PART III.

POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY.

EUROPE.

1. Boundaries.-North, the Arctic Ocean; West, the Atlantic; South, the Strait of Gibraltar, the Mediterranean, Sea of Marmora, Black Sea, and Mount Caucasus; East, the Caspian Sea, the River Ural, the Ural Mountains, and the River Kara.

Continental Europe lies between the parallels of 36° 1' and 71° 5' N., and between the meridians of 9° 32′ W., and 60° 50′ E.; it occupies 35° 4' of lat. and 70° 22′ of lon., and with the exception of Lapland and part of the government of Arkhangel, is wholly inIcluded within the north temperate zone. But insular Europe, including Iceland, Spitzbergen, the Azores, Candia, &c., embraces a much larger area—viz., from lat. 34° 55′ (Candia) to 80° 48′ (Spitzbergen), and from lon. 31° 16′ W. (Azores) to 60° 50′ E. (Ural Mountains),--being in all 45° 53′ of lat. and 92° 6' of lon.

Grodno, in Russia, in the centre of the continent, is nearly in the same' latitude as the centre of Ireland, the south of Labrador, the north of Lake Winnipeg, and Queen Charlotte Island, and as Tula, Uralsk, and the middle of Lake Baikal; and nearly in the same longitude as Hammerfest, Tornea, Riga, Lemberg, Klausenburg, Athens, and the east side of Tripoli and Cape Colony. The south-east corner of Sweden is the centre of insular Europe.

2. Form, Dimensions, and Extreme Points.-Europe is an immense peninsula jutting out from Western Asia, and broken up into a great number of smaller peninsulas, the principal of which are:The Scandinavian, between the Baltic and Atlantic; the Danish, between the Baltic and North Sea; Brittany, between the English Channel and Bay of Biscay; the Spanish, between the Atlantic and Mediterranean; the Italian, between the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian Sea; the Hellenic Peninsula and the Morea, between the Adriatic and the Egean and Black seas.

E

All these, with the single exception of the Danish, stretch out in a southerly direction, and have mountain-ranges occupying their entire length. This remarkable law holds good with almost all the peninsulas of the globe.

The extreme length of Europe, from Cape St Vincent in Portugal to Orsk in the Ural Mountains, is 3400 miles; extreme breadth, from North Cape in Lapland to Cape Matapan in Greece, 2450 miles. Cape Nordkyn in Norway is the most northern point of the continent; Punta da Tarifa, near Gibraltar, the most southern; Cabo da Roca, in Portugal, the most western; and the Urals, in Perm, the most eastern.

3. Coast Line-Owing to its peculiar form and numerous deep indentations, the coast line greatly exceeds in proportion that of every other continent. It is estimated at 17,000 miles, being one mile of coast to every 220 miles of surface; while Asia has only one to every 550 miles; Africa, one to every 710; and America, one to every 490. It is in a great measure owing to this peculiarity of surrendering herself to the ocean that Europe owes her high civilisation and unrivalled commercial prosperity.

4. Area, 3,805,800 square miles, including the islands. If we reckon the area of Oceanica at 4,500,000 square miles, Europe is the smallest of the six great divisions of the globe; occupying only of its land surface, or of its entire area. It is fortytwo times the size of Great Britain-while Russia occupies more than a half of its area.

5. Population, 265,417,785, according to the latest edition of the Physical Atlas, published in 1856-7. It is greatly more populous than any other continent, having 70 inhabitants for each square mile, and comprises about one-fourth of the population of the globe.

6. Political Divisions.-Europe contains 80 independent States, of which 30 belong to Germany, and 25 to Switzerland. There are 4 Empires, 16 Kingdoms (including the Papal States), 1 Electorate, 6 Grand-Duchies, 10 Duchies, 9 Principalities, 1 Landgraviate, and 33 Republics.

Great Britain, France, Austria, Russia, and Prussia, are called the five Great Powers, because they exercise a decided influence on the policy of their neighbours; those of the second rank are Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain, and Turkey; those of the third, Belgium, Denmark, Portugal, Sardinia, Naples, Saxony, Bavaria, and Switzerland; the smaller States of Germany and Italy are dependent on the larger ones, and in many cases owe their existence to the mutual jealousies of their more powerful neighbours. In the following table we omit for the sake of brevity all the Swiss Republics, together with 20 of the smaller German States, and refer the student to the complete lists given under these countries.

7. Isthmuses.-Isthmus of Corinth, connecting the Morea with Northern Greece; Isthmus of Perekop, connecting the Crimea with the mainland of Russia. The other isthmuses, though numerous, have no distinctive names.

8. Capes. Owing to its peninsular character, the capes and headlands of Europe are extremely numerous.

In the Arctic Ocean: C. Nordkyn, in Finmark, the most northern point of the continent (lat. 71° 5'); North Cape in I. Mageröe; C. Jelania, north-east of Novaia Zemlia; Point Look-out, south of Spitzbergen; C. Nord, north-west of Iceland.

In the Baltic: The Naze, south of Norway; Skaw, north of Denmark; Hango Point, south-west of Finland; C. Domesnes, north of Courland. In North Sea and Atlantic: Sumburgh Head, south of Shetland; Dennis Ness, north of Orkney; Dunnet Head, Duncansby Head, and Cape Wrath, north of Great Britain; Buchanness the most eastern, Point of Ardnamurchan the most western, and Mull of Galloway the most southern points of Scotland; Lowestoft Ness the most eastern, South Foreland the most south-eastern, Lizard Point the most south-western, and Land's End the most western points of England; St David's Head in the southwest, and Holyhead in the north-west of Wales; Malin Head in the north, Fair Head in the north-east, Carnsore Point in the south-east, C. Clear in the extreme south, and Dunmore Head in the extreme west of Ireland; Capes Gris-Nez, Barfleur, La Hague, in the English Channel ; Raz Point, the extreme north-west of France; Capes Ortegal and Finisterre, north-west of Spain; Cabo da Roca, in Portugal, the most western point of the continent; C. St Vincent, south-west of Portugal; Pt. Albernos, in the Azores, the most western point of insular Europe.

