Natural conditions and general characteristics of foreign Europe. Economy of foreign Europe

In terms of its economic potential, foreign Europe roughly corresponds to the United States. The countries of this region account for one third of the world's scientific and technological potential and gross national product and one fifth of the world's patent fund. The share of participation of the countries of Western Europe in the process of the international division of labor, in the system of world economic relations is great: in terms of total volume, European countries surpass the United States in world exports and approximately correspond to the positions of the United States in world imports of goods.

Foreign Europe is formed mainly by developed capitalist countries, in which the size of the GIA per capita is, on average, 28 thousand dollars. This figure in "old Europe" varies from 16 thousand dollars in Portugal and 20 thousand dollars in Greece, up to $59,000 in Norway and $67,000 in Luxembourg. After the expansion of the EU to the East, the lower limit of the average per capita income moved to the CEE countries - Romania ($3,830) and Bulgaria ($3,450)

In Western European countries, a high standard of consumption and quality of life of the population has been achieved. On the Human Development Index, all countries in the region are in the top ranking group, with Iceland and Norway at the top of the list.

The countries of foreign Europe belong to the same Western Christian civilization and have much in common in cultural, socio-psychological and value settings. All this, superimposed on geographical proximity, could not but contribute to the rapprochement of countries, the formation of economic, military-political unions and integration associations. This process intensified especially after the Second World War, as we see in the formation of the BeniLux Customs Union (1948), the European Coal and Steel Community (1951), the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) in 1957. Currently, there are 2 integration economic associations in foreign Europe - the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), which includes 3 countries - Switzerland, ria, Iceland, Norway, and the European Union (27 countries). Participation in integration blocs contributes to the growth of the economy of Western European countries, strengthens them competitive advantages in the world market, strengthens the position of Europe in the world economy.

Among the features that characterize the economy of a united Europe, the following should be highlighted:

In general, foreign Europe is developing quite steadily and its GDP is constantly growing. However, other regions of the world are developing at a faster pace, which leads to a decrease in the share of Europe in the world. Over the past 20 years, the growth rate of the European economy (2.6%) lagged behind the American one (4%) by an average of 1.4 percentage points. This does not allow Europe to catch up with the US in 1ShN per capita: currently this figure ($28,000) is 65% of the US ($44,000).

It is necessary to note the unevenness of economic development in the countries and regions of Europe. Currently, there is a strong slowdown in growth rates in the old EU members and rather high growth rates in other countries, especially in new EU members (in Germany, Italy, France - 1-1.8% compared to Hungary, Slovakia, Estonia - 4 .2 - 7.9%).

In the sectoral structure of the economies of the countries of the region, the service sector occupies a leading position - 65%, industry and construction account for 30%, and agriculture, forestry and fisheries - 5%.

Sectoral structure of the economy Traditionally, Europe is strong in its industry. It accounts for about a third of the industrial output of the world. Among the significant and most competitive sectors of the European economy are nuclear power, oil and gas, automotive, aerospace, electrical, electronic and other high-tech industries, chemical, light and food industries. In recent decades, there has been an aging and crisis of traditional industries, especially ferrous metallurgy, chemistry, and the textile industry.

Europe has the second largest agro-industrial complex after the USA. Agriculture in Europe is extremely diverse, ranging from traditional livestock and crop production to subspecializations such as floriculture. The efficiency of agriculture in the region is high: with employment in the agro-industrial complex from 2 to 8% of the population, Europe not only fully provides itself with food, but also supplies products for export (grain, meat and dairy products, vegetables and fruits). In order to prevent a crisis of overproduction, as well as to maintain the competitiveness of its own producers in external markets, the EU is pursuing a large-scale common agricultural policy, on which more than 40% of the EU budget is spent (price support, direct subsidies for producers of certain goods, the establishment of import barriers at the external borders of the EU, export subsidies).

