Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/802

 782 EUROPE determined, but that which ascends the Ural river from its mouth at the Caspian sea to the Ural mountain range, and follows the crest of that range to the sea of Kara, is usually adopted. The islands of Nova Zembla are set down by Humboldt as properly belonging to Asia, since by their vertical configuration they appear as a continuation of the Ural range, which he included in Asia. Erman, on the contrary, shows their connection with the Scandinavian mountain system, and this is also the view taken by most English geographers. The continent proper has the shape of a rectangular triangle, the hypothenuse of which extends from the bay of Biscay to the sea of Kara, while the right angle rests on the Caspian sea. The area of this main body of the continent is about 2,650,000 sq. m., that of the peninsular projec- tions about 860,000, and that of the islands nearly 200,000. Altogether Europe contains about T j5- of the total area of the dry land of the globe. The proportion of the total area of the peninsular projections to the main body of the continent is as 1 to 3, a larger ratio than is found in any other division of the globe. A curved line drawn from a point in the Ural mountains, lat. 60 or 61 N., to the W. coast of Norway, lat. 69, passing through Lake Onega and a little N. of the gulf of Bothnia, marks the general limit of cultivation. It cuts off an area of about 550,000 sq. m., or more than one seventh of the entire surface. Eu- rope is surrounded by water on three sides. On the north the Arctic ocean, penetrating 400 m. into the continent, forms the White sea, which has an area of upward of 40,000 sq. m. Its coast, situated for the greatest part within the temperate zone, has become a seat of culture notwithstanding its high latitude. On the west the Atlantic ocean, narrowing between the British islands, the Scandinavian peninsula, and the continent, assumes the form of an inland sea (North sea, or German ocean, area upward of 200,000 sq. m.), which is connected by the Skager Rack and Cattegat with the Baltic sea. The Baltic, comparatively a shallow sea, and less salt than the ocean, is almost entirely land- locked. By its numerous affluents, however, it has obtained a commercial and even a politi- cal importance in the history of the Teutonic race almost equal to that of the Black sea in early Greek history. Its area, exclusive of islands, is over 150,000 sq. m. The* configura- tion of the southern coast of Europe is deter- mined by the Mediterranean sea (including the Adriatic and archipelago), a sheet of water over 2,300 m. in length, covering an area of over 1,000,000 sq. m. By its position it forms the connecting link between Europe, Asia, and Africa, and for more than 20 centuries the his- tory of the Caucasian race was principally de- veloped upon its coast. The Black sea, con- nected with the Mediterranean by a narrow channel, is 700 m. long, 400 m. broad, and has a superficies of 180,000 sq. m. exclusive of the sea of Azov. In consequence of the deep in- dentations of the sea, the western half of Eu- rope contains no great inland country shut up from direct communication with the ocean. The distance from the bay of Biscay to the gulf of Lyons is only about 240 m. ; from the Eng- lish channel to the same gulf, 445 m. ; from the Pomeranian shore of the Baltic to the gulf of Trieste, 585 m. ; from the gulf of Dant- zic to the Black sea, 740 m. ; from the gulf of Finland to the sea of Azov, 950 m. ; from the White sea to the sea of Azov, 1,160 m. ; and from the sea of Kara to the Caspian sea, 1,575 m. Twelve large peninsulas are formed by indentations of the sea, five of them on the north: Kanin, Kola, the Scandinavian penin- sula, the Cimbric, and North Holland ; two on the west: Normandy and Brittany; one on the southwest: the Iberian; and four on the south: Italy, Istria, Greece, and the Crimea. The first two of the five northern peninsulas stretch toward the Arctic ocean, and are con- sequently almost uninhabitable. The largest of the five (the Scandinavian) has a southern direction. Thus only a small portion of the coast configuration is lost to culture and com- merce. The islands, too, with the exception of Iceland, cluster so closely around the con- tinent that, in considering the natural facilities which Europe offers to commercial intercourse, their coast line might be added to that of the continent. The principal of them are: the main island of Great Britain, Ireland, Iceland, Seeland, Corsica, Sardinia, and Candia. The following may also be mentioned : Nova Zembla and Vaigatch, in the Arctic ocean; the Loffo- den, on the coast of Norway ; the Aland archi- pelago, Oland, Gothland, Oesel, in the Baltic ; Fiinen, between the two Belts; the Azores r in the Atlantic ; Majorca, Minorca, Elba, the Lipari islands, Malta, the Dalmatian archi- pelago, the Ionian islands, the Sporades and Cyclades, in the Mediterranean sea and its branches. The same direction from S. W. to N. E. which prevails in the coast configuration is perceptible in the position of the mountains and their different strata. All the peninsulas, those stretching to the northward excepted, are mountainous, as are the islands, while the plains cover the largest portion of the main body of the continent. The proportion of the plains to the mountainous regions in all Europe is as 5 to 2; but in that portion of Europe which has been preeminently the seat of civil- ization and the theatre of history, the moun- tains prevail over the plains as 3 to 1. A dia- gonal line of mountain ranges, extending from S. E. to N. W. (Caucasus, Carpathians, and the mountains of central Germany), forms the di- viding line between the mountainous and the level portions of Europe. The level region ex- tending from the shores of the North sea to the Ural, and from the coast of the Netherlands in an irregular southeasterly direction to the Black sea, appears as a western continuation of the steppes of Siberia and Tnran, intersected by the isolated Ural range. While on the shores of