Please respond to ONE of the following prompts and their associated questions.
Please respond to ONE of the following prompts and their associated questions.
1. Religion. Refer to a map of Europe and the location of religious majorities from the lecture slides. Do you notice a spatial pattern in Europe based upon religious majority? Explain the geographic pattern of dominant religious practices throughout Europe? What is the historical geography that contributed to present-day patterns of religion? What happened to the Jewish Pale? Why are there Muslim majorities located in Southeastern Europe, which is often referred to as the Balkans region? What other patterns of majority of minority religious practices might you describe in particular countries and places in Europe?
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2. Migration: The immigration of guest workers and refugees into the more affluent countries of Europe has been a controversial issue, despite many European countries having increasingly aging populations, shrinking labor forces, and declining fertility rates below population replacement levels. Not all guest workers are non-European; many come from some of the poorer peripheral areas of Europe seeking jobs and a better life.
• If you were in charge of a European government’s immigration service, what policy (or policies) would you set regarding the movement and permanence of guest workers in the country? Defend your answer.
• Realistically, affluent Europeans would refuse to do the menial jobs at the relatively low wages for which guest workers are willing to work. Develop an argument that the diversity and youthful vigor of the guest workers are revitalizing forces in an affluent society whose numbers are not growing.
• The Schengen Area is an area comprising 26 European member countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. The area mostly functions as a single jurisdiction for international travel purposes, with a common visa policy. This suggests that these countries do not have qualms about admitting people from many different countries, ethnic groups, or religions, among one another. Make an argument for why a country would want to pursue such agreements of abolishing border controls with other adjacent countries. For more info: https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/borders-and-visas_en
• Suggest at least three challenges that a country with open borders might expect and provide some solutions that would alleviate these problems or prevent them from arising.