Spain is located in south-western parts of Europe. It is bordering the North Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, between Portugal and France.

Spain has 4,964 km of coastline. Spain consists of 17 administrative regions, 15 of which are on

mainland Spain. Spain occupies four-fifths of the Iberian peninsula and is a land

of immense geographical diversity. Spain has everything from lush, green forests and mountain

ranges, through to endless arid plains and long, sandy beaches.

The kingdom of Spain covers 505.988 square kilometers over the Iberian peninsula to the southwest of Europe.

Spain is covered by 35.6% of the land, 14.5% plains and pastures and 20.3% was wooded or forested land.

Spain is the most mountainous country in Europe after Switzerland.

The land height averages is 600 meters.

The Pico de is a range of mountains 20 km inland from the northern coast of Spain.

“Peaks of Europe.” It is located in the Autonomous Communities

of Asturias, Cantabria and Castile and León, forming part of the Cantabrian Mountains.

The most widely-accepted origin for the name is that this was the place where they saw the first sight of Europe for the ships coming from America

The Cantabrian Sea is to the north the Mediterranean Sea and the

Balearic Sea to the south-southeast. Portugal and the North Atlantic Ocean

to the west France and Andorra to the northeast

along the Pyrenees Mountains. The Mediterranean coast is 1,660 km

long, and the Atlantic coast is 710 km long

Madrid is the capital and largest city in Spain It is the fourth most populated urban area in

Europe The city is located on the river Manzanares in

the centre of both the country and the Community of Madrid.

Madrid is also the political center of Spain. Madrid is considered the major financial

center of the Iberian Peninsula

The 16th and 17th century of Spain is referred to as the Hasburg Spain.

This was when Spain was ruled by the major branch of the Hasburg dynasty.

Habsburg rulers were chiefly under Charles I and Philip II of Spain.

Spain reached the peak of its influence and power. It was controlling territory ranging from the Americas to the Philippines in Asia. to most of modern-day Italy in Europe.

Altogether, Habsburg Spain was considered the world's greatest power. this period of Spanish history has also been referred to as the "Age of Expansion".

Spain in the 19th century was a country in turmoil. It was occupied by Napoleon from 1808 to 1814, who was a massively destructive "war of independence.”

The 19th century was an era of reaction against the liberal ideas associated with revolutionary France followed the war.

Ferdinand's rule included the loss of the Spanish colonies in the New World, except for Cuba and Puerto Rico, in the 1810s and 1820s.

A series of civil wars also broke out in Spain. This put Spanish liberals and then republicans against conservatives.

Portugal officially know as the Portuguese Republic is a country on the Iberian Peninsula.

Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe.

Portugal is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south

Spain to the north and east.

Portugal is bordered on the west with a 1,793 km coastline along the North Atlantic Ocean.

Portugal’s total area is 92,391 km2

91,951 km2 is covered by land There is 440 km2 of its total that is

covered with water.

Throughout the 16th century the Portuguese have no European rivals on the long sea route round Africa.

The situation changes in the early 17th century, when both the Dutch and the British create East India companies.

The Dutch, in particular, damage Portugal's eastern trade.

The Portuguese are slower than the Spanish in setting up any form of administration in America.

The first attempt to establish a Portuguese presence in Brazil is made by John III in 1533.

1580 › Invasion of Portugal by a Spanish army commanded by Fernando

Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alva. › Battle of Alcântara between Portuguese and Spanish forces. › The Fortress of St. Julian, in Lisbon, surrenders to the Spanish. › Philip II of Spain is acclaimed in the Cortes of Tomar as King Philip I of

Portugal in a personal union of the Crowns. Portugal loses de facto independence to Spain.

1582 › The Spanish Fleet of Santa Cruz defeats the Portuguese-French Fleet

of Strozzi in the Azores. › Introduction of the Gregorian Calendar in Portugal.

1583 › King Philip I of Portugal departs for Madrid and leaves the government

of Portugal with Portuguese trustees. › Francis Drake attacks Portuguese Brazil.

1589 - Anthony of Portugal attacks Lisbon with English aid, but with no success.

1598 - Philip III of Spain becomes Philip II of Portugal.

Much of England consists of rolling hills, but it is generally more mountainous in the north with a chain of low mountains, the Pennines, dividing east and west. The largest natural harbour in England is at Poole, on the south-central coast

England has a number of important rivers including the Severn (the longest river and largest river basin in Great Britain), Tees, Thames, Trent, Humber, Tyne, Wear, Ribble, Ouse, Mersey, Dee, Aire, Avon and Medway.

In the lowlands there is less rainfall, but has more sunshine. It has more fertile soil than the highlands, which hardly have any fertile soil. Most of this region has low hills that barely reach 1,000 ft above sea level. Most of England’s population lives in this region.The flattest lands in the lowlands are in the eastern part of the lowlands. Mostly on the humped-shaped area called East Anglia. The inlet called the Wash is located off East Anglia northern coast. The Wash was once surrounded by flat, swampy areas, but it now has been drained out.

