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North America

North America, third largest continent (2015 est. pop. 571,949,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. North America includes all of the mainland and related offshore islands lying N of the Isthmus of Panama (which connects it with South America). The term “Anglo-America” is frequently used in reference to Canada and the United States combined, while the term “Middle America” is used to describe the region including Mexico, the republics of Central America, and the Caribbean.

Geology and Geography

The continent is bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the west by the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea, and on the east by the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. Its coastline is long and irregular. With the exception of the Gulf of Mexico, Hudson Bay is by far the largest body of water indenting the continent; others include the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortès). There are numerous islands off the continent's coasts; Greenland and the Arctic Archipelago, the Greater and Lesser Antilles, the Alexander Archipelago, and the Aleutian Islands are the principal groups. Denali (Mt. McKinley; 20,310 ft/6,190 m), Alaska, is the highest point on the continent; the lowest point (282 ft/86 m below sea level) is in Death Valley, Calif.

The Missouri-Mississippi river system (c.3,740 mi/6,020 km long) is the longest of North America. Together with the Ohio River and numerous other tributaries, it drains most of S central North America and forms the world's greatest inland waterway system. Other major rivers include the Colorado, Columbia, Delaware, Mackenzie, Nelson, Rio Grande, St. Lawrence, Susquehanna, and Yukon. Lake Superior (31,820 sq mi/82,414 sq km), the westernmost of the Great Lakes, is the continent's largest lake. The Saint Lawrence Seaway, which utilizes the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes, enables oceangoing vessels to penetrate into the heart of North America.

Physiographically, the Anglo-American section of the continent may be divided into five major regions: the Canadian Shield, a geologically stable area of ancient rock that occupies most of the northeastern quadrant, including Greenland; the Appalachian Mountains, a geologically old and eroded system that extends from the Gaspé Peninsula to Alabama; the Atlantic-Gulf Coastal Plain, a belt of lowlands widening to the south that extends from S New England to Mexico; the Interior Lowlands, which extend down the middle of the continent from the Mackenzie valley to the Gulf Coastal Plain and includes the Great Plains on the west and the agriculturally productive Interior Plains on the east; and the North American Cordillera, a complex belt of geologically young mountains and associated plateaus and basins, which extend from Alaska into Mexico and include two orogenic belts—the Pacific Margin on the west and the Rocky Mountains on the east—separated by a system of intermontane plateaus and basins. The Coastal Plain and the main belts of the North American Cordillera continue south into Mexico (where the Mexican Plateau, bordered by the Sierra Madre Oriental and the Sierra Madre Occidental, is considered a continuation of the intermontane system) to join the Transverse Volcanic Range, a zone of high and active volcanic peaks S of Mexico City.

During the Ice Age of the late Cenozoic era, a continental ice sheet, centered west of Hudson Bay (the floor of which is slowly rebounding after being depressed by the great weight of the ice), covered most of N North America; glaciers descended the slopes of the Rocky Mts. and those of the Pacific Margin. Extensive glacial lakes, such as Bonneville (see under Bonneville Salt Flats), Lahontan, Agassiz, and Algonquin, were formed by glacial meltwater; their remnants are still visible in the Great Basin and along the edge of the Canadian Shield in the form of the Great Salt Lake, the Great Lakes, and the large lakes of W central Canada.

Climate

North America, extending to within 10° of latitude of both the equator and the North Pole, embraces every climatic zone, from tropical rain forest and savanna on the lowlands of Central America to areas of permanent ice cap in central Greenland. Subarctic and tundra climates prevail in N Canada and N Alaska, and desert and semiarid conditions are found in interior regions cut off by high mountains from rain-bearing westerly winds. However, a high proportion of the continent has temperate climates very favorable to settlement and agriculture.

People

The first human inhabitants of North America are believed to be of Asian origin; they crossed over to Alaska from NE Asia roughly 20,000 years ago, and then moved southward through the Mackenzie River valley. European discovery and settlement of North America dates from the 10th cent., when Norsemen settled (986) in Greenland. Although evidence is fragmentary, they probably reached E Canada c.1000 at the latest. Of greater impact on the subsequent history of the continent were Christopher Columbus's exploration of the Bahamas in 1492 and later landings in the West Indies and Central America, and John Cabot's explorations of E Canada (1497), which established English claims to the continent. Spanish and French expeditions also explored much of North America.

Although the population of Canada and the United States is still largely of European origin, it is growing increasingly diverse with substantial immigration from Asia, Latin America, and Africa; it is also highly urbanized (about 74% live in urban areas); much of the population is centered in large conurbations and coalescing urban belts along the southern margin of Canada and in the northeastern quadrant of the United States around the Great Lakes and along the Atlantic coast. Mexico's population, about 60% mestizo (of European and Native American descent), is increasingly urbanized (about 72%). People of European descent are a minority in most Central American and Caribbean countries, and the population outside the major cities is largely rural. The largest urban agglomerations on the continent are Mexico City, New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago.

Resources and Economy

North America's extensive agricultural lands (especially in Canada and the United States) are a result of the interrelationship of favorable climatic conditions, fertile soils, and technology. Irrigation has turned certain arid and semiarid regions into productive oases. North America produces most of the world's corn, meat, cotton, soybeans, tobacco, and wheat, along with a variety of other food and industrial raw material crops. Mineral resources are also abundant; the large variety includes coal, iron ore, bauxite, copper, natural gas, petroleum, mercury, nickel, potash, and silver. The manufacturing that provided a high standard of living for the people of Canada and the United States has significantly declined, and formerly abundant factory jobs are increasingly replaced by those in the service sector. Much of this manufacturing has moved to Mexico (especially in the border zone adjoining the United States), which offers a large and inexpensive labor force.

Bibliography

See T. H. Clark and C. W. Stearn, The Geological Evolution of North America (1968); W. P. Cumming et al., The Discovery of North America (1972); R. C. West et al., Middle America: Its Lands and Peoples (3d ed. 1989); T. L. McKnight, Regional Geography of the United States and Canada (1992); S. Birdsall, Regional Landscapes of the United States and Canada (4th rev. ed. 1992); T. Flannery, The Eternal Frontier: An Ecological History of North America and Its Peoples (2001); A. Taylor, American Colonies (2001).

North America

 

North America is a continent in the western hemisphere. Its extreme points are Cape Murchison in the north (71 °50’ N lat.), Cape Prince of Wales in the west (168° W long.), and Cape Saint Charles in the east (55°40’ W long.). In the south it is connected with South America, the boundary running through the Isthmus of Panama. Central America is usually classified with North America. The continent has an area of 20,360,000 sq km (24,250,000 sq km with its islands). The largest islands are Greenland, the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, the West Indies, and the islands along the west coast of the continent, including the Aleutians, the Alexander Archipelago, the Queen Charlotte Islands, and Vancouver Island. North America is bounded by the Arctic Ocean on the north, with Hudson Bay cutting deeply into the mainland, by the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico on the east and southeast, and by the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of California on the west. The major peninsulas are Boothia and Melville in the north, Labrador, Florida, and Yucatán in the east, and Lower (Baja) California and the Alaska and Seward peninsulas in the west.

North America has a highly diverse shoreline. The most indented coasts are found in mountain regions that have experienced glaciation: Greenland, the eastern part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, and the Pacific coast of Canada and southern Alaska. These glacial-tectonic and glacial-erosion coasts are intricate systems of fjords. Whereas the Gulf of Saint Lawrence has both straight abrasion and bay shores, the peninsulas of Nova Scotia and the northeastern USA have tectonic and erosion-tectonic coastlines with numerous skerries. South of 43° N lat., the Atlantic coast, is an accumulative lagoon coast complicated by estuaries and deltas. Between 37° and 40° N lat. the estuaries are especially large. In southern Florida and parts of Central America the coast is formed of coral reefs and mangrove swamps. With the exception of its northern part, the Pacific coast is less indented, especially from Lower (Baja) California to the US-Canadian border, where an abrasion-bay shoreline predominates. Western Canada and southern Alaska have a fjord coastline. Accumulative bay, delta, and thermal-abrasion shores are typical of the western and northern coasts of Alaska.

Orography. The surface of the continent has an asymmetrical structure, with the Cordilleras occupying the western part and vast plains and low mountains the eastern part. The average elevation drops from about 1,700 m in the west to roughly 200–300 m in the east. The overall average elevation of North America is 720 m.

The extensive development of platform structures promoted the formation of large plateaus and plains in the central and eastern parts of the continent. In the north and northeast, chiefly in Canada, lies the Laurentian Upland, a plateau region. To the south, largely in the USA, stretch the Central Plains, gradually merging in the west with the higher Great Plains (500–1,500 m), a vast piedmont belt of the Cordilleras. North of the Great Plains is the Mackenzie Lowland. The Central Plains are bounded on the east by the Appalachian Mountains, which extend from southwest to northeast as far as Newfoundland.

Mountain topography is typical for the eastern parts of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and the coast of Greenland. Together with favorable climatic conditions, this terrain promotes the formation of enormous glaciers in the northern part of the continent, including most of Greenland and a large part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. To the west the mountains gradually become lower and are replaced by the plateaus and lowlands that are characteristic of the western islands of the archipelago. Coastal lowlands, including the Atlantic Lowlands in the east and the Mexican Lowlands in the south, form the southeastern edge of the continent.

The Cordilleras include a number of mountain arcs with a predominantly northwest to southeast orientation. The eastern arc consists of the Brooks Range, the Mackenzie Mountains, the Rocky Mountains (Mount Elbert, 4,399 m), and the Sierra Madre Oriental. To the west stretches an irregular belt of interior uplands and plateaus with elevations of 1,000 m to 2,000 m: the Yukon Plateau, the volcanic British Columbia plateaus, the Columbia Plateau, the Great Basin, the Colorado Plateau, and the volcanic plateaus and uplands of the interior of the Mexican Highlands. Most of the plateaus consist of a succession of flat tablelands, mountain ranges, and basins (Death Valley in the Great Basin lies 85 m below sea level).

On the west the belt of plateaus and uplands is bounded by the highest mountain ranges in the Cordilleras. This mountain system includes the volcanic Aleutian Islands, the Aleutian Range, the Alaska Range, whose highest peak is Mount McKinley (6,193 m), the highest point in North America, the Canadian Coast Mountains, the Cascade Range, the Sierra Nevada, the Sierra Madre Occidental, and the Transverse Volcanic Sierra with the volcano Orizaba (5,700 m). To the west of this mountain system lies a zone of depressions occupied by bays (Cook Inlet, Puget Sound, and the Gulf of California) or by lowlands (Willamette Valley, Central Valley). The west coast of the continent is formed by the Kenai, Chugach, St. Elias (Mount Logan, 6,050 m), and Canadian island mountains and the US Coast Ranges. South of the Mexican Highlands the Cordilleras divide into two chains. One chain is deflected to the east, forming the underwater ridges and islands of the West Indies and then joining the Andes of Venezuela; the other extends through the Isthmuses of Tehuantepee and Panama to the Colombian Andes.

Origin and development of the topography. The variations in the topography are related to the differences in the age of present-day land regions and to the history of the continental development of these regions. The topography of the Laurentian Upland, which has the most ancient geological structures, is characterized by planation surfaces formed in the Early Paleozoic. The varying resistance of rocks to denudation, as well as tectonic movments, produced the rolling surface of the upland. Quaternary glaciation caused the central part of the upland to subside, forming the basin of Hudson Bay, and led to the accumulation of moraine and fluvioglacial detritus, which formed the moraine-hilly topography.

The Central and Great Plains are stratified plains. Through the action of denudation processes, depending on the type of rock bedding, there arose cuesta ridges (in the Great Lakes region), stepped plateaus (Great Plains), and low- and medium-elevation erosion mountains (Ozarks and Ouachitas). In the north as far as 42° N lat., where the plains were subjected to continental glaciation, they have a hilly moraine topography. The central parts of the plains are deeply dissected by rivers and gulleys, and south of 38° N lat. the plains reflect karst processes.

The coastal lowlands, formed by the gradual retreat of the ocean in Mesozoic and Cenozoic times, have preserved young forms of marine accumulative topography on their outer edge (terraces, spits, and bars). The older interior parts of the coastal lowlands have a structural-erosion topography—low plateaus separated by cuesta scarps. The topography of the Appalachian Mountains was created as rivers eroded the rising structures; the northern Appalachians, which underwent glaciation, typically have such glacial forms as broad U-shaped valleys and moraine deposits in intermontane depressions.

The formation of the mountains on the arctic islands is related to crustal movements in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic, which simultaneously created the large basins on the floor of the northern Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean. The extrusions of basalt that accompanied these movements created the highlands in eastern Greenland. Ancient and modern glaciation determined the exceptionally rugged topography, marked by numerous cirques, trough valleys, and fjords. The central and western parts of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago consist of stepped plateaus and marine accumulative lowlands with ther-mokarst lakes and other permafrost landforms.

The Cordilleras are a belt of active relief formation, primarily on the young Mesozoic and Cenozoic folded structures and the adjacent activated segments of the North American Platform. The eastern arc of the Cordilleras has three types of ranges. The first type, block-folded ranges, arose as a result of vast arched uplifts and subsequent erosion dissection. They include the Brooks Range, the Mackenzie Mountains, the eastern ranges of the Rockies in Canada and the northern USA, and the Sierra Madre Oriental. The mountains reach elevations of 3,000–3,900 m and are separated by deep longitudinal valleys. North of 40° N lat. mountain glacial forms are widespread, and south of that point nival and erosion forms predominate. Ranges of the second type, folded-block and anticlinal ranges, are found in the southern part of the American Rockies. They were formed through the deformation of the edge of the North American Platform and are separated by vast synclinal troughs. Ranges of the third type, block and folded-block mountains and massifs, occur in the batholith regions in the western part of the Rocky Mountains and have alpine forms.

The system of inner plateaus and uplands consists for the most part of denudation plateaus. In the northern part of the system (Alaska and northwestern Canada), large and relatively high massifs with a flat or rolling surface alternate with broad accumulative basins connected by river valleys. In the southern USA and Mexico, in regions with a dry continental climate, such as the Great Basin and the northern Mexican Highlands, the plateaus consist of many strongly denuded crests and broad depressions filled with alluvial-deluvial deposits. Lava plateaus with flat surfaces and deeply dissected canyons occupy large areas along the US-Canadian border and in the southern Mexican Highlands. They include the Fraser and Columbia plateaus and the Meseta Central. In the southern part of the Columbia Plateau and along the southern margin of the Mexican Highlands fault movements and volcanic activity (in Mexico) have created a mountainous terrain. The Colorado Plateau, tectoni-cally a fragment of the North American Platform that became part of the Cordilleras, also belongs to the inner belt of plateaus.

The western belt of the Cordilleras includes two mountain systems, corresponding to major geoanticlines, and the system of basins (synclinoria) that divides them. The eastern system, the higher one, consists of block mountains formed on Nevadan batholith with steep, often asymmetrical slopes and crestlike summits (Canadian Coast Mountains and Sierra Nevada). Other ranges (Alaska, St. Elias) are large anticlinal folds with instrusive outcrops along their axes. The relief of these mountains is predominantly alpine, and north of 60° N lat. they are covered by large glaciers. This arc also includes volcanic mountains—the Aleutian Range, Wrangell Mountains, Cascade Range, and Transverse Volcanic Sierra—all of them formed by recent eruptions and constituting rows of volcanic cones rising above a common base. Many of the volcanoes, notably Mount Wrangell, Lassen Peak, and Popocatépetl, are active. The west coast of the continent and the coastal islands in southern Alaska and western Canada are formed by narrow anticlinal ranges of recent origin.

Geological structure and minerals. The large central part of North America is occupied by the Precambrian North American (Canadian) Platform, which also includes all but the northern and northeastern edge of Greenland. The platform is surrounded by Caledonian folded mountain structures (northeastern part of the mainland, Greenland, Newfoundland, and the northern Appalachians), by Hercynian folded structures (southern Appalachians, Ouachita Range and its buried continuation, and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago), and by the Mesozoic and Cenozoic Cordilleras. The lowlands along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico in the USA, covered by a mantle of Mesozoic and Cenozoic deposits, are continental platform segments with a Paleozoic and, to some extent, Precambrian, basement.

The basement of the North American Platform is exposed in the northern USA, Canada, the southern part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, and along the western and southeastern coasts of Greenland, forming the Canadian (Canadian-Greenland) Shield. The shield consists of blocks (provinces) bounded by faults and composed of metamorphosed, chiefly basic, volcanic rocks and granite gneisses of Archean and Early Protero-zoic age. In the southeastern part of the shield stretches the Grenville Belt, consisting of Early Precambrian rock reworked in the Late Proterozoic and of metamorphosed Proterozoic carbonate detrital formations enclosing masses of granite and gab-bro-anorthosite. According to data obtained from drilling and geophysical studies, the basement of the remainder of the platform, covered by a sedimentary mantle, is also composed primarily of Early Precambrian metamorphosed sedimentary and volcanic rocks and granite gneisses. Early Precambrian crystalline rocks are also found in the American Rockies.

The sedimentary mantle of the North American Platform forms the continental platform segments of the mid-continent and Great Plains. The mantle of the mid-continent ranges in age from Ordovician to Carboniferous; Permian rocks are found in the east. The mantle of the Great Plains also includes deposits from the Mesozoic and continental Cenozoic. Variations in the depth of the basement have produced a series of major depressions (syneclises) descending to 3–4 km and arches (anteclises). The southwestern part of the platform is dissected by the mobile zone of the northwesterly Ouachita Mountains.

The most ancient part of the folded border of the North American Platform, the Caledonian mountains of northeastern Greenland, is composed of a thick layer of sedimentary terrigenous-carbonate rocks of the Upper Precambrian and Lower Paleozoic, intensively deformed before the Devonian together with the ancient Precambrian basement and thrust onto the margin of the platform as nappes. Coarse red Devonian deposits, the products of destruction in Caledonian mountain building, fill the grabens superimposed on the platform margin; the grabens also contain younger sediments from the Upper Paleozoic and Mesozoic.

In the southeast the margin of the platform is bounded by the Paleozoic (Caledonian in the north and Hercynian in the south) folded system of the Appalachians and Newfoundland. The northern Appalachians and the folded system of Newfoundland border on the Canadian Shield along a fault (the Logan line) where Paleozoic geosynclinal strata are thrust onto the Paleozoic and Precambrian platform. In the central zone of the northern Appalachians there are superimposed basins filled with weakly deformed, primarily continental. Carboniferous and Permian deposits. Both the northern and southern Appalachians have narrow grabens with continental sediments and basalt lavas of the Upper Triassic and Lower Jurassic created by the break-up of the Appalachian system before it entered the platform stage of development.

Along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, within the coastal lowlands, the zone of Hercynian folding is covered by a layer of Cretaceous and Cenozoic deposits. The Hercynian (Innuitian) folded system of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and northern parts of Greenland is composed primarily of terrigenous carbonate Cambrian-Devonian beds that were folded in the early Carboniferous. Near Sverdrup Island and the adjacent islands, the large and deep Sverdrup Basin, filled with terrigenous platform deposits of the Upper Paleozoic and Mesozoic, is superimposed on the folded Paleozoic basement. The deposits are breached by salt domes (Upper Paleozoic) associated with gas deposits.

The Cordilleran folded belt stretches along the Pacific coast of North America. In the east, the folded belt almost everywhere borders on the North American Platform; only in Alaska is it bounded by the Brooks Range, part of the Innuitian Belt. In the south the Cordilleras merge with the structures of the Antilles-Caribbean region. Within the Cordilleran belt there is an eastern miogeosynclinal zone and a western eugeosynclinal zone. The miogeosyncline’and eastern part of the eugeosyn-cline were formed in the Late Precambrian and Early Paleozoic, and the western part of the eugeosyncline was created in the Mesozoic. Stretching along the western margin of the platform, the miogeosyncline includes the western zone of the Rocky Mountains, whose eastern part in the USA is the uplifted activated periphery of the North American Platform.

The eugeosyncline of the Cordilleras may be traced from the Alaska Peninsula to the Isthmus of Panama and on into the northern Andes. In the eastern part of the eugeosyncline (the Alaska Range, Canadian Coast Mountains, and Sierra Nevada), the geosynclinal complex of rocks, dating from the Cambrian to the Jurassic, includes cherts, basic and neutral volcanic rocks, and terrigenous rocks. The rocks are connected by complex facies transitions about 10 km thick. The most intensive (Nevadan) folding in the eugeosyncline, which produced the intricate folded-sheet structure of the belt, occurred in the Late Jurassic. The largest granite masses—the Canadian Coast Batholith and the Idaho, Sierra Nevada, and California batholiths—were formed between the Late Jurassic and Paleo-gene.

The western part of the eugeosyncline, which runs along the Pacific coast of Alaska, Vancouver Island, and the Queen Charlotte Islands, through Oregon, California, and Mexico, and on to Central America, is composed of formations of Late Jurassic to Miocene age. The lower part of the cross section is dominated by deep-water detrital series alternating with interlayers of basalts, keratophyres, and cherts. Paleogene and Neogene beds are represented by a flysch complex with pockets of volcanic rocks and jaspers. In Alaska and in the Cascade Range the cross section is topped by andesites, and on the Columbia Plateau by plateau basalts. The total thickness exceeds 10 km. Fold-forming movements occurred numerous times. The development of large thrust faults oriented west and of such slip-strike faults as the San Andreas Fault is related to them. The principal epoch of folding and thrust-fault formation in the western part of the eugeosyncline was the Late Miocene. A belt of ophiolites was formed in Alaska, in the Coast Ranges of California, and in Central America during the Mesozoic (Jurassic).

MINERALS. Most of the deposits of useful minerals in North America are confined to the Canadian Shield and the Cordilleras. The Precambrian rocks of the Canadian Shield contain major deposits of iron ore (around Lake Superior and on the Labrador Peninsula), sulfide, copper, nickel, and uranium ores (north shore of Lake Huron), gold (the Porcupine region), and nonferrous metals. The platform’s sedimentary mantle, primarily at the boundary with folded regions, contains many deposits of petroleum and gas in all the Paleozoic systems (in the west, in the Mesozoic systems as well). The largest coal reserves occur in the eastern and western interior coal basins of the North American Platform.

In the Cordilleras there are many known deposits, in some places quite large, of gold, silver, copper, zinc, lead (Pine Point), molybdenum, tungsten, and mercury; iron ore is less widespread. Significant petroleum and gas deposits are found along the Pacific Coast, in California and southern Alaska (Cook Inlet), in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, and in the eastern part of the American Rockies. Coal deposits occur in the Cretaceous beds of the Rocky Mountains and in the interior basins of the Canadian Cordilleras. Sedimentary uranium ores are found in the Lower Mesozoic formations of the Rocky Mountains, and the Paleozoic rocks of this region contain stratified beds of phosphorites.

REFERENCES

King, P. B. Geologicheskoe razvitie Severnoi Ameriki. Moscow, 1961. (Translated from English.)
King, P. B. Tektonika Severnoi Ameriki. Moscow, 1972. (Translated from English.)
Douglas, R. Geology and Economic Minerals of Canada. Ottawa, 1970.

Climate. Much of the area north of 56° N lat. has an annual radiation balance of less than 20 kcal/sq cm, or 84 kj/sq cm (Greenland has a negative balance), but to the south it increases rapidly, reaching 60–80 kcal/sq km, or 250–335 kj/sq cm south of 30° N lat. Over most of the continent the predominant air movement is from west to east; only in the south, in the tropical latitudes, is there a predominant northeast to southwest movement (trade winds). The prevailing westerly transfer of air occurs during cyclonic activity. In the winter this activity, strong over the Pacific Coast, diminishes over the Cordilleras and again intensifies over the interior plains. Anticyclones often develop above the inner plateaus of the Cordilleras. Cold arctic air is carried far to the south in the wake of the cyclones, sometimes reaching the Gulf of Mexico. In the front parts of the cyclones warm moist tropical air often reaches the north, causing a rise in temperature and precipitation, which is especially abundant in the eastern parts of the continent.

As a result of these processes, warm rainy weather with snow in the mountains predominates during the winter on the Pacific coast; most of Alaska, the interior plateaus of the Cordilleras, and northwestern Canada have dry, cold weather; and the central and eastern parts of the continent have unstable weather with freezes and thaws and frequent snowfall. Only in the tropical parts of the southern Mexican Highlands and Florida, which receive the trade winds, are winters warm and relatively dry.

In summer the westerly shift of air weakens. Air from the Gulf of Mexico, moving northeast along the western periphery of the Azores anticyclone, spreads over the continent bringing large amounts of moisture to the central and eastern regions. The equatorial monsoon reaches Central America and the West Indies, causing abundant precipitation. Pacific air moves southward along the eastern periphery of the Hawaiian anticyclone and along the west coast of the continent. The Pacific air usually does not cause summer precipitation, except in southeastern Alaska, where it reaches the coast at an angle. Sometimes the Hawaiian and Azores anticyclones converge, and dry tropical air moves eastward along the northern edge of the crest of high pressure that connects them. In such cases dry, hot weather with strong winds sets in over most of the continent in the south. Dust storms frequently occur in the Great Basin and on the Great Plains at this time. Cool weather prevails in the north during the summer and in the northeastern part of the continent, which is influenced by cold currents.

Tehe mean January temperature ranges from -36°C in the northern part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago to 20°C in southern Florida and the Mexican Highlands. The lowest temperature, -64°C, was recorded in Alaska and northwestern Canada; on the Greenland ice cap, at an elevation of 3,000 m, the temperature has dropped to - 70°C. Temperatures below 0°C occur everywhere except on the west coast south of 40° N lat., the southern tip of Florida, and the lowlands of southern Mexico and Central America.

Mean July temperatures range from 4°C in the northern part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago to 32°C in the southwestern USA. The highest temperatures are observed in the southern parts of the Cordilleran interior plateaus; in Death Valley the temperature has reached 57°C, the highest temperature in the western hemisphere.

The greatest amount of precipitation falls in southeastern Alaska, western Canada, and the American Northwest, where it averages 2,000–3,000 mm a year, increasing to 6,000 mm in places, chiefly during the winter and autumn. In the southeastern USA the annual precipitation totals 1,000–1,500 mm, primarily from summer rains. The Central Plains and northeastern part of the continent receive 600–1,000 mm a year, most of it in summer. The Great Plains receive 400–600 mm, and the interior plateaus, less than 100 mm in places. On the west coast, south of 37° N lat., the amount of precipitation drops sharply, primarily as a result of the almost completely dry summer. In Lower (Baja) California the annual precipitation does not exceed 100–150 mm.

During the winter a stable snow cover forms north of 40° N lat. (north of 44° N lat. on the Great Plains). By the end of the winter the snow cover ranges from a few centimeters on the interior plateaus of the Cordilleras to 1 meter or more in the northwestern and northeastern parts of the continent.

North America extends over the arctic, subarctic, temperate, subtropical, tropical, and subequatorial zones.

The arctic zone includes the land bounded by the Arctic Ocean. Greenland and the eastern part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago have a harsh climate with low summer and winter temperatures and relatively large amounts of precipitation, causing considerable glaciation. The northern coast of Alaska and the western part of the Canadian Archipelago have a more continental arctic climate with little precipitation. The subarctic zone, extending from 58° N lat. in the west and from 50° N lat. in the east, is characterized by abundant precipitation, warm winters, and cool summers in the west along the Pacific. The central part of the subarctic zone, east of the Cordilleras, is markedly continental with very cold weather. The eastern subarctic zone has snowy winters and cold wet summers.

The temperate zone, north of 40° N lat., is distinguished by a mild, very wet climate in the west, a severe continental climate in the interior plateaus of the Cordilleras, and a moderately continental climate in the east. In the subtropical zone (which includes the entire southern USA excluding the southern tip of Florida), the western part of California has a mild Mediterranean

Table 1. Primary climatic indexes of North America
Zone	Point	Latitude (N)	Longitude (W)	Elevation (m)	Mean air temperature (°C)		Precipitation (mm)
					By months		Annual	By months
					High	Low		High	Low
Arctic	Godthaab	69°14′	53°31′	11	8(Aug.)	-19(Feb.)	385	68(July)	13 (Feb.)
	Barrow	70°23′	156°17′	7	5 (July)	-28 (Feb.)	112	24 (July)	3 (Apr.)
Subarctic	Dillingham	59°00′	158°25′	24	13 (July)	-9 (Feb.)	663	100 (Sept.)	33 (Apr.)
	Fort Smith	60°00′	111°52′	207	16 (July)	-27 (Jan.)	331	55 (July)	2 (Mar.)
	Hebron	58°12′	62°21′	15	9 (Aug.)	-21 (Jan.)	481	84 (Sept.)	13 (Feb.)
Temperate	Prince Rupert	54°18′	130°18′	52	14 (Aug.)	-2 (Jan.)	2,417	311 (Nov.)	103 (July)
	Winnipeg	49°53′	97°07′	232	19 (July)	-19(Jan.)	547	80 (June)	22 (Feb.)
	Boston	42°21′	71°04′	38	22 (July)	-2 (Feb.)	1,021	93 (Feb.)	74 (June)
Subtropical	San Francisco	37°48′	122°26′	47	12(Sept.-oct.)	7 (Jan.)	562	113 (Jan.)	0(July-Oct.)
	Winnemucca	40°58′	117°43′	1,324	21 (July)	-2 (Jan.)	216	26 (Jan.)	5(July-Aug.)
	Kansas City	39°05′	94°37′	294	26 (July)	-2 (Jan.)	941	129 (June)	29 (Jan.)
	Washington	38°54′	77°03′	34	25 (July)	1 (Jan.)	1,068	118(July)	61(Nov.)
Tropical	La Paz	24°10′	110°18′	18	29(Aug.)	17(Jan.)	172	52(Sept.)	0(Apr.-June)
	Mexico	19°24′	99°11′	2,309	17 (May)	12 (Jan.)	765	163 (July)	6 (Jan.)
	Miami	25°48′	80°12′	8	28 (Aug.)	20 (Jan.)	1,410	177 (June)	42 (Dec.)
Subequatorial	Tapachula	14°54′	92°16′	168	27 (Apr.)	25 (Jan.)	2,489	473 (June)	6 (Feb.)

climate with frost-free rainy winters and dry summers; the interior plateaus of the Cordilleras have a dry continental climate with very hot summers; and the east coast has a humid monsoonal climate.

In the tropical zone, Lower (Baja) California, the coast of the Gulf of California, and the interior of the Mexican Highlands have a dry climate. Elsewhere in the tropical zone the climate is humid, with the maximum precipitation occurring in summer. The subequatorial zone, which includes the southern part of Central America, has a permanently hot climate with humid summers and dry winters. Only the mountain regions, influenced by trade winds from the Caribbean Sea, also receive abundant precipitation during the winter.

Rivers and lakes. North America is rich in water resources. It has the earth’s longest river system (the Mississippi with the Missouri) and the greatest accumulation of fresh water (Great Lakes). The rivers of North America discharge 8,200 cu km of water annually. The water resources are distributed unevenly, however, owing to climatic and orographic conditions. The runoff varies from a few centimeters in the Great Basin to 100 cm in the Appalachians and up to 200 cm in the northwestern Cordilleras. Most of the water flows into the Atlantic Ocean. The river network of the Atlantic basin is mature and dense, and the rivers reach considerable lengths. The drainage basins of the Mississippi and St. Lawrence rivers occupy a large area.

The rivers of the Pacific basin are shorter than those of the other basins, although the rivers in the wet northern part of North America are deep. The rivers that empty into the Pacific, of which the largest are the Yukon, Columbia, and Colorado, have large gradients and often cut deep canyons with their rapid currents. The Arctic basin has a poorly developed runoff system and numerous lakes and marshes. The largest river system comprises the Finlay, Peace, Slave, and Mackenzie rivers. The hydroenergy reserves of the continent’s rivers total some 200 giga watts.

The North American rivers may be divided into four types depending on the feeding, which may be predominantly rainfall, snow-rainfall, glacier, or groundwater. The first type of river is characteristic of the coastal lowlands, the southern Appalachians, the southern Great Plains, Central America, and the West Indies, as well as the Coast Ranges in the western USA. With the exception of the rivers in the Coast Ranges, these rivers are fed by summer rains and have their maximum discharge in the autumn and spring. During the summer the runoff decreases, owing to evaporation. The rivers have a large water content and energy potential, which is exploited at the outer edge of the Piedmont Plateau, where rapids and waterfalls occur. In the drier country west of the Mississippi such rivers as the Colorado and Rio Grande become very shallow in summer, sometimes drying up in their upper reaches, although occasional heavy rains may cause flash floods. The rivers in the western USA overflow during winter rains and become shallow in summer.

The second type of river includes the rivers of the Laurentian Upland, the Mackenzie Lowland, the northern Appalachians, the northern Great Plains, and the Cordilleras, excluding the far western part of the USA and Canada. Fed by rain and snowmelt, these rivers have high water during and after the melting of the snow cover. They usually freeze over during the winter. On the interior plains and in the Appalachians high water occurs in spring and summer and low water in winter. The Missouri, Arkansas, and other rivers of the Great Plains are shallow, especially in the late summer and autumn, and have sharp peak flows in spring and early summer. In the east the rivers have stable regimes, a large water content, and enormous energy reserves, especially the Ohio River and its tributaries. A regular discharge is observed on the St. Lawrence, which drains the Great Lakes.

The rivers of the Laurentian Upland, the Mackenzie Lowland, and the Yukon Plateau (Mackenzie, Churchill, Yukon) generally flow through numerous lakes but have irregular regimes. Because of the wide distribution of permafrost rocks they receive little groundwater and become very shallow in winter. These rivers are frozen over as much as eight months of the year. High water, occurring in early summer, is accompanied by ice jams. The rivers that rise in the American Rockies also have snow and rain regimes, with summer high water.

Glacially fed rivers are characteristic of the northwestern USA, western Canada, and southwestern Alaska. They have a large water content, summer peaks, and great energy resources, especially the Columbia River. Most of the rivers of the Great Basin and the interior of the Mexican Highlands are fed by groundwater. In these desert regions small streams appear only during the winter, when evaporation is low.

The northern part of the continent, which has been subjected to glaciation, has many lakes of glacial and tectonic origin. Among them are the Great Lakes, Lakes Winnipeg, Winnipe-gosis, and Manitoba, and the Great Slave, Great Bear, and Reindeer lakes. Two large tectonic lakes, Nicaragua and Managua, lie in the Nicaraguan Trough in Central America. The Great Basin has relict lakes that have survived from the humid period of the Pleistocene; the largest of them is the Great Salt Lake. There are many lakes of lagoon origin in the coastal lowlands. Volcanic lakes occur in many parts of the Cordilleras—in Alaska, the Cascade Range, Mexico, and Central America. Despite the many measures that have been taken to limit the discharge of unpurified water, the river and lake waters of the Atlantic and Pacific basins are polluted, especially in the densely populated industrial and agricultural regions in the eastern and western parts of the continent.

Glaciers. North America’s total area of glaciation exceeds 2 million sq km. The Greenland ice cap, a fragment of Late Quaternary North American glaciation, is the largest ice sheet. Other glaciers that have survived from this time are the ice caps that cover much of Ellesmere Island and other islands in the eastern part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Whereas mountain cirque glaciers are typical of the eastern islands and coastal Greenland, piedmont and shelf glaciers occur on the north coast of Ellesmere Island.

On the mainland there is extensive glaciation in southern Alaska (52,000 sq km) in the Chugach, Kenai, and particularly St. Elias mountains, where the glaciers descend to the sea. Glaciers are also found in the Brooks, Alaska, and Aleutian ranges, the Rocky Mountains, and the Canadian Coast Mountains, as well as on some peaks of the Cascade Range and the Transverse Volcanic Axis. The maximum area covered by glaciers during the Anthropogene, when the ice sheet descended to 40° N lat., was 15.6 million sq km, excluding Greenland.

Soils. North America has a great variety of soils, ranging from polar to tropical, with the most widespread soils having been created by boreal and subtropical soil-forming processes. In the northern part of the continent, zones of similar soils extend in an east-west direction. Relatively dry arctic soils and tundra arctic soils are typical for the northern islands of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. In the southern parts of the archipelago and along the Arctic coast acidic tundra-gley soils have developed under permafrost conditions; they are unsaturated but become very wet during the warm period. Soddy-peaty subpolar soils have been formed on volcanic ashes in western Alaska and in the Aleutian Islands.

In the central parts of the Laurentian Upland and in the basins of the Yukon Plateau, cryogenic-taiga soils rich in coarse humus are found alongside surface podzols in high areas and alongside peaty-gley soils in low areas. In the southern Labrador Peninsula these soils give way to illuvial ferruginous-humic podzols, formed on light-textured moraine and fluvioglacial deposits. In the southwestern part of the Laurentian Upland and on the northern Great Plains the soils are soddy podzols. They typically have a shallow humus horizon, especially on the Great Plains, where gray forest soils have developed together with so-Iodized soils on ancient lake deposits. With the exception of the soils formed on carbonate moraine or lake deposits, all of these soils are used comparatively little in farming.

In the southern part of the temperate zone and in the sub-tropics, similar soils are often distributed in submeridional zones or compact masses. The Great Lakes region and the northern Appalachians have brown forest soils, unsaturated in the north and saturated in the south. These soils form under conditions of abundant atmospheric moisture and are quite fertile, although they often contain a compact impermeable subsoil horizon and require drainage.

To the south of the Great Lakes and in the northwestern part of the Central Plains, the chernozem-like soils of the prairies, either weakly acidic or neutral and with a high humus content, were formed under moderately humid climatic conditions. Near the Great Plains they give way to chernozems, which occupy a much smaller area in North America than in Eurasia. The chernozems are strongly leached; in the north (Canada) they are found together with meadow chernozems. Chestnut soils, forming large pockets on the Great Plains and Columbia Plateau, are much more widely represented. Saline brown semidesert soils and solonchaks have developed in the Great Basin, with its dry continental climate.

In the southern parts of the North American plains variations in soil are even more closely linked to moisture. In the humid southeastern part of the continent red and yellow soils have developed on marine clayey and sandy loam deposits; this is the largest accumulation of such soils in the world. The soils are highly productive but require much fertilization. West of the Mississippi lie the reddish black soils of the subtropical prairies and the cinnamon-colored and gray-cinnamon soils of the shrub steppes. Gray earths and the primitive soils of subtropical deserts characterize the interior of the Mexican Highlands; tropical desert soils are found in Lower (Baja) California.

In the low-lying parts of Central America the predominant soils are the red-yellow ferralitic soils of humid forests and the red ferralitic soils of savannas. Various types of mountain soils are found on the slopes of the Cordilleras; brown-forest mountain soils prevail in humid regions and cinnamon-colored mountain soils in dry regions.

Intensive cultivation over a long period of time has destroyed the topsoil in many parts of the continent, expecially in the Appalachian foothills and on the Great Plains, necessitating drastic measures to control soil erosion.

Plant life. In general, the flora of North America belongs to the Holarctic floristic region. Only the southern part of the Mexican Highlands and Central America are included within the Neotropical floristic region. The vegetation of North America is very similar to that of Eurasia. North of 47° N lat. the vegetation zones run from east to west and from northeast to southwest; south of that point they extend from north to south.

In the northern parts of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and in Greenland the soil supports a scanty arctic desert vegetation consisting chiefly of crustose lichens, mosses, and a few species of higher vascular plants.

Tundra occupies the southern part of the archipelago and stretches in a broad band along the Arctic coast of the mainland. Moss and lichen formations predominate in the northern part of the tundra and shrub formations in the south. Spruce, both black and white, tamarack, and balsam poplar form the northern boundary of tree growth. The forest-tundra, stretching in a band roughly 100-200 km wide, includes coniferous forests (along river valleys), tundras, and open woodlands (on watersheds). In the western part of the continent, on the Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands, forest-tundra is replaced by oceanic meadows, which develop in a marine climate with summer temperatures that are not warm enough to permit tree growth. The grass cover consists of high grasses, such as reed bent grass and brome, and various forbs.

Forests occupy roughly one-third of the continent. The most extensive forests are those of the temperate belt, divided into taiga, coastal coniferous, mixed, and broadleaf forests. The taiga consists chiefly of dark coniferous species with an admixture of small-leaf species (black and white spruce, balsam fir, aspen, and paper birch) and of pine woods (Weymouth and jack pine), growing on sandy deposits. Coastal coniferous forests are found on the west coast of Canada and in the American Northwest in valleys and coastal lowlands and on the lower slopes of the Cordilleras. The most common species are Sitka spruce, Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga), western red cedar (Thuja), hemlock (Tsuga), and various pines. To the south there are also such broadleaf trees as Oregon oak. At its upper limit (900-2,000 m) the coastal coniferous forest is replaced by a mountain taiga fir and spruce forest, which in turn gives way to mountain tundra.

Mixed forests are found around the Great Lakes and in the northern Appalachians. On the dry watersheds with loam top-soils grow forests of maple, elm, linden, birch, and hemlock. Pine woods and tracts of scrub oak and birch occur on sandy river terraces, and spruce and fir woods cover moraine ridges. Broadleaf forests are found in the central and southern Appalachians and in the eastern Central Plains. Owing to the great age of the flora of this region, the forests are composed of numerous species, including dozens of oak species, chestnut trees, beeches, hickories, and relict tulip trees. Above 700–1,000 m the slopes of the Appalachians are covered by mixed and coniferous forests on podzolic soils.

In the subtropics there is a zone of evergreen mixed forests in the east and one of evergreen coniferous forests in the west. Evergreen mixed forests are widespread in the eastern foothills of the southern half of the Appalachians (Piedmont Plateau) and on the coastal lowlands. On marine terraces and plateaus the tree stand is composed of evergreen oaks, elms, magnolias, and numerous species of pine covered with lianas. Along river valleys the woods contain oaks, magnolias, yews, and swamp cypress. In sandy regions, primarily along the coast, there are pure pine forests with low palms in the undergrowth.

Coniferous forests cover the coast of California and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. They include sequoia forests, dry pine forests, and forests with a mixture of fir, piñon (Pinus cembroides), Douglas fir, and other conifers. At higher elevations they are replaced, successively, by spruce and fir forests, subalpine meadows, and alpine meadows. In the driest southern regions the forests give way to hard-leaved evergreen scrub oak, called chaparral.

The continental interior is occupied by forest-steppes, steppes, semideserts, and deserts. The forest-steppe zone stretches from the Cordilleras eastward across the Canadian Great Plains and southward across the western part of the Central Plains. On the Great Plains grass and forb meadow steppes alternate with small-leaved forests, and on the Central Plains tall beard-grass steppes (prairie) are interspersed with open woodlands of oak and hickory. The forest-steppe vegetation has not been preserved in its natural form.

Steppes are found on the Great Plains, on the Columbia Plateau, and in the Central Valley. Feather-grass and wheatgrass steppes are found in the eastern part of the American Great Plains; elsewhere, dry low-grass steppes of grama grass, buffalo grass, wheatgrass, and species of Aristida predominate. In the southern Great Plains the dry steppes give way to a subtropical mesquite savanna. The Central and Great Plains are used intensively for agriculture.

Deserts and semideserts occupy the Great Basin, the eastern Colorado Plateau, and areas northwest of the Gulf of Mexico. At the eastern foot of the American Rockies there are semideserts with psammophytic grasses and sagebrush growing on brown soils. Over the remaining territory semideserts and deserts alternate, depending on the topography and moisture. North of 37° N lat. the vegetative cover consists of such semishrubs as sagebrush, orache, Sarcobatus vermiculatus, and saltwort; to the south grow shrubs (creosote bush, ocotillo) and succulents (cacti, yuccas). The mountain ranges and higher parts of plateaus that rise above the basins are covered with grasses and open woodlands of pine and juniper or pine and oak (in the south). On the upper slopes of high mountains the grasses and open woodlands are replaced by spruce and fir forests and alpine meadows.

The southern parts of the Mexican Highlands, southern Florida, Central America, and the West Indies have a tropical vegetation. In the most humid areas, chiefly at the foot of windward mountain slopes, grow evergreen rain forests, complex in composition, consisting of giant trees (covered with lianas and epiphytes) and bamboo groves. At higher elevations these forests give way to humid deciduous tropical forests of beech, linden, and oak and to subtropical evergreen mountain forests and brushland. The leeward slopes support tropical savannas that include dry low thorn forests composed chiefly of species of the legume family. Mangrove thickets fringe the coast.

The vegetation and topsoil of North America have been greatly altered by man, especially in the USA. The natural vegetation of the prairies has been almost completely destroyed, and the forests have been diminished. Broadleaf forests, now found only on mountain slopes, are poorer in composition. The mixed forests of the temperate and subtropical zones and the coniferous forests of the Cordilleran West have been greatly reduced by logging and fires.

Animal life. The fauna of the larger, nontropical, part of the continent closely resembles that of analogous parts of Eurasia, owing to the former land bridge between the continents. Thus, the nontropical parts of North America and Eurasia may be united into one large zoogeographical region, the Holarctic. However, certain distinctive characteristics of the fauna justify classifying the North American part as an independent region, the Nearctic, in contrast to the Palaearctic region of Eurasia.

The tundra zone is inhabited by reindeer (caribou), polar bears, arctic foxes, lemmings, snowshoe rabbits, snowy owls, and ptarmigans. The musk ox is found only in the northern Canadian Arctic Archipelago and Greenland. The most common taiga animals are the moose, wapiti, American marten, brown bear, Canada lynx, wolverine, beaver, porcupine, otter, fisher, red squirrel, and flying squirrel. The number of animals, particularly fur-bearing species, has decreased sharply.

Even more depleted is the fauna of the mixed and broadleaf forests, which includes such native species as the Virginia deer, skunk, gray fox, bobcat, gray squirrel, star-nosed mole and, among birds, the swallow-tailed kite and wild turkey. Crice-tines, shrews, and woodchucks are widely found. In the subtropical southeastern part of the continent, in addition to animals common to broadleaf forests, there are such tropical species as alligators, caimans, ibises, flamingos, pelicans, and hummingbirds (one species occurs as far north as Alaska).

The animals of the steppes and forest-steppes have been largely destroyed, among them the bison, now found only in preserves, the pronghorn antelope, the brocket, which has survived in mountains, the coyote, and the kit fox. Much more numerous are rodents (ground squirrels, prairie dogs), the weasel Putorius eversmanni, badgers, kangaroo mice, and birds (ground owl, prairie chicken). Typical of the mountain forests of the Cordilleras are bighorn sheep, grizzly bears (Alaska), and mountain goats. On the desert-steppe high plateaus are numerous reptiles, among them poisonous reptiles (rattlesnake, gila monster) and horned lizards. In Central America and the West Indies and in some parts of the southern Mexican Highlands tropical animals predominate, including South American species: armadillos, monkeys, bats, hummingbirds, parrots, tortoises, crocodiles, and lizards.

Of the 55 national parks in North America, 19 are in Canada, 27 in the USA, six in Mexico, and three in Cuba. In addition to protecting flora and fauna, they are major tourist attractions. The most famous national parks are Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Banff, Jasper, Sequoia, and Everglades.

Natural regions. Spanning the arctic, subarctic, temperate, subtropical, tropical, and subequatorial zones, North America is divided into two large parts, the plains non-Cordilleran East and the mountainous Cordilleran West, which in turn are subdivided into regions. The non-Cordilleran East includes Greenland, the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, the Laurentian Upland, the Central Plains, the Great Plains, the Appalachians, and the Coastal Lowlands.

About 80 percent of Greenland, the largest island in the world, is covered by ice. In the interior the ice forms a solid sheet with an average thickness of 2,300 m. Along the southwestern, northern, and northeastern coasts there are ice-free stretches of land 200–250 km wide. The climate is arctic and marine subarctic (south of 68° N lat.), and the vegetation is limited to tundra species. The Canadian Arctic Archipelago is one of the world’s largest island groups. With respect to natural features the southern and western islands are similar to the northern part of the continental mainland, and the northeastern islands resemble northern Greenland. The archipelago’s location in the high arctic latitudes and its harsh arctic climate have caused the development of tundra and arctic desert landscapes.

The Laurentian Upland, the principal part of the Canadian

Figure 1

Shield, has a relatively elevated (150–600 m) and strongly pene-plained surface. Virtually the entire territory is hilly, with many marshes and lakes; the region is covered by forest and tundra vegetation. The climate, strongly affected by the arctic, is marked by low temperatures, strong winds, and high humidity. The Central Plains occupy the eastern part of the Mississippi basin. Surface features are related to the configuration of the Paleogene and Neogene peneplain, complicated in the north by glacial deposits. There are significant temperature variations between the northern and southern parts of the Central Plains in all seasons but especially during the winter, which is one of the main reasons for the sequence of landscapes from taiga to subtropical forests. The Great Plains, vast submontane plateaus of the Cordilleras, are covered by dry steppes. There are shallow rivers flowing through deep valleys and extensively developed systems of gulleys (badlands).

The Appalachians are a system of folded mountain ranges, valleys, and plateaus. Moderated by the Atlantic Ocean, the climate is temperate in the north and subtropical in the south. The Coastal Lowlands have a flat topography and are very swampy. The region’s warm moist oceanic climate favors the development of a rich, primarily subtropical, flora.

