Volume 04, Number 18
Kids
Exploring Europe
Quick guide to the continent.
Geography
Europe is the second smallest of the world’s continents. Asia is the largest and Australia is the smallest. It is surrounded by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and to the south the Mediterranean Sea. To the east, Europe is generally divided from Asia by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, and by the Caspian Sea. Europe stretches over 10,180,000 square kilometers or 2 percent of the Earth’s surface. It is the third most populous continent with a population of approximately 710 million people, or 11 percent of the world’s population. Of Europe’s 48 countries, Russia is its largest by area and population, while the Vatican is the smallest.
Quick facts:
Highest mountain—Mount Elbrus is situated on the border between Russia and Georgia and is 5,642 meters above sea level.
Largest lake—Lake Vanern in Sweden covers more than 5,500 km2.
Longest river—The Danube is 2,850km long and flows through ten countries before it forms a delta on the Black Sea coast.
Climate
In the north of Europe, and high in the mountains of Europe the temperature can drop to -40 degrees centigrade, whereas in the far south and south east, temperatures can reach over 40 degrees centigrade. This creates a habitat for a diverse range of animals. During the winter, animals in the colder regions hibernate to save energy, and many species of birds migrate south.
Fun fact:
Reindeers live in the north of Europe. They have a dark color summer coat, which turns into a lighter colored thick coat in the winter and regardless of sex or age, reindeers grow a new set of antlers every year.
A few famous people from Europe
• Charlie Chaplin was an English comedy actor in the early 1900s. He is considered to be one of the finest mimes and clowns on film.
• Albert Einstein a German scientist who is best known for his theory of relativity—how matter, time and energy are all related to one another.
• Sigmund Freud was an Austrian Psychiatrist who developed psychoanalysis—a way to explain how our mind works.
• Claude Monet was the founder of French impressionist painting and is most famously known for his Water Lillies paintings.
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was an Austrian composer of classical music.
• Isaac Newton was a British scientist who discovered how gravity works in the 1600s.
• Marco Polo was a Croatian/Venetian explorer who, over 700 years ago, traveled to Asia.
Inventions from Europe
In 1825 George Stephenson invented the first passenger train which could reach a speed of 25km/hour. Today’s high-speed electric trains can travel through Europe at speeds of up to 330km/hour.
Quick fact: The Channel Tunnel, which carries trains from London to Paris under the English Channel, is the longest railway tunnel in Europe. It is more than 50km long.
Concorde was designed by a team of French and British engineers. It was the fastest ever passenger plane that could fly at twice the speed of sound.
The world’s largest passenger liner, Queen Mary 2, was built in Europe. She made her first transatlantic voyage in 2004.
Saying Hello in a few European languages
English.............................Hello
Danish/Swedish.................Hej
Finnish..............................Hei
Dutch/German...................Hallo
French..............................Salut
Italian..............................Ciao
Portuguese.......................Ola
Spanish............................Hola
Serbian-Croatian..............Zdravo
Slovenian........................Zivjo
Estonain..........................Tere
Greek.............................Geia sou
Hungarian.......................Szia
Irish...............................Dia dhuit
Latvian...........................Sveiki
Lithuanian.......................Labas