GEA4500 FINAL EXAM STUDY GUIDEBELGIUMBrussels- Unofficial capital of Europe- Cap of Belgium Antwerpen- Historically great seaport of the world, now not so much b/c river is small- Diamonds Ghent- Same river as Antwerpen- Most famous for peace conferences - Treaty of Ghent- Lots of old bldgs and great universities- High tech area of Flanders- Famous for car manuf, Volvo- Largest steel co in world today run here (Mittal)Brugge- Antwerpen’s competitor, also major seaport- Closer to sea than Antwerpen- “Venice of the North”, river goes through city, lots of canals- Hanseatic style city, gothic/neogothic – most bldgs. 1000s of years old, Dutch style. Oh Shit city- Very Americanized, more American English spoken here than any other city in Europe - Ferries come here from England every hour or so, lots of tourismLiege- Into Wallonia, no more pretty bldgs. And English spoken. Cities that have past their glory, like Detroit and Cleveland, lots of poverty- Was industrial city, mining and steel and steel manuf (weapons)- 3rd largest city in Belgium, largest purely French speaking city in belgium - Right on Meuse River- Used to be center of largest steel manuf in world, was equivalent of Pittsburgh - Gets economic aid from EU to help create new industry to create jobsBastogne- Battle of the Bulge; General Macollough “Nuts” - Lots of American cemeteries here from great WWI and II battles fought around hereLUXEMBOURGLuxembourg- Center of W Europe- Karl Marx from here- EU Court of Justice located here- Lots of European banks, rich Americans storing money here b/c don’t have to pay taxes, makes for bad diplomatic relations b/c they won’t reveal who is holding money here to the U.S. gov’tHOLLAND- Between Rotterdam and Amsterdam is more populated/dense than NYC area- Flevoland: state that is reclaimed from sea (added sediment to bring up)Amsterdam- Venice style arch, canals all over- 2 million people- Part of Ronstadt, megalopolis taking up most of Netherlands- 5th largest biz center or Europe, major financial center- Was big seaport at one point, competed with Antwerpen- Zuides is financial center of city- IG is here (online bank)- Heineken beer- Great art center of the world, Wrikes museum (Night Watch painting) and Vincent Vangoh museum- Famous for liberal philosophy and way of life. Euthanasia and prostitution are legal- Red Light district here is most famous (not biggest, that’s in Hambourg)- Big drug industry, some places even give addicts their drugs if they participate in therapy program- Int’l sex museum- Gov’t here, nominal capitalRotterdam- 2nd largest city in Netherlands - Downtown looks like Manhattan, way Americans think of cities. Not like any other city in Europe (London, Paris, etc. don’t have high rises)- Biggest urban skyline anywhere in Europe - Irasmus bridge across harbor, very famous- Largest seaport in Europe, “largest seaport in Germany” because all manuf from there comes up river through here into sea- Big on creativity, design, and finding new ways of living- Think that housing is most important things in people lives, gov’t has policy that subsidizes where people live- Harbor is 25 mi longThe Hague- Part of C that is Ronstadt, halfway between Rotterdam and Amsterdam- Legal Capital of the World- Home of int’l court of justice, sea of Netherlands queen, home of int’l peace orgs- Law firms/schools have international programs/headq here- Royal Dutch Shell headquarters (gas) Utrecht- East end of Ronstadt, end of it- Headq of Dutch railroad, everyone in Netherlands rides it every day, almost zero need for a car- Bike system, put in your euro, borrow bike to ride where you need to be, return bike when you arrive, get euro back- #2 used cars city in world, #1 in Europe - Lots of int’l shoppingLeiden- Also in Ronstadt- Oldest of all Dutch Universities - Medical research and healthcare- In top 3 of Univ with most nobel prizes wonEindhoven- Little under 1 million- Center of Dutch Brabant, similar to Flanders- Phillips electronics-SWITZERLANDPhysical Geography• Half the country is mountains (in south and part of north borders)• Glaciers cut deep lakes• Jura Mts in border with France• Lake Constance in border with Germany; origin of Rhine river• Lake Geneva in S between mt ranges; origin of Rhone river• Buffer zone• Romandie: French speaking area (W)• Ticino: Italian (S)• Romanj: Latin based classical language (NE)Political Geography• Switzerland is a confederation of cantons, about 22 of them, united in lose ties. Each canton has authority of independent nation, doesn’t give up much to be part of confed.• United after 30 years war• A lot of sectarianism of Christians here, breaking off• 7 ½ million people• Cities are very dull, all work no play or pretty things to look at, architecture is boring• Very conservativeZurich- Built on the down slope of the hill near a lake- Largest city, largest German speaking city in Switzerland- BANKING: UBS, Credit Swiss, Swiss RE, Stock Exchange- Famous for laundering money, secret accts with no name and no taxes- Extremely low corporate taxes- Top of the list in quality of life index- ABB; large construction company- GM, IBM, Microsoft, Google, TransOcean (oil rigs)- Club of Rome: group of rich/famous people who talk about environmental issuesGeneva- #2 city in switz, largest French speaking city- Harmony, Peace (Protestant Reformation)- Many international organizations- Cap of Romandie- 2 million- World class city- Worlds #2 center of diplomacy (NYC #1)- Where river Rhone meets lake Geneva- League of Nations, Red Cross, UN, Peace conferences, Int’l Labor Org, WTO, World Economic Forum, CERN (organizes internet – came up with www and .com)- Jura Mts is headquarters of Swiss Watch making, Geneva is closest to it, makes it the capitol Bern- Capitol- 350k, 4th largest- Conference city- WAS the world capitol of Communism- On a big plateau, flatBasel- On the Rhine River- German city, very beautiful and old city. Spectacular architecture, very unlike the other cities- Pharmaceuticals; Bayer AspirinLusanne- Strongly French - Famous for being home of Int’l Olympic committee and museum- Int’l court for sport arbitration - Nestle (manuf chemical baby formula – people hate that b/c keeps women from breast feeding, leads to lower std of living. Also own half of bottled water in the world – people say that’s leading to the decrease in std of living, not green/enviro