The Cordilleran West may be divided into the Alaskan Cordilleras, the Canadian Cordilleras, the American, or Southern, Cordilleras, and the Mexican Highlands. The Alaskan Cordilleras occupy the northern part of the Cordilleras and include the entire state of Alaska and the Canadian part of the Yukon Plateau. High mountain ranges with thick glaciation predominate in the south, and high plateaus are found over the remaining territory. Altitude zonation is represented by forest tundra in the river valleys and mountain tundra on the high plateaus. Permafrost occurs everywhere. The Canadian Cordilleras, the narrowest part of the Cordilleras, consist for the most part of high mountain ranges with extensively developed ancient glacial forms and contemporary glaciation. The climate is temperate and ranges from humid to dry. The spectrum of altitude zones includes steppes in the intermontane valleys, forest-steppes on the high plateaus, mountain coniferous forests on the slopes, and alpine meadows on the peaks.

The American, or Southern, Cordilleras constitute the highest part of the Cordilleras. High ranges covered with snow fields and glaciers adjoin vast undrained desert plateaus. The subtropical climate is Mediterranean on the coast and dry in the interior. On the slopes of the high ranges there are zones of mountain pine forests, subalpine coniferous open woodlands, and alpine meadows. In the Mexican Highlands the topography is dominated by high plateaus and highlands, in places very rugged. There are frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The climate is tropical and mostly dry. On the windward slopes grow low thorn forests (at the foot) and deciduous tropical forests; coniferous forests are found at the peaks. Creosote bush deserts, high-mountain succulent deserts, cactus-acacia savannas, and mountain coniferous and hard-leaved forests occur in the interior.

After establishing settlements in Greenland, the Norsemen discovered Newfoundland and part of the coast of the Labrador Peninsula between the 11th and 13th centuries. They also sailed into Baffin Bay as far as 74° N lat. Their discoveries, however, were not known in the Old World. Between 1492 and 1503, Columbus headed four Spanish expeditions that discovered the Bahamas, Cuba, Haiti, the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and the Caribbean coast of Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and the Isthmus of Panama. J. Cabot and S. Cabot sailed along the east coast of North America in 1497–98 and the Portuguese navigator G. Corte-Real, in 1500–1501. Circa 1504, French seafarers entered the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

In 1513 the Spaniard V. Núñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and reached the Gulf of Panama on the Pacific Ocean, and J. Ponce de León discovered the Florida Peninsula. Between 1517 and 1519 the Spanish expeditions headed by F. de Córdoba, J. de Grijalva, and A. de Pineda discovered the Yucatán Peninsula and the southern, western, and northern shores of the Gulf of Mexico. From 1519 to 1524, Spanish conquistadores led by H. Cortés crossed the Meseta Central, reaching the Pacific Ocean, and then traveled southeast through Guatemala and Honduras to the Gulf of Fonseca. Meanwhile, a Spanish naval expedition headed by G. González Dávila sailed northwest from the Gulf of Panama to the Gulf of Fonseca. Disembarking on the Nicoya Peninsula along the way, Dávila discovered Lakes Nicaragua and Managua.

In 1524, G. da Verrazano, an Italian navigator in the French service, explored the east coast of North America from 34° to 46° N lat. In 1528, P. de Narvaez’s Spanish expedition, following the northeastern coast of the Gulf of Mexico, discovered the Mississippi delta. A member of the expedition, A. Cabeza de Vaca, crossed the southern Great Plains and the Rio Grande basin between 1529 and 1536. In 1532–33, H. Cortés discovered the southern part of Lower (Baja) California. In 1540–41 the Spaniard F. de Coronado traveled north across the Colorado Plateau, the southern Rocky Mountains, and the Great Plains to 40° N lat., while his ships sailed up the Gulf of California to the lower reaches of the Colorado River. H. De Soto’s Spanish expedition, traveling north and west from Florida between 1540 and 1543, discovered the southern Appalachians and the Alabama and Tennessee rivers and followed the Mississippi River from its confluence with the Arkansas River to its delta. In 1542–43 the Spanish navigator J. Cabrillo sailed up the west coast of North America to 40° N lat.

Searching for the Northwest Passage, the French explorer J. Cartier sailed around the north coast of Newfoundland in 1534–35 and discovered the southeastern coast of the Labrador Peninsula, Prince Edward Island, the Gaspé Peninsula, Anti-costi Island, and the St. Lawrence River. Between 1576 and 1631, English expeditions headed by M. Frobisher, J. Davis, H. Hudson, T. Button, R. Bylot, W. Baffin, L. Foxe, and T. James explored the coast of Baffin Bay and Hudson Bay and reached the Foxe Basin.

In 1609 the French navigator S. de Champlain discovered the northern Appalachians, and between 1615 and 1648, Cham-plain, his agents (among them E. Brulé), and several Jesuits (including J. de Brébeuf) discovered the Great Lakes. In 1669, Sieur de La Salle discovered the Ohio River, and in 1673, L. Jolliet sailed down the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers as far as the Arkansas River, discovering the mouth of the Missouri River along the way. Later, La Salle spent three years (1678–81) exploring the water routes from the St. Lawrence River, through the Great Lakes, to the Mississippi, which he navigated from its confluence with the Illinois River to the sea.

In 1648 the Russian explorers F. Popov and S. Dezhnev sailed from the Chukchi Sea to the Pacific Ocean, proving that North America is separated from Asia by a narrow strait (the Bering Strait) near 65° N lat. In 1690–91 the English explorer H. Kelsey, traveling southwest from Hudson Bay, crossed the Laurentian Upland and discovered the Saskatchewan River. Between 1734 and 1749 the French explorer P. G. de Varennes and his sons discovered several lakes in central Canada, among them Lakes Winnepeg and Manitoba, and the Missouri Plateau.

In the northwest the Russians I. Fedorov and M. Gvozdev discovered the Seward Peninsula in 1732, and in 1741, V. Bering and A. Chirikov discovered part of the coast of the Gulf of Alaska, the Alexander Archipelago, Kodiak and nearby islands, and several of the Aleutian Islands. Between 1759 and 1764, A. Tolstykh, S. Glotov, S. Ponomarev, and others discovered the Rat, Andreanof, and Fox islands and part of the Alaska Peninsula. P. K. Krenitsyn and M. D. Levashev essentially completed the discovery of the entire Aleutian chain in 1768–69.

In 1774–75, Spanish seamen explored the west coast of North America to 55° N lat., discovering the mouth of the Columbia River, the west coast of Vancouver Island, and some of the Queen Charlotte Islands along the way. In 1776 the Franciscan monk F. Garcés crossed the Mojave Desert and discovered the Central Valley, and the monk S. Vélez de Escalante explored the Great Basin. In 1778 the British navigator J. Cook sailed up the west coast of North America to 70°20’ N lat., exploring en route the Gulf of Alaska and the eastern part of the Bering Sea, where he discovered Norton Sound.

Between 1770 and 1787 several British explorers, including S. Hearne and J. Frobisher, discovered chains of lakes in northern Canada, including Great Slave Lake and Lake Athabasca, as well as the mighty Mackenzie River, which flows through them. A. Mackenzie sailed down the river to the Arctic Ocean in 1789. In 1792, R. Mackenzie discovered Great Bear Lake, and in 1792–93, A. Mackenzie crossed North America from east to west, including the northern Rocky Mountains, and was the first to see the Fraser River. G. Vancouver completed the discovery of Vancouver Island and the Queen Charlotte Islands from 1792 to 1794, and D. Thompson explored the Columbia basin.

Between 1784 and 1795 the Russian explorers G. I. Sheli-khov, A. A. Baranov, G. A. Sarychev, and D. I. Bocharov completed the discovery of the Alaska and Kenai peninsulas. From 1816 to 1844, O. E. Kotsebu, M. N. Vasil’ev, A. K. Etolin, A. Klimovskii, I. F. Vasil’ev, V. Malakhov, P. Kolmakov, and L. A. Zagoskin discovered Kotzebue Sound, Nunivak Island, the Copper, Susitna, Nushagak, and Kuskokwim rivers, the lower and middle reaches of the Yukon River, the Chugach, Wrangell, and Kuskokwim mountains, and part of the Alaska Range. The sources of the Yukon, its upper reaches, and the Yukon Plateau were discovered between 1843 and 1850 by the British explorer R. Campbell.

Crossing North America from 1804 to 1806, the Americans M. Lewis and W. Clark followed the Missouri River from its mouth to its headwaters, which they discovered, and then pushed on over the central Rocky Mountains. In 1806–07, Z. Pike discovered the highest peaks in the Rocky Mountains in the southern Rockies near the headwaters of the Arkansas River. Between 1824 and 1853, J. Bridger, P. Ogden, B. de Bonneville, K. Carson, and J. Fremont explored and mapped the Central Valley and the Great Basin, discovering the Great Salt Lake and various nondraining rivers such as the Humboldt.

The major British discoveries in the Canadian arctic during the 19th century were related to the quest for the Northwest Passage. In 1818, John Ross surveyed the east coast of the islands of Devon and Baffin. Between 1819 and 1825, W. Parry discovered three straits near 74° N lat., the islands adjacent to them, and the Melville Peninsula, revealing that Baffin Land was an island. J. Franklin’s expeditions in 1821 and 1826 (J. Richardson took part in the second) explored large stretches of the north coast from 149° to 114° W long., discovering the Dolphin and Union Strait, Coronation Gulf, and the southwestern shore of Victoria Island. Between 1829 and 1831 an expedition headed by John Ross, in which James Ross participated, discovered and explored the Boothia Peninsula. From 1837 to 1839, P. Dease and T. Simpson were the first to explore two segments of the north coast between 156° and 98° W long., where they found the Kent Peninsula, Dease Strait, Queen Maud Gulf, Simpson Strait, the Adelaide Peninsula, and the southern shores of King William and Victoria islands.

After reaching the arctic in 1845, Franklin’s expedition disappeared without a trace. Between 1848 and 1854 parties headed by F. McClintock, H. Kellett, R. Collinson, and R. McClure explored the entire north coast, establishing the outlines of the continent. During these expeditions the Prince of Wales and Prince Patrick islands were discovered, and the entire coasts of Banks, Melville, Bathurst, and Somerset islands was explored. Between 1858 and 1871 the Americans E. Kane, I. Hayes, and C. Hall discovered the Kane and Hall basins and Kennedy and Robeson channels and were the first to reach the Lincoln Sea. In 1875–76, G. Nares’ British expedition discovered the north coast of Ellesmere.

From 1898 to 1902, O. Sverdrup’s Norwegian expedition discovered the west coast of Ellesmere Island and then the Sverdrup Islands. Between 1914 and 1917 the Canadians V. Stefansson and S. Storkerson essentially completed the discovery of the north coast of Victoria Island and of the entire Canadian Arctic archipelago by finding the Mackenzie King, Borden, Lougheed, and other islands in the northwest.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries J. Powell, J. Dawson, A. Brooks, and other American and Canadian geologists completed the exploration of the Rocky Mountains, the Laurentian Upland, the Yukon Plateau, and the Alaska Range (with Mount McKinley, the highest point in North America) and discovered the Brooks Range. From 1884 to 1904 the Canadians A. Low and J. Tyrrell established the hydrographic network of Labrador and northern Canada.

Anthropological and ethnic composition. The present population of North America includes representatives of the three major human races. The indigenous pre-European population (Indians and Eskimos) and some later arrivals from Asia belong to various branches of the Mongoloid race; the descendants of European immigrants, to the Caucasian race; and the people of African origin, to the Equatorial, or Negro-Australoid, race. Mixed racial groups, including mestizos and mulattoes, constitute a large part of the population. Most of the population of North America consists of the descendants of European and, to a much lesser extent, Asian immigrants who came here between the 16th and 19th centuries and of the descendants of slaves brought from Africa in the 17th and 18th centuries. Remnants of the native peoples—Indians, Eskimos, and Aleuts-constitute only a small part of the population.

The modern population of Mexico and mainland Central America evolved through the intermingling of Spaniards and local Indians. Anthropologically, the people are mestizos, but they speak Spanish. The Caribbean islands are inhabited chiefly by Negroes and mulattoes, the descendants of African slaves and European colonists (Spanish, English, French, Dutch). In the islands most people speak the corresponding European languages.

English is the dominant language in the USA, and both English and French are the major languages of Canada. In these two countries a constant stream of immigrants from various countries gives rise to new transitional groups that are gradually being assimilated by the American and Anglo-Canadian nations. Moreover, in the USA there is a special group of Americans, the Negroes. Because of centuries of discrimination and segregation they have preserved many anthropological traits and some cultural traits, although they speak only English.

The most numerous English-speaking peoples of North America are the Americans of the USA and the Anglo-Canadians. (In 1973, there were an estimated 190 million Americans, including 25 million Negroes, and some 10 million Anglo-Canadians.) Among other English-speaking groups are the peoples of Jamaica (2 million), Trinidad (950,000), Barbados (240,000), the Bahamas (175,000), and Belize (120,000). Among immigrants being assimilated in the USA and Canada who speak English to some extent are immigrants from Italy (4.5 million), Germany (3.8 million), Poland (2.6 million), Russia (2.5 million), the Scandinavian countries (1.8 million), and Puerto Rico (1.4 million).

The Spanish-speaking peoples of North America are the Mexicans (roughly 50 million, including some 4 million in the USA), Cubans (8.8 million), and the bulk of the population of the Dominican Republic (4.5 million), El Salvador (3.5 million), Guatemala (3.1 million), Puerto Rico (2.9 million), Honduras (2.5 million), Nicaragua (1.9 million), Costa Rica (1.9 million), and Panama (1.5 million). French Canadians, the second largest national group in Canada, number some 6.6 million people. Other French-speaking groups in North America include the people of Haiti (roughly 5 million), Martinique (340,000), and Guadeloupe (340,000).

Indians have survived chiefly in southeastern Mexico and western Guatemala, in the inaccessible parts of Honduras, Panama, and the other Central American countries, in the interior regions of Alaska, in northern Canada, and on reservations in the USA and Canada. They are increasingly adopting the languages of the dominant peoples around them: Spanish, English, or French. The total number of North American Indians probably does not exceed 10 million. In the Far North, along the coasts of the mainland and of the Arctic islands, there are some 70,000 Eskimos. The surviving Aleuts, about 5,000 persons, live on the Aleutian Islands. With respect to religion, most of the people of North America belong either to the Catholic Church or, chiefly in the USA and Canada, to one of the many Protestant denominations. Other faiths, including the Orthodox, Jewish, and Buddhist, are also represented. (See Table 2 for the ethnic makeup of North America.)

The first independent state in North America, the United States of America (USA), was formed in 1776 during the American Revolutionary War. It is now the foremost capitalist country in the world. The present boundaries of the USA were established through the expropriation of land belonging to the indigenous Indians (including the colonization of western territories), as well as through wars and other acquisitions, such as the purchase of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands from tsarist Russia in 1867.

Haiti won its independence in 1804 after an uprising against the French colonialists. At the same time, Spanish domination in the eastern part of the Island of Haiti was undermined, and in 1844 it became the Dominican Republic. During the War of Independence of the Spanish-American Colonies (1810–26), Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and El Salvador achieved political independence. In 1867, Canada was granted the status of a dominion within the British Empire. It is now an independent state within the Commonwealth; in 1949, Newfoundland joined Canada.

After the Spanish-American War (1898), Cuba was declared an independent republic, although in fact it became a US protectorate in 1901. The independence of Panama was proclaimed in 1903, but the USA imposed on the Panamanians a treaty giving it perpetual use of a zone in which to build and operate an interoceanic canal. The victory of the Cuban Revolution in 1959 led to the establishment of the first socialist state in the Americas and stimulated an upsurge in the liberation movement on the entire American continent.

Several former British colonies in the West Indies have achieved independence: Jamaica (1962), Trinidad and Tobago (1962), Barbados (1966), the Bahamas (1973), and Grenada (1974). Nevertheless, in the mid-1970’s a number of territories in North America were still possessions of the USA, Great Britain, France, and the Netherlands. Greenland belongs to Denmark.

Table 2. Ethnographic makeup of America

Indo-European family Germanic group Americans, including US Negroes Anglo-Canadians US and Canadian Jews Germans Swedes, Norwegians, Danes, and Icelanders Jamaicans Bahamians, Bermudans People of Barbados and other English-speaking peoples of the Lesser Antilles and the English- speaking population of Belize Celtic group Irish Romance group French Canadians Haitians French-speaking peoples of the Lesser Antilles Mexicans Guatemalans Hondurans Salvadorans Nicaraguans Costa Ricans Panamanians Cubans Dominicans Puerto Ricans Italians Slavic group Poles Ukrainians Russians Chinese-Tibetan family Chinese Japanese family Japanese

Indian peoples Na-dene family Athapaskans(Chipewyan, Kutchin, Navaho, Apache, and others) Tlingit Haida Algonquian-Wakashan family Algonquians(Ojibwa [Chippewa], Cree, Montagnais, Naskapi, Menomini, Arapaho, Siksika [Blackfoot], and others) Wakashans (Nootka, Kwakiutl) Salish Hokan-Siouan family Sioux (Dakota and others) Iroquois Muskogee (Seminole, Creek, and others) Tlapanec Chontal of Oaxaca Penutian family Shahaptian, Tsimshian, and others Uto-Aztecan family Aztecs Yaqui and Mayo Tarahumara Cora, Huichol, Tepehuan Pima and Papago Shoshoni, Hopi Pipil and others Mayan-Zoquean family Maya Huastec Chol, Chontal of Tabasco Tzeltal, Tzotzil, Tojolabales Mam, Quiche, Cakchiquel, Kekchi Totonac, Tepehua, Popoloca of Veracruz Mixe and Zoque Otomi-Mixtec-Zapotec family Mixtec, Popoloca of Puebla, Mazatec Zapotee Otomi Other Indian language families Tarasco Chinantec Miskito-Matagalpa Lenca, Paya Carib Chibcha (Cuna and others) Eskimo-Aleut family Eskimos, Greenlanders Aleuts

REFERENCES

Baulig, H. Severnaia Amerika. Moscow, 1948. (Translated from French.)
Vitvitskii, G. N. Klimaty Severnoi Ameriki. Moscow, 1953.
Fridland, V. M., and A. A. Erokhina. “Sravnitel’naia geneticheskaia kharakteristika pochv Severnoi Ameriki, SSSR i Zapadnoi Evropy.” In Issledovaniia v oblastigenezisapochv. Moscow, 1963.
Antipova, A. V. Kanada: Priroda i estestvennye resursy. Moscow, 1965.
Ignat’ev, G. M. Severnaia Amerika: Fizicheskaia geografiia. Moscow, 1965.
Atlas of Canada. Issued by the Department of Mines and Technical Surveys. Geographical Branch. Ottawa, 1957.
Thornbury, W. D. Regional Geomorphology of the United States. New York, 1965.
America’s Wonderlands: The Scenic National Parks and Monuments of the United States. Washington, D.C., 1966.
Hunt, C. B. Physiography of the United States. San Francisco-London, 1967.
Climatic Atlas of the United States. Washington, D.C., 1968.
Larson, P. Deserts of America. Washington, D.C., 1970.
The National Atlas of the United States of America. Washington, D.C., 1970.
Paterson, J. H. North America: A Geography of Canada and the United States, 4th ed. Oxford, 1971.
Carlson, B. North America, 4th ed. London, 1973.
Iseri, K. T., and W. B. Langbein. Large Rivers of the United States. New York, 1974.
Berg, L. S. Otkrytie Kamchatki i ekspeditsii Beringa. Moscow-Leningrad, 1946.
Magidovich, I. P. Istoriia otkrytiia i issledovaniia Severnoi Ameriki. Moscow, 1962. (Bibliography.)
Magidovich, I. P. Istoriia otkrytiia i issledovaniia Tsentral’noi i Iuzhnoi Ameriki. Moscow, 1965. (Bibliography.)
Brebner, J. The Explorers of North America. New York, 1955.
Taylor, A. Geographical Discovery and Exploration in the Queen Elizabeth Islands. Ottawa, 1955.
Narody Ameriki, vols. 1–2. Moscow, 1959.
Berzina, M. Ia. Formirovanie etnicheskogo sostava naseleniia Kanady. Moscow, 1971.

North America

[′nȯrth ə′mer·i·kə]

(geography)

The northern of the two continents of the New World or Western Hemisphere, extending from narrow parts in the tropics to progressively broadened portions in middle latitudes and Arctic polar margins.

North America

the third largest continent, linked with South America by the Isthmus of Panama and bordering on the Arctic Ocean, the N Pacific, the N Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean. It consists generally of a great mountain system (the Western Cordillera) extending along the entire W coast, actively volcanic in the extreme north and south, with the Great Plains to the east and the Appalachians still further east, separated from the Canadian Shield by an arc of large lakes (Great Bear, Great Slave, Winnipeg, Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, Ontario); reaches its greatest height of 6194 m (20 320 ft.) in Mount McKinley, Alaska, and its lowest point of 85 m (280 ft.) below sea level in Death Valley, California, and ranges from snowfields, tundra, and taiga in the north to deserts in the southwest and tropical forests in the extreme south. Pop.: 332 156 000 (2005 est.). Area: over 24 000 000 sq. km (9 500 000 sq. miles)

South America

South America, fourth largest continent (2015 est. pop. 416,436,000), c.6,880,000 sq mi (17,819,000 sq km), the southern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. It is divided politically into 12 independent countries—Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela—and the overseas department of French Guiana. The continent extends c.4,750 mi (7,640 km) from Punta Gallinas, Colombia, in the north to Cape Horn, Chile, in the south. At its broadest point, near where it is crossed by the equator, the continent extends c.3,300 mi (5,300 km) from east to west. South America is connected to North America by the Isthmus of Panama; it is washed on the N by the Caribbean Sea, on the E by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the W by the Pacific Ocean.

Topography and Geology

Topographically the continent is divided into three sections—the South American cordillera, the interior lowlands, and the continental shield. The continental shield, in the east, which is separated into two unequal sections (the Guiana Highlands and the Brazilian Highlands) by the Amazon geosyncline, contains the continent's oldest rocks. Geologic studies in South America have supported the theory of continental drift and have shown that until 135 million years ago South America was joined to Africa; a Brazil-Gabon link has been established on the basis of tectonic matching. Extending down the middle of the continent is a series of lowlands running southward from the llanos of the north, through the selva of the great Amazon basin and the Gran Chaco, to the Pampa of Argentina.

Paralleling the Pacific shore is the great cordillera composed of the Andes ranges and high intermontane valleys and plateaus. The Andes rise to numerous snowcapped peaks; Mt. Aconcagua (22,835 ft/6,960 m) in Argentina is the highest point in the Western Hemisphere. The Andes region is seismically active and prone to earthquakes. Volcanoes are present but mostly inactive. Patagonia, a windy, semiarid plateau region, lies to the E of the Andes in S Argentina. On the Pacific coast, the land between the Andes and the sea widens northward from the islands of S Chile. In N Chile lies the barren Atacama Desert.

There are few good natural harbors along the South American coast. The continent's great river systems empty into the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea; from north to south they are the Magdalena, Orinoco, Amazon, and Paraguay-Paraná systems. Only short streams flow into the Pacific Ocean. Excluding Lake Maracaibo, which is actually an arm of the Caribbean Sea, Lake Titicaca, on the Peru-Bolivia border, is the largest of the continent's lakes. South America embraces every climatic zone—tropical rainy, desert, high alpine—and vegetation varies accordingly.

People

Native peoples constitute a significant portion of the continent's Andean population, especially in Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, and Paraguay. Elsewhere in South America the population is generally mestizo, although Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and S Brazil have primarily European populations. There are sizable populations of African descent in NE Brazil, French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana, Venezuela, and Colombia. Immigration since 1800 has brought European, Middle Eastern, and Asian (especially Japanese) peoples to the continent, particularly to Argentina and Brazil.

With the exception of Brazil and Ecuador, the national capitals have the largest populations and are the economic, cultural, and political centers of the countries. Since World War II, the urban population has rapidly expanded. São Paulo, Brazil, whose population is nearly 10,000,000, is the largest city of South America and one of the fastest growing cities of its size in the world. Squatter settlements have multiplied around urban areas as the poor and unskilled flock to the cities; widespread unemployment is common. Outside the cities the population density of the continent is very low, with vast portions of the interior virtually uninhabited; most of the people live within 200 mi (320 km) of the coast.

Economy

Beginning in the 17th cent., the exploitation of the continent's resources and the development of its industries were the result of foreign investment and initiative, especially that of Spain, Great Britain, and the United States, but since World War II the nations of South America have sought greater economic independence. An increasing number of South American industrial centers have developed heavy industries to supplement the light industries on which they had previously concentrated.

An early obstacle to industrial growth in South America was the scarcity of coal. The continent has therefore relied on its petroleum reserves, most notably in Venezuela and also in Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Peru, and Ecuador, as a source of fuel. South Americans also have gradually developed their natural-gas reserves; hydroelectric plants produce most of the continent's electricity. Iron-ore deposits are plentiful in the Guiana and Brazilian highlands, and copper is abundant in the central Andes mountain region of Chile and Peru. Other important mineral resources include tin in Bolivia, manganese and gold in Brazil, and bauxite in Guyana and Suriname.

Subsistence farming is widespread, with about 30% of the people working about 15% of the land. Dense forests, steep slopes, and unfavorable climatic conditions, along with crude agricultural methods, limit the amount of cultivable land. Commercial agriculture, especially of the plantation type, fares better in terms of production because of the large scale and the opportunity to use modern, mechanized methods. Among the agricultural exports are coffee, bananas, sugarcane, tobacco, and grains. Meat is also an important export. In the interior, hunting and gathering of forest products are the chief economic activities of the indigenous peoples. Fishing is also a central industry. In the more accessible areas, forest products are removed for export.

Outline of Modern History

European exploration and penetration of South America started at the beginning of the 16th cent. Under the Treaty of Tordesillas, Portugal claimed what is now Brazil, and Spanish claims were established throughout the rest of the continent with the exception of Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana. An Iberian culture and Roman Catholicism were early New World transplants—as were coffee, sugarcane, and wheat. The subjugation of the indigenous civilizations was a ruthless accompaniment to settlement efforts, particularly those of Spain. The Inca Empire, centered at Cuzco, Peru, was conquered (1531–35) by Francisco Pizarro; other native cultures quickly declined or retreated in the face of conquest, conversion attempts, and subjugation. In some areas of the continent, such as the Amazonian region, large population declines resulted from the spread of European diseases in advance of significant European contact. Spain and Portugal maintained their colonies in South America until the first quarter of the 19th cent., when successful revolutions resulted in the creation of independent states.

The liberated countries generally struggled with political instability, with revolutions and military dictatorships common and economic development hindered. Between 1820 and 1920, the continent received almost 6 million immigrants, nearly all from Europe. Guyana gained independence from Great Britain in 1966 and Suriname from the Netherlands in 1975. French Guiana is an overseas department of France.

Beginning in the 1970s, road building and the clearing of land led to the destruction of large areas of the Amazonian rain forests. International pressure and changes in government policy, especially in Brazil, resulted in a decrease in the deforestation rate since the late 1980s, although burning and illegal logging continue. Efforts to combat the illegal drug trade have been largely ineffective. Peru is one of the world's largest growers of coca leaves, and Colombia is a center for the drug trade.

Economic problems and social inequality have led to considerable unrest and political instability. Many indigenous peoples, angered by centuries of domination by a primarily European-descended upper class, have demanded a more equal distribution of land and power. Despite the increasing industrialization of some countries, notably Brazil, Venezuela, and Argentina, and the widespread introduction of free-market reforms in the 1990s, high inflation and huge foreign debt continued to be major problems for many South American countries. Such economic problems led to a rise in populist political parties and movements in the region in the early 21st cent., most notably in Venezuela and Bolivia.

Bibliography

See C. H. Haring, The Spanish Empire in America (1947, repr. 1963); K. E. Webb, Geography of Latin America (1972); G. Philip, The Military in South American Politics (1985); J. D. Hill, ed., Rethinking History and Myth: Indigenous South American Perspectives on the Past (1988); G. P. Atkins, ed., South America into the 1990s (1988); S. Bunker, Underdeveloping the Amazon (1988); A. Daniels, Coups and Cocaine: Journeys in South America (1988); A. Cullison, The South Americans (1990).

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

South America

 

South America is the southern continent of the western hemisphere, situated between 12°28’ N lat. (Point Gallinas on the Guajira Peninsula) and 53°54’ S lat. (Cape Froward on the Brunswick Peninsula) and between 34°47’ W long. (Cabo Branco) and 81°20’ W. long. (Pariñas Point). It is bounded by the Caribbean Sea on the north, the Atlantic Ocean in the east, the Strait of Magellan in the south, and the Pacific Ocean in the west. It is linked by the narrow Isthmus of Panama with Central and North America. The continent has an area of 17.65 million sq km (18.28 million sq km including islands). Among the islands that are part of South America are the Leeward Islands and Trinidad, the Falkland Islands, the Tierra del Fuego archipelago (Cape Horn, the southernmost tip of South America, at 55°59’ S lat., is located on an island in the south of the archipelago), the islands of southern Chile, and the Galápagos Islands.

The coastline of South America is weakly indented except in the southwest, where it is deeply cut by fjords. A number of large inlets cut deep into the land, including the Gulf of Guayaquil in the west, the Gulf of Venezuela and Lake Maracaibo in the north, and the Río de La Plata Estuary in the southeast. With the exception of the southwest, the Pacific coast has regular, straight, abraded, and aggraded coastlines, which are primarily rocky in Peru. The Atlantic coast is also relatively straight but lower than the Pacific coast. From Guanabara Bay south to 30° S lat., the coastline is moderately dissected and has convenient ingressive bays; open crescent-shaped bays are typical of the Patagonian coast.

The plains and high plateau topography of the non-Andean craton of the eastern part of South America is clearly delineated from the mountainous Andean western part, which corresponds to a mobile orogenic belt. Uplifts of the South American (Brazilian) Platform are represented by the Guiana, Brazilian, and Patagonian highlands, while the troughs are represented by various lowlands and plains, including the Orinoco Llanos, the Amazon Basin, the Beni-Mamoré plains, the Gran Chaco, the Mesopota-mian Plateau (a lowland between the Paraná and Uruguay rivers), and the Pampas. The plateaus are bounded in the east by narrow, discontinuous strips of coastal plains. (See Figure 1.)

The Guiana Highlands rise toward the center, reaching their highest point at Mount Neblina (3,014 m). The Brazilian Highlands (Brazilian Plateau) rise from northwest to southeast, reaching their highest point at Pico da Bandeira (2,890 m). Patagonia rises from east to west, reaching an elevation of 2,200 m. The topography of the Guiana and Brazilian highlands is dominated by gently rolling socle plains, with elevations of up to 1,500–1,700 m; the plains are interspersed with residual dome-shaped peaks and ridges, such as the Serra do Espinhaço, and tablelands, primarily sandstone tablelands called chapadas (Auyán-Tepuí and Roraima). The eastern margin of the Brazilian Highlands is broken up into individual massifs, such as the Serra da Mantiqueira, which have the characteristic “sugar loaf” formations, such as Sugar Loaf Mountain (Pao de Acucar) in Rio de Janiero. The troughs and basins of the Brazilian Highlands are expressed in the topography by stratified monoclinal plains with uplifted cuesta margins, aggradation plains (the basin of the Sāo Francisco River), and lava plateaus (the middle course of the Paraná River). The topography of Patagonia predominantly comprises volcanic, terraced plateaus overlain by ancient moraines and glaciofluvial deposits. The plateaus are dissected by deep canyons, carved out by rivers originating in the Andes. Arid denudation forms are characteristic.

The Andean system of mountain ranges stretches for 9,000 km in the north and west. In Venezuela in the north and northeast there are two chains of the Caribbean Andes, which are deeply dissected by faults and river erosion. The primary, or meridional trending, system of the Andes (or the Cordillera de los Andes), which rises to a maximum elevation of 6,960 m at Mount Acona-gua, is higher in the west and is subdivided into the Northern, Central, and Southern Andes. The Northern Andes (to 5° S lat.) are characterized by the alternation of high block-folded ranges and deep basins. In Ecuador they consist of the Cordillera Oriental and the Cordillera Occidental, separated by a depression filled with the volcanic products from Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, and other volcanoes. In Colombia there are three main cordilleras—Oriental, Central, and Occidental—which are separated by the basins of the Magdalena and Cauca rivers. The volcanoes, such as Nevado del Huila, Nevado del Ruiz, and Puracé, are concentrated mainly in the Cordillera Central and the southern part of the Cordillera Occidental. Ancient lake plateaus, situated at elevations of 2,000–3,000 m, are characteristic of the central part of the Cordillera Oriental. The largest lowlands west of the Andes, the Caribbean and Pacific lowlands, are located in the north and west.

The Central Andes (to 27°−28° S lat.) are much broader and more monolithic than the Northern Andes. They are characterized by high interior plateaus, uplifted to elevations of 3,800–4,800 m and surrounded by marginal mountain ranges. The highest mountains have considerable glaciation. The southern part, called the Central Highlands, is the broadest segment of the Andes, reaching a width of 750 km; its principal element is the Puna de Atacama, a high plateau, with the ancient Altiplano lake plateau in the southwest and a series of block ranges in the east and south. The Puna is bordered in the east by the Cordillera Real and in the west by the volcanic Cordillera Occidental (another volcanic region of the Andes, with the volcanoes El Misti, Llullaillaco, and Sajama), a longitudinal tectonic depression (with the Atacama Desert), and the Coastal Cordillera (or Coastal Range).

In the northern part of the Southern Andes (to 41°30’ S lat.), the outstanding features of the relief are the paired Cordillera Principal (Mount Aconcagua is in the Cordillera Frontal), which borders on the massifs of the Precordillera in the east; the Longitudinal Valley of Chile; and the Coastal Cordillera. Between 33° and 52° S lat., there is still another volcanic region, with a large number of active volcanoes to the west of the Cordillera Principal and extinct volcanoes to the east. In the southernmost part of the Andes, known as the Patagonian Andes, the Coastal Cordillera becomes an island archipelago and the Longitudinal Valley becomes a system of straits, while the submerged glacial valleys of the abruptly descending Patagonian Cordillera form fjords. Glacial topography predominates. Glaciers in South America now occupy an area of 25,000 sq km, more than 21,000 of which are in the Southern Andes. There are also glaciers in the Cordillera Occidental, between 9° and 11° S lat., and on Tierra del Fuego.

Geological structure and minerals. The continent of South America consists of two principal structural units—the South American (Brazilian) Craton, in the central and eastern parts, and the folded mountain belt of the Andes, which frames the continent in the north, west, and south.

The basement of the South American Craton consists of blocks of different ages that consolidated between the Archean and Early Paleozoic eras. The largest basement outcroppings are the Guiana, Central Brazilian, and Eastern Brazilian shields. The first two are almost entirely composed of deeply metamorphosed and intensively deformed Archean and Lower Proterozoic rocks (gneisses, schists, and granites) and Middle or Upper Proterozoic rapakivi-type granites. The Eastern Brazilian Shield consists of individual Early Precambrian blocks, such as the Sāo Francisco Massif, which are separated from one another and bounded by Late Proterozoic geosynclinal folded systems. The ancient basement was intruded by numerous granitoids and associated pegmatites during the Cambrian and Ordovician periods. Remnants of the ancient mantle, composed of red detrital strata and basaltic sheets with gabbro-diabase dikes and sills, have been preserved in the Guiana and Central Brazilian shields, forming watersheds; a younger mantle, consisting of rocks of Middle and Late Paleozoic and Mesozoic ages, fills the depressions of the platform. In the Late Carboniferous and Early Permian periods, the area south of the Amazon was covered by a continental ice sheet. A warming of the climate led to the replacement of glacial deposits (tillites) first by coal-bearing beds (Lower Permian) and then by arid strata, primarily sandstone strata (Upper Permian through Cretaceous).

The broad Amazon Basin formed in the Late Precambrian and Early Paleozoic eras along a major fault zone between the Guiana and Central Brazilian shields. Another zone of east-west-trending depressions separates the Eastern Brazilian Shield from the Western Brazilian Shield. Its central element, the Sāo Francisco Basin, was superimposed on the ancient Sāo Francisco Massif and developed primarily in the Late Precambrian era. The northern and southern basins—the Marañen (Parnaíba) and Paraná syneclises—formed during the Middle and Late Paleozoic and during the Mesozoic; in the Paraná Syneclise, basaltic sheets and sills and dikes of basic rocks (traps) developed extensively, mainly in the Early Cretaceous period. Numerous intrusions of ultrabasic and alkaline rocks, including alkaline granitoids, occurred in the Eastern Brazilian Shield in the Late Cretaceous and Early Paleogene periods.

The southern part of the South American Craton—the Patagonian Shield—is distinguished by a younger basement, which includes the lowermost strata of the Paleozoic era. It is usually considered to be an independent structural unit consisting of two uplifts—the Northern Patagonian Massif and the Southern Patagonian Massif (Deseado and Santa Cruz)—and two troughs—Neuquén-San Matías and Chubut-San Jorge. The southernmost part of the craton passes into the Magallanes Foredeep of the Andes. A system of perioceanic downwarps associated with the formation of the ocean basin (beginning in the Cretaceous period) developed along the Atlantic coast of South America. Grabens and semigrabens are filled with continental, salt-bearing, and marine Cretaceous deposits. The Cenozoic era is represented by the coastal plain and shelf, sloping gently toward the ocean.

The folded mountain belt of the Andes consists of several sections, which differ considerably with respect to geological historical and structure. The coastal sierra in northern Venezuela, an east-west-trending range, is the southern branch of the Antillean Arc and formed primarily during the Mesozoic era (the Early Jurassic) and the Cenozoic era. The Northern Andes proper (western Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador) are represented by a cluster of ranges that break up into branches in the north and that correspond to large, young anticlinoriums. The Cordillera Oriental of Colombia, as well as the Sierra Nevada de Mérida, the Sierra de Perijá, and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, formed on a Precambrian granite-metamorphic basement overlain by epicontinental Paleozoic and Mesozoic strata. The Cordillera Central of Colombia and the Cordillera Oriental of Ecuador are composed primarily of metamorphosed Paleozoic rocks, which had undergone folding and were intruded by granites in the Late Paleozoic era. The uplifts are separated by inter-montane troughs (Maracaibo, Magdalena, and Cauca-Patfa) filled with Cenozoic molasses.

The Central Andes are characterized by a northwesterly strike, which changes to meridional at the latitude of the cities of Arica (Chile) and Santa Cruz (Bolivia), and it is here that the Andes reach their greatest width. The eastern part is composed primarily of intensively folded rocks of Cambrian through Devonian ages, which are unconformably overlain by Late Paleozoic volcanic molasses. The Altiplano graben, which is filled primarily with a thick, primarily continental, Cretaceous layer, is situated in the middle part of the Central Andes. Stretching to the west is a band of Jurassic and Cretaceous deposits, with strata of andesites (porphyrites) and large Cretaceous and Paleogene granitoid batholiths (Cordillera Occidental of Peru and Cordillera Principal of Chile and Argentina). The Coastal Cordillera, which is composed of a Late Precambrian and Early and Middle Paleozoic metamorphic stratum, extends, with breaks, along the coast of Peru and Chile. In the extreme south the Andes turn southeastward, becoming an island arc that frames the Scotia Sea; here, they are composed of ophiolites overlain by a Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous porphyrite series and by Upper Cretaceous and Lower Paleogene flysch. This entire complex of rocks is thrust over the molasses of the Magallanes Foredeep. During the Cenozoic, the Andes were subjected to intensive volcanic activity, which continues until the present in three areas: Ecuador, the border region of Peru, Chile, and Bolivia, and the central part of Chile. Earthquakes are common, and some in Peru and Chile are highly destructive. In the east, the Andes are characterized by a discontinuous strip of foredeeps—the Subandean Foreland—filled chiefly with thick Cenozoic molasses.

South America is rich in a variety of mineral resources. Major deposits of iron ore are present in the Late Precambrian strata of Venezuela (the Orinoco River basin) and Brazil (Minas Gerais), and very rich deposits of porphyry copper ores occur in the granitoid batholiths of the Central Andes. Deposits of ores of rare elements are linked to the ultrabasic alkaline intrusions in the eastern part of Brazil. Deposits of tin, antimony, silver, and other minerals have been found in the young volcanic and subvolcanic bodies in Bolivia. The foredeeps and intermontane troughs of the Andes contain deposits of petroleum and gas throughout their entire length; the deposits in Venezuela are particularly rich. There are deposits of coal: hard coal in Upper Paleozoic strata and brown coal in Cenozoic strata. Deposits of bauxite occur in the young weathering crust, especially in Guyana and Surinam.

Climate. South America’s position primarily in the low latitudes results in a large influx of solar heat. The radiation balance almost everywhere is 60–90 kilocalories/cm² a year, except in Patagonia, where it decreases to 30–40 kilocalories/cm². North of the tropic of Capricorn, the average monthly temperature fluctuates primarily between 20° and 28°C (with a maximum of 49°C in Gran Chaco), dropping in the summer (January) to 10°C in Patagonia and in the winter (July) to 12°–16°C on the Brazilian Highlands, 6°–10°C in the Pampas, and 1°C in the extreme south (the lowest temperatures are around –30°C, which occur on the high plateaus and in the south). Equatorial and trade-wind-monsoon circulation predominates, characterized by an easterly transfer of air masses; consequently, the eastern plains and plateaus and the eastern slopes of the Andes are influenced primarily by oceanic air from the Atlantic, which, because of the Andean barrier, never reaches the Pacific west. A westerly transfer predominates in the southern part of the continent. The lack of orogenic obstacles within the continent is responsible for the meridional transfer. Altitudinal zonation of climate is clearly marked in the Andes.

South America spans six climatic belts: the equatorial, northern subequatorial, southern subequatorial, tropical, subtropical, and temperate belts. In the equatorial belt in the east (western part of the Amazon Basin and the adjacent slopes of the plateaus and the Andes), a low-pressure system is present year-round, linked with the intertropical zone of convergence of air masses and accompanied by abundant precipitation. In the west the equatorial belt is located to the north of the equator, in western Colombia. A consistently hot and humid climate characterizes the equatorial belt (see Table 1). In the Andes of southern Colombia, in Ecuador, and on the eastern slopes in Peru, equatorial air masses also predominate, and these regions have altitudinal zones of mountain equatorial climate, with precipitation and temperatures that are just as uniform (although they decrease with elevation) as on the plains. (See Table 1.)

The intertropical zone of convergence and the equatorial air masses (equatorial monsoon) shift to the subequatorial belt during the summer of the corresponding hemisphere, causing a rainy season. In the winter, by contrast, dry tropical (trade-wind) air masses predominate in the subequatorial belts. The western edge of the South Atlantic High also encompasses the eastern, elevated, margin of the Brazilian Highlands. Therefore, the subequatorial climate is characterized by humid summers and dry winters and by somewhat higher temperatures than the equatorial climate. A similar climate is found in the northern part of the continent: the Orinoco Llanos, the northern part of the Guiana Highlands, the northern and central parts of the Brazilian Highlands, the plains of Acre, Beni, and Mamoré, and western Ecuador. On the windward slopes of the plateaus and in the eastern part of the Amazon Basin, where the trade winds blow from the ocean, the dry season is very short, while on the lee slopes of the northeastern part of the Brazilian Highlands, it is very long.

In the tropical zone, the amount of precipitation that falls changes significantly from east to west. Arid conditions are characteristic of eastern Brazil, which is subjected to oceanic trade winds. In the heart of the continent (Gran Chaco), summer rains are linked primarily to the penetration of equatorial air from the north into a region of barometric minimum; in the winter, air masses from the south intrude, which although they warm up and dry out still cause sudden cooling as far as the Amazon Basin (called the friagens). The Puna of the Central Andes is almost entirely cut off from the easterly winds. In the north it has a high-mountain arid tropical climate, with summer precipitation; in the center and south it has a continental desert climate. The extreme western part of the continent, between 5° and 28° S lat., is constantly influenced by the eastern periphery of the South Pacific High, in which air masses settle and form trade-wind inversions. Its low position and stable stratification and the cooling of its lower layers are intensified by the cold Peru (Humboldt) Current; the trade winds blow from the colder latitudes in a direction parallel to the coast and the Andes. All these factors are responsible for the exceptional aridity of the western part of the tropical belt, and in some places no precipitation falls for years at a time. The coastal strip is characterized by heavy fogs and drizzle (garúa) in the winter and spring and by relatively low temperatures.

The subtropical belt in the east (the southern Brazilian Highlands, the Mesopotamian Region, and the eastern part of the Pampas) has a warm, perpetually humid climate. In the summer, monsoon-type Atlantic winds bring precipitation; during the rest of the year, rain comes from cyclones of migrating polar fronts. Strong southerly winds, called pamperos, are characteristic and cause frosts even in the tropics in the winter. The climate becomes increasingly arid as one moves westward, and precipitation (of a convective nature) falls only in the summer. The western part of the subtropical belt (central Chile) has a typical Mediterranean-type climate, with dry summers and wet winters, a climate similar to that on other continents. South of 38° S lat., the amount of precipitation increases rapidly and, influenced by westerly winds from the Pacific Ocean, it falls during the summer.

In the temperate belt, a westerly transfer of air masses predominates, which results in enormous amounts of precipitation falling on the windward, or western, slopes of the Andes but little seasonal temperature variation. Patagonia is located in the rain-shadow zone and has a semidesert climate, with strong southwesterly winds and sharp temperature fluctuations.

Table 1. Principal climatic indexes of South America (upper row, temperature; lower row, precipitation)
Belt	Observation point, coordinates	Station’s elevation (m)	Average monthly temperature (°C) and average monthly precipitation (mm)												Average annual precipitation (mm)
			Jan.	Feb.	Mar.	Apr.	May.	June.	July.	Aug.	Sept.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.
Equatorial	Taraquá 0°04’ N lat. 68°14’ W long.	105	25.2 320	25.3 268	25.3 326	25.2 422	24.9 429	24.5 350	24.1 315	24.7 250	25.3 237	25.4 215	25.4 247	25.2 275	3,654
	Bogotá 4°28’ N lat. 74W W long.	2,556	14.4 54	14.8 56	14.8 85	15.0 118	14.8 107	14.3 56	14.0 45	13.8 45	14.2 56	14.6 143	14.3 132	14.0 80	977
Subequatorial	San Fernando de Apure 7°54’ N lat. 67°25’ W long.	74	26.7 0.6	27.6 4	28.8 16	29.0 74	27.3 173	25.9 250	25.6 288	26.2 285	27.0 168	27.2 134	27.2 46	26.9 10	1,448
	Santarém 2°25’ S lat. 54°43’ W long.	72	25.8 180	25.5 275	25.5 348	25.6 362	25.6 294	25.4 174	25.4 112	26.2 50	26.7 39	27.0 46	26.9 83	26.5 123	2,086
	Goiânia 16°38’ S lat. 49°13’ W long.	747	22.8 234	23.0 210	22.8 198	22.2 110	20.4 30	18.9 9	18.8 10	21.2 3	23.2 36	23.6 143	23.0 237	22.7 271	1,491
	Remanso 9°41’ S lat. 42°04’ W long.	411	27.5 88	27.5 66	27.1 109	27.3 36	27.0 12	26.0 1	25.6 1	26.0 0	27.2 4	28.3 11	28.0 74	27.5 94	496
	Guayaquil 2°12’ S lat. 79°53’ W long.	6	25.5 188	26.0 211	26.4 248	26.3 184	25.6 56	24.4 14	23.5 6	23.2 0.4	23.8 0.1	24.0 2	24.6 1	25.4 16	926
	Cuzco 13°33’ S lat. 71°55’ W long.	3,225	12.8 160	12.2 137	12.4 93	12.3 44	11.3 10	10.4 6	10.2 3	11.2 5	12.4 23	13.3 46	13.6 65	13.6 105	697
Tropical	Santos 23°56’ S lat. 46°20’ W long.	2	25.2 248	25.3 320	24.8 248	22.8 203	20.8 158	19.3 120	18.5 91	19.0 113	19.7 145	20.9 176	22.2 158	23.9 204	2,184
	Rivadavia 24°10’ S lat. 62°54’ W long.	205	28.8 101	27.8 100	25.9 90	22.6 38	19.4 8	16.8 4	16.6 3	18.7 4	22.4 16	24.6 38	26.9 60	28.5 80	542
	Oruro 17°58’ S lat. 67°07’ W long.	3,706	12.7 86	11.9 69	11.9 34	10.3 9	6.9 3	4.3 1	4.1 1	5.9 7	8.6 13	11.3 16	12.4 20	12.6 36	295
	Antofagasta 23°42’ S lat. 70°24’ W long.	94	20.1 0	20.2 0	18.8 0	17.0 0,3	15.2 0	13.8 2	13.6 3	13.4 2	14.4 0.8	15.4 1	17.0 0.3	19.0 0	9
Subtropical	Montevideo 34°42’ S lat. 56°12’ W long.	22	11.4 83	12.1 78	13.5 101	15.5 104	15.9 93	16.7 88	18.7 70	17.7 87	17.1 82	15.9 76	12.9 83	11.3 74	1,019
	Santiago 33°27’ S lat. 70°42’ W long.	520	20.0 2	19.3 2	17.1 5	13.7 14	10.6 62	8.2 82	8.0 74	9.1 57	11.5 29	13.8 14	16.6 6	19.0 4	351
	Valdivia 39°48’ S lat. 73°14’ W long.	5	16.5 69	16.0 68	14.2 129	11.7 214	9.4 378	7.9 430	7.6 405	8.0 333	9.4 217	11.1 129	13.2 116	15.0 98	2,586
Temperate	Sarmiento 45°35’ S lat. 69°04’ W long.	268	17.7 7	16.8 9	14.4 12	10.8 12	6.8 21	3.8 17	3.6 17	5.3 14	8.0 10	11.5 7	14.0 9	16.0 7	142
	Puerto Aysén 45°24’ S lat. 72°42’ W long.	10	13.6 201	13.4 198	11.5 250	9.6 241	6.7 322	4.5 286	4.7 319	5.0 309	7.2 210	9.5 208	10.7 193	12.5 207	2,944

Rivers and lakes. The characteristics of South America’s topography and climate are responsible for the exceptional abundance of surface and subterranean waters, enormous runoff, and the largest river in the world, the Amazon, South America occupies 12 percent of the world’s land area but receives, on the average, about twice as much (1,643 mm) precipitation per unit area. The continent’s total river discharge accounts for 27 percent of the world’s total discharge, and the average depth of the runoff (58 cm) is twice the earth’s average value. The amount of runoff varies sharply in different parts of the continent, ranging from a few millimeters to hundreds of centimeters. The rivers are also distributed extremely unevenly between the two ocean basins; the Pacific receives 12 times less runoff than the Atlantic (the divide between them runs basically along the Andean ranges). Moreover, about 10 percent of South America is a region of internal drainage, which crosses the continent from the Gulf of Guayaquil through the Central Andean Highlands to the southern Pampas. Rivers that are fed by rain predominate; in the extreme south, rivers are also fed by snow and glaciers.

