Geography Chapter 16-Central Western Europe

Chapter 16Central Western Europe • •

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Dialect: Dialect : A variation of a spoken language that is unique to a region or community. Impressionism: Impressionism : a style of art where painters try to catch visual impressions made by color, light, and shadows. Nationalize: Nationalize : to bring a business under state control. Recession: Recession : an extended decline in business activity. Confederation: Confederation : a system of government in which individual political units keep their sovereignty but give limited power to a central government. Reparation: Reparation : money paid for war damages. Inflation: Inflation: a sharp, widespread rise in prices. Lignite: Lignite : a soft, brownish-black coal. Dike: Dike: an embankment of earth and rock built to hold back water. Polder : an area of low-lying land that has been reclaimed from the sea. Decentralize : to transfer government power to smaller regions. Canton: Canton: a political division or state; one of the states in Switzerland. Neutral: Neutral : not taking sides in a war. Perishable good: good : a product that does not stay fresh for long. Strip mining: mining : the process whereby miners strip away the surface of the earth to lay bare the mineral deposits.

1. Main physical characteristics of the regions of France: What are their economic activities? Northern France o Physical characteristics characteristics  Paris Basin (part of the N. European Plain)lies in the interior of N. Franceis a large functional region drained by the Seine and other rivers o Economic activities  Pariseconomical, political, and cultural capital of France, lies on the banks of the Seine, in the center of the Paris Basin  Paris and its surrounding are form France’s chief center of commercial industry, raw materials shipped here are turned into finished products Lille-city N. of Parisavailability of coal has been a major pull factor, attracting many  industries.  Steel mills, textile factories, and chemical plants in + around Lille have provided jobs.  Lille’s location near N. European Union countries has helped it recover from economic problems + high unemployment. Vineyards of the Southwest o Physical characteristics characteristics  S. parts of Franceair warmer + soil drier = wine growing conditions  Characteristics of wine fields: right amount of rainfall, no frost, miserable soilstony and poor, when the soil is rich, the production of grapes is large, most refined wines come from the poorest soil o Economic activities The region around the busy seaport of Bordeaux in SW. France has a reputation for   producing the best wines Life in Southern France o Physical characteristics characteristics •

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2 mountainous areas E. of Bordeauxthe Massif Central and the Alps, divided by the Rhone River  Massif CentralW. of Rhone River, mixture of older peaks worn flat by time and newer, sharper peaks that are not yet eroded, poor soil