It should be noted that there are many opponents of the common agricultural policy both inside and outside the EU. The main argument is that the rules for the functioning of a single internal market do not fully apply to agriculture - one of the most complex and unstable sectors of the economy, and the methods of its regulation are non-market, more reminiscent of classical protectionism. In the EU, the relatively inefficient producers of France, the Netherlands, Denmark and Ireland are the main beneficiaries of this policy, while the highly efficient UK farms are the main opponents. In addition, the issues of regulating the agricultural market are the cause of serious disagreements and even "trade wars" between the EU and the US.

The most prominent sector of the European economy is services sector. It harmoniously combines both traditional and new types of services. In Europe, the banking sector, trade, education, and healthcare are traditionally highly developed. Telecommunications and information services are among the new types of services that have been developed in recent decades. Tourism plays a significant role, and in addition, the role of transport and communications should be especially noted, since the most important land, air and water transport arteries of the world pass through Europe.

Europe is the smallest and at the same time the most “closed” part of the world in the world. Its nearest neighbor is Asia, and together they form the largest continent, Eurasia. But today the focus is on foreign Europe.

General information

There are different approaches to dividing Europe into regions. Until the end of the 80s of the last century, in history and geography, the term "Western Europe" was understood as a set of independent European states that, after the end of the Second World War, continued capitalist development. There were 32 of them, and the countries of the socialist camp - Eastern Europe - served as a counterweight to them. In 1991, after the collapse of the USSR and the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a new concept of "Foreign Europe" appeared.

It unites 40 countries located on the territory of Europe, except for those that are part of the CIS.

Geographical position of Foreign Europe

Speaking about the physical and geographical position of Foreign Europe, it should be said that it occupies a fairly compact scale the globe territory: her total area is 5.4 million square meters. km. The island of Svalbard is the extreme point in the north, and the island of Crete is in the south. The length of the region from north to south is 5000 km, and from west to east - 3000 km. Foreign Europe is washed on three sides by the waters of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans and their seas. The coastline is very indented. Most of the territory is dominated by plains, and only about 17% is occupied by mountains. Among them, the main ones are the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Apennines, the Carpathians, the mountains on the Balkan and Scandinavian peninsulas. This region is dominated by four climatic zones, which gradually replace each other from north to south:

• arctic (Arctic islands of Europe): the maritime arctic climate “rules” here with very frosty winters and cold summers;
• subarctic (Iceland and north coast of mainland Europe): characterized by the predominance of the maritime subarctic climate type with cold, sometimes mild winters and cool summers with strong westerly winds;
• moderate (British Isles, most of mainland Europe): two types of climate are distinguished here - temperate marine and temperate continental.
• subtropical (southern Mediterranean part of Europe): typical for these latitudes, the type of climate is Mediterranean with warm winters and dry, hot summers.

Rice. 1 Regions of Foreign Europe

Regional division

Geographically, Foreign Europe is divided into four regions according to the cardinal points: Northern, Southern, Western and Eastern. However, recently, in addition to Northern, Southern and Western Europe, new terms have appeared in the everyday life of geographers - Central-Eastern and Eastern Europe. The latter just includes Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova and Russia - countries that are members of the CIS. How many states, and to which regions of Foreign Europe are "credited", is summarized in the following table:

Rice. 2 Modern leaders of the G7 countries

Economic development

Overseas Europe is one of the most economically developed regions in the world. Both in political terms and in the sectoral and territorial structure of the economy of the region, there is diversity and richness. If foreign Europe is presented in the form of a large four-story apartment building, then the countries with transition economy: Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia. On the second and third - developed countries with market economy: Spain, Greece, Denmark, Norway, Iceland and others. However, their level of economic and social development has not yet reached the high level of leaders, which include the "neighbors" from the top floor - Great Britain, Germany, France and Italy. They account for about 70% of the total GDP. They are also members of the "Group of Seven" or "Big Seven" - an association of seven leading economic developed countries(USA, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan.

