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Physical Geography

Europe has more sea coast in proportion to its superficial area than any other of the great divisions. On the E. its boundary is formed by the Ural Mountains, the Ural river, and the Caspian Sea. The Caucasus, the Black Sea, and the Sea of Marmora separate it from Asia Minor, and the Mediterranean from Africa. To the W. lies the Atlantic, and to the N. the Arctic Ocean. It is distinguishable by the number and size of its peninsulas and islands and the deep indentations of its coasts. Late writers estimate its area, including the islands, at from 3,630,000 to 3,780,ooo sq. m., Ritter's estimate of 3,700,000 sq. m. being probably nearest to cor-

Even a greater difference of opinion exists as to the extent of the coast line, which cannot, however, be less than 20,000 m. The continent extends over 70° long. and 35º lat., and embraces every variety of climate from the hyperborean cold of Lapland to the almost tropical heat of Southern Spain, Italy, and Greece. The extreme length, from the S.-W. coast of Portugal to the Sea of Kara in the N.-E., is 3500 miles; the width, from the most northerly projection of Lapland to the southermost point of the Grecian peninsula, over 2400 m. The vast bulk of the continent proper, including two-thirds of its area, forms an irregular triangle with the Ural for its base, the Caucasus, Southern Russia, Northern Italy, and the Pyrenees forming one angle, while the other might be drawn from the Bay of Biscay to the Sea of Kara. Of the peninsulas the chief are the Scandinavian, Hollandish, Danish, Iberian, Italian, and Grecian. The islands include Great Britain, Ireland, Iceland, Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily, the Balearic Islands, and Candia. Smaller, but almost as well known as some of these, are the Loffodens, off the Norwegian coast; the Faroe, Shetland, Orkney, and the Hebrides, to the N. and W. of Scotland; the Azores, far off in the Western Atlantic; Gothland, Oland, Oesel, and the Archipelago of the Baltic; Elba, Malta, the Lipari Islands, the Ionian Islands, the Sporades, and the Cyclades in the Mediterranean. Nova Zembla and Vaigatch in the Arctic Ocean also belong to Europe. On the N. the Arctic Ocean penetrates 400 m. into the land, forming the White Sea or Gulf of Archangel, with an area of over 40,000 sq. m. The Baltic, with its two great arms, the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland, is almost entirely land-locked, the Skager Rack and Cattegat which form the passage between Jutland and the Scandinavian Peninsula each narrowing down to a small sound or Belt. This vast sea has an area of over 150,000 sq. m., and owing to the number of rivers which it receives and the small loss by evaporation is much less salt than the ocean. The North Sea, or German Ocean, lies between the British Islands and the entrance to the Baltic; and the Bay of Biscay forms a deep indentation on the W. coast of France. To the S. lies the Mediterranean, the "Great Sea" of the ancients, with a length of over 2300 m. and an area of more than a million sq. m. It is entered by a passage-way not more than 20 m. in width, known as the Straits of Gibralter, but soon spreads out to a width of 200 m. The Gulfs of Lyons, Spezzia, and Taranto, the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic Seas, and the deep indentation between Greece and the northern peninsula of Asia Minor, are the most noticeable objects in connection with the Mediterranean. By means of the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmora, and the Bosphorus, communication is had with the Black Sea, 700 m. long and 400 wide, and with an area of 180,000 sq. m. This also is connected by a narrow strait with the Sea of Azov. Of interior lakes there are few of any importance, Ladoga, with an area of 6400 sq. m., being the largest. The Caspian Sea, the largest enclosed body of salt water in the world, lies to the S.-E. The tidal phenomena are perceptible in the Mediterranean, but not in the land-locked Baltic or the Black Sea. Although the continent of Europe cannot compete with that of either Asia or America in the vastness of its mountains or the height of individual peaks, it includes a large proportion of elevated country, with many ranges rising above the snow line. The Ural Mountains on the E. border, Caucasus on the S.-E., and the Carpathians in Austro-Hungary, bound the immense plains of Russia, which stretch from the Black Sea to the Arctic Ocean, and from the Baltic to the Asian boundary. The Alps, covering an area of 100,000 sq. m. in Switzerland, Northern Italy, France, Austria, and Germany, send out numerous spurs, and include the highest peak of Europe-Mount Blanc- 15,732 ft. above the level of the sea. The Pyrenees stretch from E. to W. for 250 m. to the N. of the Iberian peninsula, and send out 4 branches which traverse Spain and Portugal. The Apennines extend the whole length of Italy, and the Balkan range lies between Turkey and the Bulgarian and Moldavian Provinces. On the N. the Alps slope gradually down to the level plains of France, and the valley of the Rhine. Wales and Scotland are both mountainous countries, but with no peaks of any great height; and a range of mountains from 3000 to 6000 ft. in elevation extend for nearly 1000 m. along the Atlantic border of the Scandinavian peninsula. Greece, the Crimea, Corsica, Sardinia, and Sicily, all contain mountains of considerable height, and Iceland, which is entirely of volcanic origin, has in Mount Hecla one of the grandest active volcanoes known, although its eruptions are infrequent. Etna in Sicily, Vesuvius near Naples, and Stromboli, one of the Lipari Islands, are still active volcanoes; and there are others in Nova Zembla and on the island of Jan Mayen .