Chapter 1: Europe Objectives
After studying the regional geography of Europe, you should be able to:
Identify Europe's remarkable geographic properties that propelled this modestly-sized corner of the world into international prominence and advanced economic development.
Understand Europe's broad physical geography, especially its subdivisioning into four major physiographic regions.
Appreciate the rich historical heritage of European society, whose modern foundation rests upon numerous economic and political revolutions.
Discern the current geographic dimensions of the realm, including the problems faced by overindustrialized areas in a new postindustrial age.
Understand the six-decade-long trend toward greater European unification, the recent progress that has been made, and the challenges faced by the European Union in consolidating its gains and overcoming forces that would drive it apart.
Name the five regions of Europe, and the countries they contain.
Understand such basic politico-geographical concepts as nation-state, devolution, centripetal/centrifugal forces, irredentism, balkanization, ethnic cleansing, and supranationalism.