THE DIVISIONS OF EUROPE. 



from that of Switzerland by the chain of the Jura, from Italy by 

 the Alps, from Africa by the Mediterranean, and from Spain by the 

 Pyrenees. On the west it is limited by the Atlantic, and on the 

 north, in the absence of any natural boundary, is divided from 

 Belgium by a frontier settled by political conventions. 



50. Spain and Portugal occupy a portion of land having the 

 peninsular form, the neck by which it is connected with the con- 

 tinent extending from the Bay of Biscay to the Gulf of Lyons, and 

 being traversed by the chain of the Pyrenees. This neck of 

 land, so much narrower than the general width of the Spanish 

 peninsula, is nevertheless much too wide to entitle it to the name 

 of an isthmus. 



In the geography of Europe the tract thus occupied by Spain 

 and Portugal is usually called the Peninsula, without other 

 designation. 



51. Italy. The southern part of Italy projects into the 

 Mediterranean Sea in the form of an oblong tract of land, having 

 at its southern extremity a smaller tract nearly at right angles to 

 it ; the outline of the whole presenting a striking resemblance to 

 a boot. The Italian territory, however, occupies a wide extent of 

 land north of the boot, enclosed on the north by the chain of the 

 Alps. This northern part of Italy includes the territories of 

 Venice and the Milanese, called Lombardy, at present part of 

 the Austrian empire, and the kingdom of Sardinia. That part of 

 the Italian territory forming the boot, being nearly surrounded 

 by water, with the Adriatic on one side and the Mediterranean 

 on the other, is distinguished as the Italian Peninsula. 



52. Sicily. Immediately at the toe of the boot, and separated 

 from it by a narrow neck of water, celebrated in history as the 

 Strait of Messina, is the fertile and beautiful island of Sicily, one 

 of the most remarkable features of which is the volcano called 

 Mount Etna. 



53. Greece projects into the eastern end of the Mediterranean, 

 having, like Italy and Spain, the peninsular character. These 

 three tracts have been noticed even by ancient geographers as the 

 Spanish, Italian, and Hellenic peninsulas. 



54. Archipelago. The arm of the Mediterranean which, 

 turning to the north, intervenes between the Hellenic peninsula 

 and the coast of Asia Minor, thickly sprinkled with islands, is the 

 Archipelago or ancient JEgaaan Sea, from which all other tracts 

 of water of a similar character have taken their name. 



55. Dardanelles and Bosphorus. The Archipelago is con- 

 nected with the great inland sea, called the Black Sea or the 

 Euxine, by a narrow neck of water, consisting of two straits, 

 between which lies a wider strip of sea. The strait which is next 



141 



