Text for written translation. Europe is relatively poor in minerals with the exception of coal and some petroleum, natural gas, iron ore

Europe is relatively poor in minerals with the exception of coal and some petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, lead, zink. Russia, on the other hand, is one of the most favourably endowed nations in the world in terms of mineral reserve. Though being dependent to a large extent on imported raw materials, Europe was the first of the world’s major regions to develop a modern economy based on commercial agriculture and industrial development, and it remains one of the world’s major industrial regions. Western Europe in particular has progressed beyond basic heavy industries into a post-industrial economic structure reliant on an array of service industries and the manufacture of high-quality machine and metal products, electrical goods, synthetic textiles, petrochemicals, automotive vehicles, aircraft, computers. The economies of Eastern Europe are considerably less advanced; they rely more heavily on basic iron and steel industries, textiles and food processing.

Europe accounts for approximately one-half of the world’s international trade. Exports represent more than one-fifth of the aggregate gross national product (GNP) of the EC, which constitutes the world’s largest trading bloc. In 1958, six Western European nations founded an organization called the European Economic Community, or the Common Market. Now the EEC comprises 12 countries. The purpose of the organization is to allow goods and workers of the member countries to move free across each other’s borders.