Annual runoff is greatest (150–400 cm, up to 90 percent of precipitation) in southern Chile, a result not only of the abundant precipitation but also of the steepness of the slopes, slow evaporation, and the presence of ice in the upper reaches of the rivers—all of which are responsible for summer high stages (which is also true of Patagonia’s ephemeral rivers). Underground waters account for not more than 20–25 percent of the flow of the southern Andean rivers. Runoff is just as high in western Colombia (reaching 800 cm in certain river basins). However, the rivers in the region are primarily fed by rain; the heavy rainfall causes summer and autumn flash floods, and subterranean runoff increases to 40 percent.

The runoff characteristics of the Amazon are similar, decreasing to 40–60 cm in its middle and southern courses. The regimes of the large rivers, like the regime of the Amazon itself, depend on the rainy season in the upper and middle reaches of the tributaries. On the margins of the Brazilian and Guiana highlands, which are well and more or less evenly watered, annual runoff is also 40–60 cm (up to 150 cm in some places), with underground runoff constituting 50 percent. The runoff decreases in the interior regions of the Brazilian Highlands to 5 cm in the northeast and becomes extremely uneven. Turbulent summer floods are followed by a sharp decrease in flow during the winter, with the shallow streams completely drying up. The runoff regime is similar on the plains of the subequatorial and tropical belts, where rivers are fed by rain (Orinoco Llanos, Beni-Ma-moré Plains, and Gran Chaco). The marked seasonality of precipitation results in variability in runoff (average runoff decreases from 50–80 to 15–20 cm) and river regimes: in the winter of the corresponding hemisphere, flow completely stops in some places and even large streams, such as the Bermejo and Salado, break up into stretches of water with saline water; in the summer, floods inundate vast areas. The flow of the Paraguay and Paraná rivers is regulated by the low-lying swamp and lake regions of the Pantanal and La Plata lowlands. The smallest runoff (3–5 mm) occurs in the tropical deserts of the western part of South America, where even meltwater from the high mountains accumulates in the foothill pediments and tectonic depressions, increasing the share of underground feeding of ephemeral rivers to 50 percent; only the Loa River has a year-round flow reaching the ocean.

Because of the large amount of precipitation brought from the Atlantic and the extensive plateaus sloping gently toward vast lowlands and plains that also collect runoff from the neighboring slopes of the Andes, a number of large river systems have developed in the non-Andean, or eastern, part of South America: the Amazon, the Orinoco, the Paraná with the Paraguay, and the Uruguay systems. The largest river system in the Andes is the Magdalena River, which flows along an elongated depression in the humid Northern Andes. For the most part, only the lowland rivers are suitable for navigation. The mountain rivers of the Andes and the plateaus, with abundant rapids and waterfalls (Angel Fall, 1,054 m; Kaieteur Falls, 226 m; and Iguacu Falls, 72 m), have enormous hydroelectric potential, as do the large streams of the constantly wet plains (more than 300 million kilowatts).

The large lakes, which are chiefly of glacial origin (terminal basins), are concentrated mainly in the Patagonian Andes (for example, Lakes Argentino and Buenos Aires) and in the southern part of central Chile (Lake Llanquihue). Lake Titicaca, a large lake situated at the highest elevation in the world, lies in the Central Andes, where there are also many residual lakes, such as Lake Poopó, and large solonchaks. The latter are also typical of the depressions between the ranges of the Sierras Pampeanas (Salinas Grandes and others). Large lagoons are located in the north (Lake Maracaibo) and the southeast (Lakes Patos and Mirim).

Soil and flora. The flora of most of South America is included in the Neotropical Region, while that of the southern part is included in the Antarctic Region.

In conformity with its geographic position in the low latitudes, the continent has predominantly evergreen and summer green forests, open woodlands, and scrub vegetation and is characterized by lateritic soil formations. The plant formations of the evergreen, primarily equatorial, rain forests are more widespread in South America than anywhere else on the earth. Such forests, called selvas, occupy almost the entire Amazon Lowland and the adjacent slopes of the plateaus and the Andes, as well as western Colombia and the eastern slopes of the Brazilian Highlands. They are distinguished by very rich and ancient floristic composition, considerable density, and the largest biomass growth (50–200 tons/hectare) and by the presence of many valuable plants. Typical plant families are Leguminosae, Myrtaceae, Meliaceae, Lauraceae, and Palmae. Lianas (Begoniaceae, Passi-floraceae, and other families) and epiphytes (primarily Orchida-ceae and Bromeliaceae) are abundant. The primary reserves of hard woods are concentrated in these forests, which are the probable place of origin of the cacao tree, the rubber-bearing hevea, and, probably, the papaya tree, the coconut plam, manioc, and sweet potato. The rain forest has red-yellow acidic ferralitic soils, as well as podzolized soils, with bog soils in the depressions. Alti-tudinal zonation is clearly expressed in the rain forests of the Andes. To elevations of 1,000–1,200 m (tierra caliente), the forests and soils are similar to the rain forests and soils of the plains. Tree ferns and bamboos predominate to elevations of 1,800–2,200 m (tierra templada), with many cinchona and coca trees. Cloud forests, composed of small trees and shrubs growing on mountain lateritic-humus soils, occur at elevations of 3,000–3,200 m (tierra fría). Above this are Alpine equatorial meadows, called páramos, consisting of frutescent grasses and arborescent flowering plants that grow year-round on mountain meadow soils, some of which are volcanic. In the eastern part of the Amazon Basin and at greater distances from the equator, where the dry season is longer, some deciduous trees appear in the rain forests. In the northern part of the Guiana Highlands and in the northern and eastern parts of the Brazilian Highlands, the rain forest is supplanted by deciduous-evergreen forests.

The subequatorial and tropical belts, with clearly expressed dry seasons, are dominated by savannas and open woodlands, with fringing forests in the river valleys. In the southern part of the Orinoco Llanos (where the savannas are also called llanos) and on the plains of Beni-Mamoré, Araguay, and Tocantins, these are humid, high-grass, primarily palm savannas and savanna forests growing on red ferralitic soils. In the central part of the Brazilian Highlands are savannas with small xerophilous trees (campos cerrados) growing on reddish chestnut soils. Similar xerophilous formations occur in the northern part of the continent. The arid stunted sparse forest known as the caatinga, consisting of thorny shrubs, cacti, and bottle-shaped trees (Chlorisia crispiflora) of the family Bombacaceae, occurs in the driest northeastern part of the Brazilian Highlands. Dry tropical forests and open woodlands grow on reddish chestnut soils on the plains of the Gran Chaco; the very valuable quebracho tree, a primary source of tannin, grows here.

In the subequatorial and tropical belts the lower parts of the eastern slopes of the Andes are characterized by deciduous-evergreen forests, the middle parts by evergreen forests, and the higher slopes by alpine cloud forests with some deciduous species. Above the forests in the Andes and on the high plateaus of Peru and northern Bolivia are high-mountain steppes known as jaleas. The southern plateaus of the Central Andes and the western slopes of the tropical belt have semidesert and desert soils and vegetation. In the winter, during the garúa, the loma formation of ephemeral annuals and tuberous-rooted perennials develops in the coastal deserts at elevations of 300–900 m.

In the subtropical zone in western South America, the semideserts are supplanted by Mediterranean-type dry-summer hard-leaved forests and shrubs (espinal and matorral) growing on chestnut soils. South of 37°–38° S lat., they are replaced by mixed evergreen rain forests, with subantarctic beeches (Nothofagus), magnolias, laurels, and other leafy trees intermixed with conifers (the pine Araucaria imbricata, podocarpus, Libocedrus, and Fitzroya) and many lianas, bamboos, epiphytes, and ferns; the soils are brown forest soils. Mixed evergreen rain forests cover the eastern slopes of the Andes to 42° S lat. There are Alpine meadows in the high mountains. East of the Andes, in northwestern Argentina, scrub semidesert with sierozems and stretches of desert predominate. As the amount of moisture increases toward the east, the semideserts and deserts are replaced first by dry scrub steppes with gray-chestnut soils and then by grass-forb steppes (pampas) with reddish black soils, which are also common in southern Uruguay. Savannas with mesophilic shrub or treeless savannas (campos limpos) predominate on the plains of Uruguay and in the extreme southeast of Brazil. Parklike forests and chernozem-like soils predominate in the southern part of the Mesopotamian Region. The subtropical evergreen rain forests known as pinheirais, consisting primarily of Brazilian araucaria and the Paraguayan holly yerba maté growing on typical red-earth soils, occupy the elevated southern margin of the Brazilian Highlands.

The vegetation and soils of the western and eastern parts of the temperate belt are noted for their vivid contrasts. The islands and wet western slopes of the Patagonian Andes are covered by southern-type forests, primarily evergreens and deciduous subantarctic beeches intermixed with conifers, growing on brown, partially podzolized forest soils. The eastern slopes of the Andes are characterized by coniferous-deciduous forests, while leeward Patagonia is characterized by semidesert brown soils and vegetation consisting of sparse caespitose grasses and cushiony dense umbellifers; steppes with chestnut soils appear only in the submontane depression and in the northern part of Tierra del Fuego. Cryophilic meadows and sphagnum bogs occur in the extreme southeast.

Subtropical and tropical swamps cover enormous areas in the basin of the upper Paraguay River and along the middle course, in the Mesopotamian Region, and in lowlands where many rivers merge. The northwestern and eastern coasts of the continent (to 27° S lat.) are frequently lined by mangrove thickets.

Much of the natural vegetation in certain parts of the continent has not survived, including the inter-Andean plateaus and interior slopes of the Northern Andes, the Longitudinal Valley of central Chile, the eastern slopes of the Brazilian Highlands, and, especially, the Pampas, which has been entirely put to crops or use as pastureland. Soil erosion has developed most extensively in these regions. In recent years the Amazon rain forest has been subjected to excessive logging.

Fauna. Because of the characteristics of paleogeographic development, not just the flora but also the fauna of South America is so unique that the continent, together with the West Indies and Central America, is singled out as an independent realm, the Neogaean, with one region, the Neotropical Region. The latter region has two subregions in South America, the Guiana-Brazilian Subregion, which encompasses most of the northern part of the continent, and the Patagonia-Andean, or Chilean, Subregion, which includes the southern plains and the Andes as far as Ecuador.

A number of endemic species are characteristic of the Neotropical Region. Mammals include edentates (the families Bradypodidae, Myrmecophagidae, and Dasypodidae), platyr-rhine monkeys, a number of rodent families, vampire bats (order Chiroptera), and llamas. Other animals include caenolestids (marsupials), several orders of birds, and various reptiles, amphibians, fish, and invertebrates. There are only a few even-toed ungulates, almost no insectivores, and no catarrhine monkeys. The existence of marsupials, the boa constrictor, the coral snake, and dipnoan fish attest to ancient ties between South America and Madagascar and Australia.

The equatorial and tropical rain forests have the richest fauna. Many animals with prehensile tails live in the trees, including cebids (howling monkeys, capuchins, uakaris, spider monkeys), pygmy and collared anteaters, opossums, prehensile-tailed porcupines, kinkajous, and sloths. Small monkeys of the family Callithricidae (marmosets) are common. The jaguar and ocelot, members of the family Felidae, are good tree climbers. There are numerous chiropterans. The bird fauna is very rich. A number of birds are endemic, including toucans, hoatzins, curassows, black vultures (urubus), macaws, and Amazona parrots. Hummingbirds abound (there are a total of 319 species in South America). Reptiles include snakes (constrictors and the poisonous bushmasters, or surucucu, cobras, and Bothrops jararaca), lizards (iguanas, skinks, and heloderms), and arboreal amphibians.

Insects are numerous. The butterfly fauna of South America is one of the richest in the world. The continent has 100,000 species of beetles, including the luminous cucujo and the long-horned beetle Titanus giganteus, which reaches a length of 15 cm. Several species of ants are linked with trees, for example, the leaf-cutting ants. A typical arachnid is the bird spider. Terrestrial animals include the giant armadillo and the giant anteater, peccaries, tapirs, the white-nosed coati, the bush dog, and various rodents, including the capybara, the largest rodent in the world, and guinea pigs.

The rivers and lakes are inhabited by manatees, river dolphins of the genus Inia, anacondas, (which are endemic), caymans, dipnoan South American lungfish, the giant pirarucu, carnivorous piranhas, and electric eels. There are about 2,000 fish species, which constitute one-third of the world’s total freshwater fauna.

The dominant terrestrial animals in the subequatorial and tropical savannas and open woodlands are armadillos and brockets, which are small deer, and various predators, including the puma, savanna fox, and maned wolf (in the north). Other animals include rodents and rheas. In the steppes and semideserts of the south the most characteristic animals are various endemic rodents (guinea pigs, coypus, pacas, tuco-tucos, maras, vizcachas, and agoutis) and flightless (running) birds (screamers, tinamous, common rheas, and Darwin’s rheas). There are also condors. Predators are represented by the pampas cat, the culpeo, Merhitis patagonica, and many pumas. The pampas deer represents the even-toed ungulates. The guanaco, a member of the family Camelidae, is almost extinct. Armadillos are common. The small pudu and guemal deer, the culpeo, the colocolo cat (Felis colocola), and the uellin otter (Lutra provocax) are especially typical of the forests of the Southern Andes; the relict spectacled bear and the chinchilla live in the high mountains of the Central Andes. The llama and alpaca, domesticated species of the genus Lama, are of great economic importance in the Andes; remnants of the herds of wild species, the guanaco and vicuña, are preserved. The coypu has been introduced in the USSR.

Preserves. South America has about 100 national parks and preserves, primarily to protect valuable forests and animal species threatened with extinction and to preserve picturesque recreational areas. They constitute about 1 percent of South America’s total area. Peru has the largest area of preserves, about 6 million hectares, while Argentina has 2.6 million and Venezuela has about 2 million. The best-known national parks are Nahuel Huapi and Los Glaciares in Argentina, Itatiaia and Iguacu in Brazil, and Los Paraguas in Chile.

Natural regions. Because of the sharp differences in its macrorelief, South America can be subdivided into two distinct areas: the non-Andean plains and plateaus of the east, characterized by horizontal natural zonation, and the mountainous Andean west, characterized by altitudinal zonation and flora and fauna specific to each natural belt.

There are numerous natural regions in the non-Andean east. The Orinoco Llanos, a plain in the subequatorial belt, is characterized by the alternation of a summer wet season and a winter dry season, which determines the seasonal rhythms of all natural processes.

The Amazon Basin is a low-lying plain in the equatorial belt, with a dense network of large rivers and a vast cover of evergreen rain forests—selvas.

The Guiana Highlands are dominated by socle-type denudation plains, with crystalline ranges and sandstone tablelands. The region is characterized by a hot and, in most places, continuously moist climate and by large rushing rivers and evergreen rain forests (those in the north are characterized by high humidity only part of the year).

The Brazilian Highlands have uplifted socle-type plains in the northwest and high massifs in the east, separated by a belt of depressions with sedimentary and lava plains. The rivers are fast-flowing and are characterized by seasonal regimes. In the sub-equatorial northwest and the tropical east, there are rain forests, both those with high humidity year-round and those with high humidity only part of the year. In the central part of the Brazilian Highlands is a belt of brush savannas, called campos cerrados, and in the arid northeast lies the arid stunted sparse forest known as the caatinga. The continuously wet southeastern part has evergreen coniferous-deciduous forests and the largely treeless savannas called campos limpos.

South America’s interior plains are aggradation plains occupying the tectonic trough between the Brazilian Highlands and the Andes extending parallel to the Paraguay and Paraná rivers from 10° to 39° S lat. They are characterized by the alternation of zonal types of landscape, ranging from subequatorial savanna forests and savannas in the north (the Beni-Mamoré plains) to the tropical open woodlands of the central part (Gran Chaco) to the subtropical savannas and forest-steppe and steppe landscapes of the south (Mesopotamian Region and the Pampas). The ephemeral rivers of the Gran Chaco and the vast areas of internal drainage in the Pampas are noteworthy. The amount of precipitation received by the Pampas decreases from east to west, and there is a corresponding change in zonal types, from pampas and brush steppes to semideserts.

The Sierras Pampeanas and Precordillera are a region of block-folded massifs alternating with subtropical climates, internal drainage, xerophilous forests on the windward, or eastern, slopes, dry scrub forests on the lee, western slopes, and semi-deserts with solonchaks in the basins.

Patagonia is a high plateau, with a temperate continental climate. It lies in the rain-shadow zone of the Andes and has ephemeral rivers and semidesert vegetation and soil.

Numerous natural regions are identified within the Andean west. The Caribbean Andes are strongly dissected ranges, with a subequatorial wet-summer type of climate, short streams that often dry up in the winter, and mixed deciduous-evergreen forests.

The Northwestern Andes constitute a system of ranges that split up into branches in the north and that alternate with deep tectonic depressions. The region is characterized by volcanic activity in the south and glaciers in the highest massifs. The exterior slopes receive abundant precipitation and exhibit a distinct rain ioiest-páramos spectrum of the equatorial-belt altitudinal zone; the interior depressions are covered by savannas, and the extreme north has an arid subequatorial climate and vegetation.

The Equatorial Andes consist primarily of two chains of mountains, which are separated from one another by a basin filled with the products of the activity of numerous volcanoes. The region has a mountain equatorial climate, with a rain forest—páramos spectrum of altitudinal zones. The southwestern foothill plains have a subequatorial climate, with increasing aridity toward the south and a shift in all the natural zones of the belt.

The Peruvian Andes (to 14°30’ S lat.) consist of a series of parallel ranges and high interior plateaus that are deeply dissected by river canyons. The highest ranges have significant glaciation. There are mountain rain forests on the eastern slopes, high mountain jalea steppes on the interior plateaus, and tropical semideserts and. deserts on the western slopes. The Central Andes (to 28° S lat.), which lie entirely in the tropical belt, are the highest and most complex part of the Andes. The principal feature is the Central Highlands with the interior plateau known as the Puna. There is a sharp contrast between the rain forests of the eastern slopes, the arid Puna, which becomes a high mountain desert in the south and has no drainage to the ocean, and the desert landscape of the Pacific west.

The Subtropical Andes (to 41°30’ S lat.) consist of the paired Cordillera Principal and Coastal Cordillera, which are separated from one another by the tectonic Longitudinal Valley. The region is volcanically active, and the amount of precipitation increases rapidly (by latitude) from north to south, which causes a change in all natural processes and landscape types from semi-desert in the north and Mediterranean-type in the center to humid subtropical (rain forests) in the south.

The Patagonian Andes are the southernmost segment of the Andes, where the island archipelagoes replace the Coastal Cordillera and the Longitudinal Valley is supplanted by fjordlike straits. The region has a cool humid climate and abounds in volcanic cones. In the north there are dense mixed forests, primarily evergreen forests; the south has significant glaciation and scrub forests and heaths. Coniferous-deciduous forests grow on the lee slopes, and there are large glacier lakes at the foot of the mountains.

The first historically substantiated voyage to South America was made in 1498 by C. Columbus, who discovered the island of Trinidad, the section of the South American coast between the delta of the Orinoco River and the Paria Peninsula, and Margarita Island. In 1499–1500 the Spanish expedition of A. de Ojeda, which included A. Vespucci, reached Guiana, at about 5°–6° N lat., and then traveled along the coast of the continent to 72° W long. It rounded the Paraguaná Peninsula and continued southward into the Gulf of Venezuela, reaching Lake Maracaibo. In 1501 the Spaniard R. de Bastidas rounded the Guajira Peninsula,

Figure 1

discovered the mouth of the Magdalena River, and reached the Gulf of Urabá, thus completing the discovery, begun by Columbus, of the entire northern coast of South America.

The northeastern coast of Brazil was first reached in February 1500 at 6° S lat. by the Spaniard V. Pinzón, who then journeyed northwest along the coast to Guiana, discovering en route the southern arm of the Amazon River delta and landing on Marajó Island. In 1500 the Spaniard D. de Lepe followed the Brazilian coast from 6° to 10° S lat. In 1501–02 a Portuguese expedition, probably including Vespucci, explored the Brazilian coast from 5° to 25° S lat., discovering the mouth of the Sāo Francisco River and Guanabara Bay (Rio de Janiero).

In 1507 the Dutch geographer M. Waldseemüller proposed naming the newly discovered southern continent “America,” in honor of Amerigo Vespucci. J. de Solis followed the eastern coast of South America from 25° to 35° S lat. in 1515–16, discovering the La Plata Estuary and the lower reaches of the Uruguay and Paraná rivers. In 1520, F. Magellan journeyed from the La Plata to 52° S lat., discovering the Patagonian coast of South America with all its inlets and the northern coast of Tierra del Fuego. He sailed through the strait later named in his honor to reach the Pacific Ocean. Thus, by 1520, the entire Caribbean coastline and the entire Atlantic coastline of South America and the mouths of all the major rivers had been discovered.

The Pacific coast of South America was explored in the period 1522–58 by seagoing Spanish expeditions. In 1522, P. de Andagoya followed the northwestern coast of South America to 4° N lat. In 1526–27, F. Pizarro explored the coast to 8° S lat., discovering en route the Gulf of Guayaquil, from where in 1532 he embarked on the conquest of Peru. After its conquest and the founding of the city of Lima (1535), Spanish navigators investigated the coast to at least 12° S lat., and later to 40° S lat. after the military expeditions of D. de Almargo (1535–37) and P. de Valdivia (1540–52) into Chile. In 1558, J. Ladrilleros discovered the Chonos Archipelago and the Taitao Peninsula between 44° and 47° S lat. In 1579–80, P. Sarmiento de Gamboa discovered the group of islands between 47° and 52° S lat. In 1616, the Dutchmen J. Le Maire and W. Schouten discovered and rounded Cape Horn (56° S lat.). In 1592 the Englishman J. Davis discovered a body of land in the Atlantic at 52° S lat. In 1594, R. Hawkins, assuming it to be a single body of land, described its northern coast, but J. Strong later proved that it actually consists of two large islands and many small ones and called them the Falkland Islands (1690).

Between 1529 and 1546, while searching for the “golden land of El Dorado,” the Spaniards D. Ordás, P. Hredia, G. Jiménez de Quesada, and S. de Belalcázar and the Germans A. Ehinger, N. Federmann, G. Hohermuth, and P. von Hutten (agents of the German banking houses of the Welsers and Ehingers, who in 1528 had received a patent from Charles V to colonize the southern shore of the Caribbean Sea) discovered the northwestern Andes and Orinoco Llanos and crossed them in all directions and followed the courses of all the large left tributaries of the Orinoco and the Magdalena with the Cauca River. In 1541–42, a group headed by G. Pizarro sailed down the Napo River to the Amazon Lowland, while a detachment led by F. de Orellana separated from the group in 1541 and sailed down the Amazon to the sea, thus completing the first crossing of South America.

In the period 1527–48, while searching for silver in the La Plata Basin, S. Cabot, P. de Mendoza, J. de Ayolas, A. Cabeza de Vaca, and D. de Irala discovered and explored several large rivers of the Paraná-Paraguay system and crossed the Gran Chaco. The lower reaches of the tributaries of the Amazon River were discovered in 1637–39 by the Portuguese expedition of P. Teixeira and B. Acosta, who journeyed up the Para River to the Equatorial Andes and returned back down the river.

In the second half of the 16th century and in the 17th and 18th centuries, the Portuguese mestizos (mamelucos) formed detachments to hunt down Indian slaves and search for gold and precious stones. They crisscrossed the Brazilian Highlands and traced the flow of all the large tributaries of the middle and lower Amazon. In the 17th and the first half of the 18th century, the Upper Amazon system was explored primarily by Jesuit missionaries, including the Czech S. Fritz.

The first scientists to explore South America were French members of the equatorial expedition (1736–43) led by C. de La Condamine and P. Bouguer to measure the meridian arc. Later, during the colonial period, comprehensive scientific studies were made of the La Plata basin by the Spaniard F. de Azara and of the Orinoco River basin by the German A. von Humboldt and the Frenchman A. Bonpland. The exact outlines of South America were largely determined by the British expedition of P. King and R. Fitzroy in the second quarter of the 19th century.

The study of the Brazilian Highlands and Amazon Lowland intensified in the 19th and 20th centuries. Among the scientists who investigated the region were the German W. Eschwege (1811–14), the Frenchman A. de Saint-Hilaire (1816–22), members of the Austro-Bavarian expedition of 1817–20 (K. von Martius, J. Spix, J. Pohl, and J. Natterer), members of G. I. Langsdorfs Russian comprehensive academy expedition of 1822–28, the comprehensive expedition of Comte de Castelnau (F. de la Porte; 1844–45), the Britons A. Wallace (1848–52), H. Bates (1848–58), W. Chandless (1860–69), and J. Wells (1868–84), the German K. von den Steinen (1884 and 1887–88), and the Frenchman H. Coudreau (1895–98).

The Guiana Highlands and the Orinoco River basin were studied by the brothers Robert Schomburgk and Richard Schomburgk, Germans in British service (1835–44), K. Appun, a Pole in British service (1860–72), and the Frenchmen J. Crevaux, H. Coudreau, and J. Chaffanjon (1877–89). In 1887, Chaffanjon discovered the source of the Orinoco River. The American hydrographer T. Page (1853–56) and the Argentine topographer L. Fontana (1875–81) studied the basin of the Rio de La Plata.

Various scientists worked in the Northern and Equatorial Andes, including the Frenchman J. Boussingault (1822–28), the German geologists A. Stübel and W. Reiss (1868–74), the British topographer F. Simons (1878–80 and 1884), the German geographer A. Hettner (1882–84), and the German geographer W. Sievers, who primarily studied the Sierra de Perijá, the Cordillera de Mérida (1884–86), and the Caribbean Andes (1892–93). The German naturalist E. Pöppig (1829–31) and the Frenchman A. d’Orbigny (1830–33) studied the Central Andes. In 1851–69, A. Raimondi, an Italian geographer and topographer in Peruvian service, studied and mapped the Peruvian Andes and the La Montaña region. The Southern Andes, the Chilean-Argentine Cordilleras, and the Patagonian Andes were studied in Chile primarily by Europeans who settled there, including the Pole I. Domeyko (1839–44), the Frenchman A. Pissis (1849–75), and the German botanist R. Philippi (1853–54). In Argentina the English sheep rancher G. Musters crossed Patagonia from south to north and began studying the Chubut River basin (1869–70). Later investigators included the Argentine topographers F. Moreno (1874–97), C. Moyano (1877–81), and L. Fontana (who completed the exploration of the Chubut River basin in 1886–88).

Russian scientists and explorers also conducted extensive studies in South America. Among them were the diplomat and geographer A. S. Ionin (1883–92), the botanist N. M. Al’bov, who studied Tierra del Fuego (1895–96), the ethnographer G. G. Manizer (1914–15), and the botanist and geographer N. I. Vavilov (1930, 1932–33).

Anthropological and ethnic composition. Anthropologically, the contemporary population of South America is highly diverse, including representatives of various races, namely, those of the American (indigenous Indian population), Europeoid (descendants of settlers from Europe), and Negroid (descendants of slaves brought from Africa) races, as well as many mixed groups, such as the mestizos, mulattoes, and sambos. Racial intermixing is proceeding rapidly in the South American countries, and new racial types are gradually forming.

Until the appearance of Europeans in the late 15th century, South America was inhabited by various Indian tribes and peoples who spoke Quechua, Arawakan, Chibcha, Tupi-Guaranian, and other languages. The population was unevenly distributed. The high-mountain valleys of the Central Andean Highlands were the most densely populated, while the lowlands of the Amazon Basin were less densely populated. The most highly developed agricultural peoples of the highlands created an early class society (Tawantin-suyu) or were at the point of transition to a class society (Muisca, or Chibcha). The arrival of European conquerors from Spain and Portugal brought about radical changes in the ethnic structure of the continent. Spanish colonists typically penetrated first the most highly developed and densely populated regions, for example, the Central Highlands, where the richest deposits were, and converted them into advance posts for further conquest. The Portuguese conquerors long restricted colonization to the coastal zone of modern Brazil (16th and 17th centuries). The devastating wars of the age of conquest and exploitation during the colonial period sharply reduced the population of many Indian peoples of South America. The intensive mixing between the Spanish and Portuguese colonists and the Indian population began at the very start of the European conquest, with the subsequent dispersal of the racially mixed groups speaking Spanish and Portuguese, respectively. It was these groups that then colonized the La Plata basin, the Pacific coast south of the Central Andes, and other regions of South America and penetrated the interior of modern Brazil.

The arrival of Negroes in South America in the 16th century was linked with the needs of the colonial economy. Thousands of Africans were brought as slaves to work in the mines of the Vice-royalty of Peru and in the sugarcane plantations on the coast of Venezuela and northeastern Brazil. In the Central Highlands the Negroes were assimilated by the local population, while in the two other regions they played a significant part in ethnic processes and cultural development. Large populations of mixed European-Negro and Negro-Indian origin formed there. By the end of the colonial period, in the first third of the 19th century, new racially mixed ethnic groups, speaking Spanish (and Portuguese in Brazil), had formed in most of the regions conquered by the colonists that were separated from one another geographically and were economically self-sufficient. After the countries of South America gained their independence, there were radical changes in the ethnic composition of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay as a result of the influx of numerous immigrants from Italy, Germany, and other European countries, enlisted primarily for the development of national territories in the second half of the 19th century and the early 20th century. Immigration from Asia, largely China and India, occurred in Guyana and Surinam.

Most of the present population of South America is of mixed Indian-European background; the population of the northeast is primarily of Negro-European origin. Large Indian groups have survived in several South American countries, for example, the Quechua in Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador, the Aymara in Bolivia, and the Araucanians in Chile. In addition, small Indian tribes and peoples speaking their own languages have survived in the

Table 2. Political divisions of South America
	Area (sq km)	Population (mid-1977, estimates)	Capital or administrative center
1 Territory disputed between Great Britain and Argentina 21976
Source (for population figures): Monthly Bulletin of Statistics, United Nations, July 1978, New York, 1978
Independent states
Argentina ...............	2,766,900	26,060,000	Buenos Aires
Bolivia	1,098,600	5,950,000	La Paz (officially, Sucre)
Brazil ...............	8,512,000	112,240,000	Brazilia
Chile ...............	756,900	10,660,000	Santiago
Colombia ...............	1,138,900	25,050,000	Bogotá
Ecuador ...............	283,600	7,560,000	Quito
Guyana ...............	215,000	830,000	Georgetown
Paraguay ...............	406,800	2,800,000	Asunción
Peru ...............	1,285,200	16,360,000	Lima
Surinam ...............	163,300	450,000	Paramaribo
Uruguay ...............	177,500	2,810,000	Montevideo
Venezuela ...............	912,000	12,740,000	Caracas
Possessions of the capitalist states
Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)1 ...............	12,000	2.0002	Stanley
French possessions French Guiana ...............	91,000	60,000	Cayenne

border regions of almost all the countries, for example, northern Argentina, the Amazon Basin in Brazil, and northwestern Colombia.

The official language in most of the countries of South America is Spanish, except in Brazil, where it is Portuguese. The only Indian languages recognized as official are Quechua in Peru and Aymara in Bolivia. Paraguay has great diversity; most of its people speak the Guarani language and have some mastery of Spanish. The official language of Guyana, Trinidad, and Tobago is English. In the former Dutch colony of Surinam it is Dutch, and in French Guiana it is French.

Most of the believers in South America are Catholic. Vestiges of pre-Christian beliefs play a significant part among the Indians, and vestiges of African cults continue to exist among some Negroes.

Spanish and Portuguese navigators arrived in South America in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, thus interrupting the independent development of the indigenous Indian population. Spain and Portugal divided South America according to the Treaty of Tordesillas of 1494, which specified a “line of demarcation” along 46° W long. The conquest of South America, which began in the 16th century, was finished for the most part in the 17th century. By the beginning of the 18th century, most of South America was under Spanish jurisdiction. Portugal controlled almost the entire territory of what is now Brazil, while the northeastern part of South America was divided between Great Britain, France, and Holland.

Colonization was accompanied by the harsh exploitation of the indigenous population, the mass extermination of the population, and the plundering of the mineral resources. The policies of the mother countries, which held back the development of the productive forces, limited the establishment of manufacturing and trade, and prohibited the growing of many agricultural crops, led to frequent uprisings against the colonists. The war of independence of the Spanish-American colonies of 1810–26 put an end to Spain’s colonial domination (seeWAR OF INDEPENDENCE OF THE SPANISH-AMERICAN COLONIES OF 1810–26). All the Spanish colonies gained political independence and formed independent states: Argentina officially declared independence in 1816, Bolivia in 1825, Chile in 1810, Colombia in 1810, Ecuador in 1809, Paraguay in 1811, Peru in 1821, Uruguay in 1825, and Venezuela in 1811. Brazilian independence from Portugal was declared in 1822. However, the countries of South America subsequently became financially and economically dependent on the imperialist countries, especially Great Britain and the United States. After World War I (1914—18), American capital penetrated more intensively and soon occupied a decisive place in the economies of the South American countries. The victory of the Cuban Revolution and the establishment of a socialist system in Cuba fostered a surge in the anti-imperialist revolutionary movement in South America. In the 1960’s and 1970’s, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Barbados, the Bahama Islands, and Grenada freed themselves from colonial dependence. The governments of several countries (Peru since 1968, Chile in 1970–73, and Ecuador since 1972) have begun to carry out anti-imperialist, antioligarchical measures. In 1975, Surinam declared its independence from the Netherlands. (For greater detail on the history of the South American countries, seeLATIN AMERICA.)

REFERENCES

Lukashova, E. N. Iuzhnaia Amerika. Moscow, 1958.
Ocherki po geologii Iuzhnoi Ameriki: Sb. st. Moscow, 1959. (Translated from English.)
Khain, V. E. Regional’naia geotektonika: Severnaia i Iuzhnaia Amerika, Antarktida i Afrika. Moscow, 1971.
Berliand, T. G. Raspredelenie solnechnoi radiatsii na kontinentakh. Leningrad, 1961.
Aeroklimaticheskii spravochnik Iuzhnoi Ameriki. Leningrad, 1968.
Danilina, I. P. “Vliianie obshchei tsirkuliatsii atmosfery i podstilaiushchei poverkhnosti na rezhim atmosfernykh osadkov Iuzhnoi Ameriki.” In Geograficheskiisbornik, fasc. 4. Moscow, 1970.
Vitvitskii, G. N. Tsirkuliatsiia atmosfery v tropikakh. Moscow, 1971.
Klimaty Iuzhnoi Ameriki. Leningrad, 1977.
Karasik, G. Ia. “Vodnyi balans i vodnye resursy Iuzhnoi Ameriki.” In Izv. AN SSSR: Ser. geograficheskaia, 1974, no. 1.
Oroshenie i osushenie v stranakh mira. Moscow, 1974.
Zhukovskii, P. M. Kul’turnye rasteniia i ikh sorodichi, 2nd ed. Leningrad, 1964.
Vtorov, P. P., and N. N. Drozdov. Biogeografiia materikov. Moscow, 1974.
Manizer, G. G. Ekspeditsiia akad. G. I. Langsdorfa v Braziliiu (1821–1828). Moscow, 1948.
Puteshestviia Khristofora Kolumba. Moscow, 1961. (Translated from Spanish.)
Otkrytie velikoi reki Amazonok. Moscow, 1963. (Translated from Spanish.)
Humboldt, A. von. Puteshestvie v ravnodenstvennye oblasti Novogo Sveta v 1799–1804 gg., vols. 1–3. Moscow, 1963–69. (Translated from German.)
Magidovich, I. P. Istoriia otkrytiia i issledovaniia Tsentral’noi i Iuzhnoi Ameriki. Moscow, 1965.
Serra, A. “Clima da América do Sul.” Revista geográfica, 1963, vol. 33, no. 59.
Biogeography and Ecology in South America, vols. 1–2. The Hague, 1968–69.
Geo-Ecology of the Mountainous Regions of the Tropical Americas. Bonn, 1968.
See also references under CENTRAL AMERICA.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

South America

[′sau̇th ə′mer·ə·kə]

(geography)

The southernmost of the Western Hemisphere continents, three-fourths of which lies within the tropics.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

South America

the fourth largest of the continents, bordering on the Caribbean in the north, the Pacific in the west, and the Atlantic in the east and joined to Central America by the Isthmus of Panama. It is dominated by the Andes Mountains, which extend over 7250 km (4500 miles) and include many volcanoes; ranges from dense tropical jungle, desert, and temperate plains to the cold wet windswept region of Tierra del Fuego. Pop. (Latin America and the Caribbean): Pop.: 558 281 000 (2005 est.). Area: 17 816 600 sq. km (6 879 000 sq. miles)

Antarctica

Antarctica (ăntärkˈtĭkə, –ärˈtĭkə), the fifth largest continent, c.5,500,000 sq mi (14,245,000 sq km), asymmetrically centered on the South Pole and almost entirely within the Antarctic Circle.

Geology and Geography

Antarctica consists of two major regions: W Antarctica (c.2,500,000 sq mi/6,475,000 sq km), a mountainous archipelago that includes the Antarctic Peninsula, and E Antarctica (c.3,000,000 sq mi/7,770,000 sq km), geologically a continental shield. They are joined into a single continental mass by an ice sheet thousands of feet thick. At the seaward margins of the ice sheet masses of ice break off and float away as icebergs, leaving ice cliffs. Where the outward creep of the ice is channeled into ice streams (zones of more rapid flow), great floating ice tongues project into the sea; where mountains retard outward movement, the flow is channeled into great valley glaciers.

Less than 5% of Antarctica is free of ice; these areas include mountain peaks, arid “dry valleys,” small coastal areas, and islands. Except for mountain ranges (some buried beneath the ice), much of E Antarctica's rock surface is near sea level; however, the continent's domed, snow-covered glacial surface rises to about 13,000 ft (4,000 m). In W Antarctica there is great variation in the subglacial relief, suggesting mountainous islands or submerged ranges separated by deep sounds beneath the ice cover; many volcanoes, most hidden beneath the ice, have been identified in the region. Since the 1970s more than 450 lakes of liquid water have been identified underneath the continental ice; the largest known of these is Lake Vostok, which lies 2.5 mi (4 km) beneath the Russian Vostok research station in E Antarctica. Many of the lakes are connected by subglacial rivers.

The two major coastal indentations are the Ross Sea, facing the Pacific Ocean, and the Weddell Sea, facing the Atlantic Ocean. At the head of each sea are great ice shelves, the Ross ice shelves in the Ross Sea and the Ronne and the Filchner ice shelves in the Weddell Sea. Partly aground but mostly afloat, these nearly level ice shelves are from 600 to 4,000 ft (180–1,220 m) thick. They move steadily toward the sea and are fed by valley glaciers, ice streams, and surface snow accumulations. Smaller ice shelves are found all along the coast.

The Transantarctic Mts (c.3,500–14,300 ft/1,100–4,400 m high), which extend from the east side of the Filchner Ice Shelf to the western portal of the Ross Sea, form the inner margin of E Antarctica. Primarily formed by block faulting mountains, the lower slopes have a complex structure of late Precambrian and early Paleozoic metamorphic rocks. These are overlaid by essentially horizontal sedimentary rock, mainly of continental or near-shore origin and ranging in age from the Devonian period to the early Jurassic, which are similar to rocks found in Australia, S Africa, and E South America; coal-bearing Permian strata are also found there. Distinctive plant, insect, fish, and animal fossils in the Triassic and Jurassic strata strongly indicate that the continents of the Southern Hemisphere are parts of an ancient supercontinent, Gondwanaland, which broke up in the late Mesozoic era. The continents have since drifted to their present positions.

The ice-drowned, mountainous archipelago of W Antarctica is related to the Andes Mts. of South America and is structurally connected to them by way of the Antarctic Peninsula and the Scotia Arc (South Georgia and the South Orkney and South Sandwich islands). The complex structure consists of highly folded metasedimentary strata from Paleozoic to Pliocene epochs. There has been much volcanism down to the present. Mountains of the Antarctic Peninsula rise to c.11,000 ft (3,350 m); the mountains of Marie Byrd Land have comparable heights. The Ellsworth Mts., at the head of Ronne Ice Shelf, are the highest in Antarctica; Vinson Massif (16,860 ft/5,140 m) is the continent's highest peak. A variety of mineral deposits have been discovered in Antarctica, but the extent of the deposits is largely unknown and their relative inaccessibility makes their utility doubtful.

Antarctica is surrounded by the world's stormiest seas. A belt of pack ice surrounds the continent; only a few areas are ice-free at the end of most summers. The physical boundary most widely accepted today for the antarctic region is the Antarctic Convergence, a zone c.25 mi (40 km) wide encircling the earth along a fluctuating, zigzagging line between 48°S and 61°S,. Within this zone the colder and denser north-flowing antarctic surface waters sink beneath warmer and saltier subantarctic waters; the difference in temperature and chemical content of the water on the two sides of the zone is reflected in noticeable differences in air temperature and in marine life. These differences and other characteristics have led oceanographers to regard the waters around Antarctica as a fifth ocean, the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean).

Climate

Antarctic climate is characterized by low temperature, high wind velocities, and frequent blizzards. Rapidly changing weather is typical of coastal locations, where temperatures for the warmest month average around freezing. Winter minimums drop as low as −40℉ (−40℃). High altitude and continuous darkness in winter combine to make the interior of Antarctica the coldest place on earth. Summer temperatures are unlikely to be warmer than 0℉ (−18℃); winter mean temperatures are −70℉ (−57℃) and lower. The lowest temperature ever recorded on earth was −128.6℉ (−89.2℃) at Vostok, a Russian station. (Satellite sensors have recorded even lower but unofficial readings around −144℉ [−98℃] in central East Antarctica.) Precipitation is in the form of snow; the annual water equivalent in the interior is c.2 in. (5 cm) and c.10 in. (25 cm) in coastal areas. In the dry, dust-free air one can see for tens of miles in clear weather; distances are deceptive, and mirages are common. Scattering of light by blowing snow or low clouds causes whiteouts, in which the sky blends with the snow-covered surface, eliminating the horizon; no condition is more feared by aviators.

Antarctic Life

There is no native human population in Antarctica, nor are there any large land animals. Few species are adapted to the antarctic environment, but individuals of these few species are numberless. Life that depends completely on the land is limited to microscopic life in summer meltwater ponds, tiny wingless insects living in patches of moss and lichens, and two types of flowering plants (both in the Antarctic Peninsula). Birds and seals that spend part of their time on land (e.g., emperor and Adélie penguins and the brown skua—the most southerly bird and a notorious predator—and Weddell, crabeater, and Ross seals) are dependent on the surrounding sea for food. Antarctic waters are rich in plankton, which serves as food for krill, small shrimplike crustaceans that are the principal food of baleen whales, crabeater seals, Adélie penguins, and several kinds of fish.

Fur and elephant seals, which spend the summers on islands north of lat. 65°S were the basis for 19th-century commercial activity in Antarctica. In the 20th cent., commercial interest shifted to baleen whales. Fur seals are recovering from the slaughter of the 19th cent., as are the elephant seals. Whaling has been declining since the peak year of 1930–31. In 1986 the International Whaling Commission imposed a moratorium on commercial whaling; the moratorium, however, has not been adhered to by all nations.

History of Exploration

Early Expeditions

Although there was for centuries a tradition that another land lay south of the known world, attempts to find it were defeated by the ice. Antarctica's frigid nature was revealed by the second voyage (1772–75) of the English explorer Capt. James Cook. He did not see the continent as he circumnavigated the world, but he was the first to cross the Antarctic Circle. British and U.S. seal hunters followed him to South Georgia, an island in the S Atlantic.

In 1819 the British mariner William Smith discovered the South Shetland Islands. Returning in 1820, he and James Bransfield of the British navy explored and roughly mapped the Shetlands and part of the shore of the Antarctic Peninsula. Searching for rookeries, sealers explored the coastal and offshore regions of the Antarctic Peninsula. Most notable were the British captains James Weddell, George Powell, and Robert Fildes and the Americans Nathaniel B. Palmer, Benjamin Pendleton, Robert Johnson, and John Davis. Davis made the first landing on the antarctic continent (Feb. 7, 1821) at Hughes Bay on the Antarctic Peninsula. First to spend the winter in Antarctica, on King George Island in 1821, were 11 men from the wrecked British vessel Lord Mellville.

After 1822 fur sealing declined, but in 1829–30 Palmer and Pendleton led a sealing and exploring expedition that included Dr. James Eights, the first U.S. scientist to visit Antarctica. John Biscoe, a British navigator, circumnavigated Antarctica from 1830 to 1832, sighting Enderby Land in 1831 and exploring the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula in 1832. John Balleny and Peter Kemp were other British sealers who made discoveries in E Antarctica in the 1830s.

Four naval exploring expeditions visited Antarctica in the first half of the 19th cent. Capt. T. T. Bellingshausen was the leader of a Russian expedition that circumnavigated Antarctica (1819–21). He apparently was the first to see (1820) the part of the continent that is now called Queen Maud Land. In W Antarctica he discovered (1821) Peter I Island and Alexander Island. Admiral J. S. C. Dumont d'Urville led a French expedition to the Pacific Ocean that made two visits to Antarctica. He explored in the area of the Antarctic Peninsula in 1838 and in 1840 discovered Clarie Coast and Adélie Coast in E Antarctica. In 1840 Lt. Charles Wilkes, leader of the U.S. Exploring Expedition to the Pacific (1838–42), sailed along the coast of E Antarctica for 1,500 mi (2,400 km), sighting land at nine points. British Capt. James C. Ross commanded two vessels on an expedition (1841–43) that discovered Victoria Land in E Antarctica, the Ross Sea, and the Ross Ice Shelf and explored and mapped the western approaches of the Weddell Sea.

Inland and to the Pole

In the 1890s, after a half-century of neglect, interest in Antarctica was revived. Norwegian and Scottish whaling firms sent ships (1892–93) to investigate the possibilities of whaling around the Antarctic Peninsula, and a Norwegian vessel examined the Ross Sea area, where a landing was made (1895) on Cape Adare. C. A. Larsen began whaling at South Georgia island in 1904–5, and the seas of the Scotia Arc became the center of Antarctic whaling until after 1926.

The 1890s also marked the beginning of a period of extensive Antarctic exploration, during which 16 exploring expeditions from nine countries visited the continent. For the first time, many of them were financed by private individuals and sponsored by scientific societies. It was a period of innovation and hardship in an extremely harsh, little-known environment. The Belgian expedition under Lt. Adrien de Gerlache was beset in the pack ice in Mar., 1898, and the ship drifted west across the Bellingshausen Sea for a year before it was released. A British expedition led by C. E. Borchgrevink was the first to establish a base for wintering on the continent (Cape Adare, 1899) and the first to make sledge journeys. Different parts of the Antarctic Peninsula and the islands of the Scotia Arc were explored by de Gerlache (1897–98), a Swedish expedition under Dr. Otto Nordenskjold (1901–4), the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition led by W. S. Bruce (1902–4), and two French expeditions led by Dr. Jean B. Charcot (1903–5 and 1908–10). Nordenskjold spent two winters in Antarctica before being rescued after his ship was crushed by ice.

Exploration in the Ross Sea area during this period was characterized by long inland journeys. Four British expeditions had bases on Ross Island at McMurdo Sound. British Capt. R. F. Scott headed two expeditions (1901–4 and 1910–13), E. H. Shackleton led another expedition (1907–9), and A. E. Mackintosh headed the Ross Sea Party of Shackleton's unsuccessful Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1914–17). Roald Amundsen, a Norwegian, set up his base at the Bay of Whales, an indentation in the front of the Ross Ice Shelf, and a Japanese expedition (1911–12) was ship-based. The British expeditions carried out extensive exploration and scientific investigation of Victoria Land. Shackleton sledged to within 97 mi (156 km) of the South Pole (Jan., 1909), but it was Amundsen who reached the Pole first, on Dec. 14, 1911. Scott reached it on Jan. 17, 1912, but he and four companions perished on the return trip.