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The leaders of these states gather annually to discuss not only the problems of foreign Europe, but the pressing issues facing humanity: political, military (universal security, terrorism, causes of aggravation of local conflicts), social (protection of human rights, support and conditions for cooperation with developing countries) , environmental (global warming, climate change) and economic (science and finance, market regulation, imports and exports).

Peculiarities

Among the many features of Europe abroad, it is worth noting one important thing - the presence of the "Central Axis of Development". This term refers to the Western European part with a length of 1600 km, which, in fact, is the center, the core of the Old World with the largest concentration of population (300 people per 1 km2) and the main sectors of the economy. The conditional border of the "axis" originates from Manchester, then "rushes" through Hamburg, Venice, Marseille and returns to Hamburg again, forming a banana-shaped loop. It covers a large section of Europe, including the following parts: the regions of Great Britain, the western lands of Germany, the north and south of France, Switzerland and the north of Italy.

If you look at the map of Europe, you can see that on the territory of the "Central Axis of Development" there are "world centers" - London and Paris, each of which houses about thirty headquarters of the largest corporations. In addition, it is the location of more than half of all industrial capacity Europe: coal and metallurgical enterprises, general engineering, automotive, chemical industry enterprises, the latest high-tech industries, port industrial complexes and much more.

Rice. 3 Europe's “central axis of development”

What have we learned?

Features of foreign Europe - under the gun of our attention. After considering this topic in geography for grades 10 and 11, we come to the following conclusion: a relatively small area on a vast continent is one of the most successful, developed in terms of the quality of life of the population, in terms of production structure, in terms of scale economic activity and level of technological development. Many factors contributed to this: geographical position, favorable natural conditions, the small size of countries and their close proximity, and much more.

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Foreign Europe includes countries outside the CIS. Their territory is more than 5 million square kilometers, where almost five hundred million people live. Speaking of foreign Europe, we have in mind approximately forty sovereign states connected not only by historical fate, but also by the closest economic, political and cultural threads.

Foreign Europe is one of the main centers of human civilization. This is the birthplace of urban agglomerations, great geographical discoveries, as well as great industrial revolutions. And despite the fact that the era of "Eurocentrism" is already in the past, foreign Europe occupies an important place not only in the politics of the world, but also in its economy.

economy

Studying the industry of foreign Europe (grade 11 - the time when this topic is given attention at school), we consider it as an integral region. At the same time, according to experts, the countries located on its territory rank first in the world in terms of agricultural and industrial production. The region does not miss the leading positions in the export of services and goods, in reserves of currency and gold, as well as in the development of international tourist relations.

The economic power of foreign Europe lies in the four countries included in the " big seven". France and Germany, Italy and England are on their list. It is these states that have the widest range of diverse industries and industries. However, the balance of power between the four leading countries is undergoing certain changes. Thus, over the past decades, the role of leader has been won by the FRG. And this is not surprising. After all, the economy of this country is developing very dynamically. At the same time, Great Britain lost its prestige of the “workshop of the world”.

The rest of the countries of foreign Europe, whose economy has the largest economic importance, these are Switzerland and Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands and Sweden. In these states, only certain industries are developed that have worldwide recognition.

A special place in the region is occupied by countries located in Eastern Europe. In them, starting from the end of the eighties, there is an active transition from the system of central planning and public ownership that took place to the rails of market relations.

Industry development

The basis of the economy of foreign Europe is industry. It plays a dominant role, even though in many countries in the region the lion's share of the economy is made up of agriculture and services. The industry of foreign Europe has been its peculiar face for several centuries.

Peculiarities

The development of mankind and historical circumstances in one way or another have constantly transformed the world market. The model of the industry of foreign Europe was also subjected to changes. So, if before the 2nd World War the region was famous for its expensive unique products, then after the end of hostilities, its enterprises reoriented to the needs of the mass consumer.

The main share of science-intensive and highly complex products came from the United States. The industry of foreign Europe became famous for machine tools and cars, electronics and technological equipment. The production of goods for the mass user began in the region.

