136

ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY

between the relatively equable maritime type characteristic oi
the west coast of Europe, and the extreme continental type which
prevails in Russia. Frt>m the districts which border the North
Sea the general tendency is for the winters to become colder and
the summers warmer towards the south and the east. In January
the mean temperature in the north-west is above freezing point,
and the district between the Rhine and the Weser is only a few
degrees colder than East Angiia, while in July it is about the same,
the range between the hottest and coldest month being about
30° F. In the eastern part of the North German Plain the tempera-
ture of January falls and that of July rises, so that the range
between them is increased to 34°~-4G° F. In the scarplands of
Central Germany the winters are a little colder than they are in
the western part of the lowland, but the summers are at least as
warm as in the eastern part. Farther south, the increasing alti-
tude of the Bavarian plateau introduces a new factor, and while
the January temperature falls 5° or more below freezing point, the
July temperature is, on the whole, not so high as it is in the eastern
part of the lowland; owing to the low winter temperatures, how-
ever, the range is as great as it' is in the latter region. The rift-
valley of the Rhine is specially favoured by its situation, and while
the summers are hot the cold of winter is not extreme.
The following figures are typical of these regions—

| Jan. | July | Range

Bremen .....
Posen (now in Poland)
Karlsruhe        ....
Munich   .....

34-2
29-9
32-9
27-3

61-7
64-0
66-2
614

27-5
34-1
33-3
34-1

There is rain at all seasons, though more falls in summer
than at any other period of the year. The latter fact is more
pronounced in the east than in the west; in the vicinity • of the
North Sea coast the rainfall of the other three seasons tends to be
somewhat evenly distributed, but elsewhere more rain generally
falls in autumn and less in winter. The annual precipitation over the
North German Plain is between 20 and 30 inches, in the Central High-
lands it varies according to position, but is generally over 25 inches;
on the Bavarian plateau, except in the north, it is at least 30 inches.