The Politics of England form part of the wider politics of the United Kingdom, with England one of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom.Prior to the Union, in 1707, England was ruled by amonarch and the Parliament of England. Since the Union, England has not had its own government.

In medieval times (c. 11th–15th century), the wool trade was the major industry of England and the country exported wool to Europe.

Many market towns and ports grew up on the industry. Poor infrastructure hampered the development of large scale industry. This changed when the canals and railways began to be built, in the late 18th century and early 19th century.

England became the world's first industrialized nation, with the industrial revolution taking place in the late 18th century.

This was also the age of British overseas expansion, where England relied upon colonies (such as America, Canada, or Australia) to bring in resources such as cotton and tobacco.

English factories then processed the goods and sold them on in both the quickly growing domestic market or abroad.

Cities grew and large industrial centre's were established, especially in the Midlands and North England.

Borders the Atlantic Ocean (Bay of Biscay) and English Channel between Belgium and Spain, southeast of the UK; and borders the Mediterranean Sea between Italy and Spain. France is home to over 3,427km of coastline

Among France’s natural resources are coal, iron ore, bauxite, fish, timber, potash, and zincThe terrain is mostly flat plains or gently rolling hills in north and west.France is home to many rivers, many of which flow into the ocean. These include the Rhine river

French Revolution (1789–1792)French First Republic (1792–1804)First French Empire under Napoleon (1804–1814)Restoration under Louis XVIII and Charles X (1814–1830)July Monarchy under Louis Philippe d'Orléans (1830–1848)Second Republic (1848–1852)Second Empire under Napoleon III (1852–1871)First decades of the Third Republic (1871–1940)

16th - 17th century: French crossed the Pyrenees to Spain. 1570 - 1620: 10 - 20% of the male population of Catalonia originated in France. Other French moved to fertile countryside (like Languedoc) or to growing cities.1530-1900: During the first period of French expansion, beginning in the 16th century, settlement was concentrated in the Americas. The second period, beginning in 1830, was concentrated in North Africa, particularly Algeria

1600-1830: Despite their tiny size, the Caribbean islands were more attractive to French migrants than the Americas.1840s: Of the 26,000 people who left France each year during the 1840s, for example 8,000 were bound for other European destinations, 7,700 for the USA, 5,500 for South America and only 4,500 for Algeria.

By the 18th century, France was one of the richest nations of the world. The potential for industrial development made France a rival to England, perhaps the most powerful country on Earth at the time. But it was its agricultural potential at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution

Socialist adjustments such as heavy government control over the economy, which included strict government regulation of many industries or powerful representation of the government in sectors considered essential to the national economy.

The Rhône is a river in France and Switzerland. It is 812 kilometers long. The river starts in Rhône Glacier, which is inSwitzerland. Then, the Rhône River joints the Saône, in France and ends in the Mediterranean Sea. The River Rhône empties into the Mediterranean.The Alps stretch from Austria and Slovenia in the east, through Italy, Switzerland,Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west.

The country can be split into 2 areas:the low and flat lands in the west and north. These lands, including the reclaimed polders and river deltas, make up about half of its surface area and are less than 1 metre (3.3 ft) above sea level, much of it actually below sea level. An extensive range of seawalls and coastal dunes protect the Netherlands from the sea, and levees and dikes along the rivers protect against river flooding.

The Economic History of the Netherlands (1500 - 1815), is the history of an economy that some consider to be the first "modern" economy, continuously existing to this day. It covers the period from the time in which the geographic area currently known as The Netherlands first came together as a political entity (the Habsburg Netherlands), through the era of the Dutch Republic, and its immediate successors, the Batavian Republic and the Kingdom of Holland, to the temporary demise of that political entity, when the Netherlands were annexed by the First French Empire. It is intended as a companion to the political and military(including naval) histories of the Netherlands, that cover the same period, and will provide the economic background to put these in the proper perspective.

After the French occupation at the beginning of the 19th century, the Netherlands started out as a monarchy, governed by the House of Orange. However, after a conservative period, strong liberal sentiments could no longer be ignored, and the country became aparliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarch in 1848. It has remained so to this day, with a brief interruption during the occupation by Nazi Germany.

There are two abortive beginnings to the Jesuit enterprise in New France- The Acadian expedition and a second, short-lived establishment at Quebec- both of them wrecked by English raiders.

Two Jesuits returned to Quebec when the French reasserted control in 1632, with reinforcements following over the course of the decade.

In the fall of 1636, the Huron villages where Jesuits resided were struck with a "fever", most likely a strain of influenza originating in New England. The disease spread slowly over the course of the winter, but with the return of the spring it flared up anew.

Village after Village succumbed, and the number of the dead multiplied. They believed that the unprecedented medical emergency had something to do with the presence of the French missionaries in their midst.