Europe

                          Europe is our common home

Plan.

1.    Introduction.
2.    Passport.
  a)  Aria.
  b)  Recourses.
  c)  Population.
  d)  The largest countries.
  e)  The longest rivers, the largest lakes, the highest mountains.
  f)  Languages.
3)    The origin of the word Europe.
4)    Geographical position.
5)    Boundaries.
6)    Climate.
7)    Countries and languages.
8)    Religions.
9)    History of Europe.

   I`d like to tell you about Europe. Europe is our common  home.  All  the
history is going up from Europe. Europeans had opened  other  continent  and
the European languages are speaking all over the world  today.  It  consists
of 42 countries, such as the UK, France, Germany and others, and  Russia  is
among  them.  Europe  is  the  second  smallest  part  of  the  world  after
Australia. The area of Europe is about 10 million sq. km. The population  is
about 700 million people.  The  largest  countries  by  the  area  are:  the
European part of Russia (4 million sq. km.) and  the  Ukraine  (600.000  sq.
km.). The largest countries by population are the European  part  of  Russia
(100 million people) and Germany (79 million people). There are  some  facts
about Europe.

|Europe.    |Area.      |           |           |the        |           |
|           |           |           |           |Altitude.  |           |
|           |million    |% of the   |the middle |the highest|the lowest |
|Name.      |sq. km.    |dry-land   |(metres)   |point (m.) |point (m.) |
|Facts.     |10.2       |6.8        |300        |4807       |- 28       |

   The longest rivers in Europe are: the Volga (3`530 km.) and the  Danube.
The largest lake is the Caspian Sea (371`000 sq. km.). The highest  peak  is
Elbrus (5`642 m.), the lowest point is the Caspian sea (28 m. below the  sea
level).
   There are much recourse in Europe,  among  them  are:  coal,  oil,  gas,
precious metals and metal ores. For example, today in Turkey there  is  ‘the
golden fever’.
   Europe is named after a legendary Phoenician princess Europa. The Greeks
gave her name to the island  and  mainland  of  Greece.  A  Greek  historian
Herodotos, when writing about the war between the  Greeks  and  Persians  in
5th century BC called all land west of the Bosporus “Europe”;  east  of  the
Bosporus - “Asia”, and so it has remained.
   There is another explanation of where the name Europe  comes  from.  The
Assyrians used to speak “asy” (“the land of rising sun”)  and  “ereb”  (“the
land of setting sun” or “the mainland”).  They  passed  these  names  on  to
Greeks and eventually they become Asia and Europe.
   Europe is a part of the continent of Eurasia.
   There are 42 countries in Europe. Most of them are on the mainland. Some
of the countries lie on islands, for example the U.K., Iceland, and  Cyprus.
Such countries as Italy lie on the  peninsulas.  Europe  is  washed  by  the
Arctic Ocean in the North, by the Atlantic ocean and the North  sea  in  the
West, by the Mediterranean and Black sea in the South.  In  fact  Europe  is
really a westward exlention of Asia.
   There are many mountains in Europe. The best known are:  the  Alps,  the
Pyrenies, the Caucasus and the Urals. Elbrus  is  the  highest  peak  (5`642
m.). There are many rivers in Europe. The most  important  are:  the  Volga,
the Don, the Dnieper, the North Dvina, the Elber, the Rhine in Germany,  the
Seine in France. The largest lakes are the lake Onega and the lake Ladoga.
   Most winds in Europe come from the West. They are wet because they  have
come from the Atlantic Ocean. The arrangement of the  peninsulas,  mountains
and seas allows these wet winds  to  blow  far  inland,  bringing  rain.  In
winter warm Atlantic Ocean current keeps the coast free from ice.  Far  from
the sea, for example in Russia, winters can be very cold. The  Mediterranean
region has warm, wet winters and hot , dry summers. {There is a long  period
of sunshine and clean blue sky in summer.}
   In sprite of Europe is the second smallest part of the world, it is  the
most crowded; 1/8 of the entire world`s people live in Europe.
   Many languages are spoken in Europe. Among  them  are  English,  French,
German, Spanish, Russian and others. The languages, spoken  in  Europe,  can
tell us much about the history of  the  countries.  German,  Dutch,  Danish,
Swedish and English are all German languages. Polish, Bulgarian, Slovak  and
Serbo-Croat are Slavonic languages.  Russian,  Italian,  Spanish,  Romanian,
French developed out of the Latin language. Today European can be heard  all
over the world: English in North America and  Australia,  French  in  Canada
and Southeast Asia, and  Spanish  in  Africa.  All  this  facts  prove  that
European languages are spread all over the world.
   The borders of European states have changed many times. For example, the
states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania became independent states  in  1920,
but in 1940 they became republics of the USSR. In 1991 they  declared  their
independence again. In 1993 two independent republics,  the  Czech  republic
and Slovakia were created out of former Czechoslovakia. These  facts  prove,
that the process of forming the countries still going on.
   People belong to different religions in Europe. In southern  Europe  and
Poland most Christians belong to the Catholic  Church.  In  northern  Europe
the churches are mainly Protestant. Such  countries  as  Great  Britain  and
Ireland belong to the Protestant Church. Greeks, Bulgarians, some  Yugoslavs
and Russians belong to the  Orthodox  Church.  Also  there  are  many  other
religions, such as Muslim, Buddhism and others.
   There are Jews living in most European countries, through few in Germany
and eastern Europe where they exterminated by the  Axis  in  the  Holocaust,
since WW-II  immigrants  from  Africa,  the  Caribbean,  Turkey,  India  and
Pakistan have settled in parts of France, Germany, Scandinavia and Britain.
   So we can see,  that  there  are  42  countries  in  Europe,  people  of
different nationalities live  there,  they  speak  different  languages  and
belong to different religions; but all of them  want  to  live  in  peaceful
coexistence and economic co-operation; that’s why new  institutions  had  to
be set up.
   After World War II a number of countries in Western Europe began to  co-
operate more closely with each other. Then in 1957  the  European  Economic
Community commonly known as the Common Market, was founded by the Treaty of
Rome. The first six members of the European Community were France, Germany,
Italy, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg. Goods  could  be  sold  between
these six countries without extra import taxes and people were free to take
jobs in any of the other countries.
   In order to make decisions and administer the Community, new institution
had to be set up. By 1967 there was a Council of Ministers, a Commission, a
European Parliament and a Court of Justice. The Council  of  Ministers  was
made up of ministers from each country's government. It has the  final  say
on the policies and programmes of the Community. The Commission is made  up
of two people from each larger country and one from each  smaller  country.
They take decisions on routine matters and propose new laws.
   The members of the European Parliament are directly elected by voters in
each member state. The Parliament is able to comment on proposals,  put  up
by the commissioners and influence the budget and it is slowly gaining more
powers.
   The Court of justice has the power to enforce Community  law  on  member
states. {This Court has sometimes overturned a decision made by the British
law courts.} All citizens of Community countries have the right  to  appeal
to the European Court of Justice.
   From l973 to 1986 Denmark,  the  Irish  Republic,  the  United  Kingdom,
Greece, Spain and Portugal joined the Community. So it increased  from  the
original six to twelve member states. In 1987 these  twelve  member  states
passed the Single European Act. This meant that from the end of 1992 money,
goods, services and people could move Freely within the  Community  without
customs and other controls at the frontiers. Any citizen of a member  state
can start a business, hire workers and sell product as  easily  in  another
member country as in his own. Workers are able to use their skills to  find
jobs anywhere throughout the Community.
   For many people the main purpose of the European Community is to  create
a continent whose countries need never go to war  with  each  other  again,
because Europe is our common home.

