changing greatly over time, Europe's perceptual regions are based, on you guessed it,
perception. But with those perceptions comes something of an organizational structure from
which to look more deeply at the rest of Europe, and we're going to break it all down based on
chunks or locations where countries, peoples climate, and cultures connect. So let's go!
Europe's perceptual regions. Broadly most geographers break Europe down into two big areas:
Western Europe and Eastern Europe. This distinction is almost exclusively based upon the
conflict in the mid to late 20th century called The Cold War, a political and sometimes physical
conflict between the Soviet Union representing the east and countries aligned with the United
States representing the west. Not only are those areas huge, but The Cold War eventually ended.
Additionally, west and east Europe have some connections, but so many distinctions
exist that it's much better for us and much more accurate for Europe to break it down in two ways.
First, we'll look at common physical geography to make distinctions and then we'll look at cultural
perception to guide the rest of our study. Physical regions: Western Uplands and Northern
Highlands. We begin to the north and west where a series of high plateaus cover most of Scandinavia,
we'll talk about that in just a bit, all the way down to Brittany in coastal France and
down further through northern Portugal. To the north you have a primarily tundra climate as you
would expect that far north where the remains of ancient glaciers still for the present
remain. For the rest, these are areas of hard rock primarily granite or rock
similar to it which were carved by glaciers. As we've discussed before glaciation can carve
all types of deep valleys and fissures leaving behind pockmarked and deeply rutted landscapes.
As these glaciers retreated and melted, they left behind the marshland and swamplands of Ireland,
England, and the low areas of the Netherlands. Additionally, the hundreds of small rocky
islands in between Scotland, Scandinavia, and the Arctic are products of glaciation in this region.
Physical Regions: Northern European Plain. Stretching from southern England all the way
across north central Europe into western Russia and Belarus, the northern European plain is
the breadbasket of Europe. This region contains numerous large navigable rivers and is the most
densely populated region of Europe, especially in the western Russian region where four-fifths of
Russia's population, or about 110 million people, live west of the euro mountains on this plain.
Physical Regions: Central Uplands. Hilly and somewhat mountainous, but not anywhere near
as much as the Alps mountains, the central uplands stretch from western France through
southern Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Switzerland. This region is famous for its dense
forest and this part of Europe is only densely populated around river valleys of the region.
Physical Regions: Alpine Mountains. This region covers multiple mountain ranges stretching from
western France all the way through to the Balkans region. These high, steep sided,
and rugged mountains are carved by glaciation push through tectonic activity and in some spots driven
by volcanism. We'll talk quite a bit more about this in the lesson Europe: So Many Mountains.
Physical Regions: Mediterranean Coast. Stretching from the strait of Gibraltar through the Greek
Archipelago and beyond, the Mediterranean coast is famous for its beaches and dry warm climate
for which any region around the world with a similar climate is also called Mediterranean.
Cultural Perceptual Regions. Now let's switch gears and discuss Perceptual regions of Europe
based on common historical, economic, and cultural connections. Cultural Perceptual Regions: Western
Europe. Okay, I know we mentioned this region earlier, but this is the smaller more bite-sized
version and one which is connected a little bit better than the whole west side of Europe.
Western Europe is comprised of the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and
many maps and geographers also include France for its historic connections with England, Scotland
and the low countries, a common name for the other three we mentioned due to their lower elevation.
For our purposes we're going to put France in the south and talk about the others here. England,
Ireland, Scotland, and Wales are all on the British Isles and have long been defined by
their connections with England, and most of the time their adversarial relationship with it.
The other three countries Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg are commonly referred
to as the BeNeLux and formed a common economic partnership in the 1940s which later provided the
basis for the structure of the European Union. And this partnership seems to have worked incredibly
well as this region is defined as one of the wealthiest places in the world with Luxembourg
having the third highest GDP per capita on earth at about $115, 874 (U.S.) per person as of 2020.
Cultural Perceptual Regions: Northern Europe. Made up of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland,
and Iceland, this region is often referred to as Scandinavia, though the actual region bearing
this title is just the Scandinavian peninsula. Greenland is also commonly included in this
area due to its cultural connections with Norway having been settled by Rric the Red in 877 C.E.,
though Greenland is often also connected to North America. Most of the region is marked
by high technology companies such as Nokia and also the origin of the bluetooth technology
which was named for Harold Bluetooth, a legendary king of Denmark who brought the kingdoms of
Denmark and Norway together under christianity. This bringing together is the reason for the
Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson to name its device pairing technology bluetooth.
Cultural Perceptual Regions: Eastern Europe. The countries of Russia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia,
Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are identified as eastern Europe.
Many of these are both correctly and incorrectly identified as Slavic countries denoting a people
group called Slavs which inhabit the area, but are not the only people group of the region.
With that idea in mind, the area between the Black and Caspian Seas called Trans Caucasus
or Transcaucasia, which means the land beyond the Caucasus mountains, including Georgia,
Armenia and Azerbaijan have a much more varied history when it comes to people groups,
namely Georgians, Armenians and Azeries which are each unique people groups of Turkic backgrounds.
As mentioned before, most of these countries were closely associated with the Soviet Union. After
its fall, many countries in the region which were only producing one thing for the Union struggled
to connect in a global capitalist economic system. Cultural Perceptual Regions: Central Europe. Made
up of the countries of Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Slovakia,
the Czech Republic, and Slovenia. Central Europe is characterized by history of conflict. In short,
Germany, which takes up the central portion of this central region, has either been dominated
by or dominated many parts of the other countries in this region up through world war II. The legacy
of fascist and then soviet governments in many of these countries in the 20th century
also defined the idea of a divided central Europe, which pervaded long beyond the fall of these
governments as well and for a time complicated the legacy of this area. Cultural Perceptual Regions:
Southwestern Europe. Comprising the countries of Portugal, Spain, France, Andorra, Monaco,
Italy, San Marino, Vatican City, and Malta southwest Europe is largely defined by its sunny,
Mediterranean climate. Additionally, with the inclusion of Spain, Portugal and Vatican City,
the seat or headquarters of the roman catholic church, this region is also heavily connected to
the conquest and colonization of Latin America. Also the country of France, one of the most
influential countries in European history, has a cultural and legacy connection to the Greek and
Roman world with its Mediterranean coast and long settled areas. For example, the southern French
port of Marseille was originally settled by Greeks in at least 600 BCE. These countries also share
a close connection to North Africa, both for its connection with the former roman empire but also
with the various peoples of islamic faith who conquered areas of southern Europe, particularly
Spain in the 700s CE and left behind a stunning architectural legacy. Cultural Perceptual Regions:
Southeastern Europe. Long associated with the beginnings of western civilization,
the countries of Greece, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro,
Kosovo, Moldova, and Turkey comprise much more than just the Athens which everyone knows.
Defined by karst topography, or a limestone landscape etched by water with sharp peaks
and deep narrow valleys, the physical geography is a representation of the political reality
of these countries. Continuously divided and difficult to reach.
In fact the area is so known for its continuous breakups and changing alliances that the
geopolitical term for an area to rapidly divide into warring groups is Balkanization, after the
Balkan Peninsula which is itself a hotly contested definition found here. Conclusion. The continent
of Europe is defined by so many perceptions that it's sometimes hard to keep them apart or to find
a good way to define Europe itself. As we've looked over the region of Europe, we've defined
it largely by other people's perceptions and as we continue our study, you'll see those perceptions
in action with cultural, political, and economic decisions. Until next time, keep exploring.