Some of Europe's physical features and the difficulty to define the area in a continental way

1. EUROPEAN IDENTITY
IS EUROPE
A
CONTINENT?
AND IF NOT…
WHAT
IS
IT?

2. A. ABOUT THE PHYSICAL UNITY OF EUROPE…
WHERE
DOES IT
START?
WHERE
DOES IT
STOP?
LIMITS - DEMARCATIONS – BORDERS - BOUNDARIES

3. Continent:
(from Penguin Geography
Dictionary)
« a large continuous mass of
land on the earth’s surface, and
surrounded by maritime
areas »

4. THERE IS NO
ACTUAL
DEMARCATION OF
EUROPE AS A
CONTINENT
-THE VAST MASS
OF LANDS IS NOT
SURROUNDED BY
SEAS AND
OCEANS
-ITS LIMITS WERE
CHANGED
THROUGH TIME…

5. In Ancient and
medieval times,
the Don River
was the limit
chosen by
cartographers
Under Peter the
First, Czar of
Russia, the limit
was extended to
the Urals, as its
country wasn’t
integrated into the
magnificent
western Europe
he had visited in
1697-1698

6. Europe’s demarcation line is relatively clear in
- the South (the Mediterranean sea plays the role of a
natural boundary) and the South-West (the Strait of Gibraltar marks
an apparent stop of the continent)
- the North (Scandinavian moutain ranges differentiate
inhabited areas from the Arctic pole)
Yet, many limits are less obvious:
- the West: oceanic limits tend to separate Iceland – Greenland
– or even the British isles... from Europe.
- the South-East (Transcaucasia is so far a mountain range, that
few Europeans call Azeris, Georgians, Armenians “neighbours”)
- the East: Russian and Turkish lands are both European
and Asian; even the riverway demarcation (Don, Volga, Ural rivers)
changed according to the political definitions given

7. B. IS EUROPE’S CLIMATIC IDENTITY BETTER?
OPEN
THEN SEARCH FOR
THE CLIMATE
ZONES OF
EUROPE…

8. ARE CLIMATES IN EUROPE…
-RATHER COLD? RATHER MILD? RATHER WARM?
-HOMOGENEOUSLY DISTRIBUTED?
-REPRODUCING A VARIETY OF CLIMATIC ZONES? WHICH ONES?

9. The 6 major climate zones:
polar or sub-arctic (rainy,
with severe cold winters and
fewer than 4 months over 10
°C);
mountainous (rainy and long
winter on high altitudes);
continental (rainy with
warmest months circa 21°);
continental gradated (rainy
with warmest months circa
28°);
oceanic (rainy with mild
winter and summer)
Mediterranean (windy, with
mild winter and dry summer).

10. Climate as a ___________ is rather good to identify /
differentiate Europe from the other continents.
Climate is in general __________ to its many countries.
Climate is relatively benign, ________ (doux) : it is cool
temperate, with __________ extremes of cold or dry
conditions. This is partly due to the fact that Europe’s
climate is influenced by the warm ocean __________ and
air __________ from the south.
Fill in the blanks with the appropriate words:
currents - common - criterion - mild - masses - scarce

11. Climate as a criterion is rather good to identify /
differentiate Europe from the other continents.
Climate is in general common to its many countries.
Climate is relatively benign, mild (doux) : it is cool
temperate, with scarce extremes of cold or dry conditions.
This is partly due to the fact that Europe’s climate is
influenced by the warm ocean currents, and air masses
from the south.

12. Western and Eastern limits aren’t
decisive natural obstacles
Europe seems to be rather a
« territory » than a « continent »

13. TO RECAP
FILL IN YOUR PHYSICAL MAP
-Don river, Ural river
-Great Plains
-…
Prepare for a test: maps +
quizzes

16. Physical Europe in the future?

17. Source:
https://www.youtube

18. Climatic Europe
in the future?
Will climate
change turn the
temperate zone
into a spot of
disturbances?
http://www.preventionweb.net/english/professional/maps/v.php?id=3833
2003 Projections

19. Climate change itself will relativize the unity of Europe…
Projected impacts from climate change in different EU regions
Source: http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/climate-change/
Is climate
change only a
risk of warmer
temperatures?
Which of these
burning issues
do you fear the
most?
Propose a
radical
legislation on a
European
scale

20. The European area is ill-defined
as a physical place
 A cultural and geo-historical
definition will help answer the
question of European identity