   In the 1st century AD Britain become Roman province  as  the  result  of
colonises invades in AD 43. By about AD 100 the Romans  had  conquered  many
of the lands that now make up countries of modern Europe,  including  Spain,
France and Britain. However, their power  didn’t  extend  beyond  the  river
Rhine,  because  there  were  German   tribes   whom   the   Romans   called
‘barbarians’.
   Then the Roman Empire gradually split into a western half and an eastern
half (the Byzantine Empire). The West accepted the Pope in Rome as head  of
the Church and called itself Christendom. In  Eastern  Europe  and  Russia,
people were gradually converted to Christianity by missionaries from  Greek
Orthodox Church in Constantinople, the capital  of  the  Byzantine  empire.
From then on the Ural Mountains  were  regarded  as  the  European  eastern
border with Asia.
   As the Christianity spreads at the end of  the  4th  century  the  Roman
Empire gradually split.
   As the Roman Empire declined and  collapsed,  many  tribes  crossed  the
Rhine and moved into Western Europe. By about AD 500 there were as many  as
twenty  different  tribes,  including   Franks,   Saxons,   Visigoths   and
Ostrogoths, controlling particular areas of Europe. These peoples gradually
came to accept the power of the Church and  throughout  Christendom.  Latin
became the official language of church services,  of  governments,  and  of
lawyers and scholars. Educated people travelling across the continent could
easily understand each other.
   The followers of the proper Muhammad, known as Muslim, launched a series
of wars in southern Europe after his death in AD 632.  They  conquered  much
of the Byzantine Empire, without managing to take Constantinople. They  also
invaded Spain and France in the West. Charles Martel (‘Hammer’)  defeated  a
Muslim army at a battle near poitiers in 732 and they  were  driven  out  of
France. But Muslim Moors  from  North  Africa  settled  in  Spain,  and  for
hundreds of years southern Spain was  Islamic,  not  Christian.  The  Muslim
ruled Granada right up to 1492, the year Columbus sailed to the Caribbean.
   In the 9th century Vikings conquered Ireland, England, France and Italy.

