Europe is the smallest and at the same time the most “cramped” part of the world in the world. Its closest neighbor is Asia, and together they form the largest continent - Eurasia. But today the focus is on Foreign Europe.
General information
There are different approaches to dividing Europe into regions. Until the end of the 80s of the last century, in history and geography, the term “Western Europe” was understood as a set of independent European states that, after the end of the Second World War, continued capitalist development. There were 32 of them, and the countries of the socialist camp - Eastern Europe - served as a counterweight to them. In 1991, after the collapse of the USSR and the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a new concept of “Foreign Europe” appeared.
It unites 40 countries located in Europe, except those that are part of the CIS.
Geographical location of Foreign Europe
Speaking about the physical and geographical position of Foreign Europe, it should be said that it occupies a fairly compact territory on a global scale: its total area is 5.4 million square meters. km. The island of Spitsbergen is the extreme point in the north, and the island of Crete is in the south. The length of the region from north to south is 5,000 km, and from west to east - 3,000 km. Foreign Europe is washed on three sides by the waters of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans and their seas. The coastline is very indented. Most of the territory is dominated by plains, and only about 17% is occupied by mountains. Among them the main ones are the Alps, Pyrenees, Apennines, Carpathians, mountains on the Balkan and Scandinavian peninsulas. This region is dominated by four climatic zones, which gradually replace each other from north to south:
- arctic (Arctic islands of Europe): the maritime arctic climate “rules” here with very frosty winters and cold summers;
- subarctic (Iceland and northern coast of mainland Europe): characterized by the predominance of a marine subarctic type of climate with cold, sometimes mild winters and cool summers with strong westerly winds;
- moderate (British Isles, most of mainland Europe): There are two types of climate here - maritime temperate and continental temperate.
- subtropical (southern Mediterranean part of Europe): The typical climate type for these latitudes is Mediterranean with warm winters and dry, hot summers.
Rice. 1 Regions of Foreign Europe
Regional division
Geographically, Foreign Europe is divided into four regions according to the cardinal points: Northern, Southern, Western and Eastern. However, recently, in addition to Northern, Southern and Western Europe, new terms have appeared in the everyday life of geographers - Central-Eastern and Eastern Europe. The latter includes Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova and Russia - countries that are part of the CIS. How many states, and which regions of Overseas Europe are “credited”, are summarized in the following table:
|
Northern Europe |
Southern Europe |
Western Europe |
Central-Eastern Europe |
|
Finland Iceland Norway |
San Marino Gibraltar Portugal |
Switzerland Germany Netherlands Great Britain Ireland Liechtenstein Luxembourg |
Croatia Slovenia Slovakia Serbia and Montenegro Macedonia Bulgaria |
Rice. 2 Modern leaders of the G7 countries
Economic development
Overseas Europe is one of the most economically developed areas in the world. Both politically and in the sectoral and territorial structure of the region’s economy, there is diversity and richness. If Foreign Europe is imagined as a large four-story apartment building, then the countries with transition economies will be at the bottom: Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia. In the second and third are developed countries with market economies: Spain, Greece, Denmark, Norway, Iceland and others. However, their level of economic and social development has not yet reached the high level of the leaders, which include their “neighbors” from the top floor - Great Britain, Germany, France and Italy. They account for about 70% of total GDP. They are also members of the “Group of Seven” or “Big Seven” - an association of seven leading economically developed countries (USA, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan.
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The leaders of these states gather annually to discuss not only the problems of Foreign Europe, but the pressing issues facing humanity: political, military (general security, terrorism, causes of exacerbation of local conflicts), social (protection of human rights, support and conditions for cooperation with developing countries) , environmental (global warming, climate change) and economic (science and finance, market regulation, import and export volumes).
Peculiarities
Among the many features of Foreign Europe, one important thing is worth noting - the presence of a “Central Axis of Development”. This term refers to the Western European part with a length of 1600 km, which, in fact, is the center, the core of the Old World with the greatest concentration of population (300 people per 1 km2) and the main economic sectors. The conditional border of the “axis” originates from Manchester, then “rushes” through Hamburg, Venice, Marseille and returns to Hamburg again, forming a loop shaped like a banana. It covers a large area of Europe, including the following parts: regions of Great Britain, the western states of Germany, northern and southern France, Switzerland and northern Italy.
