Lab 2 Europe


Lab 2 Map of European Population 65 and over


This week we discussed the geography of Europe and our lab included making a map highlighting 65 and over populations of European countries. During our lecture we discussed the boundaries of Europe being the Arctic Ocean to the North, the Atlantic Ocean to the West, the Mediterranean and Black Seas to the south, and the Ural Mountains to the East. Given this geography of the Eurasian plate, Western Russia is located in Europe.  Europe has a large number of navigable waterways, and added to fact that most places in Europe are relatively close to one another, Europe dominated maritime travel and trade.  Due to the proximity of water and the Gulf Stream, Europe has a relatively temperate climate.  Until fairly recently, Europe was dominated by kingdoms and empires, today being comprised of 40 different countries.  The political map of Europe continues to change, with more recent lines being drawn in WWII and with the fall of the USSR.  

In this week's lab, we worked on creating an ArcGIS map of the European population that is 65 and over. We defined choropleth as using color/shading to show different values.  My map uses darker red to identify the European countries with the highest populations of 65+. Lighter colors identify countries with lower 65+ population percentages. We also discussed the difference in absolute and relative values, and which is better for this type of population comparison. Absolute values are definitive numbers such as the population where relative values are expressed as a percentage of that population.  In the case of this map, the relative values provide a better understanding of the information the map is conveying.  We also discussed the reasoning behind the patterns we observed in the map. Western and Northern Europe has a higher population of 65+ than many parts of Eastern Europe.  This may be caused by a lower birthrate in the more economically stable countries of the West.  It may also be caused by the amount of conflict in the East over the last 40 years, possibly leading to a lower population of elderly because of death or an increase in the birthrate due to the fallout of not being economically stable.    

 

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