POPULATION OF EUROPE

Quantity and Density of Population. Over 600,000,000 people inhabit the territory of Europe. This amounts to one-fifth of the total population of the globe. Europe is second only to Asia in quantity of population.
The average density of population in Europe is 60 persons to the square kilometre . In this respect Europe is first among all other parts of the world.
The population of Europe is unevenly distributed. The northern and south-eastern regions are the most sparsely populated. The areas of highest population density (from 200 to 300 persons and more lo the sq. km.) are: the lower reaches of the Rhine, the centre of Great Britain, the chief coalfields (the Ruhr, Upper Silesian and Donets Basins) and the neighbourhoods of some capitals and large cities (Moscow, for example).
The Peoples of Europe. Most of the inhabitants of Europe are members of the white race. They are divided into many peoples speaking different languages. There are three main groups of peoples speaking related languages: the Slavonic, Romanic and Germanic.
The most numerous is the Slavonic group, Which constitutes one-third of the entire population of Europe.
The various peoples of this group speak kindred languages and in­habit the eastern half and part of Central and Southern Europe. The Slavonic group is divided as follows: the Eastern Slavs (the Russians, Ukrainians and Byelorussians), the Western Slavs (the Poles, Czechs and Slovaks) and the Southern Slavs, inhabitants of the Balkan Pe­ninsula (the Bulgarians, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes and others). The Russians are the most numerous, not only among the Slavs, but among all other peoples of Europe.
The Germanic peoples inhabit North-Western Europe and part of Central Europe. Their languages are also of common origin. These peoples comprise the Germans, Austrians, the greater part of the Swiss, the Swedes, Norwegians, Icelanders, Danes, Dutch, Flemish (inhabitants of the Netherlands and Belgium whose language is kindred to the Dutch) and the English.
The Romanic group includes peoples whose languages were derived from Latin, the language of the ancient Romans. The Roma­nic group inhabits Southern, Western and South-Eastern Europe. This group of peoples consists of the Italians, Spaniards, Portuguese, French, Walloons (French-speaking inhabitants of Belgium), Rumanians and Moldavians. The language and culture of the Rumanians and Moldavians were greatly influenced by the neighbouring Slavs.
In addition to these three most numerous groups there are many other peoples in I'urope who have their own, specific languages. Among these are the Lithuanians and Latvians, the Estonians, the Karelians and Finns, the Hungarians, Tatars, Alba­nians, Irish and others.
The European peoples have developed a high techni­cal and cultural level, which has spread in recent centuries lo other parts of the world. Europe is the home of the first machine-operated factories. Prominent scientists, great writers, musicians and artists have created their master­pieces in Europe.
The great creators of scientific socialism, Karl Marx and Frede­rick Engels, lived and worked in Europe in the 19th century. (The word 'socialism' comes from the Latin «socialis», which means union, comradely'.) There are many outstanding monuments of architec­ture in Europe. The countless museums are full of art treasures. Each people of Europe, both large and small, has contributed to the deve­lopment of culture.
Great are the contributions of Soviet statesmen, inventors, scientists, writers, artists and composers. Lenin, the great founder of the first socialist state in the world, is known to all humanity, and his hooks have been translated into the languages of almost all peoples.
Questions and Assignments.