Geography of the European Union
Total land borders: 14,111.4 km 932 km,
Albania 282 km, Andorra 120.3 km, Belarus 1,050 km, Bosnia and Herzegovina Brazil 673 km, Canada 1.2 km, Liechtenstein 34.9 km, North Macedonia 394 km, Moldova 450 km, Monaco 4.4 km, Montenegro 23 km, Morocco 16 km, Lammefjord, Zuidplaspolder -7 m | |
Longest river | Danube 2,860 km |
---|---|
Largest lake | Vänern 5,650 km2 |
The geography of the European Union describes the geographic features of the
Collectively, it represents the
Geography by member states
The European Union has 27 member states. See the geography of each current member state:
Physical geography
Most of the European Union is on the
It is estimated that the
Several overseas territories and dependencies of various member states are also formally part of the EU (for Spain: the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla; for Portugal: the Azores and Madeira; for France: Réunion, French Guiana, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Mayotte and Saint Martin) while in other cases territories associated with member states are not part of the EU (for Denmark: Greenland and the Faroe Islands; for the Netherlands: Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten; for France: French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna or New Caledonia).
Including overseas territories of member states, the EU includes most
Geology
Europe's most significant feature is the dichotomy between highland and mountainous
The northern plain contains the old geological continent of Baltica, and so may be regarded as the "main continent", while peripheral highlands and mountainous regions in south and west constitute fragments from various other geological continents.
The geology of Europe is hugely varied and complex, and gives rise to the wide variety of landscapes found across the continent, like the rolling plains of Hungary:)
Climate
The climate of the European Union is of a
The mildest climate within the European Union occurs in the Portuguese island of Madeira, where the average temperature varies from 19 °C (66 °F) during the day and 13 °C (55 °F) at night in winter to 26 °C (79 °F) during the day and 19 °C (66 °F) at night in summer. Also[clarification needed], the mildest climate occurs in the Spanish island of Gran Canaria (Canary Islands), where the average temperature varies from 21 °C (70 °F) during the day and 15 °C (59 °F) at night in winter to 27 °C (81 °F) during the day and 22 °C (72 °F) at night in summer. Both these islands lie in the Atlantic. As for the land on the European continent, the mildest climate occurs in the northwest part of Iberian Peninsula (also Spain and Portugal), between Bilbao, A Coruña and Porto. In this the coastal strand, the average temperature varies from 10–14 °C (50–57 °F) during the day and about 5 °C (41 °F) at night in January to 22–26 °C (72–79 °F) during the day and 15–16 °C (59–61 °F) at night in the middle of summer.
Rivers
The most important rivers in the European Union are
, among others.European Union rivers by discharge
- Danube - 6,450 m3/s
- Rhine - 2,315 m3/s
- Rhône - 1,900 m3/s (Waal - 1,500 m3/s as main distributary of Rhine)
- * Sava - 1,609 m3/s (tributary of the Danube)
- Po - 1,460 m3/s (largest river in Italy)
- Vistula - 1,080 m3/s
- Loire- 889 m3/s
- * Tisza - 863 m3/s (tributary of the Danube)
- Elbe - 860 m3/s
- * Inn - 735 m3/s (tributary of the Danube)
European Union rivers by length
The following are the longest rivers in the EU alongside their approximate lengths:[3][4]
- Danube - 2,860 km (1,780 miles) (partially - 2628 km in the EU)
- Rhine - 1,236 km (768 miles) (partially - nearly 1100 km in the EU, nearly 150 km entirely in Switzerland or on its border with Liechtenstein)