   Vikings from the North made trips for  trade  and  adventure  along  the
great Dnieper and Volga River to Kiev, Novgorod and other cities. Kiev  also
traded with Greeks in the  South  and  it  was  from  the  Greeks  that  the
Russians took their Christianity religion. In 988 Grand Prince  Vladimir  of
Kiev was converted to Christianity. Russians adopted an  alphabet  based  on
the Greek rather than the Roman alphabet.
   Gradually, during the Middle Age, people in Western  Europe  who  spoken
different languages began  to  separate  into  nations.  The  first  strong,
united country was Francia (France) ruled over by Charlemagne  (Charles  the
Great), grandson of Charles Martel. England became  a  united  country  even
before the Norman invasion of 1066.
   Later Spain, Portugal, Sweden and other countries gradually  established
themselves. Many German-speaking countries were  ruled  by  the  Emperor  of
Austria, who during many centuries used the title Holy Roman Emperor.
   In the 13th century (12 -  14)  the  Golden  Hora  of  Mongol  -  Tatars
conquered Kiev. Tatars came from  the  Goby-Desert.  Mongolia  occupied  the
countries for two hounded and fifty years cutting it off from important  era
in Europe. The  Russian  people  constantly  struggled  against  Tatars  and
didn’t allow them to come to Europe. Thus Russians gave  an  opportunity  to
develop. {The princess of Moscow gradually beat Mongol - Tatars off  and  in
the 16th century Ivan the Terrible finally defeated the Tatars at Kazan.}
   Between the 14th  and  17th  centuries  great  advances  took  place  in
learning and the arts. Italian artists,  sculptors  and  architects  studied
the writings and ruined buildings of the ancient Romans  and  were  inspired
by the classical civilisation. Their ideas spread all over Europe.  Printing
made it possible for books and pamphlets to be produced so that more  people
had the chance of learning to read.
   Many people wanted to read the Bible in their  own  languages  and,  for
this and other reasons, they split from  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  This
‘Reformation’ was created by Protestant Churches, which became  powerful  in
northern Europe, particularly in  England,  Scotland,  Sweden  and  northern
Germany. Terrible wars between Catholics and  Protestants  followed  in  the
16th and 17th centuries. The Thirty Years War from  1618  till  1648  caused
enormous loss of life and damage right across central Europe.
   At that time in Russia after Ivan the Terrible`s death  Michael  Romanov
became tsar. The Romanov family ruled  Russia  from  1613  until  they  were
overthrown in 1917. Michael Romanov`s grandson Peter I was the  greatest  of
all Russian tsars. He opened a window into West  by  building  a  grand  new
capital Peterborough, where the Neva River meets the Baltic.
   After the religious wars France emerged again as the strongest  European
country, but Britain, her oldest rival began to build an  empire.  In  Seven
Year War Britain defeated France, India and Canada.
   The new inventions  of  the  Industrial  Revolution  were  also  helping
Britain economically. In 1789 the French Revolution took  place  and  France
become a republic.
   After a Revolution a French general Napoleon came to power  and  crowned
himself an Emperor. He wanted France to rule all Europe,  and  between  1803
and 1812 his armies  entered  Germany,  Austria,  Italy,  Holland,  Prussia,
Poland, Spain and Russia.
   Not long after Catherine’s death in 1796  Napoleon  invaded  Russia  and
captured Moscow in 1812. But he couldn’t make  the  Russians  surrender  and
his army had to refreat. Napoleon was finally defeated at Waterloo in 1815.
   During the 19th century most West European countries took over  as  many
colonies as they could.  Britain,  France  and  Holland  built  the  biggest
empires.
   The influence of Europe spread throughout the world. Many Europeans came
to feel superior to all other peoples in the  America,  Africa,  India  and
China. During the l9th century most west European countries  took  over  as
many colonies as they could. Britain, France and Holland built the  biggest
empires. Rivalry between these nations, particularly after the  unification
of Italy and then Germany, led to war between France and Germany  in  1870-
1871 and then to the two great world wars.
   In World War II Britain, the USA, the USSR and their allies defeated the
Axis powers of Germany, Italy and Japan. After this war the USSR  dominated
the countries of central and Eastern Europe, including  East  Germany,  for
over 40 years. It was as if an iron  curtain  had  split  Europe  down  the
middle. While communist governments ruled the eastern  European  countries,
Western  Europe  recovered  from  the  destruction  of  the  war  and  grew
prosperous. As the new institutions of the  European  Community  developed,
the gap between the wealthy, democratic countries of the Community and  the
economically backward countries under communist dictatorships increased.
   In l989 the communist governments lost power in  Poland,  Hungary,  East
Germany and Czechoslovakia. During l989 and l990 free elections  were  held
for the first time in 40 years in Russia. The power of the  USSR  collapsed
and the republics that had made it up became independent states.