If you look at a map of Europe, you can see that on the territory of the “Central Axis of Development” there are “world centers” - London and Paris, each of which houses about thirty headquarters of the largest corporations. In addition, it is the location of concentration of more than half of the total industrial potential of Europe: coal and metallurgical enterprises, general mechanical engineering, automotive industry, chemical industry enterprises, the latest high-tech industries, port-industrial complexes and much more.
Rice. 3 “Central development axis” of Europe
What have we learned?
The peculiarities of Foreign Europe are under the radar of our attention. After considering this topic in geography for grades 10 and 11, we come to the following conclusion: a relatively small territory on a huge continent is one of the most successful, developed in terms of the quality of life of the population, the structure of production, the scale of economic activity and the level of technological development. Many factors contributed to this: geographical location, favorable natural conditions, small size of countries and their close proximity, and much more.
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Europe is the Mecca and Medina of world tourism, all roads lead not only to Rome, and having arrived in the city of Bruges, the last thing you want to do is lie low, as in the film of the same name.
Europe is full of cultural treasures:
- historical and architectural monuments;
- paintings;
- original sculptures;
- religious relics;
- archaeological artifacts.
This is why European countries, cities, villages, and streets are attractive to tourists from all over the world: here everyone will find something to their liking, a vacation to their liking, and entertainment they can afford. For example, if you need a beach and a warm sea, they go to Italy or Greece. Those who are interested in excursions and museums go to Germany and France. Food for the soul and solitude can be found in the Vatican, Czech Republic. Fans of noisy parties and unbridled shopping buy plane tickets to Portugal and Spain.
The world is open. English is understood almost everywhere - from Copenhagen to Lille. And exchange offices of European banks are ready to exchange any money of visiting guests at the local rate.
Europe is the world leader in travel services
First place on the podium for the provision of tourism services undoubtedly belongs to Europe. Russians and others are looking forward to their next vacation in order to go to one of the European countries. People leaf through catalogs in search of interesting vacation spots, book air tickets months before departure, and compare prices in hotels and hostels. Statistics for 2013 showed that 82% of Russians have been to Europe at least once over the past period.
What also sets Europe apart from other visa countries is its varied holiday offerings. So, in Italy you can live in a real vineyard and learn how to make an intoxicating drink yourself - under the supervision of the owner, of course. Spain offers open-air living in a bungalow on the shore of a lovely lake. And the Austrian Pitzal Valley will be happy to welcome anyone who wants to look after farm animals.
Rich cultural heritage
There are 721 properties on the World Heritage List. More than three hundred of them are located within the borders of European states. That is, 47% of the total number of monuments that are protected throughout the world belong to Europe. After all, about forty percent of world-famous museums are located in its western part alone.
In Belgium (and France) bell towers are strictly protected. Under the vigilant control of cultural authorities are Flemish monastic communities and Neolithic quarries near the Spienne area. In turn, the Netherlands is taking care of the preservation of windmills in Kinderdijk-Elshout. The Dutch nation treasures the 17th century concentric canal system as well as the defenses of Amsterdam.
History and cultural heritage are also respected in Poland. Belovezhsky National Park has been delighting tourists and local residents for many years. The Royal Salt Mines in Bochnia and Wieliczka are impressive and inspiring. And the Centenary Hall in Wroclaw makes you feel the solemnity of a bygone era.
Majestic architectural monuments of civilization
It would take a long time to list the greatest architectural monuments of Europe. Here are just a few in Greece:
Parthenon;
Athens Agora;
Temple of Hephaestus;
Theater of Dionysus;
Acropolis;
Propylaea.