This trend did not change until the end of the seventies. During this period, the industry of foreign Europe gave impetus to a kind of division of labor between the states of the region. Thus, the Mediterranean countries continued to produce goods for a wide range of customers. At this time, the production of aviation and ships was actively developing in England, France and the FRG. All this reduced the gap between the region and the United States.

Let's consider the main overseas Europe that have weight at the present time.

mechanical engineering

If you are asked: “Specify the main foreign Europe”, then it is worth considering the area in which more than thirty percent of the inhabitants of the region are employed. It is mechanical engineering, which provides one of the widest product ranges in the world.

This main foreign Europe is represented in almost all countries of the region. However, the level of development of this sphere in individual states is different. For example, in Europe there is certain group leaders. These countries have almost the entire range of industries, the work of which not only satisfies the internal needs of the region, but also allows you to send products for export.

There are countries in foreign Europe that have only one or several highly developed areas engineering production. At the same time, the demand for certain types of products is met by them through imports.

The group of leaders, first of all, includes Germany and England, and to a lesser extent France and Italy belong to them. One or more branches of the engineering industry exist in the Netherlands and Belgium, Sweden and Switzerland.

The characteristics of the industry of foreign Europe cannot but affect such countries as Denmark and Austria, Finland and Norway. In these states, mechanical engineering is poorly developed. However, they also contain one or two industries that have gained recognition in the world market. So, Finland is famous for its pulp and paper equipment, Norway for shipbuilding, etc.

In general, the machine-building industry of foreign European countries produces almost twenty-five percent of the world's products in this segment. The countries of the region supply textile, electrical, technological equipment, instrumentation and scientific instruments, cargo and cars as well as tractors.

Who produces what?

The most developed industry in foreign Europe is in the automotive industry. In Germany, such concerns as Daimler, Volkswagen, Mercedes and BMW are successfully operating. Peugeot-Citroen and Renault cars are supplied from France. Italy is famous for its Fiats.

In Germany, the Netherlands and England there is a highly developed shipbuilding industry. The whole world knows such companies as Bosch and Philips, Mulineks and Tefal. Their main production facilities for the production of telephones, computers and household appliances were built in Germany, France and the Netherlands. Switzerland produces high quality watches.

The machine-building industry of foreign Europe focuses primarily on the available labor resources. In addition, the scientific base of the region and the high level of its infrastructure contribute to the development of the main industry.

Chemical industry

It is the second largest avant-garde industry in the region. The chemical industry of foreign Europe, as well as mechanical engineering, developed very rapidly in the second half of the last century. Moreover, this was typical for the entire region.

Interestingly, the chemical industry has mastered a new raw material base. She switched to using oil and its intermediates as the main source of organic chemicals. This raw material has become the basis of the production of this industry. Since in the period before the Second World War the industry focused on brown and hard coal, table and potash salts, as well as pyrites, all its production was located in the areas of their development.

With the reorientation of this sphere, it shifted to oil sources. So, in the western part of the region appeared major centers petrochemicals built in the estuaries of the Rhine and Thames, the Elbe and the Seine, as well as the Rhone. In these regions, this industry is perfectly combined with oil refining.

The reorientation of the industry also affected the eastern regions of Western Europe. Here, on the main gas and oil pipelines, petrochemical plants and refineries were created. The main enterprises of this type are located in Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic. They were erected along the route of gas pipelines and the international oil pipeline, which previously pumped raw materials from Soviet Union, and today - from Russia.

In addition, before the outbreak of World War II, determining the level of development of the chemical industry consisted in measuring the volume of sulfuric acid released by it. Currently, this indicator directly depends on the amount of plastic produced.

Distribution of chemical production

The development of the second largest avant-garde industry in foreign Europe is uneven. Thus, the industries of Italy and England, Germany and France fully satisfy their internal needs for chemical products, being, moreover, their major exporters. As for the Scandinavian countries, only certain industries are well developed on their territory, such as, for example, the production of nitrogen fertilizers. Wherein a large number of names of chemical products are imported by them from abroad.