The Weddell Sea border of E Antarctica was seen first by Bruce (1904), and it was later explored by the German expedition of Dr. Wilhelm Filchner, discoverer of the Filchner Ice Shelf, whose ship was beset and drifted in the Weddell Sea through the winter of 1912 before being released. Shackleton reached the Weddell Sea in Jan., 1915. He had planned to sledge to McMurdo Sound, via the South Pole, but his ship was beset and crushed in the ice, and his party lived on ice floes until they finally reached Elephant Island in boats. From there Shackleton made his epic voyage of c.800 mi (1,290 km) to South Georgia in an open boat.

Two other expeditions explored E Antarctica during the early 20th cent.—Dr. Erich von Drygalski's well-equipped German expedition (1901–3) was cut short on the Wilhelm II Coast when the ship was beset; and Douglas Mawson, leader of the Australasian Expedition (1911–14) established bases at Commonwealth Bay on the George V Coast and on the Queen Mary Coast. Five major sledge journeys were made from Commonwealth Bay; two men perished and Mawson barely survived.

Technological Advances in Exploration

In the period following World War I, scientific and technological advances were applied to further antarctic exploration. The first airplane flight in Antarctica (Nov. 26, 1928) was by Sir George Hubert Wilkins, an Australian who later flew down the eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula. However, it was U.S. explorer Richard E. Byrd who most successfully coordinated radios, tractors, airplanes, and aerial cameras for the purposes of exploration.

On his first expedition Byrd established his base, Little America, near the site of Amundsen's old base at the Bay of Whales. From Little America he made the first flight over the South Pole on Nov. 29, 1929. On this expedition Marie Byrd Land was discovered and explored from the air. On his second expedition (1933–35) Byrd successfully integrated flights with long sledge and tractor journeys in a more complete exploration of Marie Byrd Land.

In 1929–30 three other expeditions were also using aircraft for short flights over the coast. Wilkins in 1929–30 operated in the Bellingshausen Sea. A Norwegian captain, Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen, explored (1929–30) the coast of E Antarctica from Enderby Land to Coats Land; the area was later claimed by Norway as Queen Maud Land. In Nov., 1935, U.S. explorer Lincoln Ellsworth made the first transantarctic flight, from Dundee Island at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula to the Bay of Whales, landing four times en route. The British Graham Land Expedition explored the Antarctic Peninsula by sea, air, and dog team from 1935 to 1937, using a different base each winter. Germany made a calculatedly spectacular effort at aerial surveying when two aircraft flying from a catapult ship photographed approximately 135,000 sq mi (350,000 sq km) of Queen Maud Land.

The Norwegians had done considerable exploration and mapping during the first two decades of antarctic whaling in the Scotia Arc. In 1925–26 they introduced pelagic whaling with factory ships that could operate in the open sea. Between 1927 and 1937 Lars Christensen led an extensive program of aerial exploration and mapping of the coast of E Antarctica from the Weddell Sea to the Shackleton Ice Shelf. Also allied to whaling were the investigations in physical oceanography, marine biology, and coastal mapping carried out by the Discovery Committee of the British Colonial Office from 1925 to 1939. Their major achievement was the discovery of the Antarctic Convergence.

International Rivalry

The 1930s were a period of international rivalry in Antarctica, and the map was cut into wedgelike territorial claims that in some places overlapped. Although the U.S. government did not make a claim or recognize those of other nations, it supported antarctic exploration. The U.S. Antarctic Service Expedition (1939–41), directed by Byrd, introduced the notion of permanent bases, one of which was set up at the Bay of Whales and another on Stonington Island W of the Antarctic Peninsula. The onset of World War II forced the evacuation of the bases, but before the war ended Great Britain, in order to offset claims by Chile and Argentina, had established permanent bases on the Antarctic Peninsula and off-lying islands.

Interest in Antarctica intensified after the war, and several governments established permanent agencies to direct antarctic affairs. Great Britain, Argentina, and Chile continued the system of scientific bases in the Antarctic Peninsula and Scotia Arc. Australia established bases on Heard and Macquarie islands, and France founded one on the Adélie Coast. From 1945 to 1957 the U.S. navy conducted Operation Highjump, an expedition involving c.5,000 men. About 60% of the coastline was photographed, as well as much of the interior bordering the Ross Ice Shelf.

The Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition (1947–48), led by Finn Ronne, was the last privately sponsored U.S. expedition. Using Byrd's old base on Stonington Island, Ronne closed the unexplored gap at the head of the Weddell Sea. A portent of the international cooperation soon to follow, the Norwegian-British-Swedish Antarctic Expedition was organized by the respective governments and scientific societies for exploration and scientific investigation in Queen Maud Land.

The International Geophysical Year

The International Geophysical Year (IGY), from July, 1957, through Dec., 1958, was planned to correspond with a period of maximum sunspot activity. As part of the IGY, 12 nations maintained 65 stations and operational facilities in Antarctica. The more difficult logistical problems of establishing inland bases were undertaken by the United States and the USSR. The American effort, termed “Operation Deep Freeze,” concentrated on the building of McMurdo Station, a major base of operations, on Ross Island; five other U.S. stations were established, including one at the South Pole. The Russians concentrated on E Antarctica, building Mirnyy, a station on the Queen Mary Coast, and three bases inland: Komsomolskaya, Vostok (at the South Magnetic Pole), and Sovetskaya. Britain maintained 14 stations, and Argentina, Chile, France, Australia, Belgium, Japan, Norway, South Africa, and New Zealand also participated.

From 1951 to 1958, Dr. Vivian Fuchs led the British Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition's traverse with tractors from the Weddell Sea to McMurdo Sound via the South Pole, conducting a seismic and magnetic profile en route. Long-distance flights by U.S. planes covered c.2,000,000 sq mi (5,180,000 sq km) in 1955–56. These and later support flights, the tractor journeys to build bases, and geophysical traverses by tracked vehicles during the IGY left little of the continent that had not been seen.

The Antarctic Treaty and Current Research

The success of the IGY effort led to the signing (1959) of the Antarctic Treaty by representatives of the 12 nations that had been involved in the IGY. The treaty prohibits military operations, nuclear explosions, and the disposal of radioactive wastes in Antarctica and provides for cooperation in scientific investigation and the exchange of scientific data. In 1991, 24 nations signed a protocol to the 1959 treaty barring for 50 years the exploration of Antarctica for oil or minerals. The accord also contained provisions covering wildlife protection, waste disposal, and marine pollution. The treaty, which now has 48 member nations, did not end national claims to Antarctica, and in the 21st cent. claimant nations extended their claims over the continental shelf offshore to the maximum (350 nautical mi) allowed by international law.

Of the 12 nations involved in the IGY, some dropped their programs, others suspended and then renewed operations; those that have been continually involved have reduced the size of their programs. Some stations have been closed, new ones have been opened, and old ones have had to be replaced. Twenty-nine nations now operate some 40 year-round research stations on the continent; additional stations are operated in the summer. At McMurdo the United States has built a scientific village where people may be housed in summer and winter. From McMurdo other U.S. bases are supported by air. The National Science Foundation (NSF) finances the U.S. programs. Russian research has suffered from financial difficulties after the collapse of the Soviet Union and was cut back in the 1990s.

In the early 1970s fossil finds and geological studies gave further support to the theory of continental drift. Sediment samples obtained by the Ocean Drilling Project (1985) off the coast of Queen Maud Land indicate ice sheets covered E Antarctica over 37 million years ago. Since the late 1980s scientists have researched seasonal ozone depletion, or “holes,” in the stratosphere above Antarctica, which allows harmful levels of ultraviolet radiation from the sun to reach the earth, They have also queried whether the rising incidence of iceberg calving in W Antarctica and increased snowfall in E Antarctica are related to global warming and climate change; satellite observations have indicated that glaciers in W Antarctica especially are thinning and their melting is accelerating. In 1997, through a joint effort of NASA and the Canadian Space Agency, the first radar satellite images of the entire continent were made. These revealed new information on Antarctica's network of ice streams as well as features lying far below the surface of the ice. Since the 1990s cruise ships have plied the waters off the continent during the antarctic summer in increasing numbers. In 2018 Ian Howat and Paul Morin completed the Reference Elevation Model of Antarctica, a high-resolution terrain map compiled using satellite data from the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. One of the most detailed maps of any continent, it was designed in part to be used to track the effects of climate change on Antarctica.

Bibliography

See T. Hatherton, ed., Antarctica (1965); L. B. Quartermain, South to the Pole (1967); H. G. R. King, The Antarctic (1969); K. J. Bertrand, Americans in Antarctica, 1775–1948 (1971); R. K. Headland, Chronological List of Antarctic Expeditions and Related Historical Events (1989); A. Gurney, Below the Convergence: Voyages toward Antarctica, 1699–1839 (1997) and The Race to the White Continent (2000); J. McClintock, Lost Antarctica (2012).

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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Antarctica

the south polar continent, occupying the central part of the south polar region (the antarctic).

General information. The area of Antarctica is 13,975,000 sq km (including the shelf glaciers and the islands and ice caps connected by them to the mainland, which have an area of 1,582,000 sq km). The area of Antarctica including the continental shelf is 16,355,000 sq km. The long, narrow Antarctic Peninsula stretches in the direction of South America; its northern tip, Cape Sifre, extends to 63° 13’ S lat. (the northernmost point of Antarctica). The center of the continent, which is known as the pole of relative inaccessibility, is located 660 km from the south pole, at approximately 84° S lat., 64° E long. The coastline, which is more than 30,000 km long, has few indentations and along most of its length consists of ice shelves (barriers) as high as several dozens of meters.

Antarctica is the earth’s highest continent. The average altitude of the surface of the ice sheet is 2,040 m, which is 2.8 times the average altitude of the surface of the other continents (730 m). The average altitude of the native sub-glacial surface of Antarctica is 410 m.

Antarctica is divided into eastern and western regions on the basis of differences in geological structure and terrain. The surface of the ice sheet of Eastern Antarctica, which rises abruptly from the coast, becomes nearly horizontal in the interior. The central, highest part of the ice sheet—in the vicinity of the Sovetskoe Plateau—reaches an altitude of 4,000 m and constitutes the main ice shed or glacial center of Eastern Antarctica. Western Antarctica has three glacial centers, which are 2,000–2,500 m high. Numerous large, low plains of shelf ice stretch along the coast (usually 30–100 m above sea level). Two of these are enormous—the Ross Ice Shelf, with an area of 538,000 sq km, and the Filch-ner Ice Shelf, with an area of 483,000 sq km.

The terrain of the native (subglacial) surface of Eastern Antarctica consists of high mountain elevations alternating with deep depressions. Eastern Antarctica’s deepest depression lies south of the Knox Coast. The principal elevations are the Gamburtsev and Vernadskii subglacial mountains in the central part of Eastern Antarctica, which reach an altitude of 3,390 m. The Transantarctic Mountains are partially covered with ice (Mt. Kirkpatrick, 4,530 m). Rising above the surface of the ice are also ranges of Queen Maud Land, the Prince Charles Mountains, and others. The relief of Western Antarctica is more complex. The mountains break through the ice sheet more often, especially on the Antarctic Peninsula. The Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Highland reaches an altitude of 5,140 m (Mt. Vinson massif), which is the highest point in Antarctica. In close proximity to these mountains is the deepest depression of Antarctica’s subglacial terrain—2,555 m. Antarctica’s continental shelf lies lower (at a depth of 400–500 m) than that of other continents.

Geological structure and minerals. The pre-Cambrian Antarctic platform (all of Eastern Antarctica, the central part of Western Antarctica, and part of Marie Byrd Land), which is flanked on the coast of the Pacific sector by Mesozoic plicate formations (the coastal region of the Bellingshausen and Amundsen seas and the Antarctic Peninsula), forms the larger part of the continent. The antarctic platform is heterogeneous in structure, and its age varies in different parts. The greater part of the eastern antarctic coastal region is an upper Archean (lower Proterozoic?) crystalline foundation, 15–20 km thick, consisting of diverse gneisses, crystalline schists, magmatites, dark granites, and other rocks. In various sectors of this foundation are layers of upper Proterozoic and lower Paleozoic sedimentary volcanic formations (the lower layers of the outer casing) or, more frequently, middle and upper Paleozoic terrigenous deposits with sills of trap rock (the upper layers of the outer casing). Precambrian and lower Paleozoic intrusions of gabbro-anorthosites and charnock-ites and early Mesozoic intrusions of nepheline syenites, connected with activization processes, occur widely in the crystalline foundation.

On the outskirts of the platform, within the limits of the Transantarctic Mountains and Marie Byrd Land, is the ancient Caledonian plate. Its foundation is formed by a two-tiered folded thickness, the lower part of which is a pre-Riphaeic gneiss-granite complex and the upper part of which consists of Riphaeic and Cambrian (possibly Ordovician) terrigenous and volcanic deposits up to 10 km thick. Intrusions of Lower Paleozoic granitoids are widespread throughout the plate.

The outer casing of the platform is composed here of a layer of deposits of various periods, from Devonian to Cretaceous (the Beacon series), consisting of diverse sandstones, aleurolites, and clay shales up to 3 km in thickness, with numerous strata of high-ash coals and Gondwanaland flora. In the lower half of the level, the series includes til-lites corresponding to the first glaciation of Antarctica (300 million years ago) and is topped by basalt covers with strata of tillites of the second glaciation of Antarctica (150 million years ago). Interspersing the Beacon sandstones are numerous flat masses of Triassic-Jurassic dolerite.

The fold belt of Antarctica is formed by three structural tiers. The bottom tier was raised toward the end of the Permian or during the Triassic period from a thick (10–12 km), geosynclinal Paleozoic carboniferous-terrigenous bed. The middle tier is semiplatformal (1–5 km), formed from the continental, sedimentary-volcanic Jurassic bed and Cretaceous marine terrigenous deposits. The upper tier, Cenozoic platformal (up to 2 km), is composed of andesite and basalt lavas mixed with strata of sandstone and conglomerates. Antarctica’s fold belt contains numerous gabbro-granite intrusions, mostly Cretaceous. Early Mesozoic folded structures composed of a very thick bed (over 10 km) of poorly metamorphosed carboniferousterrigenous deposits, which form the edge flexure of the antarctic platform, have been discovered in the area where the platform and the fold belt of Antarctica join (within the Ellsworth Highlands).

Deposits of anthracite and iron ore, traces of mica, graphite, rock crystal, and beryl—and also of gold, uranium, molybdenum, copper, nickel, lead, zinc, silver, and titanium—have been found in Antarctica. The paucity of mineral deposits is attributable to imperfect geological knowledge of the continent and its thick ice sheet. There is a great potential for mineral wealth in Antarctica; this conclusion is based on the similarity between the geological structure of the antarctic platform and the Gondwanaland platforms of the other continents in the southern hemisphere, as well as the similarity of the Antarctica fold belt to structures in the Andes.

The ice sheet and types of terrain. The terrain of Antarctica is divided into two sharply different types: glacial and native. Large, elevated glacial plateaus occupy the interior of the continent, passing into a gently sloping and then sloping-undulating declivity of the ice sheet toward the edges of the continent. The relief of the ice of the coastal region is more complex, with poorly dissected sectors of the edge of the ice sheet alternating with glacial tongues which are traversed by cracks and broad plains of shelf ice, above which rise sloping ice caps.

The basic morphological structures of the native terrain were apparently formed toward the end of the Neocene period, but their renewal took place in the Quaternary period as well. Large interior plains, above which rise block and folded-block formations, may be discerned within the limits of the continent. These mountainous formations were dissected by preglacial erosion and then were worn down by glaciers over almost their entire area. Some of the peaks were not covered by the ice sheet and were transformed by local—mostly cirque—glaciers and physical weathering agents—mainly frost.

The formation of volcanic cones (Erebus, 3,794 m; Terror, 3,262 m; and others) and leveled surfaces of native rock (peneplains) and their elevation to considerable altitudes are linked to the late Paleocene-Neocene and Quaternary periods of development of Antarctica. The mountainous areas often have relief of the alpine type. The terrain of the coastal antarctic oases consists of low hills. The presence of ancient coastal lines and terraces containing fossils of marine organisms indicates that the continent was raised in the Holocene period.

The antarctic ice sheet has apparently existed continuously since the Neocene period—sometimes shrinking, sometimes expanding. At present, most of the continent is covered by a thick ice sheet. No more than 0.2–0.3 percent of the continental area is ice-free. The average thickness of the ice is 1,720 m, and the volume is 24 million cu km, which constitutes approximately 90 percent of all the fresh water on the earth’s surface. All types of glaciers are found in Antarctica—from enormous ice sheets to small hanging and cirque glaciers. The antarctic ice sheet descends into the ocean (except in small sections of the coast composed of native rock), forming long stretches of shelf glaciers—flat ice slabs, as much as 700 m thick, which float on the water and rest at some points on elevations of the ocean bottom.

Depressions in the subglacial terrain, from the central regions of the continent toward the coast, are paths by which the ice moves out into the ocean. The ice moves faster in these than in other areas and is split into innumerable blocks by fissure systems. These are glacier tongues, which resemble mountain valley glaciers but usually flow within shores of ice. The largest of these is the Lambert, which is 700 km long and 30–40 km wide. The ice flow in glacier tongues reaches speeds of 1,000–1,500 m per year. Glaciers are fed by atmospheric precipitation, which amounts to about 2,200 cu km of accumulation per year over the entire ice sheet. Ablation of physical material (ice) occurs largely through the calving of icebergs; surface and subglacial melting and water drainage are minimal. The majority of researchers estimate the substance balance in the antarctic ice sheet as close to zero (until more exact data are obtained).

The areas of the surface that are not covered by ice are icebound by many years of permafrost, which penetrates some distance beneath the ice sheet and to the ocean bottom.

Climate. The climate of Antarctica is polar continental (with the exception of the coastal areas). Even though the winter polar night in central Antarctica lasts for several months, the annual total radiation is close to that of the equatorial zone—at Vostok Station, it is 5 gigajoules per sq m per yr [GJ/(m² yr)] or 120 kilocalories per sq cm per year [kcal(cm².yr)]; in the summer it is very high, up to 1.25 GJ/(m².mo) or 30 kcal/(cm²-mo). Nevertheless, up to 90 percent of the incoming heat is reflected back into the atmosphere by the snow, and only 10 percent of it goes to warm the surface. The radiation balance of Antarctica is therefore negative, and the temperature of the air is very low.

The center of cold on our planet is located in central Antarctica. A temperature of -88.3°C was recorded at Vostok Station on Aug. 24, 1960. The average winter temperature ranges from -60° to -70°C, the average summer temperature from -30° to -50°C. Even in the summer the temperature never rises above -20°C. In the coastal regions, especially in the region of the Antarctic Peninsula, the temperature of the air rises to 10–12°C in the summer, but the average temperature of the warmest month (January) is 1°-2°C. The average monthly temperature in the winter (July) ranges from -8°C on the Antarctic Peninsula to -35°C on the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf. The cold air rolls down from the central regions of Antarctica, forming outward-blowing winds that attain great speeds at the coast (an average annual velocity of up to 12 m per sec) and turn into hurricane winds (up to 50–60 and sometimes 90 m/sec) upon coalescence with cyclonic air streams.

As a consequence of the predominance of descending currents, the relative humidity of the air is low (60–80 percent), and at the coast—especially in Antarctic oases—it falls to 20, and even 5, percent. There is also very little cloud cover. Precipitation is almost entirely in the form of snow. In the center of the continent the average annual snowfall is 30–50 mm; on the lower part of the continental slope it increases to 600–700 mm, diminishes slightly at the foot of the slope (400–500 mm), and then rises again on some of the ice shelves and on the northwest coast of the Antarctic Peninsula (700–800 and even 1,000 mm). Blizzards are very common because of the strong winds and abundant snowfall.

Large areas of exposed rock near the coast with distinctive natural conditions are known as antarctic oases. The largest of these are the Bunger, Westfall, Grierson, and Schiermacher oases and the Wright Valley (Dry Valley). They range in area from several dozen to several hundred sq km.

The nunataks—mountain ranges and peaks that break through the ice sheet—sometimes cover much larger areas.

The antarctic lakes, most of which are found in the coastal oases, are distinctive. Many have no outlets and are unusually high in salinity to the point of bitterness. Some remain frozen through the summer. Lagoons found among the coastal cliffs of the oasis and the encircling ice shelf, beneath which they are connected with the sea, are a characteristic feature of the terrain. The lagoons vary in salinity, depending on the influx of fresh melt water and the closeness of their link with the sea. Some of the lakes are situated in the mountains at altitudes as high as 1,000 m (the Taylor oases, the Wohlthat massif on Queen Maud Land, and the Victoria massif on Victoria Land).

Flora and fauna. The plant and animal world of Antarctica is very poor and distinctive, but not even the harshest areas of the continent are biologically sterile.

Natural regions. The whole of Antarctica and the coastal islands is situated in the antarctic desert zone and may be divided into three subzones, visible on extremely limited ice-free patches of dry land. These subzones are the northern, which comprises the northwest coast of the Antarctic Peninsula and the adjoining islands; the middle, comprising the coastal oases, the islands, cliffs, and mountain ranges along the entire coast of Antarctica; and the southern, comprising areas of dry land in the interior of the continent. Division into altitude belts is of much greater significance in Antarctica. The lower belt consists of the coast, including the ice shelves, up to an altitude of several hundred meters. This belt contains the most diverse scenery in Antarctica—ice shelves, the foot of the glacial slope, the lower parts of the glacial tongues, oases, and nunataks. Snow melts here not only near outcroppings of native rock but also on the ice sheet. Because of its proximity to the ocean and the relatively high atmospheric temperatures, practically all of the continent’s organic life is concentrated in the lower belt. The middle belt (up to an altitude of 3,000 m) includes the slope of the ice sheet, the inland glacial plateau of Western Antarctica, and the mountain ranges. The air temperature is below 0°C throughout the entire year. Thawing is observed only in the summer, near outcroppings of native rock. Because of the nearly constant strong outward-blowing winds, large sastrugi form on the snow-covered surface of the glacial slope. The surface of the inland plateau is covered with small sastrugi. Patches of lichens and algae, arthropods, and infrequently birds are found on the cliffs, which are warmed to above 0°C in the summer. The area above 3,000 m is one of perennial frost. The winds there are weak, the snow is grainy, and no large sastrugi form on the surface of the glacial plateau of central Antarctica. Even the surfaces of the native rocks of the mountain peaks in this belt never warm above the freezing point, and hardly any signs of plant or animal life are to be found.

On the basis of the zones, altitude belts, and the position and nature of the shelf ice, mountain ranges, and other orographical features of the territory, Antarctica may be divided into 15 regions (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Natural regions of Antarctica: (1) Central Region, (2) West Antarctic Region, (3) Inner Middle-Altitude Polar Region, (4) Coats Land, (5) Queen Maud Land, (6) Enderby Land, (7) Lambert Glacier, (8) Wilkes Land, (9) Victoria Land, (10) Transarctic Range, (11) Ross Ice Shelf, (12) Filchner Ice Shelf, (13) Marie Byrd Land, (14) Ellsworth Land, (15) Antarctic Peninsula

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

Antarctica

[‚ant′ärd·ik·ə]

(geography)

A continent roughly centered on the South Pole and surrounded by an ocean consisting of the southern parts of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Antarctica

continent of constant cold. [Geography: WB, A:495]

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Antarctica

continent surrounding South Pole. [Geography: NCE, 113–115]

Allusions—Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

Antarctica

a continent around the South Pole: consists of an ice-covered plateau, 1800--3000 m (6000 ft. to 10 000 ft.) above sea level, and mountain ranges rising to 4500 m (15 000 ft.) with some volcanic peaks; average temperatures all below freezing and human settlement is confined to research stations. All political claims to the mainland are suspended under the Antarctic Treaty of 1959

Asia

Asia, the world's largest continent 17,139,000 sq mi (44,390,000 sq km) and most populous (2015 est. pop. 4,419,898,000), with nearly three fifths of the world's total population.

Boundaries

Asia's border with Europe—which, geographically, may be regarded as a peninsula of the Eurasian landmass—lies approximately along the Urals, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus, the Black Sea, the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, and the Aegean Sea. The connection of Asia with Africa is broken only by the Suez Canal between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. In the far northeast of Asia, Siberia is separated from North America by the Bering Strait. The continent of Asia is washed on the S by the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea, and the Bay of Bengal; on the E by the South China Sea, East China Sea, Yellow Sea, Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk, and Bering Sea; and on the N by the Arctic Ocean.

Geology and Geography

Geologically, Asia consists of ancient Precambrian landmasses—the Arabian and Indian peninsulas in the south and the central Siberian plateau in the north—enclosing a central zone of folded ridges. In accordance with this underlying structure, Asia falls into the following major physiographic structures: the northern lowlands covering W central Asia and most of Siberia; the vast central highland zone of high plateaus, rising to c.15,000 ft (4,570 m) in Tibet in China and enclosed by some of the world's greatest mountain ranges (the Himalayas, the Karakorum, the Kunlun, the Tian Shan, and the Hindu Kush); the southern peninsular plateaus of India and Arabia, merging, respectively, into the Ganges and Tigris-Euphrates plains; and the lowlands of E Asia, especially in China, which are separated by mountain spurs of the central highland zone. Mt. Everest (29,032 ft/8,849 m), in Nepal, is the world's highest peak; the Dead Sea (1,312 ft/400 m below sea level) is the world's lowest point. Great peninsulas extend out from the mainland, dividing the oceans into seas and bays, many of them protected by Asia's numerous offshore islands. Asia's rivers, among the longest in the world, generally rise in the high plateaus and break through the great chains toward the peripheral lowlands. They include the Ob-Irtysh, the Yenisei-Argana, and Lena of Siberia; the Amur-Argun, Huang He, Chang (Yangtze), Xi, Mekong, Thanlwin, and Ayeyarwady of E and SE Asia; and the Ganges-Brahmaputra, Indus, and Tigris-Euphrates of S and SW Asia. Central Asia has vast areas of interior drainage, including the Amu Darya, Syr Darya, Ili, and Tarim rivers, which empty into inland lakes or disappear into desert sands. Lake Baykal and Lake Balkash are among the world's largest lakes. Climatically, the continent ranges through all extremes, from torrid heat to arctic cold and from torrential rains (the product of monsoons) to extreme aridity (as in the Tarim Basin).

Asia can be divided into six regions, each possessing distinctive physical, cultural, economic, and political characteristics. Southwest Asia (Iran; Turkey, in Asia Minor; and the nations of the Fertile Crescent and the Arabian peninsula or Arabia), long a strategic crossroad, is characterized by an arid climate and irrigated agriculture, great petroleum reserves, and the predominance of Islam. South Asia (Afghanistan and the nations of the Indian subcontinent) is isolated from the rest of Asia by great mountain barriers. Southeast Asia (the nations of the southeastern peninsula and the Malay Archipelago) is characterized by monsoon climate, maritime orientation, the fusion of Indian and Chinese cultures, and a great diversity of ethnic groups, languages, religions, and politics. East Asia (China, Mongolia, Korea, and the islands of Taiwan and Japan) is located in the mid-latitudes on the Pacific Ocean, and is characterized by cultures strongly influenced by civilizations of the Huang He and Chang (Yangtze) river systems. It forms the most industrialized region of Asia. Russian Asia (in the northern third of the continent) consists of the vast region of Siberia and the Russian Far East. In the center of the continent is Central Asia, formed of a set of independent former republics of the Soviet Union. This region is characterized by desert conditions and irrigated agriculture, with ancient traditions of nomadic herding.

Population, Culture, and Economy

The distribution of Asia's huge population is governed by climate and topography, with the monsoons and the fertile alluvial plains determining the areas of greatest density. Such are the Ganges plains of India and the Chang (Yangtze) and northern plains of China, the small alluvial plains of Japan, and the fertile volcanic soils of the Malay Archipelago. Urbanization is greatest in the industrialized regions of Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, but huge urban centers are to be found throughout the continent.

Almost two thirds of Asia's indigenous population is of Mongolic stock. Major religions are Hinduism (in India); Theravada Buddhism (in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos); Lamaism, or Tibetan Buddhism (in Mongolia and China, particularly Tibet); East Asian Buddhism (in China and Korea, mixed with Confucianism, shamanism, and Taoism; in Japan mixed with Shinto and Confucianism); Islam (in SW and S Asia, W central Asia, and Indonesia); and Catholicism (in the Philippines, East Timor, and Vietnam).

Subsistence hunting and fishing economies prevail in the forest regions of N and S Asia, and nomadic pastoralism in the central and southwestern regions, while industrial complexes and intensive rice cultivation are found in the coastal plains and rivers of S and E Asia. Because of extremes in climate and topography, less than 10% of Asia is under cultivation. Rice, by far the most important food crop, is grown for local consumption in the heavily populated countries (e.g., China, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Japan), while countries with smaller populations (Thailand, Vietnam, and Pakistan) are generally rice exporters. Other important crops are wheat, soybeans, peanuts, sugarcane, cotton, jute, silk, rubber, tea, and coconuts.

Although Asia's economy is predominantly agricultural, regions where power facilities, trained labor, modern transport, and access to raw materials are available have developed industrially. Japan, China, Russian Asia, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, and Israel are distinguished for their industrialization. China and India are making considerable strides in this direction. The most spectacular industrialization has occurred in Japan and the “Four Little Dragons”—Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong. The economies of Thailand, Indonesia, and South China are booming thanks to Japanese investment in plants and to cheap indigenous labor. The development of railroads is greatest in the industrialized countries, with Japan, India, China, and Russian Asia having the greatest track mileage.

Also contributing greatly to the income of many Asian countries are vital mineral exports—petroleum in SW Asia, Russian Asia, and Indonesia and tin in Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. Asia's other valuable mineral exports include manganese from India and chromite from Turkey and the Philippines; China produces great amounts of tungsten, antimony, coal, and oil.

Outline of History

Asia was the home of some of the world's oldest civilizations. The empires of Sumer, Babylonia, Assyria, Media, and Persia and the civilizations of Islam flourished in SW Asia, while in the east the ancient civilizations of India, China, and Japan prospered. Later, nomadic tribes (Huns, Mongols, and Turks) in N and central Asia established great empires and gave rise to great westward migration. Their tribal, military-state organizations reached their highest form in the 13th–14th cent. under the Mongols, whose court was visited by early European travelers, notably the Italian Marco

The Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama reached India by sea in 1498, beginning the era of European imperialism in Asia. In N Asia Russian Cossacks crossed Siberia and reached the Pacific by 1640. With the formation of English, French, Dutch, and Portuguese trading companies in the 17th cent., great trade rivalry developed along the coasts of India, SE Asia, and China and resulted in increasing European control of Asian lands. By exploiting local disputes and utilizing a technological edge brought on by the industrial revolution, European powers extended political control over first the Indian subcontinent, then SW and SE Asia. European pressure opened China and Japan to trade. World War I led to a weakening of European stature in Asia, and the Wilson doctrine of self-determination inspired many nationalist and revolutionary movements.

World War II and the conflicts of its aftermath hit Asia heavily. In the postwar years, the center of conflict in international affairs tended to shift from Europe, the focus of both world wars, to Asia, where the decolonization process and the emergence of the cold war resulted in many smaller wars and unstable nations. The Arab-Israeli Wars, the Korean War, and the emergence of Communist governments in China, North Korea, and North Vietnam were among the events that heightened tensions in Asia. In the 1950s the Western powers built up military alliances (the Baghdad Pact—later the Central Treaty Organization—in the Middle East, and the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization [SEATO]) to counter the threat of Soviet and Chinese domination of Asia. In the 1960s, however, the Sino-Soviet rift reduced the possibility of joint Communist efforts in Asia.

At the end of World War II the United States, Britain, France, and the Netherlands were still major forces in Asia; but in the postwar period India, Japan, China, Indonesia, and other Asian nations sought a more independent role on the world scene. In the 1960s and 70s the British decision to withdraw “east of Suez” and the U.S. defeat in the Vietnam War foreshadowed new power alignments in the area. China's growing strength and a Soviet drive to expand relations with Asian states (particularly India and the Middle East Arab nations) polarized perceptions of Asian instability as a contest between pro-Communist and anti-Communist powers.

Other forces, however, were also shaping Asia in the 1970s and 80s. Constant high population growth left many nations struggling with chronic poverty, inadequate health care, a largely underemployed workforce, and rapid degradation of environmentally sensitive areas. Nations with powerful militaries—Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, India, China, Vietnam, and Indonesia—invaded weakly guarded neighbors and fought low-level wars against one another. The former Euro-American–dominated world economic order received rude shocks from the Middle East–led oil embargo crises of 1973–74 and 1979 and the economic strength of Japan and the “Little Dragons.” As conflicts with their origins in ethnic self-determination and perceived inequalities of borders ground on in the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, Myanmar, and Tibet, a new force, Islamic fundamentalism, swept to power in Iran in 1979 and threatened secular governments throughout S and SW Asia; fundamentalists gained the upper hand in Afghanistan in the 1990s.

The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, an event in part triggered by its failed invasion of Afghanistan, led to the evaporation of the cold war polarization and to the birth of a new group of independent nations in Asia's center. In the 1990s, China emerged as a growing economic giant, but the booming economies of SE Asia suffered setbacks in the late 1990s. In Indonesia economic collapse led to the downfall of Suharto and the beginning of greater democracy as well as demands for independence or autonomy, particularly in East Timor, Aceh, and Papua. The 1990s also saw the gradual emergence of peace between a number of former combatants in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Bibliography

See D. Stamp, Asia: A Regional Geography (1967); G. B. Cressey, Asia's Lands and Peoples (1968); T. Welty, The Asians (1984); V. Ramahappa, Modern Asia (1985); C. Pullapilly and E. J. Van Kley, ed., Asia and the West (1986); N. Nielson, Religions in Asia (1988); R. A. Scalapino et al., ed., Asian Economic Development (1988); L. A. Ziring and D. G. Dickinson, ed., Asian Security Issues (1988); J. Weiss, The Asian Century (1989).

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Asia

the largest part of the world (about 30 percent of the total landmass area), a part of the Eurasian continent.

Asia straddles all the geographic zones of the northern hemisphere. The Malay Archipelago partially extends into the southern hemisphere. The extreme continental points of Asia are Cape Cheliuskin in the north at 77°43’ N lat., Cape Piai in the south at 1°16’ N lat., Cape Baba in the west at 26°10’ E long., and Cape Dezhnev in the east at 169°40’ W long. Asia is bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the Pacific, on the south by the Indian Ocean, and on the southwest by the seas of the Atlantic (the Mediterranean, Aegean, Marmara, Black, and Azov) and by the Caspian Sea, which is the largest lake in the world. Significant intracontinental territories of Asia (in particular, many areas of Southwest, Middle, and Central Asia) are not connected to the world ocean and are classified as landlocked areas of the world. Others are considered to be in internal drainage regions (the basins of the Caspian and Aral seas, Lake Balkhash, and others). The Bering Strait separates Asia from America, while the Suez Isthmus connects Asia with Africa (the Suez Canal is considered their hypothetical boundary). The boundary between Asia and Europe is even more hypothetical. In delimiting Eurasia into Europe and Asia according to natural features, the boundary between them is usually drawn along the eastern foot of the Urals and then along the Emba and Manych rivers, leaving the Caucasus in Asia. In the statistical-economic calculations in the USSR the boundary is drawn along political and administrative boundaries of the republics and oblasts of the USSR: along the eastern boundaries of the Komi ASSR and the Arkhangel’sk, Sverdlovsk, and Cheliabinsk oblasts, along the western boundary of the Kazakh SSR, and along the northern boundaries of Stavropol’ and the Krasnodar krais.

The area of Asia is about 43.4 million sq km (including the Caucasus), including about 8 million sq km of peninsulas (Iamal, Taimyr, Chukchi, Kamchatka, the, Korean, Indochina with the Malacca Peninsula, Hindustan, the Arabian, and Asia Minor) and slightly more than 2 million sq km of islands (Severnaia Zemlia, Novosibirsk, Vrangel’, Kuril’, Sakhalin, the Japanese archipelago, Ryukyu, Taiwan, Hainan, the Malay Archipelago, Andaman, Ceylon, and Cyprus). Asia shows the greatest contrasts in terms of absolute elevations in the world. On its territory are located the highest peak in the world, Chomolungma (Everest) in the Himalayas (8,848 m), and the deepest depressions, occupied by lakes (Lake Baikal, with a maximum depth of 1,620 m; the Dead Sea, with a surface 395 m below sea level) and by open basins (the Turfan depression, at 154 m below sea level). Close to the Asian continent lies a series of deep water troughs in the world ocean (for example, the Kuril-Kamchatka and the Philippine). A distinguishing feature of Asia is the chains of islands which constitute its eastern edge. Many Asian coastal areas are characterized by active volcanism (in the east and southeast), by out-croppings of fossil ice (in the northeast of Siberia), and by coral formations (in the south and southeast).

In geographical literature Asia is divided into major sections: North Asia, which includes Siberia and the extreme northeast of the continent; East Asia, which is made up of the continental south of the Soviet Far East, Kamchatka, the Kuril Islands, Sakhalin, Northeast and East China, the Korean peninsula, the Japanese islands, and the Ryukyu Islands; Central Asia, which includes the Tibetan highlands, Dzungaria, Kashgaria, Inner Mongolia, and the Mongolian People’s Republic; Middle Asia, which includes the Turan depression, the Pamir, and the Tien-Shan; South Asia, which consists of the Malay Archipelago, the Indochinese peninsula, Hindustan, the Himalayas, and the Indo-Gangetic Plain; and West Asia, which takes in the peninsula of Asia Minor, the Armenian and Iranian uplands, the Levant, and the Arabian Peninsula.

Basic orographic features Asia is characterized by a predominance of mountains and high plateaus, which make up around three-quarters of the entire area. The highest of them are concentrated in Central and Middle Asia. In Tibet, the Tien-Shan, and the Pamir, high plateaus rise to 4,000–4,500 m, while the elevation of a number of the Middle Asian ranges exceeds 7,000 m. The other mountain chains and ranges rarely exceed 4,000 m.

The mountains are grouped in two large belts. One begins from Chukotka and extends across the Kolyma uplands and the Dzhugdzhur and Stanovoi ranges to the mountains of South Siberia (the Stanovoe Uplands, the Saian Mountains, the Altai), and to the Tien-Shan and Gissaro-Alai. In the southwestern portion of this belt the ranges lie in echelonlike formations. The western spurs of the northern portion of this belt are the Cherskogo and Verkhoiansk mountain arcs. On the west, the Middle Siberian High Plateau abuts the first belt. The second belt is made up of the Southwest Asian highlands (of Asia Minor, Armenia, and Iran), the Pamir, Karakorum, Tibet, and the Himalayas. Then the belt turns to the south and southeast by way of the Rakkhain (Arakan Yoma) mountains and turns into the islands of the Malay Archipelago. In the Pamir region a branch of mountain ranges extends from the second belt to the east, basically with a west-to-east strike. These ranges are the Kun-lun, the Nan Shan, and Ch’in Ling. Between these belts lie the high plains and high plateaus of Central Asia. On the east, Central Asia is bordered by the Sino-Tibetan mountains, by the T’ai-hang Shan and Hsien Shan mountains, and by the Bol’shoi Khingan. On the eastern edge of the continent, the Koriakskoe Uplands and the Sredinnyi Range of Kamchatka rise in the north, the Sikhote-Alin’ and Manchurian-Korean mountains in the middle, and the Nan Ling Mountains and the Annamese Cordillera in the south. The island chain bordering the coastal seas of the Pacific also has predominantly mountainous landforms. The Hindustan and Arabian peninsulas are occupied, respectively, by the extensive Deccan and Syrian-Arabian plateaus with their bordering ranges. In Middle Siberia, the Putorana and Byrranga rise as solitary mountains.

Around 25 percent of Asia’s area is occupied by plains. Particularly vast is the intracontinental Western Siberian Plain, which in the south becomes the Turan depression. The remaining plains are located on the coastal borders (the North Siberian, the Iano-Indigirkan, Kolyman, Great Chinese) or in the piedmont basins (Mesopotamian, Indo-Gangetic). The intermontane plains of Central and Middle Asia (Kashgar, Dzungarian, Gobi, Tsaidam, and Fergana) are more uplifted.

Origin and development of topography The basic schemata of Asian topography were created by the Mesozoic and Alpine folding. The present landforms developed chiefly under the influence of the following factors: the ancient planation processes; the major vertical and horizontal movements of the earth’s crust in the Neocene and Anthropogenic periods; and erosion of the elevated uplands, causing ruggedness at the periphery and a heavy accumulation of deposits in the basins which subsided or remained uplifted. The ancient planation surfaces have been best preserved in the interior portions of the uplands, as well as in the lower plateaus of Hindustan, Arabia, Syria, and East Siberia, which are covered by hard beds of rock (lava covers, sandstone beds, and so forth). The vertical movements of the Neocene and Anthropogenic ages were particularly great in Central Asia (more than 4,000 m in the Pamir, Tibet, and the Himalayas; the eastern edge of the continent was subjected to subsidence with an amplitude of up to 700 m). A great role was played by uplifts confined to the areas of abyssal faults (Kopet Dagh, Fergana Range), and to the areas of large folding (Tien-Shan, Gissaro-Alai). Because of intensive erosion, many ancient plateaus have been changed into deeply dissected mountainous regions. Deep gorges are to be found in the Pamir and Tibet; gorges also slice through the Himalayas, the Kunlun, the Zapadnyi Saian, the Stanovoe Uplands, the Cherskogo Mountains, and the marginal chains of the Southwestern Asian uplands. In many places, particularly in areas with an arid climate, erosion has carved out structural forms and stratification of varying hardness. Vast areas of Middle and Central Asia, particularly in the basin of the Huang Ho (Yellow) River, are covered with loess. So-called badlands are widely found, and in the desert there are aeolian (wind) landforms. Karst phenomena are found in regions where limestone and gypsum are located.

A solid mantle of Anthropogenic continental glaciers covered northwestern Asia to the north of 60° N lat. To the east of the Khatanga River (because of the greater dryness of the climate), only the isolated areas were subject to the mantle and mountain types of glaciation. In the remaining regions of Asia the landforms of old glacial origin are confined to the highest areas and to some extent to the mountains of medium elevation. Traces have been found of several glacial advances separated by warmer interglacial periods. Certain depressions (thalassic plains) are overlaid with marine deposits as a result of recent advances of the Caspian and northern seas. Modern glaciation is characteristic of many mountains; the Karakorum, Pamir, Tien-Shan, Hindu Kush, and Himalayas are renowned for their gigantic glaciers.

Permafrost is found in Asia on a significantly greater scale than in other areas of the world. The permafrost has had a major influence upon the topography, soil formation, and water system. Permafrost ground is encountered down to 47° N lat. (that is, farther south than in North America).

The role of volcanic phenomena has also been great in forming the topography of Asia. Volcanism created extensive lava plateaus and chains of young volcanic domes. Mantles of ancient lavas and bedded magma intrusions (traps) cover the stepped plateaus in Hindustan and Middle Siberia. Large belts of young volcanic landforms and modern volcanism are confined to the particularly active chains of the East Asian islands, Kamchatka, the Philippines, and the Greater and Lesser Sunda Islands. Recent volcanism (continuing into the Quaternary) is inherent to the Southwest Asian uplands, the Syrian-Arabian Plateau, the Caucasus, Mongolia, and the Manchurian-Korean mountains. In historical times there have also been eruptions in the Malyi Khingan and in the Aniui uplands.

Geological structure and minerals Asia consists of several large Precambrian platforms which have not undergone folding since the end of the Proterozoic Age, in addition to broad folded areas which extend between the platforms and partially run out into the sea. The major structural units of the first type are the Siberian platform in the north, the Sino-Korean and South China platforms in the east, and the Indian platform and the platform of the Arabian Peninsula in the south and southwest. These were the ancient ar-chicontinents of Asia. The folded zones which have developed between the platforms and the fractured portions of the platforms from Paleozoic (Caledonian and Hercynian), Mesozoic, and Cenozoic geosynclines have connected these ancient archicontinents into a single whole. The Eastern European platform has played an essential role in the geological history of the western portion of Asia. Folded structures of the Urals and Central Kazakhstan were formed along the eastern edge of this platform at the end of the Paleozoic, and these structures linked Europe and Asia into the single continent of Eurasia.

Participating in the structure of the Siberian Platform are strongly dislocated metamorphic schists, gneisses, and granites of the Precambrian basement; outcroppings of these rocks are found within the Aldan shield and the Anabar massif. This basement is covered almost horizontally by rock from the sedimentary mantle of the platform. These deposits are marine Riffean (Upper Proterozoic), Ordovi-cian, Silurian, continental Carboniferous, and Permian deposits, intrusive beds, and lavas and tuffs from the Permian and Triassic periods. Marine and continental deposits along the northern and eastern edges of the platform, from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, are widely found. These deposits reach particularly great thickness in the Ver-khoiansk sag.

Within the Sino-Korean platform are several shields and smaller massifs, with dislocated and metamorphosed Pre-riffean rock outcroppings on the surface. The largest of the shields are the Liaotung and Shantung shields. Major syneclises adjoin them (the Ordos in the west and the North China in the central part of the platform). Here the basement has subsided deeply. In the syneclises, marine deposits have developed from the Riffean, Lower Paleozoic, and the Middle and Upper Carboniferous ages, as well as continental Permian deposits and thick beds of continental Mesozoic and, in places, Cenozoic rock.

Instead of shields, anteclises—that is, major uplifts on which the platform mantle has been preserved—have developed within the South China platform. Because of this, little rock from the crystalline basement is found on the surface here. The Paleozoic section is thicker and more complete than in the north. Triassic marine deposits have developed widely. The Szechwan syneclise is formed by beds of Jurassic and Cretaceous continental rock.

The sedimentary mantle of the South China and the Sino-Korean platforms has been strongly dislocated (linear folds, fractures) and in a number of places has been broken by ore-bearing intrusions of a granitoid composition. These platforms owe this feature to the effect of intensive tectonic movements which occurred at the end of the Jurassic and the beginning of the Cretaceous ages in the adjacent western Pacific zone.

The oldest area of the Indian platform, which encompasses the greater part of the Hindustan peninsula and the island of Ceylon, is a Precambrian crystalline rock mass (shield) which in places is covered by horizontal continental deposits of the Gondwanaland system (from the Upper Carboniferous to the Jurassic Age inclusively), by mantles of basal lava (traps of the Upper Cretaceous and Paleogenic ages), and, along the edges of the shield, by Jurassic and Cretaceous marine deposits. In the north the Precambrian basement has been submerged beneath a bed of Cenozoic deposits which is thickest in the upper portion of the Ganges Valley, the sub-Himalayan depression, and the Indus River basin.

The ancient basement of Arabia is also composed of Precambrian crystalline rock which outcrops over a large portion of the peninsular surface. In the north and the east its Precambrian basement has subsided beneath thick, horizontal or slightly disturbed beds of mainly continental Paleozoic deposits and marine sedimentary rock belonging to the Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Paleogenic periods.

Areas of Late Proterozoic and Lower Paleozoic folding (Baikalides, Caledonides) border the Siberian platform on the south and the west. Folded structures of the Late Proterozoic and Lower Paleozoic ages form the Baikal area, the Vostochnyi and Zapadnyi Saians, the Enisei Ridge, the Kuznetsk Alatau, the highest portion of the Altai, a significant portion of the Mongolian Altai, the Khangai, and the Tannu-Ola. Caledonian folding is also evident in central Kazakhstan, on the northern chains of the Tien-Shan, and in the southeastern regions of China. In all these regions, thick series of Proterozoic and Lower Paleozoic deposits have been greatly dislocated and broken by intrusions of igneous rock. In the Devonian period, in the zone of Caledonian folding, a number of large cauldron subsidences formed, including the Kuznetsk Basin, the Minusinsk Basin, and central Tuva. The Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian deposits (chiefly continental) which filled these depressions were dislocated later, in the age of Hercynian folding.

The Hercynian folded structures, which resulted from tectonic movements in the Middle Paleozoic (Devonian) and the Upper Paleozoic (Carboniferous, Permian) ages, take the basic form of a broad arc. They take a north-to-east and meridional strike between the Eastern European and Siberian platforms (the Taimyr, Urals), a north-to-west strike in Kazakhstan, Salair, and the southern Altai, a latitudinal one in the Tien-Shan, Mongolia, and the western parts of China (the Kunlun and Nan Shan), and a north-to-east strike in Tung-pei (Manchuria). Within the bounds of the Western Siberian Plain and the Turgai depression, the Hercynian and more ancient folded structures continue beneath a mantle of virtually undisturbed Mesozoic and Cenozoic deposits, and the strike of these Hercynian structures has been determined from geophysical data.

The Mesozoic folding encompassed thick complexes of geosynclinal deposits of the Carboniferous, Permian, Triassic, Jurassic, and Lower Cretaceous ages in the Verkhoiansk-Kolyma and Chukchi areas of northeastern Asia, in the Sikhote-Alin’ Range, and Indochina. Folded structures were formed in all these areas, and the structures were broken by numerous intrusions of granite. Between the branches of the broad Mesozoic folded region are enclosed large median massifs (Kolyma, Indochinese, and others), blocks similar in their structure to the Precambrian platforms.