Every European country has a reason to be proud: having carried the memory of their ancestors through the centuries and preserving valuable historical facts, beautiful legends and stunning objects for posterity. So, fifty kilometers from Stuttgart is the Hohenzollern Castle. This fortress is visited by more than three hundred thousand tourists every year. And those who decide to move north from Barcelona will certainly be interested in the Church of the Sagrada Familia. The first stone was laid back in 1882, but to this day the construction has not been completed. The architect Gaudi created 16 spindle-shaped spiers - according to the number of apostles, evangelists, including the Virgin Mary and Jesus. The towers are decorated with skillfully made bunches of grapes and ears of wheat. These are symbols of Holy Communion.
Take the Leaning Tower of Pisa: for several centuries it has continued to excite and excite travelers. Some people have already forgotten that the tower is only part of the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta and served as a bell tower. Everyone continues to admire its tilt towards the horizon, taking tons of pictures against the background.
It is impossible not to mention Vienna. Squares and parks, museums and galleries, architecture and history - the sights turn the heads of tourists, as if waltzing with them. The Vienna Opera is one of the most beautiful theater stages in Europe, with centuries-old dust on the tiles. If you happen to go there, for example, on the WantTour package , It's definitely worth buying a ticket to the show.
And then, for dessert, climb the Ferris Wheel. It was built in 1897 - and is called a monument not only of art and architecture, but also of engineering. The view of St. Stephen's Cathedral will be an unforgettable experience on your next European vacation.
People often ask what Europe has given to the world, what is its unique contribution. Perhaps the best answer is the concept of objectivity. Everything else follows from it - the idea of personality and its freedom; the common good, distinct from private interests; justice as the pursuit of truth (that is, the opposite of revenge); ethics of science and respect for empirical evidence; philosophical thought, which frees itself from faith and glorifies the thinker’s ability to think about the world and independently seek the truth; distance and the possibility of self-criticism; the ability to dialogue, and finally, the very concept of truth.
Universalism is the decomposition of objectivity. If objectivity can be achieved by starting from particular things, then universalism seeks to define particularity by starting from an abstract and arbitrarily given concept. Instead of deducing ought from being, he does the exact opposite. Universalism does not consist in an objective consideration of things; it prescribes starting from a universal abstraction, from which knowledge about the nature of things is derived. It is a fallacy symmetrical with respect to the metaphysics of subjectivity, which reduces the good to what is “good for me” or “good for us”, the true to the inner voice or to the interlocutor. The European tradition has always said that a person needs to fight his directly given subjectivity. As Heidegger argues, the entire history of modernity is the history of the development of the metaphysics of subjectivity.
Subjectivism necessarily leads to relativism (according to which, everything is equal), thus closing with the egalitarian conclusion of universalism (everyone is equal). Relativism can only be overcome through the arbitrariness of my Self (or the arbitrariness of our collective Self): my point of view must prevail simply because it is mine (or ours). The concepts of justice and the common good immediately lose all basis.
The ideology of human rights includes both of these fallacies. It is universalist to the extent that it intends to impose itself everywhere, regardless of the communities to which people belong, traditions and contexts. At the same time, it is subjectivist, since it defines rights as subjective attributes that belong exclusively to the individual.
“The coronation of human rights,” writes Marcel Gauchet, “is undoubtedly the main ideological and political fact of the last twenty years” (Marcel Gauchet, La démocratie par elle-même, Gallimard-Tel, 2002, p. 326). Human rights, he adds, have become the “ideological center of gravity” of everything we see today. They strive to become a hegemon and replace with themselves all kinds of political and social discourses that were once built on the basis of now dilapidated or defamed concepts (tradition, nation, progress, revolution), that is, their goal is to become the only compass for an era that has gone astray, to give some kind of minimal moral to a troubled world. They are, as Robert Badenter says, “the moral horizon of our time.” They must become “the foundation of all societies,” adds Kofi Annan. They “contain in embryo the concept of a genuine world government,” states Jean Daniel.
And even more than that. Based on theses declared “obvious” (already in the American Declaration of Independence of the USA in 1776 one could read: “we hold these truths to be self-evident” - “we consider these truths to be self-evident”), they are presented as a new Decalogue.
And as the new foundation of the human order, they should receive sacred status. Accordingly, human rights were defined as a “religion of humanity” (Nadine Gordimer), a “world secular religion” (Elie Wiesel). They, as Régis Debray writes, are “at the moment the last of all our civil religions, the soul of a soulless world” (Régis Debray, Que vive la République, Odile Jacob, 1989, p. 173).