There are countries in foreign Europe that specialize only in a narrow range of industries. For example, pharmaceuticals are developed in Switzerland, while the petrochemical industry is developed in the Netherlands and Belgium. But, despite this, these countries have close ties with the world market, exporting up to 65 percent of their products to it.

But in general, the states of foreign Europe are major sellers of artificial and synthetic fibers, plastics, paints and varnishes, pharmaceuticals, dyes and nitrogen fertilizers. At the same time, the region consumes new and latest products of the chemical industry supplied from the United States.

If you need a description of one of the industries of foreign Europe, then you should carefully study state of the art chemical sphere of the region. In recent decades, there has been a trend towards a reduction in imports. However, in this case, it was not without the participation of American monopolies, which are actively creating their own enterprises in Europe. Their work is aimed at creating the latest chemical products.

Fuel and energy complex

This economic sphere of foreign Europe, as well as the chemical industry, focuses on natural gas and oil. This raw material is mined in the North Sea and imported from Russia and developing countries. At present, there has been a sharp decline in the production and consumption of coal in Germany and England, Belgium, the Netherlands and France. Orientation to this fuel is still preserved in the eastern parts of the region. Thus, in Poland and the Czech Republic, a large share of raw materials for the fuel and energy complex is lignite. Many thermal power plants operating here are guided by it. Moreover, coal is taken not only from its own pools. It is imported and unloaded in major European ports.

The geography and structure of the region's electric power industry are increasingly dependent on nuclear power plants. They already operate in Germany and Belgium, the Czech Republic and Hungary, Bulgaria and the UK, as well as France.

In the tributaries of the Rhone and on the Danube, hydroelectric power is produced. However, with the exception of Switzerland, Sweden and Norway, hydroelectric power plants usually play a supporting role. Recently, economical pumped storage power plants have been built in foreign Europe.

Metallurgical industry

This branch of industry was formed in the region even before the advent of the era. First of all, ferrous metallurgy developed in those countries that had their own metallurgical fuel or raw materials. These states include Germany and France, England and Spain, Luxembourg and Spain, the Czech Republic and Poland. After the end of the 2nd World War, the largest plants were built or expanded in the territories located in close proximity to the seaports. This was due to the focus on importing scrap metal and high quality iron ore.

To date, the most modern and largest plant, located near the seaport, was built in Taranto, Italy. Recently, however, mini-factories have been mainly built in the region.

The most important branches of non-ferrous metallurgy in foreign Europe include the aluminum and copper industries. Aluminum production facilities are located in countries with bauxite reserves. These are Italy and France, Romania, Greece and Hungary. Similar production facilities are also located in Austria and Germany, Switzerland and Norway. It does not have its own raw materials, but a large amount of electricity is generated.

Copper production is developed in France and Germany, Poland, England and Belgium.

Forestry and light industry

What other industries have been widely developed in the region? One of them is the timber industry of foreign Europe. First of all, it focuses on its own sources of raw materials. That is why this industry is especially developed in Finland and Sweden. These countries are traditional leaders in sawmilling and timber harvesting, paper and pulp exports.

The light industry of foreign Europe deserves special attention. It was from this industry that the entire industrialization of the region began. To date, the light industry of foreign Europe has lost its former positions.

Textile regions such as Flanders (Belgium), Yorkshire and Lancashire (England), Lyon (France) and Milan (Italy) have an important weight in the region. All these clothing and footwear manufacturing centers arose in the 19th century, at the time of the birth of the industrial revolution. They are still active today. Recently, however, there has been a tendency for the light industry to shift to this region. This is explained by the reserves of cheap labor available here. For example, Portugal can now be called the main garment factory in the region. Italy, on the other hand, produces so many shoes that it is second only to China in terms of its volume.

The peoples of many European countries preserve their national traditions, which are expressed in the production of musical instruments and furniture, jewelry and metal and glass products, toys, etc.