- Elbe - 1,091 km (678 miles)
- Vistula - 1,047 km (651 miles)
- Tagus - 1,038 km (645 miles)
- Loire- 1,012 km (629 miles)
- Ebro - 960 km (600 miles)
- Meuse - 925 km (575 miles)
- Douro - 897 km (557 miles)
- Oder- 854 km (531 miles)
- Guadiana - 829 km (515 miles)
- Rhône - 815 km (506 miles)
- * Warta - 795 km (494 miles) (major tributary of Oder)
- Seine - 776 km (482 miles)
- * Mureș- 761 km (473 miles) (tributary of Tisza)
- * Prut - *953 km (592 miles) (partially, border of the EU for nearly 742 km) (tributary of the Danube)
- * Sava - *933 km (580 miles) (partially - 726 km) (tributary of the Danube)
- * Drava - 710[5] km (440 miles) (tributary of the Danube)
- Po - 682 km (424 miles)
- Guadalquivir - 657 km (408 miles)
- * Olt- 615 km (382 miles) (tributary of the Danube)
- * Tisza - *966 km (600 miles) (1,358 km (844 miles) before 1880) (partially - 605 km in the EU)[6] (tributary of the Danube)
- Garonne - 602 km (374 miles)
- * Siret- *647 km (402 miles) (partially - 559 km)
- Kemijoki - 550 km (340 miles) (longest river in Finland)
- * Moselle 546 km (339 miles) (major left tributary of Rhine)
- * Main 525 km (326 miles) (major right tributary of Rhine)
- Torne - 522 km (324 miles) (very small part near the source is in Norway)
- Dalälven - 520 km (320 miles) (longest river entirely in Sweden)
- * Inn (river) 518 km (322 miles) (tributary of the Danube)
- Marne - 514 km (319 miles) (major tributary of the Seine)
- Maritsa - 515 km (320 miles) (partially - 513 km in the EU: 309 km entirety in Bulgaria; the lower course forms the border of the EU for 204 km)[7]
- Júcar - 509 km (316 miles)
- Dordogne - 483 km (300 miles)
- * Saône - 480 km (300 miles) (major tributary of Rhône)
- Neman - *914 km (568 miles) (partially - 475 km in the EU, 116 km of them as border of the EU)
- Ume - 470 km (290 miles)
- ** Mur - 464 km (288 miles) (tributary of Drava, Danube)
- Ångerman - 460 km (290 miles)
- * Klarälven - 460 km (290 miles) (major tributary of the Göta älv)
- Lule - *460 km (290 miles) (a very small part near the source is in Norway)
- Gauja - 452 km (281 miles)
- Weser - 452 km (281 miles)
- Kalix - 450 km (280 miles)
- * Vindel River - 445 km (277 miles) (major tributary of the Ume River)
- Ljusnan - 430 km (270 miles)
- Indalsälven - 430 km (270 miles)
- * Vltava - 430 km (270 miles) (major tributary of the Elbe)
- Ialomița- 417 km (259 miles)
- Struma - 415 km (258 miles)
- ** Someș - 415 km (258 miles) (tributary of Tisza, Danube)
- Adige - 410 km (250 miles)
- Skellefte - 410 km (250 miles)
- Tiber - 406 km (252 miles)
- * Vah- 406 km (252 miles) (tributary of the Danube)
- Pite - 400 km (250 miles)
- * Faxälven - 399 km (248 miles) (major tributary of the Ångerman)
- Vardar - 388 km (241 miles)
- Charente - 381 km (237 miles)
- * Iskar - 368 km (229 miles) (longest river entirely in Bulgaria) (tributary of the Danube)
- Shannon - 360 km (224 miles)
- Daugava- *1,020 km (630 miles) (partially - 357 km in the EU)
- Minho - 350 km (217 miles)
- * Tundzha - 365 km (227 miles) (partially - 328 km) (major tributary of Maritsa)
- Segura - 325 km (202 miles)
Human geography
Demographics
The most populous member state is Germany, with an estimated 82.1 million people, and the least populous member state is Malta with 0.5 million. Birth rates in the EU are low with the average woman having 1.6 children. The highest crude birth rates is in the Republic of Ireland with 16.876 births per thousand people per year and in France with 13.013 births per thousand people per year. Germany has the lowest birth rate in Europe with 8.221 births per thousand people per year.
