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 EURCEA

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EUROPE

Euroea, a titular see of Epirus Vetus in Greece, suf- fragan of Nicopolis. Euroea is mentioned by Hiero- cles (Synecdemus, 651, G). Justinian transferred its inhabitants to an islet in a neighbouring lake and built there a strong city (Procop., De aedif., IV, 1). We know five bishops of Eurcea; the first, St. Dona- tus, lived under Theodosius I, the last is mentioned in a letter of Pope St. Gregory the Great about 603 (Le- quien. Or. christ., II, 14.3). The site of the city is un- known ; Lequien identifies it with Paraniythia, which is called Ai Donat (St. Donatus) by the Turks, in the vilayet of Janina. Others have placed it at Limboni, now proved to be Photice, others at Janina itself.

Panagiotides in NeoAdyov i^Sof^ata eirtdeujpTjtn^ (Constan- tinople, 1S92), II, 308; Philippson in Pacly-Wissowa, Reat- Encyd.t s. v. •

S. Petrides.

Europe. — Name. — The conception of Europe as a distinct division of the earth, separate from Asia and Africa, had its origin in ancient times. The sailors of the iEgean Sea applied the Semitic designations Ereh (sunset, west) and .4f u (sunrise, east) to the countries lying respectively west and east of the sea; in this way it became customary to call Greece and the territory back of it Europe, while Asia Minor and the parts be- yond were named Asia. At a later date the mass of land lying to the south of the Mediterranean was set off as a distinct division of the earth with the name of Libya or Africa.

Position, Boundaries, and Area. — Europe is a large peninsula forming the western part of the north- ern continent of the Eastern Hemisphere. On the north and west it is separated from North America by the Arctic and North Atlantic Oceans; on the south by the Mediterranean Sea from Africa and Western Asia. In the east there is no clear natural division from the continental mass of Asia. Such a dividing line may be drawn along the crest of the Ural and Mugadzhar Mountains, the Emba River, Caspian Sea, and the low- lands of the Manitch River, or through the depression that, starting from the Gulf of Obi, extends through the valleys of the Obi, Irtysh, Tobol, and Emba Rivers. The political boundary extends beyond the Ural Mountains towards the east, and beyond the Ural River to the south and west, runs along the range called Obtschei SjTt and the Usen River, and en- closes within the eastern boundary of Europe the whole of the Caucasus. The most northern point of Europe is North Cape (71° 12' N. lat.) on the Island of Magero belonging to Norway; the most western point is Cape da Roca (9° 31' west of (ireenwich) in Portu- gal; the most southern is Cape Tarifa (35° 59' 53" N. lat.) in Spain; the Continent extends as far to the east as 65° longitude east of Greenwich. Its greatest length from north to south is 239S miles, from west to east 3455 miles. The statement as to the extent of its area varies, according to the position assigned to its eastern boundary, from 3,672,969 sq. miles to 4,092,- 660 sq. miles. This measurement includes the polar islands Iceland, Nova Zembla, and Spitzbergen, but not the Canary, Madeira, and Azores Islands.

Gkological Formation. — Three leading tectonic divisions are to be distinguished in the geological for- mation of Europe. These appeared in the middle Tertiary period. Western Europe, as far south as the Alps, the Pyrenees, and, reaching beyond the Pyre- nees, into the Spanish Peninsula, to the east as far as the IBaltic and the Vistula River, is formed of debris and sedimentary deposits. This has been produced by the breaking up and overflowing with water of mountain chains that now exist as secondary ranges, as the Scotch Highlands, thecentral plateau of France, and the mountain chain of Central Germany. To- wards the east is low-lying land that has remained the same from early times. Sweden and Finland form together a great level called the Plain of the Baltic,

south-east from which spreads the great Russian plain, which is limited by the Ural and Carpathian Moun- tains, the Crimea, and the Caucasus Mountains. The whole of Southern Europe and a part of Middle Eu- rope is a region of late folded mountain ranges. These begin with the PjTenees, which have remarkable spurs in the ranges of Provence, in Corsica, and Sar- dinia. The ranges of Andalusia in Southern Spain find their continuation in the Atlas range, which bends to the east and reappears in Europe in the mountains of the northern coast of Sicily and the Apennines. The north-western Apennines pass into the Alpine system. In the east the .\lps are divided into three chains; of these the middle one passes into the Hun- garian plain; the Carpathian and Balkan ranges unite in a great bend with the northern chain, and the southern one is continued by the Dinaric Alps and the western chains of the Balkan Peninsula as far as Crete and the south-western part of Asia Jlinor. Numerous islands belong to the Continent of Europe. The sepa- ration of the islands from the mainland arose in two ways. In the north and west, the encroachment of the sea produced bays and peninsulas and formed islands. In the south, the western and eastern basins of the Mediterranean, those of the Adriatic and ^gean Seas, the Sea of Marmora, and the southern part of the Black and Caspian Seas, were formed by folding; and in this way also were formed the Iberian, Italian, and Balkan Peninsulas and the archipelago lying between Greece and Asia Minor. The rivers of Europe belong to three different basins, namely, to the Caspian Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, including the Mediterranean and Black Seas, and the Arctic Ocean. The courses of the rivers of Europe are much shorter than the courses of those of Asia, Africa, or America. The largest of the European rivers, the Volga (1978 miles), the Danube (1771 miles), Dnieper (1329 miles), Don (1120 miles), Petchora (1023 miles), and the Dniester (835 miles), flow into seas that are almost entirely cut off from the ocean, consequently from the world's traffic. They offer, however, little obstruc- tion to navigation, and numerous canals are cut through the main watershed that extends from Gib- raltar to the northern Urals. The largest number of lakes is found in the region, formerly covered with glaciers, lying north of 50° N. lat. — Finland, Scandi- navia, Scotland, and Ireland, and the region of the Alps. Besides this lake region, lakes have also been formed in the Alps by folding, in the Balkans by the breaking in of the surface, and in the Apennine Pen- insula by volcanic outbreaks.

Climate, Flora, Fauna. — The climatic conditions of Europe are very favourable. Almost the entire continent, excepting the northern point, belongs to the temperate zone. At the same time it is much warmer than other countries in the same latitude, as, for in- stance, than eastern North America, because along its western coast flows the Gulf Stream, which leaves the coast of Plorida with a temperature of 6S° Fahr. and raises the normal temperature on the Portuguese and Spanish coast about 72° Fahr., of the British coast about 9°-14'4° Fahr., and of the Norwegian coast about 14'4°-1S° Fahr. Since there is no chain of mountains traversing Europe from north to south, as is the case with North America, the influence of the Gulf Stream extends far into the interior of the mainland. On the borders of the Arctic Ocean a rigorous climate prevails, summer is short, and dtiring the greater part of the year the temperature is below freezing. This northern region has polar vegetation; the rolling plains called tundras are found on the penin- sulas of Kanin and Kola and at the mouth of the Petchora. The sub-arctic zone is found south of this in the Scandinavian Peninsula down to 60° N. lat.; here the climate of the coast, influenced by the sea, is milder in winter and cool in summer. The part of Eu- rope properly included in the temperate zone is divided