For example, Belgium is known for its hunting rifles (Brownings), as well as diamond processing. It is no coincidence that the world diamond trade center is located in the city of Antwerp. Liechtenstein is home to the world's largest artificial teeth factory. These products are sold in more than one hundred countries around the world.

The light, timber industry of foreign Europe, although they do not play a leading role in the industry of the region, are an integral part of its entire economy.

European industry leads among other regions. The main ones in the economy of foreign Europe are the export of goods and services, industrial and agricultural production, and the development of international tourism.

Prerequisites for the development of the economy

The reason for the development of the above sectors of the economy in Foreign Europe is a number of features that are studied in the 11th grade as part of the theme of the world economy.

• Convenient geographical and economically advantageous position of the continent, namely, access to sea routes, which most countries have.
• Sufficient availability of labor force. Due to the territorial structure, the region is considered densely populated and has a large number of highly qualified personnel.
• Transport links are top notch. It is the European transport interchange that is the world leader in terms of equipment, variety and density of roads.
• Integration between countries plays an important role in development.

19 countries are included in the single European Economic Area (EEC countries). Within its boundaries there is a free movement of people, goods, capital, services, a unified monetary system. This contributes to the economic development of these countries.

Leading countries in Europe

Table “Economy of Foreign Europe”

In the table "Economy of Foreign Europe", it is clearly seen that the most powerful in economic development are the countries that are part of the "big seven".

These are Germany, France, Italy and the UK. Great Britain occupied the leading position in this four for a long time, but last years the baton passed to Germany.

Fig.1. countries GDP Foreign Europe

Also economically highly developed are Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium.

general characteristics

Fig.2-3. Settlement and economy of countries of foreign Europe

Having considered the figure "Resettlement and the economy of foreign Europe", we can make a general description of the industry of the region. As a result, the following is revealed:

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• Regarding the natural resource potential - Europe is not very rich in minerals. Some states have small deposits.

Fig.4. Natural resources of the region

• In terms of economic potential Europe takes the lead. There are a number of reasons for this:

– Full development of territories;

- Unity of management;

– Leadership in agricultural and industrial production;

– financial centers located in European cities - Zurich, London, Frankfurt, Paris.

Main Industries

Industry occupies a special place in the development of the region's economy. The main direction is mechanical engineering. It was Europe that became the ancestor of world engineering. 1/3 of all world production is produced here and 2/3 of it is exported.

The key to this is highly qualified personnel, infrastructure and scientific developments.

The geography of mechanical engineering is characterized by the lack of transport links between countries, since this branch of management is developed in almost each of them.

Chemical industry

This industry is also leading the way. Many countries are famous for the manufacture of plastics, synthetic and artificial fibers, pharmaceuticals, fertilizers, paints, varnishes. The chemical industry is in second place after mechanical engineering.

The raw materials for the manufacture of these products are mainly oil and gas. Extraction of these natural resources there is a small amount in our own developments, and is also actively imported from other countries.

Large deposits of oil and gas are located mainly in the North Sea, the UK, Norway, and the Netherlands are engaged in production. These energy resources are imported from the countries of the East, Africa, as well as Russia.

Metallurgy

Ferrous metallurgy is developed where there are all conditions for its development - this is the availability of a raw material base and fuel. The market appreciates the products of Germany, France, Poland, Luxembourg, Great Britain, Sweden.

Non-ferrous metallurgy is developed not only in the presence of natural resources, but also with cheap electricity. The leaders in aluminum smelting are Greece, France, Italy, Hungary, Norway. Copper is smelted in Poland, France and Germany. Zinc and lead are produced in Germany and Belgium.

Other industries

• Electricity is generated by thermal and nuclear power plants. Hydroelectric power plants are widely developed in Norway and Iceland.
• The timber industry is developed due to the availability of raw materials in Finland and Sweden.
• Light industry is based on cheap labor. For example, Portugal is famous for its garment factories. The shoe industry is developed in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Germany, and Italy.

