ABSTRACT
The region Northern and Western Europe stretches from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Mediterranean Sea in the south, and from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Adriatic in the east. Despite containing less than 7" of the global population, Northern and Western Europe is a key region, containing most of the major political and economic powers. In Belgium differences between the Flemish-speaking north and the French-speaking south have resulted in a multiplicity of political parties, based on language distinctions as well as economic and social priorities. Ireland was joined to Great Britain by the Act of Union of 1801 but by the 1880s there was a strong movement for home rule. Liechtenstein is one of the world's richest countries, with an income per head comparable to that of Switzerland and Japan and twice as great as that of the United Kingdom.