The Alpine folding was confined to the enormous Alpine (Alpine-Himalayan) folded region. Here, in the Mesozoic Era, the Tethys geosyncline stretched, separating two distinct continents, Angaraland and Gondwanaland. In the area of Alpine folding, two (and in places three) series of convex folded mountain ranges can be distinguished; these draw closer together in some places and diverge at others. These ranges are a system of scales superimposed on one another or on the edges of the platform, or they are enormous anticlinoria of complex structure. The northern series of these anticlinoria form the Greater Caucasus, the Turkmen-Khurasan Mountains, the Paropamisus, the Hindu Kush, and the ranges of the Pamir andGissaro-Alai. Stretching to the west of this system of ranges is still another series of folded structures, the ranges of Elbrus and the Lesser Caucasus. The southern series of anticlinoria include the Taurus, Zagros, and Makran ranges, the Sulaiman Range, the Hindu Kush, and the Himalayas. In the folded ranges of Burma and the island of Sumatra, the Alpine folded zone joins with the Pacific zone of Late Cenozoic folding and the modern geosynclinal zone. The folded structure of the axial parts of the Alpine Age ranges was basically formed in the Mesozoic from Paleozoic and Mesozoic geosynclinal deposits, while the legs of the anticlinoria are composed of Cenozoic deposits and are frequently broken by slides. In the intervals between the zones of anticlinoria lie synclinoria as well as uplifted median masses or depressions (the Kura, southern Caspian, Black Sea, and others) filled with slightly displaced Quaternary deposits and partially occupied by modern seas.

Areas of Late Cenozoic and modern folding stretch along the periphery of the Pacific (western Kamchatka, Sakhalin, Hokkaido, Taiwan, and Borneo [Kalimantan]) and in the Burmese-Sumatran zone, with extensive formation of Neocene geosynclinal fragmentary beds containing oil pools. These areas are undergoing orogenic development now.

The extreme eastern periphery of Asia is occupied by a modern geosynclinal zone which separates the continent from the floor of the Pacific. It is formed by island chains (geoanticlinal zones), deepwater ocean troughs (geosynclinal trenches), and deepwater geosynclinal basins of the bordering seas. This zone is characterized by a very strong manifestation of modern volcanism, by high seismic action, by contrasting tectonic movements, by young folding, and by disturbances of the gravitational equilibrium.

All the folded zones in the eastern part of Asia lying to the east of the Preriffean platforms and the modern geosynclinal zones adjacent to the ocean floor constitute the Asiatic sector of the circular Pacific tectonic belt.

During the Neocene and Quaternary periods major vertical and horizontal movements of the earth’s crust occurred within the Asian continent. In the highest area, the uplifts reached 1–4 km and more (for example, Tibet and the Pamir), while there were significant subsidences both in the intermontane areas and sags and within the bordering seas (Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk, and others). Many researchers surmise that the Indian Platform was thrust beneath the folded structures of the Himalayas and that the island chains were shifted out into the Pacific along the surfaces of abyssal shear zones, which contain areas of particularly frequent and strong earthquakes.

Thus, the Asian continent in its present form was formed comparatively recently. At the beginning of the Paleozoic (in the Cambrian, Ordovician, and partially the Silurian), the Eastern European, Siberian, Sino-Korean, and the Southern Chinese platforms were areas of dry land or broad shelf areas covered by shallow epicontinental seas. The Indian platform and the platform of the Arabian Peninsula were part of Gondwanaland, the largest southern continent of those times. After the Hercynian folding, the northern platforms were joined into the Angara shield, a monolithic dry massif. But Gondwanaland, on the contrary, was split into separate parts; after the Thethys geosyncline had up-warped and dried up during the Cenozoic, the platform areas of India and Arabia were joined to Angaraland, forming the Asian continent.

The mineral resources of Asia are extremely diverse. The largest deposits of hard coal are concentrated in the Carboniferous deposits of Kazakhstan (the Karaganda Basin and others), in the Permian deposits of Siberia (Kuznetsk, Minusinsk, and Tungus basins), and in Korea, the eastern part of China, and the eastern regions of the Hindustan peninsula. Mesozoic coal deposits are found in Middle Asia, several regions of Siberia, the Far East, China (the Sinkiang-Uigur Autonomous region, southern China), Vietnam, and Japan. Cenozoic coal deposits are mined in the USSR (the island of Sakhalin and the Maritime Krai), Japan (Kyushu Island), and other countries. Among the Jurassic and Cretaceous deposits, the Kansk-Achinsk and Lena basins in the USSR are noteworthy.

The rich oil-producing regions of Asia are Transcaucasia, the Western Siberian Plain, Turkmenia (the Cheleken Peninsula, Nebit-Dag, and others), the Mangyshlak Peninsula, the Caspian Depression, and Sakhalin in the USSR. Outside the Soviet Union, oil-producing regions include the Persian Gulf states (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Iraq, southwest Iran, and the principality of Abu Dhabi), which together account for one-half the oil reserves of non-Soviet nations; Kansu Province in China; Indonesia (chiefly on the island of Sumatra); India; Brunei; and the western coast of Honshu Island in Japan. Natural gas deposits are found in Uzbekistan (Gazli and other deposits in the Bukhara depression), on the Western Siberian Plain and elsewhere inside the USSR; outside, these fuels are found in the above-listed nations of the Near and Middle East. Common salt is found in the Cambrian deposits of the Siberian platform, Pakistan, and southern Iran, as well as in the Permian deposits of the Caspian Depression and in the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous deposits of Middle Asia. Iron ore deposits are found in a number of regions of Kazakhstan (particularly in Kustanai Oblast), in the Angara-Ili region of the Siberian platform, and within the Aldan shield. Outside the Soviet Union, there is iron in China (particularly in southern Tung-pei and in An-shan), as well as in North Korea and in India. In India and the USSR (Transcaucasia) are major manganese deposits, and chrome iron ores appear in northwestern Kazakhstan, Turkey, the Philippines, and Iran. The region of Noril’sk (USSR) is rich in nickel, while the Kazakh SSR (Dzhezkazgan, Kounrad, and elsewhere) and northern Siberia are rich in copper ores. Outside the Soviet Union, copper is found in Japan. Polymetallic ores are found in Middle Asia (the Karamazar region, the Karatau Range, and elsewhere) and the mining region of the Altai in the USSR. Japan, East China, Burma, and Vietnam also have polymetallic ores. Major bauxite deposits are located in the USSR (Kazakh SSR and Krasnoiarsk Krai), India, Burma, and Indonesia. Phosphorite deposits are found in the USSR (Kazakhstan), tin in the regions of the Soviet Far East and Eastern Siberia. The antimony-mercury and tin-tungsten ores of South China are unique in composition. Outside the Soviet Union, a belt of tin-bearing placers extends across eastern Burma, Thailand, the Malacca Peninsula, and the islands of Indonesia. Inside the USSR, the main gold-bearing regions include northeastern Siberia, the Aldan basin, the upper reaches of the Lena River, the Amur River area, the northern part of Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan; outside, gold is found in Korea, Japan, and other nations. Diamond deposits have been explored and are being tapped in the western part of Yakutia (USSR).

Climate The enormous extent of dry land and the abundance of mountain barriers and landlocked depressions create a great diversity of conditions for solar radiation, atmospheric circulation, and climatic features as a whole. A continental climate predominates over the larger part of Asia. Atlantic air, upon reaching Asia, is transformed into continental air. Because of the westerlies and the isolating effect of the bordering ranges, the influence of the sea air from the Pacific extends only to the eastern edge of Asia. Arctic masses of air move freely into Asia from the north; and, in the summer, equatorial air masses predominate in the south. The latter’s penetration into the interior regions of Asia is limited by the ranges of the mountain zone extending from the west to the east. The contrasts between the strong warming of the land in the summer and its cooling in the winter cause sharp seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation over Asia. The winter cooling helps form a stable high-pressure area over north and central Asia, with clear, frosty, and windless weather; maps of long-term average atmospheric pressure readings show a strong winter Asian anticyclone with a center over Mongolia. The coldest temperatures are to be found in the northeast (Verkhoiansk and Oimiakon), the cold pole of the northern hemisphere, where the temperature may fall to –70°C, with a mean January temperature of below –50°C. Along the periphery of the Asian anticyclone is a predominance of steady winds which bring dry and cold air from the interior regions of the continent; these are northwesterly and northerly in the east and northeasterly in the south (the continental winter monsoon). Because of episodic incursions of sea air from the east and southeast, the winter on the eastern edge of Asia is warmer than in the central regions of the anticyclone.

The boundary between the air of the temperate latitudes (polar) and the tropical air (the polar front) moves southward during the winter. This movement is related to the southerly shift in winter of all zones of general atmospheric circulation, as well as to the additional strong influence of the cooled land. Along the southern chains of the Southwest Asian uplands, the winter rains are related to this positioning of the polar front. In the more northerly regions of Southwest and Middle Asia, the cyclonic activity on the polar front is particularly strong in springtime, causing the greatest amount of precipitation to fall in this season. During the summer the polar front moves to the north, causing cyclonic rains to fall in the mountains of South Siberia. Masses of dusty, continental tropical dry air are formed over Southwest Asia, Central Asia, and parts of Middle Asia. Atmospheric pressure drops during the summer over all warmed Asia, particularly over its southerly part. On the charts of mean atmospheric pressure readings, the center of the summer Asian depression lies over the western part of Hindustan. Along the southern periphery of the depression, the summer monsoon invades Asia, delivering abundant precipitation to Hindustan, the southern Himalayas, and Indochina. To the west, dry and hot air from North Africa moves into the depression area. The aridity of the desert-tropical climate of Arabia and Pakistan is related to this movement. East Asia is under the influence of the Pacific polar front during the summer. In the warm sectors of the cyclones which move here, warm and moist tropical sea air (the summer monsoon) moves onto land. The cooling of the sea air over the cold sea currents in the coastal regions creates fogs and drizzle. To the south of 38°N lat., where the warm Kuroshio Current approaches the shores of Japan, the summer monsoon brings incessant rains and high humidity, with high air temperatures. In the autumn, close to the East Asian shores, the frequent tropical cyclones (typhoons) are accompanied by hurricane-force winds and downpours which, at their heaviest, often exceed the normal monsoon rainfall for the summer. During the winter the Pacific polar front is forced by the strong flow of Siberian air into the tropical latitudes. On the East Asian islands the effect of the winter continental monsoon is mitigated by the bordering seas. The monsoon is warmed while passing over the sea and picks up moisture, which during the winter is returned as precipitation on the northwestern slopes of the island chains. In the subequatorial portion of Asia, continental tropical air prevails during the winter and equatorial sea air during the summer. The dry and warm winter winds of the southern Asiatic continental monsoon, which blow toward the equatorial depression, are analogous to the trade winds over the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The dry spring is abruptly replaced by the rainy summer (“the monsoon outburst”). The summer monsoon provides enormous amounts of precipitation (up to 2,500 mm a month). Over the equatorial parts of Asia (the south of Ceylon and the Malacca peninsula, as well as the Greater Sunda Islands), equatorial air prevails, with an even course of high temperatures and abundant rainfall related to the intratropical convergence zone. The Lesser Sunda Islands have a monsoon subequatorial climate; wet and dry seasons are subordinate to the calendar rhythm of the southern hemisphere—a wet summer from November through February and a dry winter from May through August. (See Table 1.)

Table 1. Basic climate indicators 1
Type of climate, weather station	Elevation above sea level (m)	Mean monthly temperatures (°C) and mean monthly precipitation totals (mm)
		January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December
1 Upper line—temperatures; lower line—precipitation
Subarctic: Dudinka .........	17	–30.2	–25.8	–23.1	–16.1	–6.5	3.9	12.7	10.3	2.4	–9.6	–22.1	–26.7
		6	6	5	8	12	32	38	48	47	9	9	6
Temperate, sharply continental: Verkhoiansk .............	122	–50.1	–44.3	–30.2	–13.1	1.5	12.6	15.1	10.8	2.4	–14.6	–36.8	–46.5
		4	3	3	4	7	22	27	26	13	8	7	4
Temperate monsoon: Khabarovsk ..............	61	–23.1	–17.4	–8.8	2.8	10.9	16.7	20.2	19.6	13.6	4.2	–8.3	–19.4
		5	5	7	24	65	98	129	125	49	34	15	8
Subtropical Mediterranean: Jerusalem ...............	750	7.0	8.6	10.8	14.9	19.4	21.3	22.9	23.0	21.3	19.1	13.3	9.4
		165	127	104	40	6	0	0	0	1	10	59	146
Subtropical monsoon: Tokyo..	6	3.0	3.9	6.7	12.5	16.6	20.3	24.0	25.4	21.8	16.0	10.4	5.2
		59	77	109	134	151	172	142	180	256	201	88	57
Tropical desert: Jidda.....	16	22.3	22.4	24.1	26.7	28.4	29.5	30.8	30.9	30.2	28.6	26.6	24.7
		24	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	41	15
Subequatorial: Bombay .....	11	23.6	23.8	25.6	27.8	29.2	28.0	26.4	26.3	26.3	27.1	26.3	24.7
		3	1	0	1	14	522	624	379	278	45	12	1
Equatorial: Singapore .....	5	25.7	26.1	26.8	27.1	27.5	27.3	27.2	27.0	26.9	26.7	26.3	25.2
		215	155	166	174	182	169	172	217	181	208	254	263

The mean January temperatures over a significant portion of Siberia are below –20°C, reaching –50°C in Verkhoiansk. In areas close to the northern Asiatic coasts of the Pacific, the warming effect of the sea produces rises in temperature to –15°C or even –5°C. The January isotherm of 0° runs across Samarkand to the north of Nan-ching (Nanking) and Tokyo. The isotherm of 20°C runs close to the Tropic of Cancer, and the isotherm of 25°C along the equator. In July the warmest areas (mean temperatures of 30°C and more) are found in Southwest and Middle Asia, as well as the Taklamakan and Tar deserts. The isotherm of 20°C in the interior continental regions reaches to 55°–60° N lat., shifting southward along the Pacific coasts. Along the northern coast of Asia the mean July temperatures, typical for a tundra climate, are below 10°C.

In the equatorial zone, around 2,000 mm of precipitation fall yearly, while 2,000–3,000 mm and more (in places, up to 8,000–12,000 mm) fall on the maritime windward slopes of Southern and Eastern Asia. In 1861 in Cherrapunji (the state of Assam, India), 22,900 mm fell, a record annual precipitation total for the entire world. Less than 1,000 mm fall on the leeward slopes in the subequatorial regions. In the subtropical and temperate monsoon climates even 600–1,000 mm a year creates a sufficient amount of moisture. In East Siberia there are less than 350 mm of precipitation; in the deserts of Middle, Central, and Southwest Asia only 150–200 mm fall, with less than 100 mm in certain places.

In Asia the following basic types of climate are distinguished: arctic desert; subarctic (tundra); temperate varieties, including the dry, sharply continental climate of East Siberia (with a very cold winter), the cold and moderately wet climate of West Siberia, the desert-like climate of Middle Asia, Kazakhstan, and northern Central Asia, and the temperate monsoon climate of the eastern edge of the continent; subtropical varieties, including the Mediterranean climate of the western edge of Southwest Asia, the subtropical mountain-steppe and desert climate of the larger part of Southwest Asia, the wet subtropical Kolkhida climate (with year-round precipitation), the alpine-desert climate of the Pamir, Karakorum, and Tibet, and subtropical monsoon (the eastern edge of Asia); tropical desert (southern regions of Southwest Asia and adjacent parts of Pakistan and India); subequatorial (tropical monsoon), found in Hindustan, Indochina, the eastern regions of Java, and the Lesser Sunda Islands; and equatorial (the remaining areas of the Greater Sunda Islands and the Malacca peninsula). Numerous variations of climatic types are also distinguished, and these are related to topographic features (for example, exposure of the slope, protective influence of mountains, altitude zones) and the effect of sea currents.

Inland rivers and lakes Asia is a land of great rivers. The Ob’ with the Irtysh, the Enisei with the Angara, the Lena with the Aldan and Viliui, and the Iana, Indigirka, and Kolyma rivers flow into the Arctic Ocean. The Anadyr’, Amur, and Sungari, the Ussuri, the Huang Ho (Yellow), Yangtze, Chu Chiang (Pearl), Mekong, and Mae Nam (Chao Phraya) rivers flow into the Pacific. The Salween, Irrawaddy, Brahmaputra, Ganges, and Indus rivers flow into the Indian Ocean, as well as the Shatt al Arab, which is formed by the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Only small mountain rivers empty into the Azov, Black, and Mediterranean seas from Asian territory. The Kura, Amu Darya, Syr Darya, and Ili rivers empty into the extensive inland basins of the Caspian and Aral seas and Lake Balkhash. Part of the flow of rivers in the inland drainage basins reaches lakes, and part terminates in dry deltas in the sands and salt bottoms or in oases, where all the water is consumed on field irrigation and evaporation. The largest of these rivers are the Tarim, the Chu, and the Helmand.

The Siberian rivers freeze over in the winter (some of them freeze down to the bottom) and flood widely in the spring. In the dry landlocked areas of Asia only the transit rivers, which are fed by mountain snow and glaciers, have abundant water. These rivers reach peak flow rate and highest level in spring or summer (for example, the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya). As a rule, other rivers in these regions have little water; the level changes sharply, and they dry up periodically or on occasion. The rivers in regions of the monsoon climate have their maximum water discharge in the summer. If not fed by snows in the mountains, rivers on the Mediterranean borders become shallow in the summer and sometimes dry up. In the equatorial regions the rivers have a great deal of water year-round.

Among the lakes of Asia the largest are the Caspian and the Aral seas, which are the remnants of previously existing larger seas. Lying in tectonic depressions are Baikal, Issyk-Kul’, Khubsugul, the Dead Sea, Van, Rizaiyeh (Lake Urmia), and Lake Teletskoe (the depressions of Van and Rizaiyeh are dammed by lavas). A number of lakes arose as a result of collapses (Lake Sarezskoe), karst processes (the lakes of the Western Taurus Mountains), and lava dams (Ching-po Hu in northeast China). In the landlocked basins there are numerous salt lakes (Koko Nor, Tuz, and others). Lake Balkhash has fresh water in the west and saline water in the east. The flowing lakes are good regulators of river drainage (Baikal for the Angara, Khanka for the Ussuri, Tung-t’ing Hu and P’o-yang Hu for the Yangtze, Tonle Sap for the Mekong). Hydroelectric plant construction has meant creating large reservoirs on some Asian rivers; worthy of mention are the Bratsk on the Angara, the Kras-noiarsk on the Enisei, the Novosibirsk on the Ob’, the Bukhtarma on the Irtysh (this dammed and enlarged the size of Lake Zaisan). There are also reservoirs on rivers in Middle Asia (Khobuz-khan, Kairak-kum, and others), in East and Northeast China (Sung-hua Hu [Sungari Reservoir] and others), and in North Korea (Supung and others). Underground waters are often the only source of water in the arid regions. Large accumulations of this water are known to be in artesian basins and beneath the inclined piedmont plains. The life of the oases of Middle, Central, and Southwest Asia is linked to the emergence of these underground waters and to the use of surface waters.

The rivers and lakes of Asia are important transport arteries, especially in Siberia, where they connect southern and northern regions (during the summer the rivers are navigable, and in the winter they can be used as sled routes). Many rivers contain enormous hydroelectric reserves, a power source extensively used in the USSR (the hydroelectric plants on the Enisei and Angara, on the Ob’ and Irtysh, and in the mountains of Middle Asia), Japan, North Korea, Northeast and East China, and other Asian nations to a lesser extent. Hydraulic engineering work is being carried out in the arid and monsoon regions of Asia in order to combat flooding (particularly on the rivers of the monsoon regions) and more fully utilize water resources for irrigation and water supply (in Middle Asia and in China, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and other countries).

Soils In Asia the entire gamut of soil types is represented, from the waterlogged low-humus soils in the arctic wastes to the red-yellow ferroallitic soils in the humid tropical forests of the equatorial latitudes. The change in soils from north to south is caused predominantly by temperature increase as one moves south and by changes in moisture conditions.

Waterlogging caused by poor evaporation and bad drainage under permafrost conditions impedes the leaching of tundra soils and, combined with a brief, cold summer and poor aeration, leads to the incomplete disintegration of even the meager organic remains and to the development of reduction processes (gleization). The peat gley tundra soils were formed in this manner. The situation changes with an increase in temperature and precipitation to the south: intensely leached, acid soils of the podzolic series are formed under nonpermafrost conditions in the forests of the temperate latitudes; while taiga-permafrost soils are formed under permafrost conditions, including obstruction of leaching and of the interchange of matter under the effect of the freezing and unfreezing processes. Swamps and swamp-type soils are widely found in the forested zone of the temperate belt.

In the southern regions of temperate latitudes (in the central and western portions of Asia), the continuing increase of heat is combined with a diminution of moisture. For this reason, in these arid regions the leaching of the soils is weakened, and the ascending flows of the soil solution assume greater and greater significance. The soils become neutral and rich in bases, while significant quantities of humus accumulate in the surface horizons. In this regard, even on the southern edge of the forested zone (beneath the broad-leaved forests) the soils assume a darker tint (the gray forest soils), while chernozems form on the forest steppes and steppes with a rich grass stand. Further south, in the even more arid regions, the quantity of humus declines, the content of unleached mineral salts increases, and the soils become lighter. Here are the chestnut soils in the arid steppes, the light-brown soils in the semideserts, and the gray-brown desert soils in the deserts. In these regions salt bottoms and alkalis are widely found. In the humid regions of the temperate latitudes in East Asia, beneath the forest vegetation, brown forest soils are formed, while chernozem-like prairie soils, very rich in humus and often gleyed, are formed under the grassy, predominantly meadow vegetation.

The substantial increase in heat with the transition from the temperate latitudes to the subtropical ones intensifies the chemical weathering. With a well-leached water system, this leads to the decomposition and loss of a significant quantity of mineral substances from the soil and to the residual accumulation of iron and aluminum sesquioxides (the process of laterization or ferróallitization). This gives yellow and red tints to the soils of the humid regions in the tropical and even lower latitudes. In the humid subtropics red, yellow, and yellow-brown soils predominate. Brown soils associated with arid forests and brush predominate in the moderately arid regions, with gray-brown soils in the arid regions and gray desert soils in the semideserts. In the tropics the processes of laterization are intensified. Beneath the humid tropical forests there is a predominance of red-yellow ferroallitic soils. Red ferroallitic soils are formed under the savannas and dry tropical forests of the tropical and subequatorial latitudes; with an increase in aridity, these soils turn into the red-brown and desert brown soils. In the arid savannas of the Hindustan peninsula, the black soils called regurs are unique.

In the river valleys, alluvial soils have developed; usually these are heavily cultivated, particularly in the subtropical, tropical, and equatorial zones.

In the mountains the altitude-zoned series of soil types are represented; as a rule, these are skeletal and underdeveloped. Beneath the mountain forests in the north of the temperate zone, mountain podzolic soils and mountain variations of the gray-forest and taiga-permafrost soils have developed. Above the timberline these are replaced by mountain-tundra soils. In the southern temperate zone, beneath the mountain steppes, mountain chestnut and mountain chernozem soils have developed, and in the wetter (forested) regions there are brown mountain forest soils. Mountain meadow soils are found under the subalpine and alpine meadows. In the humid regions of the low latitudes the mountain red, yellow, and ferroallite soils predominate, and in the dry regions there are mountain brown, gray-brown, and brownish-gray soils. The alpine steppe and desert soils of Central Asia have a number of specific features.

Flora Asia belongs to two phytogeographic regions: the Holarctic region and the Paleotropical region. The Paleo-tropical flora developed under the conditions of a constantly warm climate and has maintained an exceptional richness of species inherited from the Paleozoic and Mesozoic flora. In this area plants exist now which were known in the Holarctica only in a fossil form (treelike ferns, cycas, ginkgoes, and others). The Holarctic flora has been repeatedly impoverished during periods of cooling and glaciation and as a result of recent uplifts and the advances of seas. These conditions have made the flora more meager and uniform than the Paleotropical flora, an effect also aided by the present-day severity of natural conditions in the higher latitudes.

With the change in the climate from north to south, the various types of vegetation also change, from the tundras to the humid equatorial forests and savannas of the southern hemisphere. The vegetation also changes as one moves away from the oceans.

The tundras are without forests. In terms of the composition of the flora and the degree of participation of various plant groups, these areas are shared between the arctic and typical groups—that is, moss, lichen, and brush tundras (dwarf arctic birch, dwarf willow, bog bilberry, cowberry, and so forth). One of the centers for the formation of tundra flora lay in the tundras of northeastern Siberia, which were not subject to continental glaciation. For this reason, the tundras adjacent to the Bering Strait are rich in species. The tundras are valuable as reindeer pastures (the lichen tundras are the winter pastures, and the grassy and brush tundras are used in the summer).

To the south of the tundras stretches a strip of forest tundra in which tundra and thin-forest areas alternate. In northeast Siberia, unique variants of forest tundra have developed, with significant areas of stunted thickets.

Taiga forests predominate in the broad forest area of the temperate zone, including the Ural-Siberian dark, coniferous forests in the west (spruce, fir, Siberian stone pine, or cedar), and the Eastern Siberian light coniferous larch and larch-pine forests (Siberian and dahurian larch) to the east of the Enisei River. To the south of the taiga stretch mixed broad-leaved coniferous aspen-birch subtaiga and broad-leaved forests. In Asia the latter have been preserved chiefly in the Far East, where the climate is less continental and the impoverishing effects of glaciation are absent. These forests have a great variety of species and an abundance of endemics and relics (the so-called Manchurian flora). The forest zone possesses colossal reserves of wood and industrial raw materials as well as food and medicinal resources. The area of agricultural, land in this zone is small. The flora of the northern subzones of the forest zone developed from the flora from the preglacial forests of the temperate zone which retreated to the south during the glaciation period. This flora has formed as a result of the advancement of the forests to the north behind the retreating glacier and the tundra displaced by the glacier. In areas where there was no continental glaciation, forests also occupied the territories which the tundra surrendered to them. In the refuges (shelters), which were protected against the influence of glaciation, the representatives of preglacial broad-leaved flora “survived” the ice ages. Some of these refuges were the Kolkhida-Lazistan area in western Transcaucasia and northeastern Anatolia, the Girkan area in the north of Iran and the Lenkoran Lowland, and the Manchurian refuge in the temperate zone of the Far East.

To the south of the forest zone extend the zones of forest steppes (meadow steppes) and typical steppes. The forest steppes are well evidenced in southwestern Siberia, partially in northern Mongolia, the Transbaikal, and northeastern China. Typical steppes (motley grass-soddy Graminales and drier varieties) are found in the adjacent, more southerly belt. Neither zone extends as far as the Pacific Ocean. In southern Siberia and in northwestern Mongolia these zones are broken by mountain uplifts. Extensive expanses of forest steppes and typical steppes have been plowed up. Across the center of Kazakhstan, Middle Asia, Dzungaria, the Taklamakan, and the Mongolian People’s Republic stretch the semideserts and deserts of the temperate zone, while subtropical deserts extend across the Levant, the Iranian uplands, and the southern edge of Middle Asia. Pon-tic-Central Asian flora (dominated by xerophilic Graminales and wormwood communities, with halophilic plants present in salt bottoms and alkalis) are characteristic of the entire complex of extratropical desert-steppe zones, where valuable pasture lands are found. Belts of oases and gallery forests (tugais) extend along the rivers here. In the littoral portions of the Asiatic Mediterranean area (Asia Minor and the Levant), xerophilic vegetation of the Mediterranean type is found— shibliak (deciduous secondary bush formation), frigana (xerophytic shrub-semishrub formation), and maquis—with a predominance of hard-leaved and small-leaved brush. On the semidesert uplands of Southwest Asia the vegetation of the mountain steppes is widely represented, as is frigana with subbrush and brush of the thorny cushion type. Typical for the monsoon subtropics are the East Asian formations of evergreen forests and brush (Japan, the south of the Korean peninsula, and southeast China). Tropical deserts (the Arabian Peninsula and the Tar desert) are found only in the western part of Asia. Predominant in the remaining regions of the tropical latitudes are savannas, dry tropical forests, thin forests, and brush; evergreen forests appear mainly on the lee slopes, and there are also variably wet evergreen deciduous and mixed forests and wet evergreen tropical forests. In the subequatorial latitudes of the southern hemisphere (the Lesser Sunda Islands), the proximity of Australia has affected the flora of the savannas and dry tropical forests, with a marked admixture of Australian species.

In the mountains, flora varies by altitude and degree of exposure of the vegetation cover. Of the mountain types the mountain-tundra and mountain-taiga vegetation are most developed, along with the mountain dark coniferous and broad-leaved forests, the mountain steppes and deserts, and the mountain subtropical and tropical forests (wet and dry). Subalpine and alpine mountain shrubs and meadows are characteristic for the subtropical and temperate zones.

Fauna The fauna of Asia is the most pronounced continental fauna in the world. Here exists a multiplicity of animal families with very broad distribution, and the diversity of their adaptation to the conditions of existence is very great. Many species have extensive ranges (nearly all of Asia for the wolf and fox). There are few endemic groups of a high taxonomic rank (flying lemurs, tree shrews, tarsiers, gibbons, and giant pandas). There are many species in common with the species in Europe, North America, and Africa. The ties with America are the consequence of the recent connecting of the continents in the zone of Cape Bering and the similarity of contemporary conditions. The result is almost complete identicalness of fauna from the American and Asiatic tundras and the significant similarity in the fauna of the forest zone. Such species as tapirs and alligators recall the more ancient ties of Asia with America. The ancient and presently existing overland ties with Africa account for significant similarity in the fauna of arid southwestern Asia and North Africa; southern Arabia is a part of the Ethiopian zoogeographic area, which is common also to Africa. Proof of the more ancient ties of southern Asia with Africa is the presence of the elephant, rhinoceros, deer, and peacock in both parts of the world. The Lesser Sunda Islands, with the extreme insular paucity of fauna, have a marked admixture of forms belonging to the Australian zoogeographic area. The fauna from other regions of southern Asia, established as a separate Indo-Malayan area, has preserved an ancient appearance inherited from the Neocene. The remaining portion of Asia is considered in the Palaearctic area, the Eurasian part of the Holarctic zoogeographic area. Its fauna has been impoverished by Quaternary glaciations and recent vertical uplifts.

Fauna varies by latitude and altitude. The most impoverished zone is that of the northern oceanic coasts and tundras. Here reptiles and amphibians are totally missing. Virtually all the birds are migratory (characteristic are the snowy owl, rock ptarmigan, willow grouse, ducks, swans, geese, several species of passerines, eiders, gulls, and black guillemots). The tundra is inhabited by the caribou, arctic fox, and common vole and by Cricedidae, while seals, walruses, and polar bears live along the coasts. The small number of different species contrasts with the abundance of specimens. This is very characteristic, for example, of the seashore colonies of birds. In the forest zone dwell the elk, deer (the caribou, and in the south the maral and the Man-churian red deer), roe deer, musk deer, brown bear, wolverine, lynx, sable, squirrel, Siberian chipmunk, blue hare, and forest bank vole, as well as moles, Pteromyidae (flying squirrels), and so forth. Many of them are hunted, mainly for fur. Characteristic among the birds are woodpeckers, jays, Siberian jays, nutcrackers, crossbills, and owls. The hazel hens, capercaillies, and black grouse are of importance for hunting. There are numerous insects which are harmful to the forests, including various carpenter moths, bark beetles, and Bombyx. The penetration of certain steppe fauna into the taiga has been related to the felling of the forests. Characteristic of the fauna of the steppes, deserts, and mountain steppes are the ungulates, including antelopes (saiga, the Persian gazelle, the goi-tered gazelle, and others), wild sheep and goats, and such carnivores as the snow leopard, cheetah, striped hyena, jackal, corsac, marbled polecat, and steppe polecat. The wild ass, Przhevalski’s horse, and wild Bactrian camel have remained in very small numbers. In the tugais along the rivers dwell deer (Cervus elaphus) and jungle cats. Rodents are very numerous, including jerboas, susliks, yellow susliks, marmots, voles, hares, pikas, and porcupines. The common birds are the larks and desert jays, and the bustard, Egyptian vulture, and lesser kestrel, with pheasants in the tugais. The reptiles are extremely numerous and include lizards (agamas, Phrynocephalus, geckoes, monitors, and so forth); snakes, including the snake Taphrometopon lineolatum, the Levantine viper, the Eryx (a family of sand boas), Ancistrodon (a genus of pit viper), and the cobra; and several species of turtles. Certain insects (the locust and others) are economically harmful. The bites of numerous arachnids are dangerous (scorpions, karakurts, tarantulas, and solpugids). The wild yak, the addax, the dongo antelope, the Siberian wild dog, the snow leopard, the longtailed marmot (Marmota caudata), and species of mountain goats and sheep have survived in the alpine highlands of Central Asia.

The broad-leaved forests of East Asia contain the so-called Himalayan-Chinese fauna, rich in relic Neocene forms. Here several genera of deer (including the Sika deer) have survived along with the goral and takin antelopes, the raccoon dog (which has been widely raised in the USSR), yellow-throated marten, black bear, lesser panda, giant panda, and tiger, as well as the moles Moger robusta, many rodents, and (in the south) several species of apes. Of the birds the endemic fowl (pheasants and others) are of interest. Among the snakes and lizards, the Indo-Malayan species are common. Leatherback turtles are found clear up to the basin of the Amur River. The tree toad and the giant salamander are interesting amphibians. The insect world is very rich, particularly in butterflies and beetles of the Lyctidae family. In the forests of the equatorial and subequatorial latitudes, the Indo-Malayan fauna predominates: the Indian elephant, rhinoceros, and wild ox (the banteng, water buffalo, and others); several species of pigs, antelopes, and deer; small deer; tapirs; various species of martens and viverrids (the mongoose and others); bears (black and the sloth bear); tigers and leopards (panthers); numerous rodents, bats (including fruit bats), tree shrews, pangolins (two species), flying lemurs, and lemurs (relics of the ancient connections with Madagascar and Africa); and various species of macaques, gibbons, and, in Indonesia, orangutans. Birds are also abundant (broadbills, pittas, weaverbirds, peacocks, pheasants, hornbills, and many others), as are reptiles (crocodiles, large-headed turtles, several species of cobras, skinks, geckoes, constrictors, and the flying dragon—an arboreal lizard), amphibians (tree frogs and others), and insects (large butterflies, numerous ants, termites, and others). A mixing of faunas occurs on the boundaries of the zones. The animal world has been altered by human activity and has been sharply impoverished over broad expanses of eastern China, India, Java, and southwestern Siberia. The enriching of the fauna which has been carried out in the USSR has made possible an increase in the number of specimens and the restoration of the ranges of certain valuable animals (the sable, saiga antelope, elk, and others).

In ancient times a number of Asiatic peoples—including the Assyrians, Babylonians, Indians, Chinese, and neighboring Egyptians—had some information on the geography of Asia. The Chinese geographical work Yü Kung (eighth to fifth century B.C.) has a description of eastern China. The accumulation of knowledge about Asia was furthered by the ancient Egyptian and Greco-Persian wars (477–449 B.C.), the campaigns of Alexander of Macedonia (fourth century B.C.), the sea trade between Egypt and India, the visit to Middle Asia by the Chinese ambassador Chang Ch’ien (second century B.C.), the transport of Chinese silk along the so-called silk route through Central and Southwest Asia, and the military campaigns of the Romans. During the Middle Ages important information about Asia was obtained by the Khwarazmites and Arabs (al-Masudi, al-Idrisi, Biruni, Ibn Batuta, and others), by the Chinese (the voyages of Hsüan Tsang and others), and by European crusaders (12th–13th centuries) and ambassadors to the Mongol Khans (the Italian Carpini and the Fleming Rubru-quis, who concluded that an enormous plateau existed in Central Asia). At the end of the 13th century the Venetian Marco Polo crossed Asia, spending 17 years in China, visiting and describing many parts of Asia, and revealing its geography to Europeans in a new way. Russians discovered the Asiatic coast of the Arctic Ocean. By the 12th century the Novgorodians had gone beyond the Urals; Pomor navigators had long since sailed into Tazovskaia Bay. The sea expeditions of Cheng Ho to South and Southwest Asia took place in the early 15th century. The Venetian N. de’ Conti traveled around South Asia for many years in the first half of the 15th century. The Russian merchant Afa-nasii Nikitin traveled through Iran to India during 1466–72, leaving a description of India. After the Turks conquered Constantinople (1453) and closed the ancient land routes from Europe to Asia, Europeans began to seek sea routes to India. In 1498 the Portuguese reached India by sea (Vasco da Gama); later they reached Malacca (1509–11) and Java (1511), and in 1520 they settled in Macao. In 1521, Magellan led a Spanish worldwide expedition which approached the Philippines from the east. At the Molucca Islands his ships met the Portuguese coming from the west. In 1542 the Portuguese reached the Japanese archipelago. Geographical study of the countries of Asia accompanied, and was a goal of, the exploitation of these countries by conquerers and colonialists. The conquest of the Philippines by the Spanish began in the 1560–70’s. Colonial conquest in Asia, initiated by Portugal and Spain, was continued in the 17th century by the Dutch and English. In 1602 the Dutch East India Company directed the exploitation and study of Southeast Asia; it established a base on Java in 1619. During the 17th–19th centuries Indonesia was conquered by the Dutch colonialists. During the 18th–19th centuries India was made into a colony of England. In the 19th century English colonialists conquered Burma, while France conquered Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, and the USA seized the Philippines. England and France established their domination of many Arab countries of Asia during the 19th and 20th centuries.

The Russians discovered northern Asia. Their campaigns to the Irtysh date to 1483. Ermak’s campaigns of 1581–82 expanded the information available about Western Siberia, which in its general features became known to Russians by the end of the 16th century; during 1618–19 the Siberian cossack I. Petlin visited Mongolia and China. The search for a northeastern sea route undertaken by the English and Dutch in the 16th century was unsuccessful. During 1618–20 a Russian trading expedition attempted to cross the northern seas to the east. Passing Cape Cheliuskin, it perished at the eastern shores of the Taimyr. During the first half of the 17th century Siberian cossack travelers in search of “unfound lands” and precious furs (“soft lumber”) overcame vast distances and a most severe climate to explore all of Siberia in less than 50 years. In the 1620’s the Russians reached the Lena, and in 1639, I. Moskvitin reached the Sea of Okhotsk. At almost the same time that de Vries’s expedition (1643) reached the islands of Hokkaido and southern Sakhalin and the southern Kuril Islands by sea, the Russian explorer V. Poiarkov in 1643–46 reached the Amur River from the north and saw southwestern Sakhalin from the sea. From 1649 to 1652 the Russian explorer E. Khabarov journeyed along the Amur and in the Amur region. In 1648 the Russian explorers F. Popov and S. Dezhnev reached the Anadyr’ River by sea from the north, opening the strait between Asia and America. In 1649, F. Popov reached Kamchatka, and in 1697 the Russian explorer V. Atlasov crossed it and saw the northern Kuril Islands. The first maps of Siberia were drawn up in the second half of the 17th century by the labors of the Tobolsk voevoda (military governor) P. I. Godunov and the Tobolsk native S. U. Remezov. In 1675 a Russian mission headed by the Moldavian scholar N. G. Spafarii was sent to China, and in 1692, Peter I sent the ambassador Isbrandt Ides to China. In 1713 the Tobolsk nobleman Trushnikov crossed Mongolia and reached Kuku Nor Lake and the upper reaches of the Huang Ho (Yellow) River. During 1720–27 the flora and fauna of Siberia were studied by the German researcher D. G. Messerschmidt, whom Peter I had invited. Much geographical information was obtained by Christian missionaries, especially by the Jesuits who studied China and Tibet. The French Jesuit Jerbillion crossed the Gobi during 1689–98. The Russian religious mission was active in China from 1707. Its leaders made great contributions to the study of China and Mongolia: N. Ia. Bichurin (the monk Iakinf) at the start of the century, P. I. Kafarov (the monk Palladii), 1840–59, and E. F. Tim-kovskii (a police officer attached to the mission), 1820–22.

In 1728 the first Russian Kamchatka expedition of V. Bering and A. I. Chirikov first entered the Bering Strait from the south. Under their leadership the second Kamchatka expedition, the Great Northern (1733–43), made a great contribution to the study of northern and eastern Asia. The expedition conducted research not only on the geography of Siberia but also on its geology, botany, and cartography. D. Ia. and Kh. P. Laptev, S. I. Cheliuskin, and other participants in the expedition placed the Asiatic shore of the Arctic Ocean on the map. During 1738–39 the Kuril Islands were placed on the map and Japan was visited; in 1741 the Komandorskie Islands were discovered. Between 1734 and 1741, I. G. Gmelin studied the natural features of southern Siberia. S. P. Krasheninnikov gave a detailed scientific description of Kamchatka from 1737 to 1741.

By 1766, Russians had discovered and described the whole Kuril ridge, of which the Dutchman de Vries saw only the three southern islands. The so-called Academy expeditions (1768–74) organized by Russia made a great contribution to the study of Northern Asia: P. S. Pallas and I. I. Georgi studied the natural features of Siberia; V. F. Zuev studied the extreme Siberian northwest; I. P. Fal’k studied the southwest; and S. G. Gmelin and I. Giul’den-shtedt studied the Caucasus. Abroad, the Danish traveler C. Niebuhr developed new conceptions of the geography of Southwest Asia during 1761–67. The English studied the Himalayas from the end of the 18th century. The Far Eastern shore was placed on the map by the French navigator J. P. La Perouse (1787), the Russian geographer G. A. Sarychev (1789), the English navigator W. Broughton (1796–97), the Russian navigator I. F. Kruzenshtern (1804–05), the Japanese topographer Mamiya Rinzo (1809), and the Russian navigator V. M. Golovnin (1811). The Novosibirsk Islands, first visited between 1759 and 1773, were described by the Russian voyagers Ia. Sannikov (1800–06) and P. F. Anzhu (1821–23). The Russian researchers F. P. Wrangel and F. F. Matiushkin studied the Siberian Arctic (1820–24), and the Russian navigator F. P. Litke described the northeastern coast of Asia in 1827–28.

Of 19th-century research on Asia, the works of the German geographer A. Humboldt are important: in his monograph on Central Asia he described his journey to Western Siberia and the Kazakh steppes (1829). In 1832 the German geographer K. Ritter published Geography of Asia. A five-part Russian translation, with significant additions by the Russian geographers P. P. Semenov and G. N. Potanin, was completed in 1879. The work conducted by the German scholar F. Siebold in Japan and the Hungarian S. Körösi in Southwest Asia, India, and the Hindu Kush dates to 1820–30. The Russian botanists K. A. Meier and A. A. Bunge, together with the German scholar K. F. Ledebur, wrote the monograph Flora of Altai between 1829 and 1833. The Russian scholars E. Eversman (1820–25) and G. S. Karelin (1832–42) studied the plain of Middle Asia. The Russian geologist G. P. Gel’mersen (1833–36) and the geographer P. A. Chikhachev (1842) studied the terrain and subterranean structure of Southern Siberia. During this same period the German naturalist F. W. Junghuhn studied Indonesia (1835–49) and the French missionary monks E. Huk and J. Gabet studied Tibet and Mongolia (1844–46). The Russian naturalist A. F. Middendorf studied northern and eastern Siberia during 1842–45 and the Fergana Valley during 1877–78. The Russian academician G. V. Abikh, a German émigré, conducted detailed research on the terrain and subterranean structure of the Caucasus from 1844 to 1865. Between 1848 and 1853 the Russian navigator G. I. Nevel’skoi and his associates studied the coasts of Sakhalin and the lower Amur region. P. A. Chikhachev conducted basic research on Asia Minor from 1846 to 1863. During 1848–63 the Russian navigator I. A. Butakov described the Aral Sea, Amu Darya, and Syr Darya. The natural features of India, the Himalayas, and Karakoram were studied during 1854–58 by the German geographers A. H. Schlagint-weit and R. Schlagintweit. The work of the German ethnographer A. Bastian (1861–63) was important for the study of Indochina. The expeditions of the American traveler R. Pampelli (1862–65) and the German geographer F. Richthofen (1868–72) collected information on central and eastern China. Indian topographers in the service of the British, including Nain Singh (1856–75), conducted important research on Tibet and southern Asia. The role of collective research by different institutes, academies, museums, meteorological services, scientific societies, and military-topographical and military-geographical services grew sharply from the middle of the 19th century. Frequently their activity was utilized for the exploitation of colonies and for new territorial conquests. The English established the Royal Bengali Asiatic Society, the French established the Asiatic Society in Paris and Hanoi, the Dutch established the Society for the Study of South Asia, and the Germans established the German Eastern Society and the Society for the Study of East Asia. At the end of the 19th century Japanese research institutions, scientific societies, and military-geographical services expanded their activity broadly. Geographical societies in China, Turkey, and Iran were founded by foreigners and worked under their guidance and on their tasks. The number of periodical publications and monographs on the various countries of Asia grew. Study of Asia intensified with the organization of the Russian Geographical Society (1845). The research conducted by the following people was connected with the activity of this society and certain other institutions: R. K. Maak (1853–59), L. I. Shrenk (1854–56), G. I. Radde (1855–59), M. I. Veniukov (1857–59), F. B. Shmidt (1859–62), P. A. Kropotkin (1863–66), N. M. Przheval’skii (1867–69), A. L. Chekanovskii (1869–75), and I. D. Cherskii (1873–76, 1891). P. P. Semenov (1856–57), M. I. Veniukov (1859–61), N. A. Severtsov (1866–78), A. P. Fedchenko (1868–71), V. F. Oshanin (1876–78), and V. A. Obruchev (1886–88) studied the plains and mountains of Middle Asia. The Caucasus was investigated by M. I. Veniukov (1861–63) and G. I. Radde (1863–93); the highlands of Iran were studied by N. V. Khanykov (1858–59) and G. I. Radde (1879–86). Russian researchers made an extremely great contribution to world science by their Central Asian studies. In 1858–59 the traveler and scholar Ch. Ch. Va-likhanov visited Kashgaria. During 1870–75 the topographer Z. L. Matusovskii studied Mongolia and China. Four remarkable journeys in Central Asia were made between 1870 and 1885 by N. M. Przheval’skii, who discovered K’un-lun, Nan Shan, the upper reaches of the Huang Ho River, and the lake Lob Nor for modern science. Przheval’skii’s research was continued and significantly expanded by M. V. Pevtsov (1876–90), G. N. Potanin (1876–99), N. M. Iadrin-tsev (1878–91), G. E. Grum-Grzhimailo (1884–1914), V. I. Roborovskii (1889–1895), P. K. Kozlov (1889–1926), D. A. Klements (1891–98), V. A. Obruchev (1892–94, 1905–06, 1909), V. V. Sapozhnikov (1895–1915), and G. Ts. Tsybikov (1899–1902).

Among the foreign research of the second half of the 19th century, the following stand out: the research on southern and eastern Asia (1878–80) by the Hungarian B. Széczényi, the crossing of Central Asia by the Briton F. Younghus-band (1886–87) and the Frenchman P. Bonvalot (1889), and the study of Iran by P. Sikes (1893–1901).

Among the Russian studies of special importance of the latter 19th and early 20th century were the work of I. V. Mushketov, conducted over many years, on Central Asia; the work of V. A. Obruchev on Siberia; the expeditions and trips of V. L. Komarov in Kamchatka, Vostochnyi Saian, and northeastern China; the work of I. N. Klingen, A. N. Krasnov, and A. I. Voeikov on eastern and southern Asia; E. E. Anert’s work on northeastern China; K. I. Bodanovich’s work on Central Asia, Kamchatka, the Caucasus, Iran, and northeastern China; N. I. Zarudnyi’s work on Iran; P. N. Krylov’s work on western Siberia; L. S. Berg’s work on the Aral Sea; and the research of V. V. Dokuchaev on the soils of the Caucasus. The study of northern Asia was stimulated by the construction of the Siberian railroad. Prerevolutionary research on Asia by Russians was summarized in a number of articles on Siberia and Middle Asia by V. I. Masal’skii, I. V. Mushketov, L. S. Berg, and others. The idea of mastering the Northeast Passage, raised by M. V. Lomonosov as early as the 18th century, was first carried out in 1878–79 by the Swedish polar researcher N. A. E. Nordenskjold, who circled northern Asia from west to east (with a wintering stopover) by sea. A Russian expedition led by B. A. Vil’kitskii traveled this route from east to west in 1913–15 and discovered Sever-naia Zemlia.

The Swede Sven Hedin (the discoverer of Gandisyshan-Trans-Himalaya) studied Central Asia from 1893 to 1908 and from 1927 to 1935. The American expedition of R. C. Andrews, which worked in Mongolia and China between 1919 and 1931, yielded valuable results in the area of paleontology and biogeography. The Russian painter N. K. Rerikh and the orientalist Iu. N. Rerikh began to study the Himalayas in 1923. Their expedition twice crossed Central Asia (Kashmir-Zaisan and Ulan Bator-Sikkim) during 1924–28; in 1926 it worked in the Altai. In 1934–35 they traveled from north to south along the entire eastern border of Central Asia. They founded the scientific Institute of Himalayan Research, which was active in India from 1928 to 1942.