What have we learned?

The industry of foreign Europe is valued throughout the world. The most developed and valuable in the world economy are engineering, chemical industry and metallurgy. In the development of industry, it is important not only the availability of natural resources, but also the density of the population, and hence the labor force.

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Foreign Europe is one of the main centers of the world economy. In general, foreign Europe is distinguished by a high level of development of almost all sectors of the economy, although many small countries are characterized by a relatively narrow specialization.

Fuel and energy complex is based on own and imported coal, oil and natural gas, nuclear raw materials and hydropower resources. In terms of oil production in foreign Europe, only Norway and Great Britain stand out, in terms of gas production - Great Britain, Norway and the Netherlands. Europe is distinguished by the powerful development of the coal industry, where Germany and Poland occupy a leading position in coal mining. However, in general, Europe is highly dependent on energy imports. In most countries, electricity production is dominated by thermal power plants, however, in some countries, hydroelectric power plants (Norway and Switzerland) or nuclear power plants (Lithuania, France, Belgium) predominate. European countries are distinguished not only by large gross indicators of electricity production (Germany, France and Great Britain), but also lead by its per capita production (Norway).

The largest product manufacturers ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy are Germany, Italy, France, UK, Spain, Poland and Sweden. The main metallurgical centers are located in the old metallurgical regions (Ruhr, Upper Silesia, Central England) or in port cities that rely on imported raw materials (Taranto, the largest metallurgical plant in Western Europe, as well as Vos, Dunkirk, Hamburg).

Europe's leading industry is mechanical engineering, focusing on highly qualified labor resources, developed scientific base and infrastructure. With the full development of all types of mechanical engineering, foreign Europe is especially distinguished by the production of automobiles, aerospace equipment, machine tools, instruments, electrical engineering and electronics. However, it should be borne in mind that all types of mechanical engineering are developed only in the four most developed countries in Europe, and small highly developed countries stand out in the production of individual branches of precision engineering, for example, the Netherlands - the production of electrical engineering, electronics and tools, Switzerland - watches, robots and electronics, Belgium - small arms, Finland - production of equipment for the forestry industry and electronics, etc.

The second most important branch of European specialization is chemical industry based on both own and imported raw materials. In foreign Europe, all types of chemical production are developed. In terms of the level of development of the chemical industry, Germany is the absolute European leader, although the role of Great Britain, France, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Poland, and Hungary is also great.

timber industry was developed in Finland, Sweden and Norway, which are the absolute world leaders in the production of industry products per capita.

Light and food industry are represented in almost all European countries, although with noticeable differences in specialization. France is the undisputed legislator of world fashion, Italy stands out for the production of woolen fabrics and shoes (1st place in the world in terms of production per capita), Scandinavian and Central European countries specialize in the production of dairy and meat products, Northern Europe is distinguished by the fishing industry, France and other countries Southern Europe- winemaking. material from the site

Agriculture foreign Europe is characterized by a complex industry structure, the highest level of mechanization, chemicalization and intensification of production, the highest level of crop yields and livestock productivity. There are three types of agricultural production in Europe:

1. northern European, which is dominated by dairy cattle breeding, fodder crop production, barley, oat, vegetable and flax production, and reindeer husbandry is developed in the north of the region;
2. Central European, which is dominated by dairy and beef cattle breeding, pig breeding, poultry farming, the production of wheat, barley, rapeseed, vegetables, potatoes and sugar beet is developed;
3. South European, in the structure of agricultural production which is dominated by crop production (production of wheat, corn, rice, olives, sunflower, essential oil crops, grapes, citrus fruits, fruits, vegetables), and animal husbandry is represented by meat and dairy cattle breeding and sheep breeding.

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Questions about this item:

• Describe the features of the economy of foreign Europe.

• Give the characteristics of the most important industries in foreign Europe: the mining industry, electric power, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, mechanical engineering, chemical, forestry, light and food industries.