房龙地理

1．我们生活的世界还生活着其他人/And These Are the People Who Live in the World We Live in 12．“地理”一词的定义以及我将在本书中如何使用它/A Definition of the Word Geography and How I Shall Apply It in the Present Volume 93．我们的行星：它的习性、风俗以及举止/Our Planet: Its Habits, Customs and Manners 124．地图。非常简洁的一章但却描述一个庞大而吸引人的话题。同时还介绍人们通过缓慢地学习如何在这个行星上找到路线的几点观察/ Maps. A very Brief Chapter upon a very Big and Fascinating Subject. Together with a Few Observations on the Way People Slowly Learned How to Find Their Way on This Planet of Ours 355．季节以及它们是怎样变化的/The Seasons and How They happen 52

1．我们生活的世界还生活着其他人/And These Are the People Who Live in the World We Live in 12．“地理”一词的定义以及我将在本书中如何使用它/A Definition of the Word Geography and How I Shall Apply It in the Present Volume 93．我们的行星：它的习性、风俗以及举止/Our Planet: Its Habits, Customs and Manners 124．地图。非常简洁的一章但却描述一个庞大而吸引人的话题。同时还介绍人们通过缓慢地学习如何在这个行星上找到路线的几点观察/ Maps. A very Brief Chapter upon a very Big and Fascinating Subject. Together with a Few Observations on the Way People Slowly Learned How to Find Their Way on This Planet of Ours 355．季节以及它们是怎样变化的/The Seasons and How They happen 526．想想这个星球上的小块旱地，为什么其中一些被称为洲，而另外一些却不是/ Concerning the Little Spots of Dry Land on This Planet and Why Some of Them are Called Continents While Others are not 567．关于欧洲的发现以及生活在那里的人们/ Of the Discovery of Europe and the Sort of People Who Live in That Part of the World 648．希腊，东地中海的岩石岬角，连接古老亚洲和新兴欧洲的桥梁/ Greece, the Rocky Promontory of the Eastern Mediterranean Which Acted as the Connecting Link Between the Old Asia and the New Europe 689．意大利，它的地理情况使它一旦时机成熟就能充当海上霸主或陆上霸主的角色/ Italy, the Country Which due to Its Geographical Situation Could Play the Role of a Sea-Power or a Land-Power, as the Occasion Demanded 8010．西班牙，非洲和欧洲碰撞处/Spain, Where Africa and Europe Clashed 9911．法国，拥有想要的一切的国家/ France, the Country That Has Everything It Wants 11312．比利时，纸片缔造的国家，除内部和谐，拥有一切/Belgium, A Country Created by Scraps of Paper and Rich in Everything except Internal Harmony 12813．卢森堡，历史奇迹/Luxemburg, the Historical Curiosity 13314．瑞士，高山上的国家，拥有优秀的学校和团结的国民——讲四种不同的语言/ Switzerland, the Country of High Mountains, Excellent Schools and a Unified People Who Speak Four Different Languages 13515．德国，建立得太晚的国家/Germany, the Nation That was Founded too Late 14316．奥地利，一个不受人重视的国家，除非它不再存在/Austria, the Country That Nobody Appreciated Until It noLonger Existed 15417．丹麦，某些方面小国胜过大国的典范/Denmark, An Object Lesson in Certain Advantages of Small Countries over Large Ones 15918．冰岛，北冰洋中有趣的政治实验室/Iceland, An Interesting Political Laboratory in the Arctic Ocean 16419．斯堪的纳维亚半岛，瑞典王国与挪威王国的领地/The Scandinavian Peninsula, The Territory Occupied by the Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway 16820．荷兰，北海岸堤上的沼泽，它却变成了一个帝国/The Netherlands, the Swamp On the Banks of the North Sea That Became An Empire 17921．大不列颠，荷兰海岸线外的一个岛屿，为全人类1/4的人口谋幸福/ Great Britain, An Island off the Dutch Coast Which Is Responsible For the Happiness of Fully One-Quarter of the Human Race 18522．俄罗斯，其地理位置让人难以断定它是欧洲的一部分还是亚洲的一部分/ Russia, the Country Which Was Prevented By Its Geographical Location From Ever Finding Out Whether It Was Part of Europe Or of Asia 20723．波兰，遭受作为走廊之痛的国家，而现在却拥有自己的走廊/Poland, the Country That Had always suffered from Being a Corridor and Therefore now Has a Corridor of Its Own 22624．捷克斯洛伐克，《凡尔赛和约》的产物/Czechoslovakia, a Product of the Treaty of Versailles 23025．南斯拉夫，《凡尔赛和约》的另一个产物/Yugoslavia, Another Product of the Treaty of Versailles 23426．保加利亚，巴尔干国家中最健全者，因爱好收集蝴蝶的国王在世界大战中押错了宝而自食其果/ Bulgaria, the Soundest of All Balkan Countries, Whose Butterfly-Collecting King Bet on the Wrong Horse during the Great War and Suffered the Consequences 23827．罗马尼亚，拥有石油和皇室的国家/Romania, a Country Which Has Oil and a Royal Family 24328．匈牙利，或它的那些遗物/Hungary, or What Remains of It 24629．芬兰，另一个通过智慧和勤奋战胜恶劣自然环境的例子/Finland, Another Example of What Hard Work and Intelligence can Achieve amid Hostile Natural Surroundings 25030．亚洲的发现/The Discovery of Asia 25331．对于世界其他地方而言，亚洲意味着什么/What Asia has Meant to the Rest of the World 25832．中亚高地/The Central Asiatic Highlands 26133．亚洲西部大高原/The Great Western Plateau of Asia 27034．阿拉伯，何时是亚洲的一部分，何时又不是/Arabia—or When is a Part of Asia not a Part of Asia 28535．印度，自然和人类同时在从事大规模生产的地方/　　India, Where Nature and Man are Engaged in Mass-Production 29036．占据另一个南亚大半岛的缅甸、泰国、安南以及马六甲/Burma, Siam, Anam and Malacca, Which Occupy the Other Great Southern Peninsula of Asia 30237．中国，东亚大半岛/The Republic of China, the Great Peninsula of Eastern Asia 30838．朝鲜、蒙古/Korea, Mongolia 32539．日本帝国/The Japanese Empire 32940．菲律宾，墨西哥的古老辖地/The Philippines, an old Administrative Part of Mexico 34241．荷属东印度，尾大不掉/The Dutch East Indies, the Tail That Wags the Dog 34642．澳大利亚，大自然的养子/Australia, the Step-Child of Nature 35343. 新西兰/New Zealand 36344. 太平洋上的岛屿，在那里，人们既不辛勤工作，也不会胡扯，却同我们一样地生活着/ The Islands of the Pacific Where People Neither Toiled Nor Spun but Lived Just the Same 36745. 非洲，矛盾与对立的大陆/Africa, the Continent of Contradictions and Contrasts 37046. 美洲，幸运之洲/America, the Most Fortunate of All 40847. 新世界/A New World 437

