The Scandinavian Peninsula consists of Norway and Sweden. It is about 1150 miles long or to give you a better idea of its size is that it's 289,500 square miles in size. Its made primarily of mountain ranges and valley's. Along the Barents Sea coast line and the Norwegian sea coastline there are where the mountains are. In between the mountains lay valleys where they can grow crops, although there is a short growing season. Norway and Sweden are both very neutral countries when it comes to war. This is because the mountains border the ocean and some of where the peninsula connects to the rest of Europe. Thus making it hard to reach because you cant attack with a navy and if you tried coming in where the peninsula connects to the rest of Europe you would get attacked by a very strong Army. In addition, culture doesn't change much due to the Isolation of the peninsula.
The Alps are a mountain range in Europe. They divide Italy from the rest of Europe and are 750 miles long. It runs through 8 countries. In addition, over the years it has been mined for gold and copper. Another cool fact is that it covers 11% of Europe's surface. As you can see The Alps are a very large mountain range. This keeps much of Italy's culture the same. This is because no one can come there by land. Also the nearest country is across the ocean. Which is known as Croatia. Therefor the Alps make Italy very isolated from the rest of Europe
Waterways
The Danube River is a river that touches 9 countries. It also flows west to east across the heart of Europe. It dumps into the Black Sea and is 1771 miles long making it second largest in all of Europe. It is a very big trading river due to its ability to take you from Germany to Ukraine. Therefore the Danube is a large river. The Danube River affects many countries. It does because it's used for trading, but Russia is affected the most. This is because its there quickest route to trade by boat. They can use it to get to India or the Atlantic Ocean for trade. In addition, rivers were the best way to travel, so many cities were created along it. This created many empires with large armies. As you can see the Danube effected European life.
The Rhine River is an 820 mile long river in Europe. It flows from the interior of Europe to the North Sea. In addition, it runs through 6 countries. Also there are 3 main tributaries that come off it. The Rhine river is a fair sized rive as you can see. The Rhine has effected history. It has because its a political border. It divided Allies from Germany during WWII. Also it was used for the Roman Empire to trade with interior Europe. This is why the Rhine effected Europe.
Resources
Trees or lumber are a big resource in Europe. It is known as forestry or the management of trees. 35% of Europe is covered in forest. This is the highest of anywhere. This is why lumber is a big resource. Forestry is so huge in Europe economy and it impacts it a lot. This is because it can produce as much as six billion dollars a year if not sometimes more. In addition, forestry employs 3.7 million people their. Also forestry is 9% of Europe's GDP or Gross domestic Product. This is how Forestry affects Europe's economy.
Fishing is also a big industry in Europe. The EU fishing industry is the fourth largest in the world. Producing a staggering 6.4 million tons of fish. In order to catch this much every year they put in many rules. Making it a very sustainable market. The fishing industry is important in Europe. It is because it claim over 350,000 jobs. This includes who catches the fish and the ones cleaning them. As you can see there are many jobs created by fishing.