A school for the study of the geology and geography of East Asia was established in Japan in the 20th century (B. Koto, N. Yamazaki, H. Yabe, T. Kobayashi, and others). Extensive topographical surveys and summaries were made in the preparation of the Pacific Ocean theater of military actions before World War II by the military-geographical services of Japan and the USA.

Outstanding among the most recent foreign summaries of the natural features and peoples of all Asia are the works of the English scholar L. D. Stamp; the Frenchmen J. Sion, R. Blanchard, and P. Gourou; the American scholar G. B. Cressey, and also J. Fairgrieve and R. Rawson. Detailed summaries of the geography of South and East Asia have been compiled by the Australian geographer O. H. K. Spate (India, Pakistan, and Ceylon) and the English scholar E. Dobby (Indochina, Indonesia, and the Philippines). Increased study of natural features and of the economy has been evident in India, Pakistan, Turkey, Indonesia, and Ceylon. In the period up to the second half of the 1960’s, research on nature, population, and the economy has been broad in scope in China.

Soviet researchers have achieved exceptional success in the study of Asia. The planned organization of the work guarantees its breadth and the successful solution of such problems as the mastery of the northern sea routes, the creation of new coal and metallurgical bases and hydroelectric complexes in Siberia, irrigation in Middle Asia, and the mastery of northern and Far Eastern outlying regions of the country. Far-reaching work on the increasingly large-scale cartography of Soviet and, to some extent, foreign Asia has been carried out by Soviet topographers and geodesists. The study of Asia comes within the sphere of activity of many Soviet scientific research institutes and establishments; the Institute of Geography of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, the Council for the Study of Productive Forces of Gosplan (the USSR State Planning Committee), the Siberian Division of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, the Academies of Science of the Union republics, the Geography Faculties and Institutes of many universities, and special institute complexes and branches. Many ministries and departments of the USSR are engaged in the study of Asia. Through the efforts of Soviet expeditions, a period of discovery and of filling in the “blank spots” of the Asiatic parts of the USSR and contiguous sections of foreign Asia has been concluded; a number of islands have been discovered in the Arctic, and new orographic schemes have been developed for northeastern Siberia, the Stanovoi highlands, the Pamir, and others. The results of the research of Soviet scholars have appeared in the monograph Non-Soviet Asia (Zarubezhnaia Aziia; 1956), in the Physical-Geographical Atlas of the World (1964) and Atlas of the World (1967), and in numerous monographs about the natural features, resources, and economy of the Asiatic part of the USSR and the countries of Asia. Notable among regional works are the research of V. A. Obruchev on Siberia and Central Asia; S. V. Obruchev on Siberia; A. N. Kri-shtofovich on the geology and history of the flora of East Asia; V. M. Sinitsyn on Central Asia; the summaries of L. S. Berg, S. P. Suslov, and N. I. Mikhailov on the physical geography of northern and Middle Asia; the works of V. Iu. Vize and Ia. Ia. Gakkel’ on the Siberian Arctic; A. A. Grigor’ev and B. N. Gorodkov on the subarctic; V. L. Komarov on the Far East; I. P. Gerasimov, E. P. Korovin, I. S. Shchukin, B. A. Fedorovich, and E. M. Mur-zaev on Middle Asia; P. M. Zhukovskii on Turkey; M. P. Petrov on Iran and Central Asia; N. I. Vavilov on Afghanistan; and E. M. Murzaev on Mongolia and northeast China. Soviet scholars have participated in joint expeditions with foreign scholars, aiding the research of a number of socialist and developing countries of Asia, including the People’s Republic of Mongolia, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, China, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and India.

By the middle of 1967 the population of Asia numbered about 2 billion people (58.5 percent of the global population); of this number the population of the Asiatic USSR was 58.9 million people (1969), or more than 80 million counting the Caucasus. Since the start of the 20th century the population of Asia has increased by 215 percent. The growth was especially rapid in the postwar years: from 1950 to 1967 the population increased by 620 million people (that is, 2 percent per year on the average).

Anthropological composition The main regions of Southwest, Southern, Eastern, and Southeast Asia were settled at the dawn of the history of human society, in the Lower Paleolithic Period (including the Mousterian). It is possible that modern man (Homo sapiens) was formed in Southwest Asia. In the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic periods people had already settled most of Asia. They moved across Asia to America, Australia, and Oceania. Three large human races took shape in Asia: the Caucasoid (in the southwestern and western regions), the Mongoloid (in Central and Eastern Asia), and the Australoid (in the southeastern regions). Human beings spread throughout Asia in the Neolithic and Bronze ages. The largest ancient civilizations arose in the valleys of the largest rivers of Asia (the Tigris, Euphrates, Indus, Huang Ho, and Amu Darya) on the basis of intensive agriculture using artificial irrigation.

The population of Asia today belongs to a number of races. Much of it belongs to the three basic Mongoloid race groups: the northern (7 million people—the native peoples of Siberia and some of the peoples in Northeast China), the eastern (630 million people—Mongols and northern Chinese), and the southern (580 million people). The southern includes mixed and transitional Mongoloid-Australoid forms (southern Chinese, Indonesians, and Filipinos, as well as the peoples of Indochina and the Japanese, who are characterized by a slightly different combination of features). The Caucasoid race (580 million people) is represented in Asia by different types of the southern branch (Caucasians, Southwest Asians, Indo-Iranians) among the peoples of Southwest Asia, northern India, and Middle Asia (the Tadzhiks). The Australoid race includes small groups (5 million people in all) which settled various regions of Asia: the Veddoid type is observed among the Veddas of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and the Bhil, among certain groups of the Dravidian and Munda peoples, and also among certain small peoples of Southeast Asia (the Senoi, the Toala, and others); the Melanesian and Papuan types are found among the peoples of eastern Indonesia; the Negritos among the Eta of the Philippines, the Semang of Malaya, and the An-damans of India; and the Ainu type among the Ainus of Japan. Where there were ancient contacts between the southern branch of the Caucasoids and the Veddoids, the South Indian type was formed (185 million people), which includes the Dravidian peoples of southern India. Around 18 million people already belong to the mixed types of Caucasoid-Mongoloid origins (a number of peoples of the western Siberian depression, the Southern Urals, the Altai, Kazakhstan, Middle Asia, and northern India).

Ethnic composition Asia is extremely diverse in the ethnic composition of its population. It contains several hundred peoples at different levels of ethnic development and belonging to many language families and groups. The peoples speaking in languages of the Indo-European family are represented in Asia by the Indie (Indo-Aryan), Iranian, Slavic, and other groups. The peoples of the Indic groups (more than 486 million) settled the northern and central parts of Hindustan (the Hindustani, Bengalis, Marathas, Bihari, Punjabi, and others). The peoples of the Iranian group (about 50 million people) occupy mainly Iran and Afghanistan and also a number of regions in Turkey and Pakistan (the largest groups are the Persians, Afghans, and Kurds); forming the bulk of the population of the Tadzhik SSR, they include some peoples of the Caucasus (the Ossets, Tats, Talyshin, and others). More than half of the population of the Asiatic part of the USSR (about 47 million people) is composed of the Slavic groups (Russians, Ukrainians, and Byelorussians); the Indo-European family also includes Armenians (4 million, in the Armenian SSR and the countries of Southwest Asia) and Greeks (600,000, on the island of Cyprus).

Peoples of the Caucasian language group (5.6 million) live in the Georgian SSR and certain areas of the Northern Caucasus; the group includes Georgians, Abkhaz, Adygeians, Kabardins, Circassians, Chechen, Ingush, and the peoples of highland Daghestan (the Avars, Lezghians, Darghin, Lakh).

The Hamito-Semitic family (Semitic group) includes Arabs (32 million people), Jews (2.35 million, in Israel), and Assyrians (200,000, in Southwest Asia).

The peoples of the Altaic language family, consisting of three groups (the Turkic, Mongolian, and Tunguso-Manchurian), are dispersed over vast distances of Asia from Turkey to the Pacific Ocean. The peoples of the Turkic group (about 63 million—Turks, Azerbaijanis, Uighurs, Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Turkomans, Yakuts, and others) occupy much of Turkey, the northern part of Iran and Afghanistan, Sinkiang, the Azerbaijan SSR, Middle Asia and Kazakhstan, Gorno-Altai, and much of the Yakut ASSR. The peoples of the Mongolian group (3.5 million) are settled mainly in Central Asia (the People’s Republic of Mongolia, northern China) and also in the Buriat ASSR. The Tunguso-Manchurian peoples (3.1 million, including 3 million who are, properly speaking, Manchurians and who today speak Chinese) are settled in northeastern China, Siberia, and the Far East (the Evenki, Evens, Nanai, and others). Some researchers put the Koreans (45 million) and the Japanese (100 million), who are usually considered to speak in isolated languages, close to the peoples of the Altaic family.

The peoples of the Uralic family (87,000) occupy enormous and thinly settled regions of the basin of the lower Ob River. They represent three groups: the Finnic (Komi), the Ugric (Khantyes and Mansi), and the Samoyedic (Nentsi, Nganasani, and Selkups). Paleo-Asiatic peoples (Chukchi, Koryak, Itelmen, Yukagir, and others—25,000 in all), Eskimos (on the Chukchi peninsula), Aleuts (on the Komandorskie Islands), and Nivkh (in the lower reaches of the Amur valley and on Sakhalin Island) live in northeastern Siberia. In the valley of the middle course of the Enisei River live the Ket, who speak one of the isolated languages.

Members of the Sino-Tibetan language group occupy much of the territory of China and the western part of Indochina. The composition of this family is extremely controversial: of the five groups earlier included in this family (Chinese, Tibeto-Burman, Thai, Miao-Yao, and Vietnamese), only the first two are now recognized by most researchers, while the others are assigned to the Mon-Khmer or Austronesian language families. The Chinese group (over 700 million people) includes the Chinese and the Hui. The Chinese inhabit the eastern half of China. According to the data of the State Statistical Administration of the People’s Republic of China, the total population of the People’s Republic of China and the island of Taiwan was 656.7 million people (94 percent of them Chinese) at the end of 1957. There are also sizable groups of Chinese (over 18 million) in various countries of Southeast Asia. The Hui, who live in the northern regions of China and whose language is not distinguished from that of the Chinese, constitute a distinct nationality because of their religion and other distinctive features of their culture and life. The peoples of the Tibeto-Burman group (40 million people) inhabit southern China; they are represented in almost all the countries of Indochina, as well as in Nepal and northern India. The most numerous of them are the Burmans, Yi, Tibetans, and Karen. The peoples of the Thai group (41.5 million people) and the Miao-Yao (5 million) live in southern China and Indochina. The Vietnamese (31.5 million) have settled in the plains of Vietnam and, to some extent, in southern Cambodia.

The Mon-Khmer languages are currently spoken by a number of peoples of Cambodia, Vietnam, and Burma (10.5 million in all). The largest group, the Khmers (6.5 million), occupy Cambodia; the others live in small groups throughout eastern Indochina. A number of scholars place the 6.7 million people of the Munda language family, who live in the mountainous areas of central India, with the Mon-Khmer group. All the peoples of southern India (131 million people) speak in Dravidian languages. The most frequently spoken are the Telugu, Tamil, Kanarese, and Malayalam. The Gonds, Kanji, and Oraon are settled on the central Indian plateau. The Brahui are located in Pakistan and southern Afghanistan; in southern Ceylon the Ceylon Moors are the Islamized native population of the island.

The peoples of the Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian) family in Asia consist mainly of the Indonesian group (145 million), almost entirely inhabiting the island of Southeast Asia, the Malacca peninsula, and certain regions in southeastern Indochina. In all, this group numbers about 200 peoples, of which the Javanese, Sundanese, Bisayan, Tagalas, Malayans, and Madurese are the most numerous.

All the world religions, as they are called, arose in Asia: Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. Today, Buddhism is the dominant religion in the countries of Indochina (except Malacca) and on Ceylon. In the countries of East Asia it coexists and is interwoven with other religious beliefs: Confucianism and Taoism in China, Confucianism in Korea, Shintoism in Japan. Buddhism is practiced in the form of Lamaism by the believers of Mongolia and Tibet. The bulk of the population of the Philippines and Cyprus and more than half of the population of Lebanon adhere to Christianity. Islam is professed by the overwhelming majority of the population of Southwest Asia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Indonesia and by about half of the population of Malaysia; there are sizable groups of Muslims in Lebanon, Cyprus (Turks), India, the northwestern provinces of China, the Philippines (the Moros), and Ceylon (the Ceylon Moors). The Jews of Israel and other countries profess Judaism. In numbers of adherents Hinduism is one of the most important religions in Asia; its basic sphere is India, Nepal, Ceylon, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the island of Bali in Indonesia. Followers of tribal religions exist mainly in interior mountainous regions of India, China, and Southeast Asia. In the Asiatic part of the USSR, where the majority of the population has renounced religion, Christianity was formerly common (the Slavic peoples, the Georgians and Armenians in the Transcaucasus, and so on), as was Islam (most of the peoples of Central Asia and Kazakhstan, the Azerbaijani, and some peoples of the northern Caucasus), Lamaism (some of the Buriat), and others.

Population distribution The population of Asia is distributed extremely unevenly. The average density is 46 people per sq km. The highest density is found in Japan (273 people per sq km), Lebanon (240), Korea (185), Ceylon (172), and India (155). There are thickly settled regions of ancient intensive irrigated agriculture and rice culture (300–500, and even 1,000–1,500, people per sq km); these include shore areas and valleys of the great rivers of southern and central China, the south of Japan, the valleys of the Ganges and lower Brahmaputra rivers, the eastern coast of Hindustan, the valleys of the Mekong and Hung Ho (Red) rivers, and the island of Java. On a territory of 2.5 million sq km more than 1 billion people are concentrated. At the same time, Central Asia and most areas of North and Southwest Asia are scantily settled (the population density of the Mongolian People’s Republic is 0.7, and only 1–5 on the Arabian peninsula); vast territories of desert (Rub al Khali, Dashti-Kavir, Taklamakan, Gobi), the highest parts of Tibet, the Himalayas, and Hindu Kush in general do not have any permanent population. The nomadic population in Asia is constantly decreasing; it does not exceed 10 million (mainly nomadic cattle raisers in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, and the Mongolian People’s Republic).

About 23 percent of the Asian population is urban. The bulk of it (more than 60 percent) is concentrated in large cities (100,000 people and more), among which are 40 cities with more than 1 million inhabitants each, 50 cities with between 500,000 and 1 million inhabitants, and more than 400 cities with between 100,000 and 500,000 people.

Demographic survey During 1960–65 the birthrate per 1,000 was 41, the death rate 20, and the natural increase 21 (all these indexes are approximately twice those of Europe); the Asiatic part of the USSR has a death rate less than one-half that of the rest of Asia. The high birth and death rates (especially infant mortality) and the low average life-span (40–50 years) in non-Soviet Asia account for the age structure of the population, typical of that of developing countries: an increased proportion of young people (38 percent of the total population is under 14 years old, while in Europe the figure is less than 25 percent) and a decreased proportion of older people (6 percent of the population of Asia is over 60, while in Europe the figure is 14 percent). Asia is the only part of the world where the number of men greatly exceeds the number of women (by 55 million): 46.8 percent of the population of Ceylon is composed of women,

Table 2. Political divisions of non-Soviet Asia
State	Area (sq km)	Population, 1967	Capitals and administrative centers
1 By Chinese estimate for 1957—656,630,000 people
2 Without Sikkim and Bhutan
3Including West Irian (area 412,800 sq km, population 800,000)
4 Within the boundaries established by the decisions of the UN of Nov. 29, 1947; Israel actually controls an area of 20,700 sq km (start of 1967)
5 Including the island of Bonin (returned to Japan by the Japanese-American agreement of 1968) and the Ryukyu Islands (area 2,200 sq km, population 952,000), occupied by the USA until 1972
6 By other data, excluding interior bodies of water, area 90,200 sq km
7 Including demilitarized zone 1,300 sq km
8 By other data, area 21,000 sq km, population 550,000
9 Since 1972 divided into the People’s Republic of Bangladesh (capital Dacca) with about 15 percent of the area and 55 percent of the population of pre-1972 Pakistan, and present-day Pakistan (capital Islamabad) with the remainder
10 By other data, area 2,500,000 sq km, population 7,500,000
11 Formerly Ceylon
12 Formerly the Trucial States of Oman
13 Formed in 1968; data on area and population estimated. In October 1972 the Yemen Arab Republic and the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen agreed to unite
14 1960
Source: Demographic Yearbook 1967. New York, 1968
Afghanistan..............................	647,500	15,751,000	Kabul
Bahrain .................................	600	195,000	Manama
Bhutan ..................................	47,000	770,000	Thimbu
Burma, Union of ..................................	678,000	25,811,000	Rangoon
Cambodia ...............................	181,000	6,415,000	Phnom Penh
Chinese People’s Republic ...................	9,596,900	733,142,0001	Peking
Cyprus ..................................	9,200	614,000	Nicosia
India2 ......................................	3,268,000	511,115,000	Delhi
Indonesia3 ..............................	1,904,300	110,920,000	Jakarta
Iran .......................................	1,648,000	26,284,000	Teheran
Iraq ....................................	434,900	8,440,000	Baghdad
Israel ...................................	14,0004	2,669,000	Tel Aviv
Japan ..................................	372,0005	100,872,000	Tokyo
Jordan ..................................	97,7006	2,145,000	Amman
Korea ..................................	220,0007	42,484,000
Korean People’s Democratic Republic.....	121,000	12,700,000	Pyongyang
South Korea...........................	98,500	29,784,000	Seoul
Kuwait ..................................	16,0008	520,000	Al Kuwayt
Laos....................................	236,800	2,770,000	Vientiane (royal residence, Luang Prabang)
Lebanon ................................	10,400	2,520,000	Beirut
Maldive Islands ..........................	300	103,000	Male
Malaysia
Eastern Malaysia
Sabah ..............................	76,100	588,000
Sarawak ............................	125,200	903,000
Western Malaysia
Malaya .............................	131,300	8,580,000
Mongolian People’s Republic...............	1,565,000	1,170,000	Ulan Bator
Nepal ..................................	140,800	10,500,000	Katmandu
Pakistan9 ................................	946,700	107,258,000	Islamabad
Philippines ..............................	300,000	34,656,000	Quezon City (actually Manila)
Qatar ...................................	22,000	75,000	Doha
Saudi Arabia.............................	2,149,70010	6,990,000	Riyadh
Singapore ...............................	600	1,956,000	Singapore
Sri Lanka11 ..............................	65,600	11,741,000	Colombo
Syrian Arab Republic .....................	185,200	5,600,000	Damascus
Thailand (Siam) ..........................	514,000	32,680,000	Bangkok
Turkey (in Asia) ..........................	756,900	29,920,000	Ankara
United Arab Emirates12...................	83,600	136,000	Dibai
Vietnam ................................	329,600	37,073,000
Democratic Republic of Vietnam.........	158,700	20,100,000	Hanoi
South Vietnam ........................	170,900	16,973,000	Saigon
Yemen Arab Republic....................	195,000	5,000,000	Sana
People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen13 ...	227,700	1,170,000	Madinat al-Shab
Ao-men (Macao) (Portuguese) .............	16	170,00014	Ao-men
Brunei (British)..........................	5,800	107,000	Brunei
Hsiang Kang (Hong Kong) (British) ........	1,000	3,834,000	Hsiang Kang
Oman (Muscat and Oman) (British).........	212,400	565,000	Mascat, Nazwa
Sikkim (Indian)..........................	7,100	183,000	Gangtok
Timor (Portuguese) ......................	14,900	570,000	Dili

47 percent in pre-1972 Pakistan, 48.2 percent in China, and 48.6 percent in India. This proportion between the sexes is the result of women’s lack of rights in the past.

Migration greatly influences population dynamics. Chinese migration began to increase in the second half of the 19th century. They migrated in search of work, primarily to the countries of Southeast Asia, where the colonialists had developed a plantation economy. Indians emigrated for the same reason to Ceylon, Malaya, Central and South America, and South Africa. Emigration was also considerable from Arab countries (mainly Lebanon and Syria) to the countries of the Americas. There was migration in connection with World War II and postwar events (such as the return of Japanese from China, Korea, and other countries; the repatriation of Greeks, Bulgarians, and Albanians from Turkey; and the return home of Turks from Balkan countries). Migration for national and religious motives also became widespread (the migration of Muslims to Pakistan and Bangladesh, Hindus and Sikhs to India, and so on). Migrations in the USSR have been of a planned character; in particular, they have been connected with the conquest of virgin lands in Kazakhstan and southern Siberia and the development of industry in Siberia and the Far East.

More than one-third of the territory of Asia, its northern part, is included in the Soviet Union. The states and countries of non-Soviet Asia are divided into groups according to their geographic situation. Located in Western Asia are Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Lebanon, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR), the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen, and others; they form the group of countries of the Near and Middle East. South Asia includes Pakistan, India, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Bangladesh, and Nepal. The Union of Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia make up Southeast Asia. East Asia is composed of Korea, Japan, and most of China. Central Asia comprises the People’s Republic of Mongolia and the remainder of China. The political map (see Table 2) took shape as a result of sociopolitical changes called forth by the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution in Russia (the formation of the USSR) and by the victories of the national liberation struggles of the peoples of colonial and independent countries, especially during and after World War II (1939–45). The people’s democratic rule has been established in Mongolia (the People’s Republic of Mongolia was formed in 1921), Vietnam (the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was proclaimed in 1945), Korea (the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was proclaimed in 1948) and China (the People’s Republic of China was formed in 1949). Former possessions of England which have declared their independence and formed a group of developing Asian countries include the sovereign states of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Jordan, Cyprus, the Maldive Islands, Malaysia, Singapore, the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (on the territory of the British colony and protectorate of Aden), Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. A former Dutch possession is now the state of Indonesia (with which West Irian later reunited); former French holdings are now the states of Syria, Lebanon, Laos, and Cambodia. The state of Israel was formed at the expense of the partition of the historic region of Palestine.

The USA occupied the island of Taiwan—the territory of the People’s Republic of China—in 1950. The Japanese Ryukyu Islands (including the island of Okinawa) were under the military administration of the USA from 1951 to 1972. In 1967, Israel occupied a portion of the territory of Jordan and the UAR, violating the sovereignty of the UAR over the zone of the Suez Canal.

REFERENCES

Zarubezhnaia Aziia: Fizicheskaia geografiia. Moscow, 1956.
Fizicheskaia geografiia chastei sveta. Moscow, 1963.
Vlasova, T. V. Fizicheskaia geografiia chastei sveta, 2nd ed. Moscow, 1966.
Suslov, S. P. Fizicheskaia geografiia SSSR: Aziatskaia chast’, 2nd ed. Moscow, 1954.
Gourou, P. Aziia. Moscow, 1956. (Translated from French.)
Ritter, K. Zemlevedenie Azii, [parts 1–6]. St. Petersburg, 1856–95. (Translated from German.)
Sievers, W. Aziia. St. Petersburg [1908]. (Translated from German.)
Asia. New York-Washington, 1966.
Blanchard, R. Asie occidentale. Géographie Universelle, vol. 8. Paris, 1929.
Cressey, G. B. Asia’s Lands and Peoples: A Geography of One-third of the Earth and Two-thirds of its People, 3rd ed. New York, 1963.
Fairgrieve, J., and E. Young. Asia, 4th ed. London, 1965.
Fleszar, M. Azja. Warsaw, 1961.
Vorderund Siidasien in Natur, Kultur und Wirtschaft. Potsdam, 1937.
Hürlimann, M. L’Asie. Paris, 1956.
Maahs, R., and H. Bronowski. Asien. Leipzig, 1963.
Rawson, R. R. The Monsoon Lands of Asia. Chicago, 1964.
Rawson, R. R., and W. D. G. East. Asia. London, 1966.
Sion, J. Asie de moussons. Géographie Universelle, vol. 9. Paris, 1928–29.
Stamp, L. D. Asia, a Regional and Economic Geography, [11th ed.]. London, [1962].
Sinitsyn, V. M. Paleogeografiia Azii. Moscow-Leningrad, 1962.
Tektonika Evrazii, masshtab 1:5,000,000. Edited by A. L. Ianshin. Moscow, 1966.
Alisov, B. P. Klimaty SSSR. Moscow, 1956.
Vitvitskii, G. N. Klimaty zarubezhnoi Azii. Moscow, 1960.
Vodnye resursy i vodokhoziaistvennye problemy stran Azii. Moscow, 1967.
Pavlov, N. V. Botanicheskaia geografiia zarubezhnykh stran, parts 1–2. Moscow, 1965.
Geografiia i klassifikatsiia pochv Azii. Moscow, 1965. (Collection of articles.)
Magidovich, I. P. Ocherki po istorii geograficheskikh otkrytii. Moscow, 1967.
Gvozdetskii, N. A. Sovetskie geograficheskie issledovaniia i otkrytiia. Moscow, 1967.
Narody Perednei Azii. Moscow, 1957.
Narody Vostochnoi Azii. Moscow-Leningrad, 1965.
Narody lugo-Vostochnoi Azii. Moscow, 1966.
Narody Iuzhnoi Azii. Moscow, 1963.
Narody Sibiri. Moscow-Leningrad, 1956.
Narody Srednei Azii i Kazakhstana, vols. 1–2. Moscow, 1962–63.
Narody Kavkaza, vols. 1–2. Moscow, 1960–62.
Naselenie zemnogo shara: Spravochnik po stranam. Moscow, 1965.

BIBLIOGRAPHIES

Sistematicheskii ukazatel’ statei, kasaiushchikhsia materika Azii, pomeshchennykh v izdaniiakh imp. Russkogo geografich. obshchestva s 1848 po 1887 goda. Irkutsk, 1898.
Mezhov, V. I. Bibliografiia Azii, vols. 1–2. St. Petersburg, 1891–94. (Publication not completed.)
Voiakina, S. M. Strany Azii: Rekomendate’nyi ukazatel’ literatury. Moscow, 1960.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

Asia

[′āzh·ə]

(geography)

The largest continent, comprising the major portion of the broad east-west extent of the Northern Hemisphere land masses.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Asia

despite torture, refuses to deny Moses. [Islam: Walsh Classical, 35]

Allusions—Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

Asia

the largest of the continents, bordering on the Arctic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the Mediterranean and Red Seas in the west. It includes the large peninsulas of Asia Minor, India, Arabia, and Indochina and the island groups of Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Ceylon (Sri Lanka); contains the mountain ranges of the Hindu Kush, Himalayas, Pamirs, Tian Shan, Urals, and Caucasus, the great plateaus of India, Iran, and Tibet, vast plains and deserts, and the valleys of many large rivers including the Mekong, Irrawaddy, Indus, Ganges, Tigris, and Euphrates. Pop.: 3 917 508 000 (2005 est.). Area: 44 391 162 sq. km (17 139 445 sq. miles)

Australia

Australia (ôstrālˈyə), smallest continent, between the Indian and Pacific oceans. With the island state of

Tasmania

to the south, the continent makes up the Commonwealth of Australia, a federal parliamentary state (2020 est. pop. 25,690,000), 2,967,877 sq mi (7,686,810 sq km). Australia's capital is

Canberra

. Its largest city is

Sydney

, closely followed in population by

Melbourne

. There are five continental states (

Queensland

,

New South Wales

,

Victoria

,

South Australia

, and

Western Australia

, in addition to the aforementioned Tasmania) as well as the

Northern Territory

and the

Australian Capital Territory

(an enclave within New South Wales, containing Canberra). Australia's external territories include Norfolk Island, Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and the Australian Antarctic Territory.

Land

The Australian continent extends from east to west some 2,400 mi (3,860 km) and from north to south nearly 2,000 mi (3,220 km). It is on the whole exceedingly flat and dry. Less than 20 in. (50.8 cm) of precipitation falls annually over 70% of the land area. From the narrow coastal plain in the west the land rises abruptly in what, from the sea, appear to be mountain ranges but are actually the escarpments of a rough plateau that occupies the western half of the continent. It is generally from 1,000 to 2,000 ft (305–610 m) high but several mountain ranges rise to nearly 5,000 ft (1,520 m); there are no permanent rivers or lakes in the region. In the southwest corner of the continent there is a small moist and fertile area, but the rest of Western Australia is arid, with large desert areas.

The northern region fronts partly on the Timor Sea, separating Australia from Indonesia and East Timor; it also belongs to the plateau, with tropical temperatures and a winter dry season. Its northernmost section, Arnhem Land (much of which is an aboriginal reserve), faces the Arafura Sea in the north and the huge Gulf of Carpentaria on the east. On the eastern side of the gulf is the Cape York Peninsula, which is largely covered by woodland. Off the coast of NE Queensland is the

Great Barrier Reef

, the world's largest coral reef.

In E Australia are the mountain chains of the

Eastern Highlands

, which run down the entire east and southeast coasts. Mt. Kosciuszko, 7,310 ft (2,228 m), in the Australian Alps in the southeast, is the highest peak on the continent. The rivers on the eastern and southeastern slopes run to the Coral Sea and the Tasman Sea through narrow but rich coastal plains; the rivers on the western slopes flow either N to the Gulf of Carpentaria or W and SW to the Indian Ocean. The longest of all Australian river systems, the Murray River and its tributaries, drains the southern part of the interior basin that lies between the mountains and the great plateau. The rivers of this area are used extensively for irrigation and hydroelectric power.

Australia, remote from any other continent, has many distinctive forms of plant life—notably species of giant eucalyptus—and of animal life, including the kangaroo, the koala, the flying opossum, the wallaby, the wombat, the platypus, and the spiny anteater; it also has many unusual birds. Foreign animals, when introduced, have frequently done well. Rabbits, brought over in 1788, have done entirely too well, multiplying until by the middle of the 19th cent. they became a distinct menace to sheep raising. In 1907 a fence (still maintained) 1,000 mi (1,610 km) long was built from the north coast to the south to prevent the rabbits from invading Western Australia. Introduced red foxes and feral house cats have reduced many native land mammals through predation.

People

Most Australians are of British and Irish ancestry and the majority of the country lives in urban areas. The population has more than doubled since the end of World War II, spurred by an ambitious postwar immigration program. In the postwar years, immigration from Greece, Turkey, Italy, and other countries began to increase Australia's cultural diversity. When Australia officially ended (1973) discriminatory policies dating to the 19th cent. that were designed to prevent immigration by nonwhites, substantial Asian immigration followed. 01/06By 1988 about 40% of immigration to Australia was from Asia, and by 2005 Asians constituted 7% of the population. Also by 2005 roughly one fourth of all Australians had been born outside the country.

The indigenous population, the

Australian aborigines

, estimated to number as little as 300,000 and as many as 800,000 at the time of the Europeans' arrival, was numbered at 366,429 in 2001. Although still more rural than the general population, the aboriginal population has become more urbanized, with some two thirds living in cities. New South Wales and Queensland account for just over half of the Australian aboriginal population. In Tasmania the aboriginal population was virtually wiped out in the 19th cent.

There is no state religion in Australia. The largest religions are the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and other Christian groups. Although education is not a federal concern, government grants have aided in the establishment of state universities including the Univ. of Sydney (1852), the Univ. of Melbourne (1854), the Univ. of Adelaide (1874), and the Univ. of Queensland (in Brisbane, 1909).

Economy

Most of the rich farmland and good ports are in the east and particularly the southeast, except for the area around

Perth

in Western Australia. Melbourne, Sydney,

Brisbane

, and

Adelaide

are the leading industrial and commercial cities. There was considerable industrial development in the last two decades of the 20th cent. While the Australian economy fell into a severe recession in the late 1980s, it experienced an extended period of growth beginning in the 1990s that continued into the late 2010s. It suffered some from the Asian economic slump of the 1990s and from the “Big Dry” drought of the early 21st cent., but it also benefited from increased mineral exports to China during the same period.

Australia is highly industrialized, and manufactured goods account for most of the gross domestic product. Its chief industries include mining, food processing, and the manufacture of industrial and transportation equipment, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles, machinery, and motor vehicles. Australia has valuable mineral resources, including coal, iron, bauxite, copper, tin, gold, silver, uranium, nickel, tungsten, mineral sands, lead, zinc, natural gas, and petroleum; the country is an important producer of opals and diamonds.

The country is self-sufficient in food, and the raising of sheep and cattle and the production of grain have long been staple occupations. Tropical and subtropical produce—citrus fruits, sugarcane, and tropical fruits—are also important, and there are numerous vineyards and dairy and tobacco farms.

Australia maintains a favorable balance of trade. Its chief export commodities are coal, iron ore, gold, meat, wool, alumina, cereals, and machinery and transport equipment. The leading imports are machinery, transportation and telecommunications equipment, computers and office machines, crude oil, and petroleum products. Australia's economic ties with Asia and the Pacific Rim have become increasingly important, with China, Japan, and the United States being its main trading partners.

Government

The executive power of the commonwealth is vested in a governor-general (representing the British sovereign) and a cabinet, presided over by the prime minister, which represents the party or coalition holding a majority in the lower house of parliament. The parliament consists of two houses, the Senate, whose 76 members are elected to six- or three-year terms, depending on whether they represent a state or territory, and the House of Representatives, whose 150 members are elected to three-year terms. The distribution of federal and state powers is roughly like that in the United States. British intervention in Australian affairs was formally abolished in 1986. From its early years the federal government has been noted for its liberal legislation, such as woman suffrage (1902), old-age pensions (1909), and maternity allowances (1912).

History

Early History and Colonization

The groups comprising the aborigines, Australia's first inhabitants, are thought to have migrated from Southeast Asia. Skeletal remains indicate that aborigines arrived in Australia more than 40,000 years ago. Some archaelogical evidence indicates that they were present at least about 55,000 years ago, and other evidence suggests that they were active there about 100,000 years ago. The aborigines spread throughout Australia and remained relatively isolated until the arrival of the Europeans. Genetic evidence suggests that c.4,000 years ago there may have been an additional migration of people related to those now found in India.

Australia may have sighted by a Portuguese, Manuel Godhino de Eredia, in 1601 and by a Spaniard, Luis Vaez de Torres, around 1605–6, but Dutchman Willem

Janszoon

is the first European confirmed to have seen (1606) and landed in Australia. Other Dutch navigators later visited the continent, and the Dutch named it New Holland. In 1688 the Englishman William

Dampier

landed at King Sound on the northwest coast. Little interest was aroused, however, until the fertile east coast was observed when Capt. James

Cook

reached Botany Bay in 1770 and sailed N to Cape York, claiming the coast for Great Britain.

In 1788 the first British settlement was made—a penal colony on the shores of Port Jackson, where Sydney now stands. By 1829 the whole continent was a British dependency. Exploration, begun before the first settlement was founded, was continued by such men as Matthew

Flinders

(1798), Count Paul Strzelecki (1839), Ludwig

Leichhardt

(1848), and John McDouall

Stuart

(first to cross the continent, 1862). Australia was long used as a dumping ground for criminals, bankrupts, and other undesirables from the British Isles. Sheep raising was introduced early, and before the middle of the 19th cent. wheat was being exported in large quantities to England. A gold strike in Victoria in 1851 brought a rush to that region. Other strikes were made later in the century in Western Australia. With minerals, sheep, and grain forming the base of the economy, Australia developed rapidly. By the mid-19th cent. systematic, permanent colonization had completely replaced the old penal settlements. Economic marginalization, disease, and killings by settlers devastated the aboriginal population in the century after settlement began.

Modern Australia

Confederation of the separate Australian colonies did not come until a constitution, drafted in 1897–98, was approved by the British parliament in 1900. It was put into operation in 1901; under its terms, the colonies of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, and Tasmania, all of which had by then been granted self-government, were federated in the Commonwealth of Australia. The Northern Territory was added to the Commonwealth in 1911. The new federal government moved quickly to institute high protective tariffs (to restrain competition to Australian industry) and to initiate a strict anti-Asian “White Australia” immigration policy, which was not lifted until 1956. Under the policy the government deported (1906–8) many South Sea Islanders who had worked and lived (from the 1860s) in Australia as indentured laborers, sometimes under conditions resembling forced labor.

Australia fought alongside Great Britain in both world wars. During World War I, the nation was part of the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps (Anzac), which fought bravely in many battles, notably in the

Gallipoli campaign

of 1915. During World War II, Darwin, Port Jackson, and Newcastle were bombed or shelled by the Japanese. The Allied victory in the battle of the Coral Sea (1942) probably averted a full-scale attack on Australia. After the war Australia became increasingly active in world affairs, particularly in defense and development projects with its Asian neighbors; it furnished troops to aid the U.S. war effort in South Vietnam. At home, from 1949 to 1972 the government was controlled by a Liberal-Country party coalition with, until 1966, Robert

Menzies

as prime minister. Gough

Whitlam

's subsequent Labor government (1972–75), though controversial at the time, introduced social reforms, including increasing nonwhite immigration and improving access to health care and university education, that subsequently transformed Australian society. When a budget crisis with the opposition-controlled senate led to Whitlam's dismissal by the governor-general, the Liberal–National Country coalition, led by Malcolm

Fraser

, returned to power. Legislation passed in 1976 permitted aboriginal peoples for the first time to claim land rights based their association with the land. Limited to the Northern Territory, it led to a series of land rights and native title laws that utlimately established aboriginal title to roughly a third of Australia.

In 1983, Bob

Hawke

won his first of four terms as prime minister against a coalition of the Liberal and National parties. In 1991, as Australia foundered in a deep recession, Hawke lost the prime ministership to fellow Laborite Paul

Keating

. Keating led Labor to its fifth consecutive electoral victory in 1993. In the Mar., 1996, elections, however, 13 years of Labor rule were ended by a Liberal-National party coalition led by John

Howard

, who promised deregulation, smaller government, and other conservative economic reforms. Howard's coalition was reelected, although by a smaller margin, in 1998.

In a 1999 referendum, voters rejected a plan to replace the British monarch as head of state with a president elected by the parliament. In Nov., 2001, after a campaign dominated by issues of nonwhite immigration and national security, Howard's government was returned to office for a third term. In 2002–3, Australia experienced one of the worst droughts of the past 100 years, and wildfires scorched some 7.4 million acres (3 million hectares) of the bush. After Great Britain, Australia was the most prominent supporter militarily of the United States' invasion of Iraq in 2003, sending a force of about 2,000 to the Persian Gulf, and the country has taken an increasingly interventionist role in surrounding region, sending forces to the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, and East Timor to restore law and order.

Benefiting from a prosperous economy, Howard led his coalition to a fourth consecutive term, winning a strong mandate in the Oct., 2004, national elections. In Jan., 2005, the country again experienced deadly bush fires, in South Australia. The Sydney area was stunned by several days of ethnically-based mob violence (between Australians of European and Middle Eastern descent) in Dec., 2005. A scandal involving kickbacks paid under the oil-for-food program to Saddam Hussein's Iraq by AWB Ltd. (the private Australian wheat-exporting monopoly that formerly was the Australian Wheat Board) threatened in 2006 to entangle Howard's government. The government admitted in March that, despite previous denials, it was aware there were charges that AWB was paying kickbacks, but said officials had received assurances from AWB that no payments had been made. Late in 2006 the commission investigating AWB cleared government officials (but not AWB officials) of criminal activity.

Relations with the Solomon Islands became tense in 2006 when Australia criticized a Solomons investigation into the post-election unrest there in April as a potential whitewash. The appointment as Solomons attorney general of Julian Moti, an Australian of Fijian descent who was wanted in Australia on child sex charges, further strained relations. Australia sought Moti's extradition from Papua New Guinea, where he was arrested (Sept., 2006) but managed to flee with apparent help from the Solomons embassy; Australia continued to seek Moti's extradition after he illegally entered the Solomons and was held there. Moti was ultimately deported (2007) to Australia, but in 2009 and 2011 the charges against him were permanently stayed and then the case's prosecution was ended.

By late 2006, Australia was experiencing its sixth dry year in a row, and many observers termed the worsening “Big Dry” as the worst in the nation's history; 2003 and 2006 were especially dry years. In 2007 and especially 2008 there was improved rainfall in parts of E Australia, but drought conditions continued in many areas. Parliamentary elections in Nov., 2007, brought the Labor party into office; party leader Kevin

Rudd

, a former diplomat, became prime minister. The Rudd government embarked on significant reversals of Howard's policies, promising to withdraw Australian combat troops from Iraq, moving to adopt the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, and apologizing to the aborigines for Australia's past mistreatment of them.

Australia experienced several severe natural disasters in early 2009. Queensland suffered from significant and widespread flooding due to cyclone rains in Jan. and Feb., 2009; additional significant coastal flooding occurred in Queensland and New South Wales in May. In Feb.–Mar., 2009, SE Australia suffered the worst outbreak of bushfires in the nation's history; more than 1 million acres (400,000 hectares) were burned and some 170 people died, with the worst devastation NE of Melbourne, Victoria. Rudd lost popularity in 2010 over his backdown on carbon trading and his support for increased mining taxes, and in June Julia

Gillard

, his deputy, mounted a leadership challenge, leading him to step aside. Gillard succeeded Rudd as Labor party leader and prime minister, becoming Australia's first woman prime minister.

In early elections that Gillard called for Aug., 2010, neither of the main parties won a majority. Although the Liberal-National coalition narrowly won a plurality of the seats, Gillard and Labor secured the support of enough independents in parliament to cling to power. In 2010 significant rains finally ended drought conditions in most areas of Australia (except SW Australia). Areas of E Australia were flooded in late 2010 and early 2011 due to heavy rains; the floods were especially devastating and extensive in E Queensland. In Feb., 2012, and again in Mar., 2013, Gillard survived leadership challenges from Rudd, but in June, 2013, she lost the party leadership to Rudd (who now was regarded as more popular than her) and he succeeded her as prime minister.

In the Sept., 2013, general election the Liberal-National coalition soundly defeated Labor, and Liberal leader Tony

Abbott

became prime minister. The country signed a free-trade agreement with China, its most important trade partner, in 2015. A series of unpopular policy decisions undermined the prime minister by 2015, and in September, the previous Liberal leader, Malcolm

Turnbull

, successfully challenged Abbott for the leadership post and succeeded him as prime minister. In 2016, Turnbull called early elections in July after the senate failed to pass several bills the lower house had adopted. The ruling coalition narrowly retained control of the lower house and failed to secure a majority in the senate, where it also lost seats.

Turnbull's unpopularity led to a Liberal party leadership contest in 2018, and Scott

Morrison

succeeded him as party leader and prime minister. The Liberals subsequently lost Turnbull's seat but remained in power as a minority government. In the May, 2019, elections, Morrison led the Liberal-National coalition, which had been expected to lose, to a lower-house majority and an improved plurality in the senate. From Sept., 2019 into Feb., 2020, the country suffered its worst bushfire season on record; New South Wales was the worst-affected state. In the first half of 2020 the country experienced its first recession in three decades as a result of restrictions imposed to control the spread of COVID 19. During 2020, existing tensions with China were exacerbated by the COVID 19 pandemic and contentions over its origins in China, and led to Chinese restrictions on a range of imports from Australia, which further soured relations.

Bibliography

See Sir Archibald Price, Island Continent: Aspects of the Historical Geography of Australia and its Territories (1972); A. G. Shaw, The Story of Australia (4th ed. 1972); J. Bessett, ed., The Oxford Dictionary of Australian History (1987); R. Hughes, The Fatal Shore (1987); B. Hofmeister, Australia and Its Urban Centres (1988); D. Money, Australia Today (1989); K. Hancock, ed., Australian Society (1989); S. L. Goldberg and F. B. Smith, Australian Cultural History (1989); K. Hancock, ed., Australian Society (1990); T. Keneally, Australia: Beyond the Dreamtime (1989) and A Commonwealth of Thieves: The Improbable Birth of Australia (2006).

---

Austral Islands

Austral Islands (ôˈstrəl), volcanic island group, South Pacific, part of

French Polynesia

. They are sometimes known as the Tubuai Islands. The group comprises seven islands, plus islets, with a total land area of c.115 sq mi (300 sq km). Tubuai, the largest island (c.17 sq mi/44 sq km), was visited by Capt. James

Cook

in 1777 and was annexed by France in 1880. European diseases and slavers very nearly wiped out the native Polynesian population of the islands, especially on Rapa. In 1938, French authorities imposed strict regulations on immigration and tourism. Coffee, arrowroot, tobacco, and copra are produced on the islands.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia™ Copyright © 2022, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

Australia

(dreams)

The Australian Aborigines are divided into more than five hundred distinct tribal groups that have developed over a span of fifty thousand years. Although these groups are very different, they have much in common regarding their beliefs about the human race and nature.

The various tribes all believe in the mutual interdependence of humanity and nature, on the need each has for the other, and on the need to bring the latter into the historical and ceremonial life of the former. According to the Aborigines, each individual must do what the great heroes did in the “dream-time,” the mythical age of the past which is simultaneously the present. Humanity and nature exist and are as they are because of the personal actions of heroes in the past. A historical continuity with the heroic past is possible through rites of initiation that familiarize people with that past and thus make them vicarious participants in it. During these rights Aborigines reenact the doings of the hero or heroes concerned, and in so doing, act out the myth.

The common term used by Aborigines for the heroic past also means dreaming, and corresponds with a person’s totem, which in this case is a myth marking the feats of a particular hero (or heroes). Dreaming is a symbol of the long-past heroic age, as well as the means of access to it. The Aborigines believe that life and death are part of a cycle beginning and ending in dream-time: the cycle is sustained by totems, ancestral sacred spots, and rituals that keep the tribe linked to the ancestors. During the experience of dreaming, the limitations of space and time are nonexistent, and it is believed that dreams reveal events which have happened or are going to happen in the future, through the mythical and practical information given by dead ancestors and heroes.

Past, present, and future coexist, and the eternal dream-time was manifested in the past through the heroes, in the present through the initiated, and, if the links between past and present are not broken, it will continue to be manifested in the future. By reliving the dream-time experiences of their heroes, the Aborigines believe they can be connected to the time of the heroes’ creation and the power of their ancestors, who are still present in the world and protect people.

The dreams of Australian Aborigines represent the universe as it seems to them, and they often assert that in sleep they can see distant people, even those who are dead. A strong mutual interaction exists between dreaming and waking in the Aborigines’ life, and they frequently fail to distinguish between waking events and dream events. It has been remarked that many of the rituals performed in dreams are applied to activities in later life, and many ceremonies are adopted directly from what is seen in visions or in sleep by special individuals.

Diverse explanations of dreams are given by the different Australian tribes. For instance, the Dieri tribe believe that the spirit of a dead person can visit a sleeper. When this occurs, the dream is reported to the medicine man, who, if he considers it to he a vision, gives special instructions. The Narrang-ga say that the human spirit can leave the body in sleep and communicate with the spirits of others, or with the spirits of the dead who wander as ghosts in the bush.

The Jupagalk believe that a person in great pain can be helped by the dream visit of some dead friend. According to the Wurunjerri, who have the same belief, the spirit of each person, which they call Murup, can leave the body during sleep, particularly when the sleeper snores. The Murup, however, can also be sent out of the sleeper by means of evil magic. The human spirit is called Yambo by the Kurnai, who likewise believe that it can leave the body during sleep.

The Ngarigo believe that in dreams, which they call gung-ung-mura-nung-ya, they can see ghosts. The Yuin Gommeras believe in the possibility of receiving songs in dreams, as well as information about approaching enemies. They also think that relatives of a dead man can see who killed him in a dream. The same belief is shared by the Wiimbaio, who say that, when they dream such a thing, they have been to some other country, where a person has told them.

The Dream Encyclopedia, Second Edition © 2009 Visible Ink Press®. All rights reserved.

Australia

[ȯ′strāl·yə]

(geography)

An island continent of 2,941,526 square miles (7,618,517 square kilometers), with low elevation and moderate relief, situated in the southern Pacific.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Australia

Official name: Commonwealth of Australia

Capital city: Canberra

Internet country code: .au

Flag description: Blue with the flag of the United Kingdom in the upper hoist-side quadrant and a large seven-point­ed star in the lower hoist-side quadrant known as the Commonwealth or Federation Star, representing the fed­eration of the colonies of Australia in 1901; the star depicts one point for each of the six original states and one representing all of Australia’s internal and external territories; on the fly half is a representation of the South­ern Cross constellation in white with one small five-point­ed star and four larger, seven-pointed stars

National anthem: “Advance Australia Fair” by Peter Dodds McCormick

National flower: Golden wattle (Acacia pycnantha Benth.)

National gemstone: Opal

Geographical description: Oceania, continent between the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean

Total area: 3 million sq. mi. (7.7 million sq. km.)

Climate: Generally arid to semiarid; temperate in south and east; tropical in north

Nationality: noun: Australian(s); adjective: Australian

Population: 20,434,176 (July 2007 CIA est.)

