Europe: the people and transport
The people
The Europeans are white people. The people of north –west Europe are fairer than those of southern Europe. There is a great variety in the color of the eyes and the hair-eyes may be blue-green, hazel or brown. Hair color shows all shades from the dark black to flaming red in the south and from almost white to sandy, brown, golden etc. in the colder regions.
Racially, the Europeans are indo-Europeans, having penetrated into Europe in many weaves in prehistoric times. Some of these people, like the Greeks, the lonians and later the Romans set up great civilizations in the past. We in India had close contacts with them. There is a close affinity between all European language and the languages of northern India and Iron.
In the tundra region and in the south-east, i.e., on the steppes, there are people of Mongolian descent. The Russian Cossacks and the Hungarian Magyars have Mongolian traits. In Spain, people of mixed European and Moorish blood are common. The Moors were Arabs.
Population
Europe is densely populated, the density being highest in the industrial areas. In most countries more people live in towns than in the countryside. The population of Europe in 1989 was well over 800 million people and has been growing at a steady, though slow, rate.
The central plains otherwise, too, are densely populated except in the forest and steppe regions. Most ports in Europe have also become centres of large population as a result of trade and industrialization. The countries of Norway, Sweden and Finlad are sparsely populated. It is noticeable that mountainous areas and the tundra region of Europe have a low population density. Can you tell why?
Transport
Europe has better and more transport facilities than the other continents. A vast network of railways, roadways, inland waterways and sea routes connect the various countries together as well as with the outside world.
Railways link Paris with Istanbul in turkey, Moscow, Madrid, Lisbon and Rome. cologne in Germany, Warsaw and Vienna are other great points where railways converge. In the United Kingdom, the focal point for railways is London. London has been connected to the entire rail system of Europe through an undersea tunnel across the English Channel.
The European system of railways is connected in the east with that of Asia Minor with the help of a ferry at Istanbul.
Super fast trains have now been introduced on the major trunk routes. These trains run at speeds of 300 to 400 km per hour and compete with air services with regard to speed and comfort.
Inland waterways play an important role in goods transport in Europe. All the major river of the central plains is inter-connected with large canals so that it is possible to travel form France to Russia over the canals and the rivers.
Many of the European rivers are navigable for considerable distances. Thus the Loire, Seine, Thames, Garonne, Rhone, Rhine, Eibe, Danube, Dneiper, Don and Volga serve as water ways, the Rhine passing through the industrial heart of Western Europe is the busiest waterway.
Across the isthmus of Kiel and that of Corinth, there are shipping canals.
Europe has almost all the important international airlines operating through it. The most important international airports are London, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Munich, St. Petersburg, Rome, Berlin and Moscow besides, there are many internal airlines operating in the countries and between them.
Europe is blessed with natural harbors. They are now equally matched with well equipped modern ports. These are London, Plymouth (in the United Kingdom), Havre, Bordeaux, Marseilles (in France), Oporto, Lisbon (in Portugal), Amsterdam, Rotterdam (in Netherlands), Antwerp (in Belgium), Bremen, Hamburg (in Germany), Copenhagen (in Denmark) and Oslo and Bergen (in Norway). In the south, note the ports of Valencia, Barcelona, Rome, Naples, Athens, Istanbul, Odessa, Rostov, Kherson and Astrakhan. To what countries do they belong? How many of them are on rivers?
The ports of north-western Europe, including Hamburg, are great ports handling a very large amount of trade across the Atlantic Ocean.