* Europe, Political

Division
Inhabitants of Europe
* How is Europe divided politically?
* How do Europeans live compared to the
inhabitants of other continents?
* How is Europe divided economically?

* What will I learn

today?
* Europe has been the home of many important
civilizations throughout history: Ancient Greek, Roman,
Byzantine and modern technological civilization).
* Its:
• temperate climate,
• natural resources (water, fertile soil, rivers, minerals in
mountains and vast plains suitable for agriculture) and
• relative position,
made Europe attractive to many peoples who claimed its
territory and wealth causing many conflicts and wars.
* The result of this intense activity on European ground
is the current political division of Europe into many
sovereign states.

* Introduction
* There are 50 states with territory within the
European geographical borders.
* 44 of those lie exclusively within European
borders and 6 have territories both in Europe and
Asia. Those are: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia,
Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkey.
* There are 6 mini-states: Andorra, Monaco,
Liechtenstein, Vatican City, San Marino, Malta.
* There are also some states which have declared
independence but have not been recognized by
all UN countries as sovereign states (Abkhazia,
Kosovo, Northern Cyprus, South Ossetia).

* European states
* The 6 ministates
1. Europe has coal, oil and fertile ………………..it is rich in
natural…………………………….
2. I want to become a farmer, ………………………..is a growing
economic activity.
3. Europe is between Asia and America it has a good
……………….position.
4. Many peoples ………………European territories and so
many ………………..occurred.
5. The result of previous wars is the political
…………………..of Europe in 50 …………………states.
6. 44 states ……………exclusively within European
………………..
7. There are ……………….ministates in Europe.
8. Kosovo has ……………….. ……………………but has not been
……………………by all …………members.

* Exercise 1
Name the 50 European states on the map of the
following page.

* Exercise 2
 How can we measure and compare living standards:
We mainly rely on two indexes: GDP (per capita) and HDI.
GDP (Gross Domestic Product): The total value of goods and
services produced in an economy. A high GDP means a
country produces high value goods and services, its residents
have well paid jobs and enjoy good living standards.
GDP per capita: The average yearly income of a country’s
residents.
Economic growth: Increase of GDP
Development: The improvement of people’s quality of life, it
is usually measured with the Human Development Index
(HDI)
HDI: Life expectancy at birth, Adult literacy rate, Enrolment
rate, average income.

Measuring and comparing growth

and living standards
* Europe has a very high life expectancy.
* Europe has a highly developed transport network.
* Europe has a highly developed industry and trade
network.
* Europe has a very high education index.
* Europe has a very high average GDP.
* https://
www.macrotrends.net/countries/GRC/greece/gdp-gross-
domestic-product
*
https://greece-and-the-euro.com/2021/01/23/historical-
cycles-of-the-greek-economy-from-1821-to-the-present
/

* Europe and the other

continents
 Human Development Index I

Mean years of
Human Development Life expectancy at Expected years of Gross national income (GNI) per
- Rank Country schooling (years) SDG
Index (HDI) (value) birth (years) SDG3 schooling (years) SDG 4.3 capita (PPP $) SDG 8.5
4.6

1 Norway 0.954 82.3 18.1 12.6 68,059

2 Switzerland 0.946 83.6 16.2 13.4 59,375

3 Ireland 0.942 82.1 18.8 12.5 55,660

4 Germany 0.939 81.2 17.1 14.1 46,946

Hong Kong, China

4 0.939 84.7 16.5 12.0 60,221
(SAR)

6 Australia 0.938 83.3 22.1 12.7 44,097

6 Iceland 0.938 82.9 19.2 12.5 47,566

8 Sweden 0.937 82.7 18.8 12.4 47,955

9 Singapore 0.935 83.5 16.3 11.5 83,793

10 Netherlands 0.933 82.1 18.0 12.2 50,013

 Human Development Index II

Human Life expectancy Expected years of Mean years of

Gross national income (GNI)
Rank Country Development at birth (years) schooling (years) SDG schooling (years)
per capita (PPP $) SDG 8.5
Index (HDI) (value) SDG3 4.3 SDG 4.6