Ethnic groups: European 92%, Asian 7%, Aboriginal and other 1%

Languages spoken: English 79.1%, Chinese 2.1%, Italian 1.9%, other 11.1%, unspecified 5.8%

Religions: Roman Catholic 26.4%, Anglican 20.5%, other Christian 20.5%, Buddhist 1.9%, Muslim 1.5%, other 1.2%, unspecified 12.7%, none 15.3%

Legal Holidays:

Anzac Day	Apr 25
Boxing Day	Dec 26
Christmas Day	Dec 25
Easter Monday	Apr 25, 2011 ; Apr 9, 2012 ; Apr 1, 2013 ; Apr 21, 2014 ; Apr 6, 2015 ; Mar 28, 2016 ; Apr 17, 2017 ; Apr 2, 2018 ; Apr 22, 2019 ; Apr 13, 2020 ; Apr 5, 2021 ; Apr 18, 2022 ; Apr 10, 2023
Good Friday	Apr 22, 2011 ; Apr 6, 2012 ; Mar 29, 2013 ; Apr 18, 2014 ; Apr 3, 2015 ; Mar 25, 2016 ; Apr 14, 2017 ; Mar 30, 2018 ; Apr 19, 2019 ; Apr 10, 2020 ; Apr 2, 2021 ; Apr 15, 2022 ; Apr 7, 2023
Holy Saturday	Apr 22, 2011 ; Apr 6, 2012 ; Mar 29, 2013 ; Apr 18, 2014 ; Apr 3, 2015 ; Mar 25, 2016 ; Apr 14, 2017 ; Mar 30, 2018 ; Apr 19, 2019 ; Apr 10, 2020 ; Apr 2, 2021 ; Apr 15, 2022 ; Apr 7, 2023
Labour Day	Mar 14, 2011 ; Mar 12, 2012 ; Mar 11, 2013 ; Mar 10, 2014 ; Mar 9, 2015 ; Mar 14, 2016 ; Mar 13, 2017 ; Mar 12, 2018 ; Mar 11, 2019 ; Mar 9, 2020 ; Mar 8, 2021 ; Mar 14, 2022 ; Mar 13, 2023
Melbourne Cup Day	Nov 1, 2011 ; Nov 6, 2012 ; Nov 5, 2013 ; Nov 4, 2014 ; Nov 3, 2015 ; Nov 1, 2016 ; Nov 7, 2017 ; Nov 6, 2018 ; Nov 5, 2019 ; Nov 3, 2020 ; Nov 2, 2021 ; Nov 1, 2022 ; Nov 7, 2023
New Year's Day	Jan 1
Queen Elizabeth II Birthday	Jun 13, 2011 ; Jun 11, 2012 ; Jun 10, 2013 ; Jun 9, 2014 ; Jun 8, 2015 ; Jun 13, 2016 ; Jun 12, 2017 ; Jun 11, 2018 ; Jun 10, 2019 ; Jun 8, 2020 ; Jun 14, 2021 ; Jun 13, 2022 ; Jun 12, 2023

Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations of the World Dictionary, Fourth Edition. © 2010 by Omnigraphics, Inc.

Australia

a country and the smallest continent, situated between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific: a former British colony, now an independent member of the Commonwealth, constitutional links with Britain formally abolished in 1986; consists chiefly of a low plateau, mostly arid in the west, with the basin of the Murray River and the Great Dividing Range in the east and the Great Barrier Reef off the NE coast. Official language: English. Religion: Christian majority. Currency: dollar. Capital: Canberra. Pop.: 19 913 000 (2004 est.). Area: 7 682 300 sq. km (2 966 150 sq. miles)

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

Europe

Europe (yo͝orˈəp), 6th largest continent, c.4,000,000 sq mi (10,360,000 sq km) including adjacent islands (2015 est. pop. 740,814,000). It is actually a vast peninsula of the great Eurasian land mass. By convention, it is separated from Asia by the Urals and the Ural River in the east; by the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus in the southeast; and by the Black Sea, the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles in the south. The Mediterranean Sea and the Strait of Gibraltar separate it from Africa. Europe is washed in the north by the Arctic Ocean, and in the west by the Atlantic Ocean, with which the North Sea and the Baltic Sea are connected.

Physical Geography

The huge Alpine mountain chain, of which the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Carpathians, the Balkans, and the Caucasus are the principal links, traverses the continent from west to east. The highest points are Mt. Elbrus (18,481 ft/5,633 m) in the Caucasus and Mont Blanc (15,771 ft/4,807 m) in the Alps. Europe's lowest point (92 ft/28 m below sea level) is the surface of the Caspian Sea. Between the mountainous Scandinavian peninsula in the north and the Alpine chain in the south lie the Central European Uplands surrounded by the great European plain, stretching from the Atlantic coast of France to the Urals.

A large part of this plain (which is interrupted by minor mountain groups and hills) has fertile agricultural soil; in the east and north there are vast steppe, forest, lake, and tundra regions. South of the Alpine chain extend the Iberian, Italian, and Balkan peninsulas, which are largely mountainous. The Po plain, between the Alps and the Apennines, and the Alföld plain, between the Carpathians and the Alps, are fertile and much-developed regions. Among the chief river systems of Europe are, from east to west, those of the Volga, the Don, the Dnieper, the Danube, the Vistula, the Oder, the Elbe, the Rhine, the Rhône, the Loire, the Garonne, and the Tagus.

Climate

The climate of Europe varies from subtropical to polar. The Mediterranean climate of the south is dry and warm. The western and northwestern parts have a mild, generally humid climate, influenced by the North Atlantic Drift. In central and eastern Europe the climate is of the humid continental-type with cool summers. In the northeast subarctic and tundra climates are found. All of Europe is subject to the moderating influence of prevailing westerly winds from the Atlantic Ocean and, consequently, its climates are found at higher latitudes than similar climates on other continents.

Regions

Europe can be divided into seven geographic regions: Scandinavia (Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark); the British Isles (the United Kingdom and Ireland); W Europe (France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Monaco); S Europe (Portugal, Spain, Andorra, Italy, Malta, San Marino, and Vatican City); Central Europe (Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary); SE Europe (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, and the European part of Turkey); and E Europe (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, the European portion of Russia, and by convention the Transcaucasian countries of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan).

People

Indo-European languages (see

The Indo-European Family of Languages

, table) predominate in Europe; others spoken include Basque, Maltese, and the languages classified as Finno-Ugric, Samoyedic, Bulgaric, and Turkic. Roman Catholicism is the chief religion of S and W Europe and the southern part of central Europe; Protestantism is dominant in Great Britain, Scandinavia, and the northern part of Europe; the Orthodox Eastern Church predominates in E and SE Europe; and there are pockets of of Muslim predominance in the Balkan Peninsula and Transcaucasia. With the exception of the northern third of the continent, Europe is densely populated. Eleven cities have populations 04/96exceeding two million inhabitants; London, Moscow, and Paris are the largest cities.

Economy and Transportation

Europe is highly industrialized; the largest industrial areas are found in W central Europe, England, N Italy, Ukraine, and European Russia. Agriculture, forestry (in N Europe), and fishing (along the Atlantic coast) are also important. Europe has a large variety of minerals; coal, iron ore, and salt are abundant. Oil and gas are found in E Europe and beneath the North Sea. Coal is used to produce a significant, but declining amount of Europe's electricity; in Norway and Sweden and in the Alps hydroelectric plants supply a large percentage of the power. More than 25% of Europe's electricity is generated from nuclear power.

The transportation system in Europe is highly developed; interconnecting rivers and canals provide excellent inland water transportation in central and W Europe. The

Channel Tunnel

connects Great Britain to France. The countries of Europe engage heavily in foreign trade, and some of the world's greatest ports are found there. Rotterdam with the huge new Europort complex, London, Le Havre, Hamburg, Genoa, and Marseilles are the chief ports.

Outline of History

Historical Currents

The beginnings of civilization in Europe can be traced to very ancient times; the necropolis at Varna in Bulgaria and Stonehenge in England are among the remains of early European cultures that are otherwise lost. Greek and Roman cultures subsequently flourished in Europe, and European civilization—language, technology, political concepts, and the Christian religion—have been spread throughout the world by European colonists and immigrants. Throughout history, Europe has been the scene of many great and destructive wars that have ravaged both rural and urban areas. Once embraced by vast and powerful empires and kingdoms, successful nationalistic uprisings (especially in the 19th cent.) divided the continent into many sovereign states. The political fragmentation led to economic competition and political strife among the states.

Modern History

After World War II, Europe became divided into two ideological blocs (Eastern Europe, dominated by the USSR, and Western Europe, dominated by the United States) and became engaged in the cold war. The

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

(NATO) was formed as a military deterrent to the spread of Communism and sought to maintain a military balance with its eastern equivalent, the

Warsaw Treaty Organization

. Cold war tensions eased in the 1960s, and signs of normalization of East-West relations appeared in the 1970s.

In Western Europe, the

European Economic Community

(Common Market), the

European Coal and Steel Community

, and the

European Atomic Energy Community

(Euratom) merged in 1967 to form the European Community. Known since 1993 as the

European Union

, the organization aims to develop economic and monetary union among its members, ultimately leading to political union. The Eastern European counterpart was the

Council for Mutual Economic Assistance

(COMECON), which, like the Warsaw Treaty Organization, dissolved with the breakup of the Soviet bloc in the early 1990s.

The loosening of political control sparked a revival of the long pent-up ethnic nationalism and a wave of democratization that led to an overthrow of the Communist governments in Eastern Europe. In the former Yugoslavia, ethnic tensions between Muslims, Croats, and Serbs were unleashed, leading to civil war and massacres of members of ethnic groups, or “ethnic cleansing,” in areas where other groups won military control. During the early and mid-1990s most of the former Soviet bloc countries embarked on economic restructuring programs to transform their centralized economies into market-based ones. The pace of reform varied, especially as the hardships involved became increasingly evident. Meanwhile, in Western Europe the European Union, amid some tensions, continued working toward greater political and economic unity, including the creation of a common European currency.

Bibliography

See S. B. Clough et al., ed., The European Past (2 vol., 1964); Denis de Rougemont, The Idea of Europe (tr. 1966); John Bowle, The Unity of European History: A Political and Cultural Survey (rev. and enl. ed. 1970); Richard Mayne, The Europeans: Who Are We? (1972); Stephen Usherwood, Europe, Century by Century (1973); T. G. Jordan, The European Culture Area (2d ed. 1988); T. Judt, Postwar: A History of Europe since 1945 (2005); M. E. Sarotte, 1989: The Struggle to Create Post–Cold War Europe (2009); B. Simms, Europe: The Struggle for Supremacy from 1453 to the Present (2013); K. H. Jarausch, Out of Ashes: A New History of Europe in the Twentieth Century (2015); I. Kershaw, To Hell and Back: Europe, 1914–1949 (2015).

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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Europe

 

(Greek:Eurōpē, from the Assyrian Ereb , “the West”; in ancient Greece, the name for territories located west of the Aegean Sea), a part of the world; the western part of the continent of Eurasia.

Europe is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean and its seas—the Kara, Barents, White, and Norwegian seas. In the west and south it is washed by the Atlantic Ocean and its seas—the Baltic, North, Irish, Mediterranean, and Black seas and the seas of Marmara and Azov. In the east and southeast the border between Europe and Asia is most commonly accepted as passing through the eastern foothills of the Urals and along the Emba River to the Caspian Sea and along the Kuma and Manych rivers to the mouth of the Don. The extreme continental points of Europe are in the north, North Cape, 71°08’ N lat., in the south, Point Marroqui, 36° N lat, in the west, Capa da Roca, 9°34’ W long., and in the east, the eastern foothills of the polar Urals near Baidaratak Bay, 67°20’ E long. Europe also has islands and archipelagoes, the largest of which are Novaia Zemlia, Franz Josef Land (Cape Fligeli on Rodol’f Island is the northernmost point of Europe, at 81°49’ N lat.), Svalbard, Iceland, the British Isles, Zeeland, the Balearic Islands, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, and Crete. Within the borders defined above, the area of Europe, including its islands, is approximately 10 million sq km. The area of the islands alone is approximately 730,000 sq km.

In some geographic as well as statistical and economic works, the Caucasus (including Ciscaucasia and Transcaucasia as far as the state borders of the USSR) are treated as part of Europe.

It is a commonly accepted practice to divide Europe into two major parts: Eastern Europe (most of the European territory of the USSR) and Western Europe (most of the non-Soviet area of Europe).

Coastline. Compared to other parts of the world, Europe is outstanding for the great diversity of its coastline: for every 1 km of coastline there is about 246 sq km of territory. The total length of the coastline is approximately 38,000 km, and the maximum distance of the interior regions of Europe from the sea is 1,600 km. Peninsulas account for about 25 percent of Europe’s area. The major peninsulas are the Kanin, Kola, Scandinavian, Iberian, Italian, Balkan, and Crimean peninsulas, Jutland, and Brittany.

Smooth, regular, eroded coasts prevail, formed primarily by the wave action of the sea (for example, the eastern shores of the White Sea and the southeastern shores of the Barents Sea, the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, the western coast of the North Sea, the eastern coast of the Bay of Biscay, and much of the coastlines of the Mediterranean and Black seas). The southern and southeastern shores of the North Sea and parts of the southern shore of the Barents Sea are marshy, formed by the action of the tides on lowland’s.

In the remaining regions of the continent, relatively high, extremely dissected tectonic shores prevail, such as the faulted coasts of the Kola Peninsula and the folded coasts in the northern part of the Iberian Peninsula. The fiord and cliff coasts of the Norwegian Sea, the northern part of the Baltic Sea, and the shores of Scotland and Iceland were formed by glaciers. A number of European coasts were changed by intrusions of the sea (the ria coasts of the peninsulas of Brittany, Wales, and western Ireland, the northwestern part of the Iberian Peninsula, and the Dalmatian coast in the western Balkan Peninsula).

Basic orography. In its average elevation (about 300 m) and its maximum elevation (4,807 m, Mont Blanc, the Alps), Europe lags behind the other continents, with the exception of Australia. Approximately 60 percent of Europe’s surface is located at an elevation of less than 200 m. (In many instances, the surface of the continent is below sea level. The shores of the Caspian Sea are at −28 m, and several portions of the shores of the North and Baltic seas are below sea level.) Of the remaining surface, 24 percent is from 200 to 500m above sea level, 10 percent is from 500 to 1,000m, and 6 percent is at elevations of more than 1,000 m (including 1.5 percent at elevations higher than 2,000 m).

The distribution of surface elevations indicates the prevalence of plains in Europe. Almost all of Eastern Europe and the northern part of Central Europe are occupied by the Eastern European (Russian) Plain and its extension in the west—the Central European Plain. A considerable portion of Fennoscandia is also occupied by plains, and in the remaining regions of the continent, plains are scattered between the mountains (for example, the Central Danubian and Lower Danubian plains).

In the extreme east lie the Ural Mountains, and in the northwest, the Scandinavian uplands. The southern part of Central Europe is ringed by belts of mountains that are small in area and low in elevation: the French Massif Central, the Vosges, the Black Forest, and the Rhenish Slate Mountains. From the south these belts are framed by the highest mountains in Europe—the Alps—as well as by the Carpathians. Mountainous relief prevails in southern Europe: the Pyrenees, the Andalusian Mountains, the Apennines, the Stara Planina (Balkan Mountains), and the Dinaric, Rhodope, and Pindus mountains.

Origin and development of topography. The predominance in Europe of platform structures is manifested in the wide distribution of plains, which are especially characteristic of Eastern Europe. Located in the northwestern part of the Eastern European Platform are the socle plains of Fennoscandia, which were formed as a result of a prolonged denudation (beginning in the Paleozoic period) of the surface of the Baltic Shield. During the Pleistocene epoch the Fennoscandian terrain was made more complex by the action of glaciers that covered the area. Socle plains are also found in the southern and eastern parts of Scandinavia, Finland, the Kola Peninsula, and Karelia. Low plains (elevations up to 100–150 m) prevail, with thick but shallow tectonic dissection, frequent drops in elevation, and widely distributed morainic ridges, eskers, kames, and depressions, many of which are filled with lakes.

Individual uplands and ridges (Småland, Suomenselkä, Maanselkä, and Western Karelian highlands, the Vetrenyi Poias, and the Keivy) and low and medium-height hills (the Lovozerok Tundras and the Khibiny) correspond to the zones of the greatest tectonic uplifts or to outcroppings of very dense rocks. There are stratified and accumulation plains on the European Platform and on the syneclises of the Epipaleozoic platforms adjacent to it (in the south, the Scythian Plain, and in the west, the Western European Plain). These plains were formed by the prolonged accumulation of sedimentary rocks of the platform bed, whose stratification is primarily horizontal or monoclinal (the latter type is found chiefly in the northwest).

In addition to overall flatness and low average elevation (approximately 170 m), the surface of Europe is characterized by a combination of uplands up to 300–400 m (the Central Russian Valdai, Volga Region, Verkhniaia Kama, Bugul’-ma-Belebei, and Severnye Uvaly uplands) and lowlands (the Oka-Don Plain, the Black Sea Region, the Pechora, and the Caspian Lowland, as well as the Trans-Volga Region and the Central European Plain). The tectonic diversity of the platform’s base and the varying direction and scope of neotectonic movements are reflected in the combination of uplands and lowlands.

The northern regions of the stratified plains, which were altered by Pleistocene glaciers, have numerous glacial and aqueoglacial plains and glacial forms of terrain that were laid down on the preglacial surface of ancient river valleys, water divides, and cuesta ridges. In general, fewer glacial forms are encountered as one moves south toward the boundaries of maximum glaciation (Dnieper glaciation). Glacial terrain is especially well preserved in the regions of the most recent (Valdai) glaciation, which are characterized by recent morainic ridges (for example, the Baltic ridges of the Valdai Hills), basal morainic hills, and glacial lake lowlands. Plains that lie between the boundaries of the maximal and the most recent glaciation have a glacial terrain that has been extensively reworked by erosion and denudation. In these areas gently rolling morainic plains and almost flat, sandy outwash plains prevail (Poles’e, the Oka-Don Plain, and the southern regions of the Central European Plain). The remnants of ancient morainic ridges are also found in northern Byelorussia and on the Smolensk-Moscow Upland.

Most of the nonglaciated regions of Europe are occupied by stratified plains, with water-eroded reliefs characterized by mature, broad, terraced, asymmetrical river valleys, as well as by ravines, gullies, and comparatively flat water divides. Particularly deep dissection caused by erosion characterizes the Central Russian, Volga Region, Podolian, and Dnieper Region uplands, most of which are covered by a thick layer of loess and loessial loams. The Trans-Volga Region, considerable areas of which lack loose top soil deposits, are less dissected. Associated with the geologic youth, low absolute elevation, and arid climate of the Caspian Lowland (a marine accumulation plain that recently emerged from below sea level) are predominantly flat surfaces. Small sinkholes (1–5 m deep) and hollows are encountered in the north. In the south, the terrain is more complex, with clays and low sandy ridges (2–8 m high) and hillocks. Located among the stratified plains of the Donetsk, Timansk, and Chernyshev ridges are eroded and denuded uplands, which are related to outcrops of the folded base. The Dnieper and Azov uplands are socle plains partially buried under a sedimentary cover.

Located in the western part of the Scandinavian Peninsula, framing the Fennoscandian socle plains, are the regenerated folded block and block Scandinavian mountains, which were formed on the site of the structures of the Caledonian Region and (in the south and southeast) the Baltic Shield, which were uplifed and became peneplains during the Cenozoic era. Flat-topped massifs— fjelds— prevail, dissected by deep, trough-shaped valleys with steep western and more gently sloping eastern sides. Topographical features formed by glacial exaration are widespread on the Scandinavian Peninsula. The highest peaks have an alpine relief. The lower mountains in the northern part of Great Britain have similar characteristics (the Scottish Highlands and the Southern Uplands of Scotland).

Regions where Hercynian folded structures are widespread have primarily rejuvenated, folded block mountains of medium elevation. The best example of this type of terrain is the Ural Mountains. Located in the Ural-Tien-Shan folded region, they are a system of parallel ranges extending meridionally and divided by longitudinal and lateral depressions, which are occupied by river valleys. Prolonged, intensive denudation resulted in the formation of a series of pene-plains in the Urals, and only neotectonic movements have rejuvenated the mountainous terrain. Mountain ranges of low and medium elevations prevail, with flat or domed peaks and gently contoured slopes. The polar Urals and the Urals below the arctic circle have mountain-glacial forms of terrain and small glaciers.

In the Western European Hercynian Zone the low and medium-height folded-block and block mountains and uplands, which correspond to the anteclises of the folded foundation (for example, the Massif Central of France, the Armorican Massif, the Cambrian Mountains, the Vosges, the Black Forest, the Rhenish Slate Mountains, the Bohemian Massif, including the Ore Mountains, the Sudetes, and the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands) underwent intensive tectonic disintegration. In many places, these mountains alternate with plains on grabens (the Upper Rhine and Rhone lowlands) and with stratified, stepped cuesta plains, which are primarily related to syneclises of a folded foundation (the Paris, London, and Thuringian basins and the Swabian-Franconian Plain).

A diverse topography distinguishes the Alpine geosynclinal folded region, whose mountainous relief is characterized by folded and block-folded, alpine, medium-height and high, linearly extended or arch-shaped curved mountain ranges, with sharp watershed crests and well-developed slopes and foothills. The highest of these mountains are the Alps, whose orographic continuation in the northwest is the Jura and in the northeast, the Carpathians, which subsequently form a transition to the Stara Planina. In the south-east the Alps run into the Dinaric and Pindus mountains and the mountains of the Peloponnese and the island of Crete, and in the south, they join the Apennine Mountains. Also included in this type of mountainous relief are the Pyrenees and the Andalusian and Crimean mountains. Water erosion, the development of karst, and other geologic processes played a considerable role in forming the terrain of these mountains. A number of Pleistocene glaciers affected the terrain of the highest mountains, and glaciers still cause significant changes in the Alps. Karst forms are most typical in the limestone regions of the Alps, the Jura, and the Dinaric and Crimean mountains.

Also characteristic of European orography are regions of medium-height and low block ranges and plateaus, which are confined to the intermediate massifs of the Paleozoic era and have a relatively level peak surface, deep tectonic dissection, and steep slopes. (Examples of this type of relief include the Rhodope and Rila mountains, the mountains of Macedonia and eastern Greece, the Calabrian Apennines, most of the mountains of Corsica and Sardinia, the Sierra de Credos and Sierra de Guadarrama of the Iberian Peninsula, and the Cantabrian Mountains.)

A considerable part of Europe is occupied by stratified and accumulation plains and plateaus of intermontane and piedmont downwarps, in which geologic forms caused by water erosion and accumulation prevail (the Central Danubian, Lower Danubian, Padanus, Andalusian, and Portuguese plains and the plateaus of New and Old Castile). Karst relief is frequently encountered on these types of plains and plateaus (the Karst and Dobruja plateaus).

The topography of Iceland is unique, characterized by a series of basalt plateaus of varying elevations, which are topped by the domes and cones of extinct and active volcanoes, often buried under glaciers. Glacial forms of terrain are widespread.

R. A. ERAMOV

Geologic structure and minerals. Europe is distinguished by the high level and great complexity of the studies on its geologic structure. It is located within the boundaries of the Eastern European (Russian) or European Platform, which has a folded foundation dating from the Precambrian era. In the east (within the area of the Russian Platform), where it is deeply submerged, and in the eastern part of the Baltic Shield, where it protrudes on the surface, the foundation is composed of Archean and early Proterozoic rocks. In the west (southern Scandinavia, Denmark, and Great Britain) late Proterozoic metamorphic rocks are widely developed.

After the consolidation of the foundation, which occurred during the last 1.2–1.6 billion years, individual sections of the platform were covered for long periods by seas and lagoons. This led to the formation of a thick platform sheath, which consists of sedimentary series from the end of the Proterozoic era (Jotnian and Riphean), sandy clay strata of the Cambrian and Ordovician periods and Silurian limestones. Other components of the sheath include red saliferous and limestone rocks of the Devonian period and thick continental strata (with coal-bearing series) from the Carboniferous, Permian, and Triassic periods. The late Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous deposits, as well as the Paleocene and Neocene deposits that fill the deep depressions, usually to the edges of the platform, are sometimes several kilometers thick. (The Hamburg Depression is approximately 6 km thick.)

During specific tectonically active epochs (the Wendian Devonian, Permian, and part of the Jurassic), volcanic activity occurred on the Eastern European Platform, causing the formation of basalts and other eruptive rocks. The Precambrian platform of the Barents Sea lies north of the Eastern European Platform, occupying the northern shelf of the continent from Franz Josef Land to the Pechora Lowland. Analogous to the Barents platform is the ancient platform (Eria), which forms the edge of the shelf north of the British Isles. Iceland and the island of Jan Mayen are heterogeneous volcanic uplifts that originated during the Cenozoic era on top of the northern part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

The northeastern part of Europe (the Timansk Ridge, the Pechora Lowland, and the northern framework of the Kola Peninsula), which is made up of Riphean schistose series, belongs to the region of Baikal folding.

Extending through the northwestern part of the continent (from Svalbard through Bear Island, the Scandinavian mountains, and the northern and western islands of Great Britain and Ireland) is the Caledonian folded system, which originated from deep geosynclinal downwarps during the early Paleozoic and Prepaleozoic eras. Within this system thick volcanogenic and sedimentary Cambrian, Ordovician, and Silurian strata developed, whose cross-section is topped by thick red Devonian molasse. The system is characterized by complex folding and an abundance of magmatic formations. Scotland and Norway have well-known overthrust sheets with a horizontal displacement as high as 100–120 km. In Scotland the overthrusts extend toward the northwest, in the direction of the Eria Platform, whereas in Norway they stretch to the southwest toward the Baltic Shield.

South of the Caledonian folded system extend the Hercynian folded structures, which are partly covered by a sheath of slightly faulted Mesozoic and Cenozoic strata. The Hercynian structures protrude on the surface of the Iberian Peninsula, as well as in the Massif Central and the Armorican Massif in France, the mountains of southern Wales, the Ardennes, the Vosges, the Black Forest, the Harz and Ore mountains, the Bohemian Massif, the Sudetes, the Silesian mountains, and the Svientokrzyz Mountains. A great number of massifs are located within the Hercynian zone, including the Bohemian Massif and the Massif Central. They consist primarily of Precambrian metamorphic strata. Around these ancient nuclei extend thick eugeosynclinal and miogeosynclinal zones. In areas of Variscan folding there are large horizontal and sloping overthrust sheets (the Ardennes and the Iberian Peninsula), as well as complex dome-shaped (sometimes fan-shaped) folds.

Also part of the Hercynian zone consists of the folded structures of the Urals and Novaia Zemlia, which adjoin the European Platform from the east. The Paleozoic folded strata of the Urals extend toward the west. In the east they are penetrated by thick intrusions of ultrabasites and granitoids. The Ural folded system consists of a number of parallel anticlinal uplifts and synclinal downwarps. The structure of the eastern parts of this mountain area are eugeosynclinal, whereas the western regions are miogeosynclinal.

As a rule, foredeeps extend along the boundaries of the ancient platforms (for example, the “coal channel” between France and Belgium and the Cisural downwarp). They are filled with coal-bearing, petroleum-bearing, and saliferous molasse. The Eastern European Platform is bounded on the east by the Paleozoic folded region of the Urals.

The mountain structures in southern Europe (the Andalusian Mountains, the Apennines, the Alps, the Carpathians, and the mountains of the Balkan Peninsula and the Crimea) belong to the Alpine geosynclinal (folded) region. The northern part of the Alpine geosynclinal downwarps was formed on the Paleozoic folded structures of Western and Southern Europe. In these zones were formed primarily schistose, flysch, and thick carbonaceous series, which make up the Alps and Carpathians. Very little magmatism occurred in the region. A thick cover and foredeeps originated during the Alpine tectonic period. The southern part of the Alpine folded region arose on the site of the Epibaikal Platform, which had disintegrated as a result of alpine movements. During the Paleozoic the Epibaikal Platform encircled the Precambrian African-Arabian Platform from the north in the form of an extended mobile shelf. In this region many stable, ancient blocks have been preserved—intermediate massifs and traces of extensive alpine magmatism (in the form of ultrabasites).

Within the Alpine folded system unique depressions originated, characterized by an earth-crust structure that resembles the ocean’s (for example, part of the depression of the southern Caspian, the Black Sea, and the Tyrrhenian Sea). According to data from geophysical investigations the “granitic” stratum in these areas is either sharply reduced or absent, and the earth’s crust is generally 20–30 km thick.

The mineral resources of Europe include petroleum and natural gas deposits, which are confined to the platform’s Paleozoic and Mesozoic deposits (the Volga-Ural petroleum and gas region, the Northern Caspian, the Dnieper-Donets avlakogene, deposits in Poland, the Federal Republic of Germany [FRG], the Netherlands, and Great Britain, the Paris and Aquitanian basins, and the underwater deposits of the North Sea). A number of the petroleum deposits are related to Neocene deposits in the piedmont and inter-montane downwarps of the Alpine folded region in countries such as Rumania, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Italy. Among the deposits of anthracite and bituminous coals that are being worked are the Donets, L’vov-Volynsk, Moscow, and Pechora basins in the USSR, the Upper Silesian Basin (Poland), basins in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the FRG (the Ruhr, Aachen, and the Saar), Belgium, and Great Britain (Wales and Newcastle).

Thick deposits of iron ores are being mined in the USSR in the Urals, the Ukraine, and Voronezh and Kursk oblasts and on Kola Peninsula. In Western Europe the iron deposits of Sweden are very important, as well as the Jurassic sedimentary oolitic ores of the Lorraine basin in France and Luxemburg. A major deposit of manganese ore is located in the Ukrainian SSR (Nikopol’ Raion). Bauxite deposits have been found in the Urals as well as in other regions of the Eastern European Platform and in Hungary, France, Yugoslavia, Italy, and Greece. Nonferrous metals such as copper, nickel, cobalt, lead, and silver are distributed primarily in the Hercynian zone in the GDR, the FRG, Spain, Yugoslavia, and Bulgaria and in the Upper Silesian Basin in Poland. Deposits of rock salt and potash salts are widespread in the Devonian and Permian sediments of the Ukraine, Byelorussia, the Caspian region, and the foothills of the Urals. Rich deposits of apatite-nepheline ores are mined on the Kola Peninsula. Major saliferous deposits dating from the Permian and Triassic ages are confined to the territories of Denmark, the FRG, the GDR, and Poland. Also of great importance are the potash salt deposits in the GDR, the FRG, and France.

A. A. BOGDANOV

Climate. The geography of Europe determines the predominance in it of a temperate climate, but the westward movement of air from the Atlantic over the continent results in the prevalence of a marine climate, as well as climates that are transitional between marine and continental. The average annual magnitudes of the radiation balance are positive everywhere and increase from north to south. On the arctic islands they are approximately 10, near the 50th parallel, approximately 40, and in the southern regions of Europe, up to 250–290 kilojoules per cm² (kJ/cm²) (60–70 kilocalories per cm² [kcal/cm²]). In January the entire continent, with the exception of the Mediterranean Sea and most of France, has a radiation balance that varies from −17 to −4.2 kJ/cm− (between −4 and −1 kcal/cm²). In July the variations between the northern and southern regions is practically eliminated, because the days become longer in the north in summer. The radiation balance in most of Europe in July is about 34 kJ/cm² (8 kcal/cm²).

The displacement of air masses in the system of atmospheric circulation causes the redistribution of heat, especially during the winter. The thawing effect of the west-ward shift of air, which is intensified by the warm North Atlantic Drift, is manifested in the divergence of the winter isotherms from the latitudinal direction and in the significant amount by which average winter temperatures in most of Europe (except the southeast) exceed average latitudinal temperatures. (Examples include the positive anomaly of January temperatures on Novaia Zemlia, the Kola Peninsula, Svalbard, and the British Isles, which is 8°–18°C, and that of temperatures in western Scandinavia and Iceland, which is 18°–24°C.)

Radiation and circulation, which affect the formation of the European climate, undergo sharp seasonal changes. During the winter the lowest atmospheric pressure occurs over the North Atlantic, where the Icelandic depression is located. From there the pressure increases toward the east and south-east up to the Caspian region and the Southern Urals, to which a branch of the Asian anticyclone extends. The westward shift in the air mass is extremely intense over the western part of the Mediterranean Sea, which is located within the zone affected by the Azores anticyclone. In this system, cyclones that originate on the atmospheric fronts move from west to east, swerving toward the higher latitudes. Polar air masses prevail over almost all of Europe, and bursts of arctic air masses may reach the Alps, the Balkan Peninsula, and the Crimea. In the Mediterranean region polar air is sometimes replaced by tropical air.

The winter isotherms generally pass from northwest to southeast. The highest average monthly temperatures in January (10°–12°C) are encountered in the Mediterranean region, as well as in the maritime regions of Europe, where the 0°C isotherm extends to 70° N lat. The lowest average monthly temperatures occur in the northeastern regions of Europe, reaching −24°C in Franz Josef Land and −20°C in the Pechora basin, where the minimum absolute temperature in Europe has been recorded (−52°C). In general, Western Europe has mild winters, whereas Eastern Europe has freezing winters with a constant snow cover and a duration ranging from one month in the south to seven to nine months in the north.

During the summer the pressure gradients decrease. In July the pressure remains low near Iceland as well as over most of Eastern Europe. The highest pressure occurs in the region of the Azores anticyclone, which affects the entire Mediterranean region and parts of Central Europe. Cyclonic activity is less intense in summer than in winter. Tropical air prevails in the Mediterranean region, arctic air over the arctic regions, and polar air over the remaining regions. The sea air that comes from the Atlantic has a lower temperature than the continental air. Thus, maritime areas are generally somewhat cooler in the summer than areas located inland at the same latitudes. Although the July isotherms run approximately in a latitudinal direction, as they approach the Atlantic Ocean they bend toward the south, and in the east, they bend to the north. The average July temperature is highest along the Mediterranean (28°–30°C) and in the Caspian region (24°–26°C). The lowest average July temperatures have been recorded on the arctic islands (2°–4°C). A maximum absolute temperature of 48°C was recorded on the Iberian Peninsula.

In general, the total annual atmospheric precipitation decreases from west to east. The Atlantic regions and the windward slopes of the mountains receive 1,000–2,000 mm of precipitation per year. (Individual stations located in the maritime regions of Yugoslavia have recorded a total annual precipitation of more than 4,000 mm.) In Eastern Europe, particularly in the southeastern and southern regions, the total annual precipitation decreases to 300–500 mm per year, and in the Caspian region it is usually 200 mm or less. Most of the arctic islands and the southern shore of the Barents Sea receive 300–400 mm of precipitation per year. Data on total annual precipitation in the Mediterranean region and on the southern coast of the Crimea clearly show that maximum precipitation occurs in the winter and minimum precipitation in the summer. The Atlantic regions of Central and Northern Europe have a rather even seasonal distribution of precipitation; nonetheless, the maximum figure is likely to occur in the winter. Inland the maximum precipitation figures occur during the summer.

Throughout most of Europe the total annual precipitation exceeds the total annual evaporation. Hence, there is sufficient or even excessive moisture. In the southern and southeastern regions of Eastern Europe as well as in a number of intermontane depressions in Western Europe, the annual precipitation does not compensate for the annual evaporation, resulting in insufficient moisture. In the Mediterranean area there is an acute deficiency of moisture during the summer. Where precipitation does not compensate for evaporation, irrigation is necessary.

Europe encompasses the arctic, subarctic, temperate, and subtropical climate belts. In the arctic belt, which includes the islands in the European part of the Arctic Ocean, the climate is severe, with a long, freezing winter, frequent storms and blizzards, and a brief, cold summer (as a rule, the average July temperature, does not rise above 5°C). The chief form of precipitation is snow, and there is little evaporation. In the subarctic belt (Iceland, northern Fennoscandia, and the East European Plain), the summer is longer and warmer than in the arctic belt (up to 10° or 12°C in July). The winter is mild in the western regions and freezing in the east. The total annual precipitation is 1,000 mm in the west and 400 mm in the east, and evaporation is less than precipitation.

The temperate belt (the remaining regions of Europe, with the exception of the Mediterranean region and the southern

Table 1. Basic climatic indexes of Europe
Type of climate and point of observation	Elevation above sea level (m)	Average temperatures (°C) and total precipitation (mm)’
1 Upper row, temperatures; lower row, precipitation
		Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	June	July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Arctic. Green Harbor, 78· N lat., 14·10′W long.		-16	-17.4	-19	-13.7	-4.8	1.9	5.4	4.7	0.1	-6.0	-11.5	-13.5	-7.5
	4	34	42	29	28	15	10	16	21	26	28	27	42	318
Subarctic marine. Vestmannaeyjar, 63·24′ N lat., 20·17′ E long.		1.4	1.3	1.5	3.8	6.4	9.1	10.8	10.2	8.1	5.3	2.8	1.3	5.2
	8	152	131	110	96	80	82	74	72	141	139	135	136	1348
Subarctic moderate continental. Khibiny. 67·44′ N lat., 33·24′ E long		-13.2	-12.9	-9.2	-2.0	3.0	8.8	13.1	11.2	6.0	-0.3	-6.6	-11.5	-1.6
	130	18	16	19	21	27	49	58	60	53	46	31	16	414
Temperate marine (boreal). Bergen, 60·23′ N lat., 5·21′E long		1.2	1.3	2.2	5.7	9.4	12.9	14.4	13.7	11.1	7.4	4.0	2.0	7.1
	20	224	181	155	112	118	106	142	195	237	233	220	221	2144
Temperate moderate continental (boreal). Kargopol’, 61·30′ N lat., 38·57′ E long		-12.7	-11.4	-6.8	1.2	8.4	13.8	6.8	13.6	8.0	1.4	-5.1	-10.5	1.4
	126	31	29	31	25	46	50	68	79	56	47	38	35	535
Temperate marine (subboreal). Falmouth, 50·09′ N lat., 5·05′ W long.		6.4	6.3	6.7	8.7	11.1	13.9	15.6	15.5	14.0	11.0	8.8	7.4	10.4
	51	105	101	86	68	55	60	71	81	75	124	124	156	1106
Temperate moderate continental (subboreal). Akhtuba, 48·18′ N lat., 46·09′ E long		-9.9	-7.9	-1.9	8.1	17.0	21.9	24.7	23.0	15.8	7.7	0.1	-5.8	7.7
	5	18	15	12	17	25	28	22	18	21	20	26	23	245
Subtropical marine Mediterranean. Kerkira, 39·38′ N lat., 19·55′ E long		10.4	11.0	12.9	15.9	19.9	23.6	26.4	26.4	23.7	19.7	15.5	12.5	18.2
	30	150	170	87	85	58	32	9	23	74	148	159	211	1206
Subtropical continental Mediterranean. Yalta, 44·30′ N lat., 34·11′ E long.		3.7	4.0	6.3	10.4	16.1	20.5	24.1	23.8	19.0	14.2	8.8	6.1	13.1
	41	82	56	47	34	28	49	54	27	41	45	63	69	599

shore of the Crimea) has a cold, boreal climate in the north and a warmer, subboreal climate in the south. Moreover, the western portion of the temperate belt has a marine climate, with a narrow annual temperature range, warm summers in the south and cool summers in the north, and on the plains, mild winters with intermittent snow cover. There is abundant precipitation throughout the year, particularly during the winter, and there is sufficient or even excessive moisture. In the east the climate is moderate continental, with a freezing, snowy winter (except in the southern regions), cool summers in the north, warm summers in the center, hot summers in the south, and a wide annual temperature range. The total annual precipitation exceeds the total annual evaporation in the north, is almost equal to it in the center, and is less than it in the south.

The subtropical belt has a Mediterranean climate, with mild, warm, rainy winters (January temperature, 4°–12°C), changeable weather, and dry, hot, or (in the west) warm summers. The areas west of the Iberian Peninsula, the Apennine Mountains, and areas west and northwest of the Balkan Peninsula have a marine Mediterranean climate, with an abbreviated period of summer dryness and a larger total annual precipitation. The remaining portions of the Iberian, Balkan, and Italian peninsulas and the southern coast of the Crimea have a continental Mediterranean climate.

Rivers and lakes. Europe is second to South America in magnitude of water flow (approximately 295 mm). However, because of its relatively small land mass, it surpasses only Australia and Antarctica in volume of flow (approximately 2,850 cu km per year). The flow is unevenly distributed over the territory of Europe. With respect to the degree of moisture, it decreases from west to east and from north to south. Most of Europe belongs to the basin of the Atlantic Ocean and its seas, but smaller parts of the continent are included in the Arctic basin and the inland Caspian basin.

The major rivers are concentrated on the plains of Eastern Europe. The Volga (with its principal tributaries, the Kama and Oka) is first in length (3,530 km), basin area (1.36 million sq km), and average annual discharge (more than 8,000 cu m per sec). After the Volga, the longest rivers in Eastern Europe are the Ural, Dnieper, Don, Pechora, Dnestr, and Severnaia Dvina, and in Western Europe, the Danube (length, 2,850 km; basin area, 817,000 sq km), Rhine, Elbe, Vistula, Loire, Tajo, and Oder.

On the plains of Eastern Europe slow-moving rivers with broad, terraced valleys prevail. They are fed by snow and partly by rain, and their principal flow occurs during the spring and early summer. Because the snow melts later on the northern part of the plain, the maximum flow occurs there in the summer. During the winter the ice cover lasts from 1½ to three months in the south and as long as seven to 7½ months in the north. The construction of large reservoirs on such rivers as the Volga, Dnieper, and Don has made their flow cycles more even and increased their importance for transportation.

In Fennoscandia most of the rivers are short, with rapids and poorly developed valleys that have many broad stretches resembling lakes. On the plains the rivers are fed primarily by snow. The maximum flow occurs during the spring, but as a result of the regulating role of the lakes and the large forests in the basins, the water content is also great in the summer and autumn. In the mountainous regions of Fennoscandia there are waterfalls. The ice cover lasts from two to three months in the central regions and as long as seven to 7½ months in the north.

In the plains regions of Central Europe the rivers are fed basically by rain. The rivers either do not freeze over or have brief, intermittent ice covers. In France, the British Isles, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the FRG the rivers have an even flow that increases somewhat during the winter and decreases during the summer. By contrast, on the eastern plains of Central Europe the rivers are fed by snow as well as by rain in the spring so that the maximum flow shifts to the spring, and the summer low-water period is longer and lower than elsewhere in Central Europe. In medium-height mountains such as the Carpathians, which are covered by snow in the winter, there are spring freshets. The rivers of the high-mountain regions of the Alps (the upper courses of the Rhine and the Rhone, the left tributaries of the Po, and the right tributaries of the Danube) are fed by glaciers as well as by snow and rain. High-water periods are characteristic of the summer months, whereas the flow is very small or disappears during the winter. Typical of the Mediterranean rivers are considerable increases in the water level during the autumn and winter, and in some places, during the winter and spring. Low water occurs during the summer, when small rivers become extremely shallow or dry up completely. The winter discharge of some rivers exceeds the summer discharge by tens of times. The more regular flow of rivers in karst regions of the Mediterranean is explained by the considerable role of groundwater in feeding them. Entire sections of some Mediterranean rivers flow underground.

Lakes are very unevenly distributed over the territory of Europe. The largest groups are found on the plains and in mountains that underwent Pleistocene glaciation (the Northern and Northwestern European USSR, Fennoscandia, the British Isles, the Alps and Alpine regions, and the plains of Poland and the GDR). Most of the lakes in these regions are related to tectonic subsidences, such as hollows and grabens, which were eroded by glaciers and partly surrounded by glacial deposits. Characteristic of these lakes are heavily indented shorelines, considerable depth, and glacial topographic forms that extend along the longitudinal axis of the tectonic movements or in the direction of the movement of the glaciers. Lakes of this type include plains lakes (Ladoga, Onega, Vanern, Vattern, Malaren, and Imandra) and piedmont lakes (for example, Geneva, Maggiore, Como, and Garda). Widely distributed on morainic plains are relatively small lakes of intermorainic subsidences or lakes formed in ancient troughs by the flow of preglacial waters. (The latter type is found especially on the plains of the Soviet Baltic region, Poland, the GDR, and Finland.) The Alps, the mountains of Scandinavia and the British Isles, the higher Carpathians, and the Northern Urals have small tarns in cirques.

Outside of the glacial regions there are no significant groups of lakes. Among the most common types are old lakes on the floodplains of rivers located in the plains regions, delta lakes in the lower reaches of the Volga, Dnieper, Danube, and Po, lagoon lakes along the shore of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, and tectonic lakes, such as Scutari and Ohrid on the Balkan Peninsula and Balaton in Hungary. Also typical are volcanic lakes on the Italian Peninsula and in Iceland, and sink lakes in the eastern part of the Eastern European Plain and on the Balkan and Italian peninsulas.

Most of the lakes in Europe are freshwater bodies that have a continuous outflow. In the arid southeastern regions there are drainless, saline, heavily mineralized lakes, such as El’ton and Baskunchak. On the border of Asia is located the world’s largest lake—the Caspian Sea.

Europe has considerable hydroelectric power resources, particularly in the mountainous regions of Scandinavia, the Alps, and the medium mountains of Central Europe. High-capacity hydroelectric power plants have been built on the large rivers of Eastern Europe in the USSR (the Volga, Kama, and Dnieper). In 1972 construction was proceeding on a major hydroelectric power plant on the Danube (Djerdapthe Iron Gate). Economically important for transportation and for floating timber are rivers and the system of canals connecting the basins of many rivers in Eastern and Western Europe and joining the rivers to the seas (for example, the White Sea-Baltic Canal, the Lenin Volga-Don Shipping Canal, and the Lenin Volga-Baltic Water Route in the USSR, the Gota canal system in Sweden, the Mittelland Kanal and other canals in the GDR and the FRG, and the Canal du Midi in France). The Volga, Dnieper, Danube, Vistula, Rhine, Thames, Seine, and Oder are among the rivers that have been transformed into major transportation arteries with heavy traffic in freight and passengers. Lakes play a great role in water supply, and their shores are often developed as areas for rest, recreation, and medical treatment. There are deposits of mineral salts in Lakes El’ton and Baskunchak.

Glaciers. The total area of present-day glaciers in Europe exceeds 116,000 sq km. Most of the glaciers are concentrated in Svalbard (58,000 km), Novaia Zemlia, Franz Josef Land, Iceland, and the Scandinavian mountains, where dome and shield glaciers prevail. There are also corrie and piedmont glaciers. The ice is often 400–600 m thick, and in some cases, up to 1,000 m thick. Some glaciers in the arctic islands descend to the sea, where they give rise to icebergs. In the continental part of Europe glaciers are found in the Alps, the Northern Urals, the Pyrenees, and the mountains of the Sierra Nevada (the site of Europe’s southernmost glacier). Corrie and valley glaciers prevail in continental Europe.

Soils. In general, soils are zonally distributed in Europe. There are four belts of soil formation: arctic (polar), boreal, subboreal, and subtropical. The soils of the boreal and subboreal belts occupy the greatest area. In structure of soil zones and types of soils, a distinction may be drawn between Western Europe, with its moist oceanic climate, and Eastern Europe, with its continental climate.

Arctic and tundra soils are found in the arctic belt. Arctic soils—extremely shallow soils with poorly differentiated genetic soil horizons—are found on Svalbard, Franz Josef Land, and northern Novaia Zemlia. Tundra soils are wide-spread in northern Fennoscandia and southern Novaia Zemlia and on the Eastern European Plain north of the arctic circle. They are usually oversaturated with moisture, poorly aerated, and primarily acidic, with a shallow humus horizon that serves as the transition to a dove-colored gley horizon. Organic remains decompose very slowly in tundra soils. In submerged, poorly drained places (especially in the basin of the lower course of the Pechora River), tundra soils are mixed with tundra swamp soils.

The boreal belt encompasses Iceland, most of Fennoscandia, the British Isles, the Northern European Plain, and Eastern Europe north of the L’vov-Kiev-Kursk-Perm’-Sverdlovsk line. In regions of this belt that have a continental climate, a number of soil types alternate sequentially with each other. The first type in the sequence is gley-podzolic soil of the northern taiga. Because of the excessively moist surface and the formation of podzol, this type of soil is characterized by gleying and by the slow decomposition of organic remains. The typical podzolic soils of the central taiga have a clearly manifested leaching cycle, which removes a considerable portion of the products of decay from the upper layers of soil. The soddy-podzolic soils of the southern taiga are associated with mixed broad-leaved-coniferous forests in which podzol is formed and an accumulation of humus has developed. In the extreme southern part of the boreal belt in Eastern Europe gray forest soils are widespread under broad-leaved forests. They support an active peat-forming process and have a readily identifiable humus horizon and a significant humus content (3–8 percent).

In regions of the boreal belt that have a maritime climate, the soil types include peaty-soddy soils, which are found under the subarctic meadows and sparse forests of Iceland, northwestern Scandinavia, and the Faeroes and Hebrides and are characterized by a high content of coarse humus. Highly leached, soddy pale podzols occur in southern Scandinavia and Finland, northern Great Britain, and the Central European Plain, alternating in places with acid neopodzolic forest soils, which are formed on richer parent rocks. Among the intrazonal soils that are characteristic of the boreal belt are alluvial soils (including the marshy soils on flat shorelines, peaty-carbonate soils (rendzinas), which develop only on parent rocks rich in carbonate, and peaty-gley soils, which develop on gently rolling meadow plains of the taiga, where the groundwater is shallow, and peaty bog soils found on sands with poor drainage and clay deposits close to the surface. Mountain-tundra soils have developed in the mountainous regions of the boreal belt. In the Urals there are also mountain, soddy-podzol, and mountain gray forest soils, and there are mountain podzolic soils in Scotland and the medium-elevation mountains of Scandinavia.