《房龙地理》（Van Loon's Gecography）是一部以通俗的手法描写以人的衍动与发展为中心的世界地理巨著，它是由付兰裔美国著名历史学家、作家房龙（1882－〕1944）编著而成。在简要介绍基本地理知识之后，作者按国别或特征地理地区分别讲述了其地理环境，侧重于分析地理对国家或地区的历史演变、国家或地区性格的形成、民族特性等影响，因此这是一本关于“人的”地理书。丹麦人喜欢静谧书斋，而西班牙人则热衷于广阔的天地；日本近代疯狂地向外扩张，而国土狭小的瑞士却保持中立，等等，难道国家性格真的与国家地理有关?在本书中似乎能够找到答案。 这本中文导读英文版的经典读本，无论作为通俗的世界地理读本，还是作为语言学习的课外读物，对当代中国的读者都将产生重要的影响。为了使读者能够了解每篇故事的概况，进而提高阅读速度和阅读水平，在每篇英文故事的开始部分增加了中文导读。

房龙始终站在全人类的高度在写作，他摒弃了深奥理论，却拥有自己独立的思想和体系。他的论述主要是围绕人类生存与发展等本质的问题，贯穿其中的精神是科学、宽容和进步，他的目标是向人类的无知与偏执挑战，他采取的方式是普及知识和真理，使它们成为人所皆知的常识。