Member State | Population | Land area | Pop. density People/km2 [Figures don't agree!] | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | % of total |
(km2) | % of total EU | ||
Austria | 8,507,786 | 1.68% | 83,858 | 1.9% | 99.7 |
Belgium | 11,203,992 | 2.21% | 30,510 | 0.7% | 352.0 |
Bulgaria | 7,245,677 | 1.43% | 110,912 | 2.5% | 68.5 |
Croatia | 4,246,700 | 0.84% | 56,594 | 1.3% | 75.8 |
Cyprus | 858,000 | 0.17% | 9,250 | 0.2% | 86.6 |
Czech Republic | 10,512,419 | 2.07% | 78,866 | 1.8% | 132.8 |
Denmark | 5,627,235 | 1.11% | 43,094 | 1.0% | 128.1 |
Estonia | 1,315,819 | 0.26% | 45,226 | 1.0% | 29.6 |
Finland | 5,451,270 | 1.07% | 337,030 | 7.6% | 15.8 |
France[9] | 65,856,609 | 12.98% | 643,548 | 14.6% | 99.6 |
Germany | 80,780,000 | 15.92% | 357,021 | 8.1% | 229.9 |
Greece | 10,992,589 | 2.17% | 131,957 | 3.0% | 85.4 |
Hungary | 9,879,000 | 1.95% | 93,030 | 2.1% | 107.8 |
Ireland | 4,604,029 | 0.91% | 70,280 | 1.6% | 64.3 |
Italy | 60,782,668 | 11.98% | 301,320 | 6.8% | 200.4 |
Latvia | 2,001,468 | 0.39% | 64,589 | 1.5% | 35.0 |
Lithuania | 2,943,472 | 0.58% | 65,200 | 1.5% | 51.4 |
Luxembourg | 549,680 | 0.11% | 2,586 | 0.1% | 190.1 |
Malta | 425,384 | 0.08% | 316 | 0.0% | 1,305.7 |
Netherlands | 16,829,289 | 3.32% | 41,526 | 0.9% | 396.9 |
Poland | 38,495,659 | 7.59% | 312,685 | 7.1% | 121.9 |
Portugal | 10,427,301 | 2.05% | 92,931 | 2.1% | 114.4 |
Romania | 19,942,642 | 3.93% | 238,391 | 5.4% | 90.2 |
Slovakia | 5,415,949 | 1.07% | 48,845 | 1.1% | 110.8 |
Slovenia | 2,061,085 | 0.41% | 20,253 | 0.5% | 101.4 |
Spain | 46,507,760 | 9.17% | 504,782 | 11.4% | 93.4 |
Sweden | 9,644,864 | 1.90% | 449,964 | 10.2% | 20.6 |
EU | 507,416,607 | 100.00% | 4,324,782 | 100.0% | 116.0 |
Largest cities
The European Union is home to more
City proper | Population City limits in millions |
Density per km2 |
Urban area | Population Urban area in millions |
Metro area | Population Metro area in millions |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Berlin, Germany | 3.8 | 4,210 | Paris, France | 10.1 | Paris, France | 11.7 |
Madrid, Spain | 3.1 | 1,985 | Madrid, Spain | 5.5 | Rhine-Ruhr , Germany |
10.6 |
Rome, Italy | 2.7 | 5,198 | Ruhr , Germany |
5.3 | Randstad, Netherlands | 7.0 |
Paris, France | 2.2 | 24,672 | Barcelona, Spain | 4.5 | Madrid, Spain | 5.8 |
Bucharest, Romania | 1.9 | 9,131 | Milan, Italy | 3.8 | Barcelona, Spain | 5.3 |
Hamburg, Germany | 1.8 | 2,310 | Berlin, Germany | 4.7 | Milan, Italy | 4.3 |
Warsaw, Poland | 1.7 | 3,258 | Rotterdam–The Hague, Netherlands | 3.3 | Berlin, Germany | 6.3 |
Budapest, Hungary | 1,7 | 3,570 | Athens, Greece | 3.2 | Rhine-Main , Germany |
4.1 |
Vienna, Austria | 1.7 | 3,931 | Naples, Italy | 2.9 | Athens, Greece | 3.9 |
Environment
In 1957, when the EU was founded, it had no environmental policy or laws.[11] Today, the EU has some of the most progressive environmental policies of any state in the world. The environmental policy of the EU has therefore developed in remarkable fashion in the past four decades. An increasingly dense network of legislation has emerged, which now extends to all areas of environmental protection, including: air pollution control, water protection, waste management, nature conservation, and the control of chemicals, biotechnology and other industrial risks.[12] The Institute for European Environmental Policy estimates the body of EU environmental law amounts to well over 500 Directives, Regulations and Decisions.[13] Environmental policy has thus become a core area of European politics.