In the Mediterranean: Punta da Tarifa in Spain, the most southern point of the continent; Capes de Gata, Palos, St Martin, Creux, east of Spain; Corso, north of Corsica; Teulada, south of Sardinia; Passaro, S. Vito, and Rasolcomo, the three extremities of Sicily; Spartivento, Nau, and di Leuca, south of Naples; Otranto and Gargano, east of Naples; Promontore, south of Austria; Matapan, south of Greece; Matala (Crete), the most southern point of insular Europe; Chersonese, south-west of Crimea; Abcheran, in the Caspian, the eastern extremity of Mount Caucasus.

9. Islands. Very numerous, and best arranged in groups or classes as follows:

In the Arctic Ocean: Novaia Zemlia ("new land") and Vaigatch, northeast of Russia, and forming an insular prolongation of the Ural Mountains; Spitzbergen and the Seven Sisters, midway between Novaia Zemlia and Greenland, and forming the most northern known land on the globe (lat. 80° 48'); Kolguev, at the entrance to the Gulf of Tcheskaia; Mageröe group, fringing the north-west coast of Finmark; Loffoden Islands, west of Norway.

In the Atlantic: Iceland, 700 miles west of Norway, 300 east of Greenland, and immediately south of the Polar Circle; Faroe Isles, 22 in number, midway between Iceland and Shetland, and at the northern limit of the growth of grain; the British Isles, 5500 in number, separating the Atlantic from the North Sea (principal, Great Britain, the largest island belonging to Europe, and the seventh largest in the world; Ireland, Anglesea, Isle of Man, Hebrides or Western Islands, Orkney

Islands, Shetland Islands, Isle of Wight, Scilly Islands); the Norman or Channel Isles, north of France; the Azores, a volcanic group, 9 in number, 800 miles west of Portugal.

In the Baltic: The Danish group, between Denmark and Sweden (principal, Seeland, Fühnen, Langeland, Laaland, Falster, Alsen, Bornholm); the Swedish group, south-east of Sweden, viz. Gothland and Oeland; Rügen, north-west of Prussia; the Aland Isles, a group of 200 islands and rocks at the entrance of the Gulf of Bothnia; the Livonian group (Oesel and Dago), at the mouth of the Gulf of Riga; Cronstadt or Kotlinoi, in the eastern extremity of the Gulf of Finland, with a celebrated Russian fortress.

In the Mediterranean: The Balearic Isles, east of Spain (principal, Majorca, Minorca, Iviça, and Formentera); the Sardo-Corsican group, west of Central Italy (principal, Sardinia, Corsica, Elba); the Sicilian group, south-west of Naples (principal, Sicily, Lipari Isles, Ustica, and Pantellaria); the Maltese group, or Malta, Gozo, and Comino; the Illyrian archipelago, in the Gulf of Quarnero; the Dalmatian archipelago, on the west coast of Dalmatia; the Ionian Isles, west of Greece; Euboea or Negropont, east of Hellas; the Cyclades, east of the Morea, arranged in three almost parallel groups; the Sporades, north of Euboea; Candia, south-east of the Morea.

10. Seas, Gulfs, and Straits.—No other continent has so many inland seas and arms of the sea.

The Mediterranean, between Europe and Africa, 2300 miles long, and 867,000 miles in area. Its principal members are, Gulf of Lions, Gulf of Genoa, the Tyrrhenian Sea, between Italy and the Sardo-Corsican islands; the Adriatic, between Italy and Turkey; Ionian Sea, between Greece and Naples, with its parts the Gulfs of Taranto, Arta, and Corinth; the Archipelago, or Egean Sea, between Greece and Asia Minor, with its parts the Gulfs of Argolis, Egina, Volo, and Salonika; Sea of Marmora, between European and Asiatic Turkey.

The Black Sea, between Russia and Asiatic Turkey, 690 miles long by 380 miles broad, and having an area (including the Sea of Azov) of 181,000 square miles. Its branches are, Gulf of Odessa, Strait of Kherson, Gulf of Perekop, Sea of Azov, Gulf of Sivash or Putrid Sea.

The Caspian Sea, south-east of Russia, 700 miles long, 200 broad; area, 140,000 square miles; its surface 81 feet lower than that of the Black Sea, and drained exclusively by evaporation; communicated at a remote period with the Black Sea, at which time its area was vastly larger: belongs more to Asia than to Europe.

The White Sea, an inlet of the Arctic Ocean, in the north of Russia; length 380, breadth 150 miles; area, 45,000 square miles: its parts are, Gulfs of Onega, Kandalask, and Arkhangel; Tcheskaia Gulf and Sea of Kara, north-east of Russia; Varanger Fiord, between Russia and Norwegian Lapland; West Fiord, between Norway and the Loffoden Isles. The Baltic, a large inland sea communicating with the North Sea, and separating Central from Northern Europe; length 900 miles, breadth 180 miles; area, 135,000 square miles; shallow throughout, sailing dangerous, tides scarcely perceptible. Principal branches, Gulf of Bothnia, between Sweden and Finland; Gulf of Finland, south of Finland; Gulf of Riga or Livonia, between Livonia and Courland; Gulf of Dantzic, north of Prussia; Gulf of Lubeck, between Holstein and Mecklenburg.

The North Sea or German Ocean, between the British Isles and the