Obviousness is always close to dogmatism, because there is no arguing about it. That is why today criticism of the ideology of human rights seems as inconvenient, sacrilegious and scandalous as doubts about the existence of God once were. Like any religion, the discourse of human rights tries to present its dogmas as absolutes, with which it is impossible to argue without exposing yourself as a fool, dishonest or evil person. By presenting human rights as “human” and “universal” rights, they are naturally protected from criticism, that is, from the right to question them, and at the same time their opponents are inadvertently pushed beyond the boundaries of the human race, since it is impossible to oppose the one who speaks on behalf of humanity, and at the same time remain human. Finally, just as believers once considered it their duty to convert the “infidels” and those of little faith in every possible way, proponents of the religion of human rights believe that they have a mandate to carry out a mission that requires them to implant the principles of this religion throughout the world. The ideology of human rights, theoretically based on the principle of tolerance, carries within itself, as it turns out, intolerance of the most extreme kind, the potential for absolute rejection. Declarations of rights are not so much declarations of love as declarations of war.
But today the purpose of human rights discourse is not only to provide a surrogate ideology needed after the collapse of the “grand narratives”. By attempting to impose a particular moral standard on everyone in the world, he seeks to restore the good conscience of the West, allowing it to once again appear as a role model and expose those who do not want to follow him as “barbarians.” Looking back through history, “rights” have too often been defined by the rulers of the dominant ideology. The human rights discourse associated with market expansion constitutes the ideological framework of globalization. First of all, it is an instrument of domination, and should be viewed as such.
People should be able to fight tyranny and oppression wherever they live. To challenge the ideology of human rights is, of course, not to defend despotism, but rather to question whether this ideology is the best remedy against despotism. That is, to raise questions about the significance of the foundations of this theory, about the nomological status of these rights, about the possibilities of instrumentalization, the object of which they can become. And at the same time, criticizing the ideology of human rights means that a different solution must be proposed.
Freedom is a cardinal value. It is the very essence of truth. That is why it must be pulled out of the rut of universalism and subjectivism. It is perhaps no coincidence that human rights are so insistently proclaimed in a society that is increasingly dehumanized, where people themselves increasingly become objects, and where the commercialization of social relations constantly creates new forms of alienation. There are many ways to show respect and solidarity to people. The issue of freedoms cannot be resolved in terms of rights and morality. First of all, this is a political issue. And it must be decided politically.
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I’m waiting for the completion of my second foreign passport, because again I really want to go for a walk along the streets of Italy, eat in German eateries and see the Eiffel Tower. This is only a small part of all the attractions found in Europe, which explains the great tourist popularity. But there are still important aspects to this issue.
Europe and its composition
This part of the world is inhabited by approximately 742 million people, each of whom is a part of its cultural component. The area occupied by Europeans is just over 10 million square kilometers. I will highlight basic information about this part of the world:
- forms Eurasia in unification with the territories of Asia;
- the name comes from the heroine of the myths of Ancient Greece - Europa, who was kidnapped and taken away by Zeus;
- includes 50 countries.
Speaking about representatives of Europe, I would like to mention Great Britain, Italy, France and Germany. They form the backbone of the Europeans' economic and political sphere. Part of the former USSR also belongs to these territories (Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, etc.).
The reason for the concentration of tourists in Europe
Looking at people's social media pages. networks, you can see that the most popular are photographs from trips to Europe. After all, the streets of the “old world” and architectural monuments are unique, which arouses great interest among tourists (the Colosseum, the Eiffel Tower, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and others). In addition, natural features are important: many seas, countless beaches, rivers, amazing mountain landscapes.
Economic factors also play a big role. Europe has excellent transport infrastructure, high general economic development and a sufficient level of tourism industry. I will also take into account the political aspects, which manifest themselves in the form of a long-term peaceful situation (no wars since World War II) and a simple system of checking documents at the borders and the unification of many countries into the Schengen zone, which simplifies visa issues. The latter ensures easy travel between European Union countries.