Such dynamic developments are surprising in light of the legal and institutional conditions which existed in the late 1950s and 60s.[14] Acting without any legislative authority, European policy-makers initially increased the EU's capacity to act by defining environmental policy as a trade problem. The most important reason for the introduction of a common environmental policy was the fear that trade barriers and competitive distortions in the Common Market could emerge due to the different environmental standards.[15] However, in the course of time, EU environmental policy emerged as a formal policy area, with its own procedures. The legal basis of EU environmental policy was not more explicitly established until the introduction of the Single European Act in 1987.[13]
Initially, EU environmental policy was rather introspective. More recently, however, the Union has considered global environmental governance. The role of the EU in securing the ratification and entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol in the face of US opposition is an example in this regard. This international dimension is reflected in the EU's Sixth Environmental Action Programme, which recognises that its strategic objectives can only be achieved if a series of key international environmental agreements are actively supported and properly implemented both at an EU level and worldwide. The entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty further strengthens the EU's global environmental leadership ambitions.[16] The vast body of EU environmental law which now exists has played a vital role in improving habitat and species protection in Europe as well as contributed to improvements in air and water quality and waste management.[13] However, significant challenges remain, both to meet existing EU targets and aspirations and to agree new targets and actions that will further improve the environment and the quality of life in Europe and beyond.
One of the top priorities of EU environmental policy is combating climate change. In 2007, member states agreed that the EU is to use 20% renewable energy in the future and that it has to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in 2020 by at least 20% compared to 1990 levels.[17] This includes measures that in 2020, 10% of the overall fuel quantity used by cars and trucks in EU 27 should be running on renewable energy such as biofuels. This is considered to be one of the most ambitious moves of an important industrialised region to fight climate change.[18] The EU recently adopted an
The
See also
- Extreme points of the European Union
- Geographic centre of the European Union
- Geography of Europe
- Regions of Europe
References
- French overseas departments (French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion) which are an integral part of the European Union, but excluding the French overseas collectivities and territories, which are not part of the European Union.
- ^ European Union CIA World Factbook
- ^ European Rivers – Rivers of Europe, Map of Rivers in Europe, Major Rivers in Europe - Worldatlas.com
- ^ River Systems of the World Archived 19 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Joint Drava River Corridor Analysis Report, 27 November 2014, Archived 10 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ danube.panda.org/wwf/web/search/details.jsp?pid=139
- ^ "Evros River".
- ^ "Eurostat - Tables, Graphs and Maps Interface (TGM) table". Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
- overseas departments (French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion) which are integral parts of the European Union, but do not include the overseas collectivities and territories, which (but Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin) are not part of the European Union.
- ^ Indicators for larger urban zones 1999 – 2003 Archived 16 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Eurostat. Accessed 25 January 2007
- ^ Jordan, A.J. and Adelle, C. (eds)(2012) Environmental Policy in the European Union: Contexts, Actors and Policy Dynamics (3e). Earthscan: London and Sterling, VA.
- ^ Knill, C. and Liefferink, D.(2012) The establishment of EU environmental policy, In: Jordan, A.J. and Adelle, C. (eds) Environmental Policy in the European Union: Contexts, Actors and Policy Dynamics (3e). Earthscan: London and Sterling, VA.
- ^ a b c Institute for European Environmental Policy (2012) Manual of European Environmental Policy, Earthscan, London.
- ^ Knill, C. and Liefferink, D.(2012) The etsbalishment of EU environmental policy, In: Jordan, A.J. and Adelle, C. (eds) Environmental Policy in the European Union: Contexts, Actors and Policy Dynamics (3e). Earthscan: London and Sterling, VA.
- ^ Johnson, S.P. and Corcelle, G. (1989) The Environmental Policy of the European Communities, Graham & Trotman, London
- ^ Benson, D. and Adelle, C. (2012) European Union environmental policy after the Lisbon Treaty, In: Jordan, A.J. and Adelle, C. (eds) Environmental Policy in the European Union: Contexts, Actors and Policy Dynamics (3e). Earthscan: London and Sterling, VA.
- ^ Aldred, Jessica (23 January 2008). "EU sets 20% target for carbon cuts". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 29 February 2008.
- ^ "how the eu plans to fight climate change".
- ^ "The EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS)".