In the subboreal belt the variations in the zonal structure of the soil covers of the marine and moderate continental climatic regions are even greater. In the moderate continental steppe regions chernozems and chestnut soils have formed on parent loess rocks. In the forest steppe and northern steppe regions there are podzolized, leached, and typical chernozems, which are characterized by a thick black humus horizon, a high humus content (8 percent or more), and a carbonate illuvial horizon. The drier steppe regions have light- and medium-humus common and southern chernozems, with a humus content of 4–8 percent and a dense carbonate horizon. On marls and limestones in Moldavia and the adjacent regions of Rumania, in the Eastern Azov Lowland, and on the plains of the Crimea there are common and southern micellary carbonate light- and medium-humus soils, with a high carbonate content throughout their profile. In the more arid steppes of the Southern Ukraine, the Lower Volga Region, and the Caspian region, a nonleaching cycle has given rise to chestnut soils with a shallow humus horizon and a very dense carbonate horizon. In the Caspian region chestnut soils are frequently mixed with solonets, the formation of which is usually associated with the salinity of the parent rocks. In the most arid parts of the Caspian region, where there is semisteppe vegetation, brown semidesert soils alternate with considerable accumulations of sands.

In regions that have a marine climate, brown forest soils have developed under broad-leaved trees. They have a poorly differentiated cross section and a thick brown illuvial horizon associated with the intensive formation of clayey materials and leaching of carbonates. As a result of the considerable dissection of their surface and their lithologically mixed quality, brown forest soils are leached and podzolized to varying degrees. They frequently alternate with podzolic bog soils and brown rendzinas. In the intermontane plains, with their more continental climate, brown forest soils are replaced by primarily shallow, typical and common chernozems and meadow chernozems, whose basic zones extend to the Danubian Plain. In the depressions on the intermontane plains solonchak and solonets are found. On most of the medium-elevation mountains mountain brown forest soils have developed. In the Carpathians, Pyrenees, and Alps mountain podzols are found at elevations of 1,000–1,600 m, alternating at higher altitudes with mountain-meadow soils.

In the subtropical soil formation belt of Southern Europe and the southern coast of the Crimea, cinnamonic soils are typical under evergreen xerophytic forests and bushes. They have a considerable humus content (4–7 percent) and a high carbonate content throughout their profile. In moist regions leaching has caused the carbonates in cinnamonic soils to filter down to great depths. In the western Balkan Peninsula, the southeastern Italian Peninsula, and other regions where terra rossa (the product of wind-eroded carbonate rocks) has become widespread, highly carbonate red rendzinas have formed. In the most arid regions of the Mediterranean grayish cinnamonic soils are associated with underbrush. From the products of wind-eroded basic crystalline rocks in the Balkan Peninsula, very dense, light-humus smolnitz soils have developed, which are blackened by undissolved organic substances. The mountains of the Mediterranean have mountain cinnamonic soils that alternate with high-mountain brown forest soils.

The soils of Europe are used extensively in agriculture. The most arable regions are those with chernozems, brown and gray forest soils, or cinnamonic soils. Tundra and brown semidesert soils are very seldom used in agriculture, and arctic soils are not used at all.

Flora. In terms of its floral composition, Europe belongs to the Holarctic region. Because of the ancient and contemporary links between various continents, a large number of European floral families, genera, and species are the same as those of Asia, Africa, and North America, and there is a relatively small number of endemic varieties. The botanical-geographic subdivisions of Europe are characterized not only by a specific floral composition but also by specific types of vegetation. Among the types of vegetation found in Europe are tundra, boreal (taiga), and forest, including broad-leaved and mixed forests as well as the underbrush and grasses associated with them. Additional types of vegetation are steppe, desert, and subtropical brushwood. The forest types of vegetation are the most widespread, whereas the least common are the tundra and desert types. In the arctic, sub-arctic, and boreal latitudes there are only slight differences between the zonal types of vegetation in regions with a marine climate and regions with a continental climate. In lower latitudes the differences in zonal vegetation are clearly manifested. In maritime regions south of the taiga forests, mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forests are found, as well as a wide band of broad-leaved forests, which are replaced by xerophilous evergreen and mixed evergreen-deciduous forests and shrubs in subtropical regions. In the moderate continental regions south of the taiga, there are narrow bands of broad-leaved and mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forests, which give way to forest steppes, steppes, semideserts, and deserts as one moves south and southeast. (On the southern shore of the Crimea there is some subtropical vegetation.)

On the territory of present-day Europe natural landscapes are almost entirely lacking: They have been replaced by manmade ones. Tundra and mountain landscapes and fauna have undergone the least change. At one time the forests of Europe formed an almost uninterrupted zone, consisting primarily of oaks and other broad-leaved species, which have been replaced in the north by conifers and in the south by sparse Mediterranean forests. The destruction of the forests began in Greece as long ago as the fifth century B.C. Later, the forests of other regions of Southern and Central Europe were badly damaged. The systematic elimination of the forest cover, which violated the integrity of the natural biotopes, was accompanied by a number of other pernicious consequences for the fauna and flora of Europe.

Arctic tundras and deserts are widespread in Svalbard (Spitsbergen), Franz Josef Land, and Novaia Zemlia. Vegetation includes lichens and mosses, a few species of grasses (for example, saxifrage and geranium), and shrubs (for example, Dry as and polar willow). Considerable areas—the arctic deserts—are composed of rocky surfaces devoid of vegetation. Typical tundras, which developed along the northern continental shore and on the coasts of Novaia Zemlia, have a greater number of species and a more complete plant cover. On mossy-lichen tundras, the predominant vegetation is brown and green mosses, reindeer moss and other lichens, several grasses (whitlow grass, fescue, galagoes, and saxifrage), shrubs (crowberry and Korean rhododendron), and low shrubs (dwarf birch and polar and round-leaved willow). Bogs (primarily low ones) are found in the excessively moist depressions on the surface of typical tundras. In the mountains of Iceland, Scandinavia, and the Urals mountain tundras are widespread, forming a vegetation belt at elevations of more than 300–500 m in the north and 1,000–1,100 m in the south. The tundra gives way to forest tundra in the south, which is characterized by a combination of tundras, swamps, and low sparse forests, consisting primarily of spruce in the eastern regions and birches and pines in the western areas. Mossy-lichens and shrubs are well developed in these forests (cowberry, whortleberry, bearberry, and crowberry). In the mountains, similar forests form a vegetation belt at elevations of 300–400 m in the north and 900–1,000 m in the south. Sparse birch forests mixed with meadows and lowland swamps are found in Iceland. Tundra vegetation is used in some places to feed deer.

Taiga vegetation grows in a broad band that extends south to approximately 57°–58° N lat. Most of the forests are coniferous. In the East, Siberian spruce, Siberian fir, and Siberian larch prevail. (The Siberian stone pine is found in the Cisurals as well as in the northern regions of the taiga as far as Scandinavia.) European spruce and common pine prevail in the western taiga. In moist regions the ground cover of the forests consists primarily of moss, whortleberry, cowberry, heather, and oxalis, but in dry areas lichens prevail. In addition to conifers, birch and aspen are commonly encountered, most often in places that have been burned or cut down. On the northern boundaries of the taiga forests in Fennoscandia there are indigenous birch forests. Other types of vegetation that are widely distributed in the taiga zone are floodplain and dry valley meadows, surface spaghnum bogs with rhododendron, cloudberry, cranberry, and whortleberry, and grassy forest swamps. In the Scandinavian mountains and the Urals the lower belt of mountain vegetation consists of taiga forests.

The taiga has extremely abundant plant resources. Its forests provide wood that is used in the cellulose-paper, chemical, and construction industries. Fur-trapping is carried on in the taiga forests (squirrels, martens, ermines, fox, and blue hare). A number of wild animals, including elk, hazel hens, black grouse, and capercaillie, are hunted for meat. Mushrooms are gathered, as well as the fruits of wild plants such as cowberry, whortleberry, currant, mountain ash, and bird cherry. The meadows are used primarily to feed cattle.

The mixed broad-leaved and coniferous forests located south of the taiga stretch from southern Scandinavia to the Urals, reaching their greatest breadth in the Soviet Baltic region, Byelorussia, and the west central regions of the European USSR. East of the city of Gorky the forest belt becomes extremely narrow. The forests consist of taiga as well as broad-leaved species of trees (oak, maple, and linden). Huge pine forests have developed on sandy soils.

A significantly large area is occupied by broad-leaved forests that cover the entire territory of Western Europe (except the mountains) from the taiga and mixed forests in the north to the subtropics in the south (approximately 40° N lat.). East of the Carpathians the broad-leaved forest belt becomes extremely narrow and almost disappears in the foot-hills of the Urals, where the southern boundary of the mountains passes through 53°–54° N lat. The most common tree in these forests is the oak. In marine climatic regions pedunculate and sessile oaks (as far east as the Southern Bug River) and other species of oak occur in pure groves or in plantings mixed with birch (the British Isles, Belgium, and the Netherlands), common hornbeam, linden, and European beech (chiefly in Western Europe). Pure beech forests are confined to the slopes of hills and the lower zone of mountains, where the winters are relatively warm, the humidity is high, and the soil is not overly saturated with moisture.

Planted forests of sweet (edible) chestnuts are characteristic of southern regions, particularly France. Evergreen species (holly, boxwood, and a typical liana—ivy) are found in the undergrowth of the broad-leaved forests of Atlantic regions. On the poor, sandy, and gravelly soils of the north-western part of France, the British Isles, and the Northern European Plain, moors and grassy or grassy-mossy swamps prevail, and on the shores of the North Sea there are salt-marshes. On the intermontane plains (Bohemia and the Central Danubian Plain) there are many “islands” of meadow-land steppes in the forests.

The moderate continental regions of Eastern Europe have no chestnut or beech forests, with the exception of the eastern beeches in the Crimea. In addition to the pedunculate oak, common genera include linden, maple, ash, elm, and in the underbrush, filbert, spindle trees, and honeysuckle. In the mountains the vegetation of the lower zone consists of mountain broad-leaved and coniferous forests, which extend to elevations of 1,600–2,100 m. At higher altitudes there is a belt of subalpine shrubs and meadows, which in the highest mountains is replaced by an alpine meadow belt.

In most areas the forests have been cut down in order to increase the amount of arable lands and to expand gardens, orchards, and vineyards in the southern regions. In reforestation projects broad-leaved trees (especially beech) are often replaced by coniferous trees (pine or spruce) or rapidly growing deciduous varieties (poplar). The meadows of the sub-alpine and alpine belts are extensively used as summer pastures.

Located south of the broad-leaved forests in the moderate continental regions of Europe are the forest steppes, in which broad-leaved forests, most of which are on watersheds, are mixed with meadowland steppes overgrown with many moisture-loving varieties of grass (cinquefoil, spiraea, groundsel, anemone, sage, and adonis). Farther south, typical steppes have developed, where soddy grasses prevail (Ukrainian, narrow-blade, and Lessing’s feathergrasses and sheep’s fescue). Located south of the typical steppes in the most habitable areas in the southern Ukraine, the northern Crimea, and the Lower Volga Region are the arid (southern) steppes, with a sparse cover of wormwoods, feather grass, capillary feather grass, sheep’s fescue, and wheat grass. In the extreme southeastern part of Europe semidesert and desert areas have very sparse vegetation of wormwoods and saltworts (seablite and biiurgun).

Steppe vegetation has been almost completely destroyed by the plowing up of chernozem and chestnut soils for such crops as wheat, corn, sugar beets, and sunflowers. It survives almost exclusively in preserves. Vegetation of the semidesert and desert areas is used for pastures, primarily for sheep.

Widely distributed on the plains and in the lower belt of the mountains of the subtropical regions of Europe are xerophilous evergreen forests and shrubs that are capable of surviving the dry summer period. The most important trees are holm, Kermes, and cork oaks, as well as Aleppo, cluster, and Italian stone pines. The forests are light, with an abundant undergrowth of shrubs and a grass cover that is almost completely burned out during the summer. Among the most common shrub formations are maquis, composed of strawberry trees, Phillyrea, myrtle, rock-rose, pistachio, sweet bay, and wild olive and palmettos. (The only wild palm found in Europe is the fan palm, which grows in the southern Iberian Peninsula, the Balearic Islands, and Sicily.) Other shrub formations include the garigue, in which the scrub Kermes oak prevails (primarily on rocky soils), andtomillars, sparse growths of plants rich in essential oils (thyme and lavender), which are found in the dry interior regions of the Iberian Peninsula. Shibliaks are composed primarily of deciduous shrubs such as Christ’s thorn and wild lilac, with some evergreen plants. In the interior and eastern regions of the Balkan Peninsula there are phrygans made up of low thistles and stiff grasses.

In the mountain regions of the Mediterranean above the belt of evergreen forests and shrubs (beginning at 300–400 m in the north and 800–1,000 m in the south) there is a belt of deciduous broad-leaved (oak, beech, and chestnut) and coniferous forests (spruce, fir, pine, Atlantic cedar). Above this belt in the highest mountains there is a narrow belt of subalpine and alpine vegetation. Most of the forests and underbrush of the Mediterranean region have been removed by man or destroyed by the fires that frequently occur there. They have been replaced by fields of wheat and corn, citrus fruit plantations, olive trees, cork oaks, vineyards, orchards, gardens, and parks. Located in the southeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula are the only fig-palm plantations in Europe. The pasturing of goats and sheep has caused considerable changes in mountain vegetation.

Fauna. Europe is part of the Holarctic zoogeographic region. The distribution of groups of animals greatly depends ‘on the displacement of basic types of vegetation. Thus, European fauna is characterized by geographic zonality. However, the zonality of the fauna is less extreme than that of the flora, inasmuch as the same groups of animals may be confined to different but ecologically similar types of vegetative cover. Because changes in European biotopes proceeded relatively slowly, many species of animals gradually adapted to the new man-made conditions of existence and found refuge in regions that had been only slightly developed.

A monotonous habitat with scanty food supplies and severe climate, the tundra has few species of fauna. Small rodents prevail—Norway, Ob, and arctic lemmings and Middendorf mice. Also characteristic of the tundra are the northern deer, arctic fox, wolf, and seal (the common ringed seal and the sea hare). Among the species of birds the most abundant are the alpine ptarmigan and the white owl. Gulls, cormorants, geese, puffins, eiders, and black guillemots in-habit the seashore, where thousands of nests may be found. There are shore and island colonies of birds, the largest of which inhabit Novaia Zemlia. On Svalbard musk oxen from Greenland have been acclimatized.

With its great variety of habitats and considerable feeding resources, the taiga has a richer faunal species composition. Characteristic mammals include wood voles, Siberian chipmunks (in the east), wood lemmings, and flying squirrels (primarily in the east), squirrels, blue hares, sable, wolverines, ermine, weasels, brown bears, wolves, foxes, and elk. Among the taiga birds are the capercaillie, hazel hen, nut-cracker, tawny owl, great tit, crossbill, bullfinch, wax wing, and hawk. There are numerous bloodsucking insects.

South of 60° N lat. in the west and 55° N lat. in the east certain characteristic taiga animals disappear, giving way to animals of the broad-leaved and mixed forests (especially in Western Europe). Among the mammals common to this region are the dormouse, mink, polecats, European wildcats, red deer, roe deer, wild boar, bats, and hedgehogs. Taiga animals in this region include the brown bear, fox, wolf, forest marten, badger, elk, and squirrel. There are bison in the forests of the Biatowieza Forest in the USSR and Poland, as well as in the Prioksko-Terrasnyi and Khoper preserves in the Carpathian region. The number of waterfowl has declined. Inhabiting the broad-leaved forests are green and middle spotted woodpeckers, woodcocks, cuckoos, jays, chaffinches, nightingales, grouse, owls, pigeons, orioles, thrushes, and great tits. In certain countries of Western Europe the pheasant has become acclimatized and is widely distributed.

In the broad-leaved and coniferous forests there are more amphibians than on the taiga. (Among them is the tree frog, the only arboreal amphibian.) The cutting down of forests and the increase in open spaces has facilitated the penetration of this zone by a number of steppe animals, including the common hamster, common vole, great bustard, common partridge, and quail. The number of forest animals has been sharply reduced. Large mammals have suffered more than other animals, for their ecological requirements have not met the changes in biotopes. During the first half of the 17th century the tur became extinct in Western Europe; lions, which had been numerous in antiquity, ceased to roam the Balkan Peninsula, and the habitats of wolves declined. The European ibis became extinct during this period, and the number of eagles fell sharply.

Characteristic of the fauna of the steppe and semidesert regions of Eastern Europe is the prevalence of rodents (red and little susliks, members of the family Leporidae, common hamsters, marmots, great jerboas, moles, and voles). Other common mammals are the European hare, Siberian polecat, and fox. Water voles and otters are associated with bodies of water. The semidesert areas of the Caspian region are inhabited by the saiga, corsac fox, little suslik, and common sandeel. Among the birds of the steppe and semidesert regions the predatory group is important (pale harriers, kestrels, and imperial eagles). Also common are the lark, quail, common partridge and great and little bustards. In the lower reaches of major rivers, particularly the Volga, there are many pochards, ducks, heron, cormorants, and snipe. Although the steppes have been plowed up, many animals, especially rodents and birds, have been preserved. They find sufficient food and shelter in the crop fields.

The Mediterranean region has a relatively low species saturation of forest animals, but mountain forms of animals are more abundant than in the northern regions. Also represented are reptiles and amphibians. Among the mammals are the wild goat, Alpine ibex, chamois, and mouflon. The Pyrenean muskrat and the genet inhabit the western Mediterranean region, and Gibraltar is inhabited by the only apes in Europe—the Barbary apes, or tailless macaques (the family Cercopithecidae). Porcupines and jackals are found in the east. Among the common birds are the bearded vulture, Pyrenean sparrow, rock sparrow, mountain jackdaw, Eastern blue magpie, swifts, swallows, warblers, and wall creepers. Reptiles of the region include lizards, geckos, scheltopusiks, vipers, flying snakes, chickensnakes, and turtles. Among the amphibians are frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and olms. The most abundant insects are cicadas, butterflies, and mosquitoes.

R. A. ERAMOV

The foundation for the discovery of the continent of Europe was laid by the Cretans, who occupied the Cyclades archipelago no later than the 16th century B.C. and traveled along the shores of the island of Evvoia (Euboea) and the Peloponnesian Peninsula. The Achaeans, who lived in the Peloponnesus between the 15th and 13th centuries B.C., advanced north on the Balkan Peninsula beyond 40° N lat.; discovering the Pindus Mountains and Mount Olympus, the Khalkidhiki Peninsula, the Northern Sporades, Lemnos, and in the west, the Ionian Islands. By the ninth century B.C., Phoenician seafarers had discovered the southern and western coasts of the Italian Peninsula, Malta, Sicily, Sardinia, the Balearic Islands, and the shores of the Iberian Peninsula, including the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, Guadiana, Tajo, and Duero rivers. The Phoenicians also sailed out into the ocean through the Strait of Gibraltar.

By the middle of the first millennium B.C., the ancient Greeks had completed the discovery of the coasts of Southern Europe. From the Aegean Sea they sailed northeast through the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmara, and the Bosphorus, traveling along the western and northern shores of the Black Sea as well as up the lower reaches of the Danube, Dnestr, and Dnieper rivers, along the shores of the Sea of Azov, and up the lower reaches of the Don and the Kuban’. Sailing west and northwest in the Ionian, Adriatic, Tyrrhenian, and Ligurian seas, as well as in the Gulf of Lions, they definitively established the existence of the Balkan and Italian peninsulas and discovered (perhaps for the second time) the islands of Corsica and Liguria, the southern coast of present-day France with the Rhône delta, and eastern Spain, with the lower reaches of the Ebro and Turia rivers.

No later than 320 B.C., Pythias, a Greek from the colony of Massalia (Marseilles), discovered the western coast of Europe from the Bay of Biscay to the North Sea, as well as the peninsulas of Brittany and Cotentin and the British Isles. He cut into the Irish Sea from the south and sighted the north-eastern coast of Ireland, the Hebrides, and the Orkney Islands. Then turning south, he sailed along the eastern shore of Great Britain. No later than the fourth century B.C., the Greeks settled the northern plateaus of the Balkan Peninsula and the Apennines, and they crossed the eastern Alps. In the third century B.C., the Carthaginians penetrated deep into the interior of the Iberian Peninsula, laying the foundation for the discovery of the Meseta, central mountain region, and Iberian mountains. In 218 B.C., at the time of Hannibal’s campaign, they crossed the Pyrenees and the western Alps.

During the second century B.C., as a result of the campaigns of Cato the Elder and particularly Scipio Aemilianus, whose constant companion was the Greek Polybius, the Romans explored all the important rivers of the Iberian Peninsula and investigated almost the entire length of the central mountains, the Pyrenees, and the Cantabrian Mountains. Between 58 and 51 B.C. the legions of Julius Caesar, which were subduing the Gauls and fighting against the Germans, cut through the French Massif Central in various directions and penetrated the Jura, the Vosges, the Ardennes, the Paris Basin, and the western maritime lowlands. They explored the entire course of the Rhône, Garonne, Dordogne, Loire, and Seine rivers, and their major tributaries; they became familiar with the entire left-bank section of the Rhine and with a section of its right bank. Caesar’s legions also penetrated into southeastern Britain as far as the Thames River (55–54 B.C.).

Between 35 B.C. and A.D. 9, Octavian Augustus’ generals, including Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, Marcus Crassus, Claudius Drusus, and Tiberius, invaded Central Europe. They traveled up the Rhine and the Danube, exploring the valleys of the Danube’s largest Alpine tributaries. (Tiberius reached the sources of the Danube on the slopes of the Black Forest in 16 B.C.) Octavian’s generals also explored the Elbe and its left tributaries, and they discovered the mountains between the Rhine and the Elbe, as well as the basins of the Weser and Ems rivers, the maritime lowland, and the Frisian Islands. Between A.D. 43 and 84, the Romans, who were engaged in the conquest of Britain, advanced west to the Irish Sea and north to 57° N lat., discovering the peninsula of Wales, the isles of Wight, Man, and Anglesey, the Severn basin, the area around the Humber estuary, the Pennine Mountains, and the highlands of northern Britain. (These discoveries were made during the campaigns of A. Plautius, S. Paulinus, and Julius Agricola.) While they were repulsing the incursions of northern “barbarians” into Central Europe during the first century, the Romans expanded their knowledge about the left bank of the upper and middle Danube. Amber merchants crossed Europe and reached the Baltic Sea, gathering meager information about the maritime zone between the Jutland Peninsula and the lower reaches of the Vistula. During the conquest of Dacian territory on the left bank of the lower Danube at the beginning of the second century, the emperor Trajan discovered the Trajisylvanian plateau and the portion of the Carpathians surrounding it.

Between the sixth and seventh centuries the Irish basically completed the exploration of the British Isles, and in the eighth century they were the first to reach the Faeroe Islands and Iceland, which were rediscovered and colonized by the Norsemen during the ninth century. Furthermore, the Irish were the first to sail around the Scandinavian and Kola peninsulas from the north, and they penetrated into the White Sea (Ohthere’s voyage in the 870’s). They sailed around Scandinavia from the south and east, exploring the coasts of the Baltic Sea and the gulfs of Bothnia, Riga, and Finland. All the important islands in the Baltic Sea as well as the lower reaches of the Neman and the Zapadnaia Dvina were discovered by the Irish. During the eighth and ninth centuries the Arabs explored the entire southern part of Europe, especially the Iberian Peninsula, which they conquered in 711–18. In the southeast and east, they explored Emba and laik (Ural), as well as the Volga Region as far as the mouth of the Kama River.

All the remaining regions of Eastern Europe and all of Northern Europe from the White Sea and the Baltic gulfs to the Urals were discovered by Russians. From the ninth through the 12th century, chiefly as a result of Novgorodian expeditions and campaigns by the princes Oleg, Sviatoslav Igorevich, Vladimir Sviatoslavich, laroslav the Wise, and Vladimir Monomakh, the Russians completed the exploration of the Dnestr, Dnieper, and Don basins. They discovered the entire course of the Zapadnaia Dvina and Neman rivers, Lakes Il’men’, Chudskoe, Pskov, Ladoga, Onega, and Beloe, and the river systems of the upper and middle Volga (including the Oka and the Kama), the Severnaia Dvina, Mezen’, and Pechora, and they reached the Severnyi Ural River. No later than the 13th century the Russians had circled all the shores of the White Sea and penetrated into the interior regions of the Kola Peninsula. During the 14th century they crossed the Urals. In the 15th and 16th centuries Russian seafarers sailed along all the coasts of Northern Europe, discovering the Kanin Peninsula, the islands of Kolguev, Vaigach, and Novaia Zemlia, and in the northwest, Svalbard, to which they made annual hunting and fishing expeditions as early as the mid-16th century. During the second half of the 16th century Muscovite surveyors explored and mapped the rivers of Eastern Europe, a number of large lakes, the northern Pomor’e and the Kola and Kanin Peninsulas, and Kolguev and Vaigach islands. The Book of the Great Chart was compiled by Russian surveyors in the 17th century.

The coasts of all the southern European seas and part of the Atlantic shoreline were explored in detail and drawn on nautical charts between the 13th and 15th centuries, mainly by Italian sailors. At the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century the Dutch and English discovered a number of geographical areas, some of which had been discovered previously. Among them were Severnyi Island in the archipelago of Novaia Zemlia, Bear Island, and Vestspitsbergen (W. Barents, 1594–97), Edge Island, Northeast Land, and other islands belonging to the Svalbard group (T. Edge, 1613–17), and Jan Mayen Island (J. May, 1614). Between 1603 and 1646, Swedish topographers led by A. Bure surveyed the shores of the Scandinavian Peninsula, including all its important protrusions, as well as Lakes Vänera, Vattem, Mälaren, and Inari, and many rivers, including the largest ones (the Glåma, Piteälven, and lorneälven). They also discovered a number of mountain ranges, and in Finland they explored the Suomenselkä Ridge and part of the Maanselkä Ridge.

In Russia during the 18th century V. N. Tatishchev and I. K. Kirilov explored the Central and Southern Urals (1720–37), and P. I. Rychkov and I. Krasil’nikov explored the Bugul’ma-Belebei Upland and the Obshchii Syrt (1741–55). Between 1768 and 1782 the leaders and participants in expeditions sponsored by the Russian academy—P. S. Pallas, N. P. Rychkov, N. P. Sokolov, J. Güldenstaedt, I. P. Fal’k, S. G. Gmelin, I. I. Lepekhin, N. la. Ozeretskovskii, I. I. Georgi, and V. F. Zuev—studied all parts of the Urals. (They were the first to note certain of its ranges and crests.) In addition, they explored the Caspian Lowland and the Kumo-Manych Depression, and in the Eastern European Plain they mapped the Valdai Hills and discovered the Central Russian, Dnieper Region, Volga Region, and Verkhniaia Kama Region Uplands, the Severnye Uvaly, the Donets Ridge, and the Ergeni. They continued the exploration of other uplands that had already been noted in the Book of the Great Chart (1627), as well as in the works of I. K. Kirilov and P. I. Rychkov. Between 1741 and 1779, Russian seafarers completed the description of the northern coasts of Europe, thus establishing the exact outlines of the entire continent. (Novaia Zemlia was first circumnavigated during the 1760’s.)

The study of the Apennines and the Apuan Alps, which had been begun by the Italian naturalists A. Vallisnieri and L. Marsigli between 1704 and 1719, was continued by L. Spallanzani and the Frenchman D. Dolomieu between 1761 and 1784. French geologists, including J. Guettard, N. Desmarest, and L. Ramond de Carbonnières, explored the Massif Central and the Pyrenees between 1751 and 1795, the Swiss H. de Saussure explored the Jura and the western Alps between 1758 and 1794, and Dolomieu and the Frenchman B. Hasket, who was in the service of Austria, explored the eastern Alps and the Dinaric plateau between 1776 and 1795. Outstanding explorers of the Carpathians were Hasket (1788–96) and the Pole S. Staszic (1789–1805). Between 1753 and 1768 the hydrographer M. Mackenzie completed a precise survey of the coasts of Great Britain.

From 1808 to 1813 the French explored and surveyed the mountain chains and massifs of the Iberian Peninsula. The foundation for the scientific study of the interior regions of the Balkan Peninsula and the precise description of its topography was laid between 1836 and 1847 by A. Boué and A. Viquesnet. During the 19th century geologists and geographers discovered the uplands of Western and Central Europe and definitively described the structure of the Alps (P. Dufrenoy, J. Elie de Beaumont, G. Dufour, and E. Suess), the Carpathians (E. Suess), and Fennoscandia (L. Buch, B. Keilhau, P. Munk, N. V. Shirokshin, N. Kudriavtsev, and V. Ramsay). Russian expeditions discovered all the sections of the Urals (E. A. Eversman, A. la. Kupfer, E. K. Gofman, G. P. Gel’mersen, N. I. Strazhevskii, P. I. Krotov, F. N. Chernyshev, and A. P. Karpinskii). In addition, a number of important uplands in Eastern Europe were discovered by expeditions under V. M. Severgin, E. P. Kovalevskii, A. I. Shrenk, A. A. Keizerling, K. M. Baer, N. N. Barbot de Marni, A. A. Inostrantsev, A. A. Tillo, and S. N. Nikitin.

The fundamental features of the relief of the island of Great Britain had been discovered, for the most part, by the mid-19th century by the geologists W. Smith, C. Lyell, R. Murchison, A. Sedgwick, and J. McCulloch. Even earlier (before 1812), R. Griffith had thoroughly studied the topography of Ireland. The first instrumental survey of the coasts of Iceland was made between 1801 and 1818 by a number of scientists, including H. Sjeel and H. Frisak. Exploration of the terrain of the interior regions of Iceland was begun by B. Gunnlaugsson (1831–43) and completed by T. Thoroddsen (1881–98). Outstanding among the explorers of the Svalbard group were W. Scoresby (1800–23), O. Torell, K. Chidenius, N. A. E. Nordenskjöld (1861–1873), and G. Isachsen (1906–10), as well as the members of the Russo-Swedish expedition of 1898–1902—E. Ederin, F. N. Chernyshev, and A. S. Vasil’ev. Prominent explorers of Novaia Zemlia were P. K. Pakhtusov (1832–35) and V. A. Rusanov (1907–11). In 1865 the Russian seafarer N. G. Shilling indicated that there must be land in the northern zone of the Barents Sea between Svalbard and Novaia Zemlia. A glacial drift carried the Austrian expedition ship of J. Payer and K. Weyprecht to the northern Barents in 1873, where they discovered an island that they named Franz Josef Land. Between 1880 and 1905 expeditions headed by L. Smith, F. Jackson, F. Nansen, W. Wellman, and A. Fiala proved that Franz Josef Land is an archipelago, and its component islands were put on the map.

I. P. MAGIDOVICH

By mid-1970 the population of Europe (excluding the USSR) was 462 million. According to data issued on Jan. 1, 1971, the population of the European USSR was 183.7 million (excluding the Caucasus and Ciscaucasia, approximately 162 million).

Anthropological composition. Almost the entire population of Europe belongs to the large European race, which may be divided into several smaller races. The Atlanto-Baltic race is widely distributed on the territory of the Scandinavian countries, Great Britain, Ireland, Iceland, the Netherlands, the northern part of the GDR, the Estonian SSR, and Latvian SSR. The peoples of the central regions of Western Europe and the European USSR belong primarily to variants of the Central European race. The Balkano-Caucasian race is represented in Yugoslavia, northern Greece, Bulgaria, southern Austria, and northern Italy (the Tirol), as well as among the peoples inhabiting the regions north, west, and east of the Black Sea. Members of the Indo-Mediterranean race live in Spain, most of Italy, France, southern Greece, and the Mediterranean islands. In the Lithuanian SSR and parts of the Latvian SSR and throughout northern European USSR the White Sea-Baltic race is widely distributed. Characteristics of the Uralic race are manifested in the Lapps and, to varying degrees, .among the Komi, Mari, Mordvinians, and Udmurts. Elements of the South Siberian race have penetrated the Volga Basin, and some authorities believe that a Mongoloid amalgam is located in the Baltic region and Hungary. In southern Italy an amalgam of the equatorial (Negroid-Australoid) race has been noted.

A. A. ZUBOV

Ethnic composition. The overwhelming majority of the present-day peoples of Europe speak Indo-European languages. Eastern and southeastern Europe is populated primarily by peoples of the Slavic group (about 215 million inhabitants; all figures date from 1970), which is divided into the subgroups East Slavic, West Slavic, and South Slavic. The East Slavs include the Russians, as well as the Ukrainians and Byelorussians, who are close to them in origin and culture. The West Slavs include the Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, and Lusatians, and the South Slavs consist of the Bulgarians, Macedonians, Slovenes, Serbs, Croats, Montenegrins, and Bosnians. More than 4 million people (Lithuanians and Latvians) speak the languages of the Letto-Lithuanian (Baltic) group, which are similar to the Slavic languages.

Central and Northern Europe have been settled, for the most part, by peoples belonging to the Germanic language group (more than 180 million people), which has two sub-groups. The languages of the western subgroup are spoken by the Germans, Austrians, German-Swiss, Luxemburgers, people from Alsace-Lorraine, Dutch, Flemish, and Frisians, as well as by the English-speaking peoples (English, Scottish, Scotch-Irish and Anglo-Irish). The languages of the northern subgroup are spoken by the Danes and the people of the Faeroe Islands, Swedes, Norwegians, and Icelanders. The Celtic language group includes the Bretons, Welsh, Gaels, and Irish.

The 169 million people who speak Romance languages live primarily in southwestern Europe. Among them are the Italians and Italian-Swiss, as well as the French-speaking peoples (French, French-Swiss, and Walloons) and the Spanish, Catalonians, Portuguese, and Galicians, as well as the Corsicans and the members of the Rhaetian Romance group. A unique eastern Romance subgroup is formed by the Rumanians, Aromanians (or Vlachs), and Moldavians.

Greeks and Albanians speak languages belonging to separate groups of the Indo-European family. The language of the gypsies, who have settled primarily in southeastern Europe, belongs to the Indo-Aryan group. However, most of the gypsies also use the languages of the regions where they live. Jews live in almost all the countries of Europe. Their native language—Yiddish—is close to German. (Certain Jewish groups speak Judeo-Spanish, which is similar to Spanish.) However, most Jews speak the languages of the countries where they live.

A rather significant percentage of the population of Europe, particularly in the northeast, consists of peoples who speak languages of the Uralic family. About 9 million people, including Finns, Estonians, Karelians, and Saams (Lapps), speak Finnic languages. Special subgroups of the Finnic group (the Volga and Perm’ regions) include the languages of the Mordvinians, Mari, Udmurts, Komi, and Komi-Permiaks. The Hungarians belong to the Ugric group (12.8 million people). A number of peoples of the Volga and Ural regions (the Chuvash, Tatars, and Bashkirs) speak Turkic languages of the Altaic family, as do the Gagauz (Gagaous) and groups of Turks in the Balkan Peninsula. The Maltese speak a Semitic language that is similar to Arabic. The language of the Basques (descendants of the ancient population of the Iberian Peninsula) occupies a special place in linguistic classification.

Characteristic of the peoples of Europe, especially in multinational countries, are bilingualism and even trilingualism, associated with the phenomenon of linguistic assimilation. Thus, among the non-Russian peoples of the USSR, Russian has become widespread. French is used by the national minorities of France, and Spanish by the national minorities of Spain. In a number of capitalist countries (for example, Spain) the natural linguistic and ethnic assimilation of national minorities has been made more complicated by the assimilative government policies. The USSR and the other socialist countries of Europe have created conditions for the development of the language and culture of all their peoples.

The two principal branches of Christianity—the Orthodox (Byzantine) and the Catholic (Roman) churches—have wide followings in Europe. Also important are the various Protestant churches and religious trends that broke away from Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism, primarily during the Reformation (16th-17th centuries). Historically, Orthodoxy became widespread chiefly among the peoples of Eastern and Southeastern Europe (the Russians, the basic mass of the Ukrainian and Byelorussian populations, and the Bulgarians, Macedonians, Serbs, Montenegrins, Rumanians, Aromanians, Moldavians, Greeks, and some of the Albanians and gypsies, as well as the Karelians and Finnic-speaking peoples of the Volga Region, the Chuvash, and the Gaguses). Roman Catholicism spread among the Romance-speaking peoples of Southwestern Europe (the Italians, French, and Spanish), a number of Slavic peoples (the Poles, Czechs, Croats, Slovaks, Slovenes, and some of the Ukrainians and Byelorussians), and the Lithuanians and some of the Latvians. In addition, Catholicism was adopted by certain Germanic peoples (the Austrians, Luxemburgers, Flemish, and a considerable number of Germans, as well as the Alsatians, about half of the Dutch, and some of the English and Scots), as well as by the Bretons, Irish, Hungarians, and Maltese. Members of the Protestant churches and sects live primarily in Central and Northern Europe (most Germans, some Dutch, and the German-Swiss, English, Scots, Scotch-Irish, Anglo-Irish, Swedes, Norwegians, Welsh, Finns, Estonians, and some Latvians). Islam is professed by believers among

Table 2. Linguistic families of Europe (approximate numbers as of 1970)
	Europe, excluding the USSR	European USSR
I. INDO-EUROPEAN FAMILY
Source: Computations of the Institute of Ethnology of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.
Slavic group
(1) Russians	200,000	85,000,000
(2) Ukrainians	500,000	38,000,000
(3) Byelorussians	200,000	8,500,000
(4) Poles (and Kashubians)	32,000,000	1,100,000
(5) Lusatians	100,000	—
(6) Czechs	9,500,000	20,000
(7) Slovaks	4,300,000	10,000
(8) Slovenes	1,900,000	—
(9) Croats	4,800,000	—
(10) Bosnians	1,200,000	—
(11) Serbs	9,000,000	—
(12) Montenegrins	600,000	—
(13) Macedonians	1,400,000	—
(14) Bulgarians	7,600,000	300,000
Latvian—Lithuanian (Baltic) group
(15) Lithuanians	30,000	2,600,000
(16) Latvians	20,000	1,350,000
Germanic group
(17) Germans	80,200,000	400,000
(18) German—Swiss	4,200,000	—
(19) Austrians	7,300,000	—
(20) Luxemburgers	300,000	—
(21) Alsatians (and Lotharingians)	1,400,000	—
(22) Dutch	12,600,000	—
(23) Flemish	5,500,000	—
(24) Frisians	400,000	—
(25) Swedes	8,100,000	—
(26) Norwegians	3,900,000	—
(27) Icelanders	200,000	—
(28) Faeroese	30,000	—
(29) Danes	4,900,000	—
(30) English	45,600,000	—
(31) Scots	5,200,000	—
(32) Anglo-Irish and Scotch-Irish	1,100,000	—
Celtic group
(33) Irish	4,200,000	—
(34) Welsh	900,000	—
(35) Gaels	100,000	—
(36) Bretons	1,100,000	—
Romance group
(37) Italians	55,800,000	—
(38) Italian-Swiss	200,000	—
(39) Corsican s	300,000	—
(40) Rhaeto-Romance group (Friülani, Ladini, and Romansh)	400,000	—
(41) French	44,300,000	—
(42) French-Swiss	1,100,000	—
(43) Walloons	4,000,000	—
(44) Spaniards	25,200,000	—
(45) Catalonians	5,500,000	—
(46) Portuguese	9,700,000	—
(47) Galicians	2,600,000	—
(48) Rumanians	16,900,000	100,000
(49) Aromanians (Vlachs)	200,000	—
(50) Moldavians	—	2,700,000
Albanian group
(51) Albanians	3,200,000	—
Greek group
(52) Greeks	8,500,000	100,000
Other peoples speaking Indo-European languages
(54) Jews	1,400,000	1,700,000
(55) Gypsies	900,000	130,000
II. BASQUES
(56) Basques	900,000	—
III.HAMITO-SEMITIC FAMILY
(57) Maltese	300,000	—
IV. URALIC FAMILY
Finnic group
(58) Finns (and Kwaen)	4,500,000	80,000
(59) Karelians	—	140,000
(60) Estonians	30,000	1,000,000
(61) Livonians	—	200
(62) Ingrians	—	1,000
(63) Veps	—	20,000
(64) Lapps	30,000	1,900
(65) Komi	—	300,000
(66) Komi-Permiaks	—	150,000
(67) Udmurts	—	660,000
(68) Mari	—	550,000
(69) Mordvinians	—	1 ,000,000
Ugric group
(70) Hungarians (and Szekelys)	12,500,000	170,000
(71) Mansi	—	1,000
Samoyedic group
(72) Nentsy	—	7,000
V. ALTAIC FAMILY
Turkic group
(73) Chuvash	—	1,500,000
(74) Tatars	30,000	4,500,000
(75) Bashkirs	—	1,000,000
(76) Kazakhs	—	1,200,000
(77) Turks	1,300,000	—
(78) Gagauz	5,000	160,000
Mongolic group
(79) Kalmyks	—	139,000

the Turks, by most Tatars, Bashkirs, Albanians, Gypsies, and Bosnians, and by some Bulgarians. The religion of the Jews is Judaism.

The overwhelming majority of the population of the USSR has broken away from religion. The number of atheists is also growing in the other socialist countries of Europe and in a number of capitalist countries, especially the Protestant ones.

V. I. KOZLOV

The present-day political map of Europe reflects the radical sociopolitical changes that were brought about by the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution in Russia, the defeat of the fascist powers in World War II (1939–45), in which the Soviet Union played a decisive role, and the victory of the people’s democratic and socialist revolutions in several countries of Eastern and Central Europe. As a result, two groups of countries have taken shape in Europe with socioeconomic systems that differ in principle: the socialist group, which, in addition to the Soviet Union, includes Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the GDR, Hungary, Poland, Rumania, Yugoslavia, and Albania; and the capitalist group, which is made up of the remaining countries of Europe.

More than half of the territory of Europe—its eastern part—is occupied by the USSR (the European USSR). On the territory of Germany two states have been established, whose social systems differ in principle. Located in the eastern part is the German Democratic Republic, which has developed as a socialist state, and located in the western part is the Federal Republic of Germany, a capitalist state.

Table 3. Political divisions of Europe (excluding the USSR)
State	Area (sq km)	Population (1970)	Capitals and administrative centers
1 As of 1969 2 Without Greenland, which is considered part of the Danish state under the Danish Constitution 3 Possession of Great Britain 4 Including inland waters 5 Including the Azores and Madeira 6 Including the Balearic and Canary islands 7 Special political unit 8 As of Mar. 31, 1971 Sources: Narodnoe khoziaistvo SSSR v 1970 g.: Statisticheskii ezhegodnik. Moscow, 1971. Statistical Yearbook, 1970. United Nations, New York, 1971.
Albania	28,700	2.075.0001	Tirane
Andorra	450	19.0001	Andorra
Austria	83,800	7,384,0001	Vienna
Belgium	30,500	9,676,000	Brussels
Bulgaria	110,900	8,524,000	Sofia
Czechoslovakia	127,900	14,358,000	Prague
Denmark2 (including Faeroes)	44,500	4,921,000	Copenhagen
Faeroe Islands	1,400	38,000	T6rshavn
FRG	248,000	59,554,000	Bonn
Finland	337,000	4,695,000	Helsinki
France	547,000	50,775,000	Paris
GDR	108,200	17,057,000	Berlin
Gibraltar3	6	27.0001
Great Britain	244,000	55,812,000	London
Greece	131,900	8,838,0001	Athens
Hungary	93,000	10,345,000	Budapest
Iceland	103,000	204,000	Reykjavfk
Ireland	70,300	2,944,000	Dublin
Italy	301,200	54,504,000	Rome
Lichtenstein	160	22,0001	Vaduz
Luxembourg	2,600	340,000	Luxembourg
Malta	300	326,000	Valletta
Monaco	1	23,000	Monaco
Netherlands4	40,800	13,077,000	Amsterdam
Norway (including Svalbard and Jan Mayen Island)	386,600	3,893,000	Oslo
Svalbard and Jan Mayen	62,400	3,000	Longyearbyen
Poland	312,700	32,605,000	Warsaw
Portugal5	92,100	9,560,000	Lisbon
Rumania	237,500	20,400,000	Bucharest
San Marino	60	19,000	San Marino
Spain6	504,800	33,609,000	Madrid
Sweden	449,800	8,046,000	Stockholm
Switzerland	41,300	6,257,000	Bern
Turkey (European)	23,600	2.967.0001
Vatican	.44	1.0001
West Berlin7	480	2,128,000
Yugoslavia	255,800	20,504,000a	Belgrade

REFERENCES

Bubnov, S. V. Geologiia Evropy, vol. 2, part 1. Moscow, 1935.
Arkhangel’skii, A. D. Geologicheskoe stroenie i geologicheskaia istoriia SSSR, vol. 1, 4th ed. Moscow-Leningrad, 1947.
Mazarovich, A. N. Osnovy regional’noi geologii materikov, part 1. Moscow, 1951.
Giagnoux, M. Stratigraficheskaia geologiia. Moscow, 1952. (Translated from French.)
Tektonika Evropy: Ob”iasnitel’naia zapiska k mezhdunarodnoi tektonicheskoi karte Evropy masshtaba 1:2,500,000. Moscow, 1964.
Geologicheskoe stroenie SSSR, vols. 1-5. Moscow, 1968-69.
Fizicheskaia geografiia chastei sveta. Moscow, 1963.
Alisov, B. P., I. A. Berlin, and V. M. Mikhel’. Kurs klimatologii, part 3. Leningrad, 1954.
Vlasova, T. V. Fizicheskaia geografiia chastei sveta, 2nd ed. Moscow, 1966.
Ganssen, R. Geografiia pochv. Moscow, 1962. (Translated from German.)
Gerasimov, I. P. “Novaia pochvennaia karta Evropy.” Povchvovedenie, 1968, no. 1.
Dobrynin, B.F. Fizicheskaia geografiia Zapadnoi Evropy. Moscow, 1948.
Eramov, R. A. Zapadnaia Evropa. Moscow, 1960. (Fizicheskaia geogiafiia materikov i okeanov, vol. 1.)
Karandeeva, M. V. Geomorfologiia Evropeiskoi chasti SSSR. Moscow, 1957.
Magidovich, I. P., and V. I. Magidovich. Istoriia otkrytiia i issledovaniia Evropy. Moscow, 1970.
Martonhe, E. Tsentral’naia Evropa. Moscow, 1938. (Translated from French.)
Mil’kov, F. N., and N. A. Gvozdetskii. Fizicheskaia geografiia SSSR: Obshchii obzor: Evropeiskaia chast’ SSSR: Kavkaz. Moscow, 1969.
Pochvy SSSR: Evropeiskaia chast’ SSSR, vols. 1-3. Moscow-Leningrad, 1939.
Rastitel’nyi pokrov SSSR: Poiasnitel’nyi tekst k “Geobotanicheskoi karte SSSR” masshtaba 1:4,000,000, vols. 1-2. Moscow-Leningrad, 1956.
Rel’efZemli. Moscow, 1967.
Sokolov, A. A. Gidrografiia SSSR (Vody sushi). Leningrad, 1964.
Bengston, N. A., et al. A Geography of Europe. Edited by G. W. Hoffman. London, 1954.
Kubiena, W. L. The Soils of Europe. London, 1953.
Lamorlette, L. L’Europe, vols. 1-2. Paris, 1957.
Lehmann, H. Europe, 16th ed. Frankfurt am Main-Berlin-Munich [1955].
Narody Evropeiskoi chasti SSSR, vols. 1-2. Moscow, 1964.
Narody zarubezhnoi Evropy, vols. 1-2. Moscow, 1964-65.

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Europe

 

a French monthly journal dealing with social and political affairs, literature, and art. Its editor since 1966 has been P. Gamarra.

Europe was founded in 1923 by a group of progressive writers headed by R. Rolland and J.-R. Bloch. By the mid-1930’s it had switched from an abstract humanist orientation to active support of the struggle for socialism. The journal seeks to establish broad international cultural ties, and it draws attention to the construction of a new way of life in the socialist countries.

Europe has published special numbers devoted to such subjects as science fiction, television, cybernetics, and the theater. Other special numbers have been devoted to the literature of a specific country, such as the German Democratic Republic, Bulgaria, and Algeria, or to a particular author, artist, work, or literary trend. Russian and Soviet writers who have been the subjects of special numbers include N. V. Gogol, F. M. Dostoevsky, L. N. Tolstoy, A. P. Chekhov, Sholom Aleichem, M. Gorky, S. A. Esenin, and M. A. Sholokhov. In honor of the 40th and 50th anniversaries of the October Revolution of 1917, Europe published separate issues that contained selected literary works and critical articles by Soviet writers.

Europe contains analyses of problems of materialist aesthetics. The journal has sections devoted to literary history, criticism, and bibliography.

REFERENCE

“Zhurnalu ‘Erop’—piat’desiat let.” Inostrannaia literatura, 1974, no. 1.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

Europe

[′yu̇r·əp]

(geography)

A great western peninsula of the Eurasian landmass, usually called a continent; its eastern limits are arbitrary and are conventionally drawn along the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, and the Caucasus watershed to the Black Sea.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Europe

1. the second smallest continent, forming the W extension of Eurasia: the border with Asia runs from the Urals to the Caspian and the Black Sea. The coastline is generally extremely indented and there are several peninsulas (notably Scandinavia, Italy, and Iberia) and offshore islands (including the British Isles and Iceland). It contains a series of great mountain systems in the south (Pyrenees, Alps, Apennines, Carpathians, Caucasus), a large central plain, and a N region of lakes and mountains in Scandinavia. Pop.: 724 722 000 (2005 est.). Area: about 10 400 000 sq. km (4 000 000 sq. miles)

2. Brit the European Union

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005