181 Sierra Leone 0.438 54.3 10.2 3.6 1,381

182 Burkina Faso 0.434 61.2 8.9 1.6 1,705

182 Eritrea 0.434 65.9 5.0 3.9 1,708

184 Mali 0.427 58.9 7.6 2.4 1,965

185 Burundi 0.423 61.2 11.3 3.1 660

186 South Sudan 0.413 57.6 5.0 4.8 1,455

187 Chad 0.401 54.0 7.5 2.4 1,716

Central African
188 0.381 52.8 7.6 4.3 777
Republic

189 Niger 0.377 62.0 6.5 2.0 912

*Life expectancy
* Education Index
1. GDP shows us the total …………….of goods and
………………… produced in a country.
2. Countries with high GDP enjoy good living
…………………….
3. GDP …………………shows us the average ………………
……………….of a country’s population.
4. This year Greece increased its GDP so it experienced
economic ……………..
5. In order to increase its GDP a country should produce
………………….instead of olive oil.
6. While GDP measures the value of …………….and services
HDI measures …………… ……………………..
7. In some countries people only live up to 60 years,
these countries have low ……………. …………………
8. The ……………….. ……………….income of Greek citizens is
close to 15.000 euros.

* Exercise 3
However GDP and HDI vary among European states as not all
states achieved the same growth levels.
Some of the factors affecting performance are:
1. natural wealth (resources): A state can export raw
materials and minerals and build a strong industrial sector.

2. Geography: A state may have developed in the agrarian era

relying on the primary sector or may lay in a strategic area
facilitating international trade.
3. political history: War-torn countries or states experiencing
internal conflicts and civil wars cannot achieve growth.
4. Political and economic choices of governments. For
example joining an international organization affects a
country’s economy and development.
At the same time, significant differences exist and may be
increasing within states, with big parts of European populations
living under poverty levels.

* Inequalities within Europe

*Income inequality, EU
* Global income
inequality
1. Not all European citizens enjoy the same living
…………….., in fact there are economic ……………………
among states.
2. The ………….. ……………………used for the production
of t-shirts is cotton.
3. Some states developed in the ……………….era
cultivating the land but their ………………….sector
remains strong today.
4. Russian rivers ………………trade between Scandinavian
countries and countries of the Black Sea.
5. Countries that often ………………conflicts cannot
achieve economic ………………….
6. There are also ………………….within states with big
parts of the population living below the
………………..line.

* Exercise 5
Using the previous map and the data
from pages 10, 11 write 4 basic
conclusions you can draw about
income inequality.

* Homework 1
* Complete the sentences:
1. Kosovo ………………….independence in 2008 but has
not been ………………….by all UN members.
2. The …………………..of Greece has decreased a lot
during the last decade, so living conditions have
worsened.
3. There is high ……………………..in many European states
meaning that some people are rich while most
people face economic difficulties.
4. Greece is a ………………………state so no other state
can interfere in Greek politics.
5. The HDI is the best way to ……………………life quality
in various states.

* Exercise 6
* Natural resources: φυσικοί πόροι
* Fertile: γόνιμος
* Soil: έδαφος
* Agriculture: γεωργία
* Claim: διεκδικώ, διεκδίκηση
* Conflict: σύγκρουση
* Sovereignty: εθνική κυριαρχία
* Sovereign: εθνικά κυρίαρχος (no other state can interfere in a sovereign state’s
internal affairs)
* Declare: δηλώνω, ανακηρύσσω
* Independence: ανεξαρτησία
* GDP: ΑΕΠ (ακαθάριστο εγχώριο προϊόν)
* HDI: Δείκτης ανθρώπινης ανάπτυξης
* Living standards: επίπεδα διαβίωσης
* GDP per capita: ΑΕΠ κατά κεφαλή
* Measure: μετράω
* Life expectancy: προσδόκιμο ζωής
* Literacy: αλφαβητισμός
* Facilitate: διευκολύνω
* Inequality: ανισότητα

* Glossary