In this article you will find list of European countries, as well as links to my other articles about the countries of Europe and about Europe itself. List, as well interesting information about Europe itself is provided below. Also on my site there is an article from and all European countries.

The countries of Europe include 43 sovereign states, which are located on the continent itself and the territories adjacent to it. All over the world, Europe is known as the region where western culture. Countries of Europe are known for their variety of different attractions, which have both historical and cultural significance. The countries of Europe are rich in beautiful corners of nature. Compared to other continents located at the same latitude as Europe, the climate in Europe is more temperate. Europe has a huge variety of landscapes, ranging from flat plains ending with rolling hills.

Thanks to the existence of different religions, a unique mixture of cultures took place on the territory of Europe. Countries of Europe ensure the neighborhood of Christianity and Islam. Despite the diversity of religions, Christianity occupies a leading position in Europe. In Europe, many countries have their own official religion. It is also interesting that at the entrances to some villages there are signs that indicate religion.

Europe is surrounded by two oceans: in the west of Europe is Atlantic Ocean, and in the north - the Arctic.

The territory of Europe is approximately 10 million square kilometers of the planet.

Well developed in Europe musical art. Each region of Europe has different music, so its genres will be different in Eastern and Northern Europe.

The inhabitants of Europe do not skimp on the Festivals and spend them with great luxury and fun. For example, the Oktoberfest beer festival is held annually, and the Cannes Film Festival is held annually.

The smallest independent state Europe - The Vatican, despite its tiny size, the Vatican has great cultural significance for Europe, as various masterpieces of such great artists as Michelangelo and Botticelli are stored here.

Europe is the place of origin various kinds sports that are popular all over the world. For example, everyone's favorite golf appeared in Scotland, and cricket - in. Games such as handball and tennis are widely used.

The philosophy of Europeans has received recognition from all over the world. Many philosophical movements are directly related to the history of Europe.

The term Central Europe is used much less often than, for example, Northern, Eastern, Western or Southern Europe, since many countries can be easily attributed to other regions, moreover, Central Europe is more of a historical and ideological territory than a geographical one, there are no borders that could naturally divide peoples, there are no mountain ranges, seas, rivers that would fence off this area from everything the rest of the world, the only exception to this rule is the Baltic Sea.

For long centuries Central Europe was formed under the influence of the Habsburg Empire and the Commonwealth, Central Europe, represented by Germany, wanted to become a single whole, and in some years even become the whole world, now shameful Germany can only shake the world economic achievements and quality of life. After World War II, the public Central Europe was shocked by the division into the Western capitalist and Eastern socialist parts of the rightfully victorious USSR. socially economic situations followed in the society of Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic, for half a century half of Europe was stolen by Russia and returned to its place after the stupefaction of the early 90s.

Politicians in Western Europe have considered and are now considering Russia as a source of instability and a threat to European security, Central or Eastern Europe Russia has become a big cordon on the way of fencing off the laws of life. Here we can add the export of gas and oil from Russia, mutual investments, and on the other hand, the ideological and political background of the case, which pulls in the other direction, this moment has become especially aggravated after Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

Resorts of Central Europe

Central Europe includes such countries as Austria, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Lithuania, Serbia, Russia, Germany and Ukraine. Of particular interest to tourists from Russia is Austria, Germany, Switzerland, the more economical Czech Republic and Croatia.

Countries such as Switzerland, Austria and Germany can be visited both in winter and in summer, in winter it is ski resorts and interesting in summer excursion program on architectural and natural attractions along with balneological treatment and prevention.

Countries such as Poland and Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia can boast the opportunity to relax in picturesque nature, balneological resorts, beautiful cities, meaning Prague, the closer to Germany, the more likely it is to see the preserved castles, palaces and cathedrals. Croatia can be considered a summer resort, although the beaches here are mountainous, the same can be said about the Baltic beaches, but the northern disadvantage lies no longer on the mountain coast, but in a cold climate.

Having received a Schengen visa, you can visit almost all of Central Europe without problems, pay with one currency, there is a choice of other directions, so close to the Mediterranean, Scandinavia or the Benelux countries.

Central Europe has common cultural roots, also applies to architecture, religion, cuisine. So it is typical for Central Europe big variety cheeses and sausages, the Czech Republic and Germany are leaders in brewing.

Central Europe is the birthplace of Brick Gothic, Rococo, Secessionism and modern architecture, for example in Germany there are 38 objects that are included in the list world heritage, in Poland 15, in the Czech Republic 12 and Switzerland 11.

Austria, Germany, Luxembourg, Slovakia and Slovenia. Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland are members of the European Union, the Schengen visa is valid here, but the euro currency does not always work, so the zloty goes in Poland, the forint in Hungary, the krone in the Czech Republic, the kuna in Croatia, this is a big drawback in tourism. It is interesting to rank the countries of Central Europe by success, for example, Switzerland is the leader in the Prosperity Index, followed by Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, last place Serbia. The corruption index is similar. The leader in globalization is Austria, Hungary and Switzerland, in last place is Liechtenstein, which is far behind even Serbia. Germany, Switzerland and Austria lead the Human Development Index, followed by Serbia and Romania.

Central Europe is the most densely populated part the globe, here are the countries of giants and dwarfs, the most populated country in Europe Germany and the smallest Liechtenstein. total population Central Europe is 165 million people, half of which is in Germany.

The countries of Central Europe form a continuous territorial array between Western and Eastern Europe, stretching from the Baltic to the Black and Adriatic Seas.

By political map determine the composition of the region. Remember what changes took place on the political map of Central Europe in the 90s of the XX century.

The geographical position of the Central European countries can be defined as very advantageous. It is characterized by:

1. compact location in the center of Europe. On one side are the developed countries Western Europe, which largely determine economic policy countries at the regional and global level, and on the other hand, the CIS countries, which are beneficial economic partners for the countries of Central Europe;
2. access to the sea by most countries of the region, which makes it possible to carry out extensive contacts with outside world. The Danube flows through the territory of five countries of the region, partially compensates for Hungary and Slovakia their isolation from the World Ocean and has an integrating value;
3. neighboring position. Central European countries are mostly small in size and have good transport accessibility. Their territory is crossed in all directions by railways and highways, pipelines, power lines.

The Baltic countries (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia) actively integrated into Central Europe in the 1990s, so they are considered within the boundaries of this region. By state system All countries are republics.

Natural resource potential of Central European countries

Land resources are distributed fairly evenly among the countries. There are great contrasts in the placement of other resources. Fuel resources in the northern part of the region, ore - in the south.

Of the fuel and energy resources, the most common is brown coal. On the coal rich Poland and the Czech Republic, there are oil and gas provinces in Romania, Albania and Croatia (partially in Hungary and Serbia). The countries of the Balkan Peninsula are rich in water resources.

The main reserves of iron ore are found in the countries of the Balkan Peninsula (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia). Albania produces the most chromite ores in the world.

Much better region provided with non-ferrous metal ores, which are both in the north and in the south. copper ores more in Poland, bauxite - in Hungary. From non-metallic raw materials, potash and table salt(Poland, Romania), sulfur (Poland).

Population of Central European countries

The population of Central Europe is almost a quarter of the population of all of Europe. Wherein largest number Poland (about 40 million people) has the smallest population - Slovenia and Macedonia (about 2 million people). The countries of the region differ in the main characteristics of the population, but also have some common features. First, the demographic processes here are largely due to the consequences of the Second World War. Secondly, the restructuring of the economy on an industrial basis led to the development of urbanization processes and related changes in the reproduction of the population, the nature of its settlement.

In general, the countries of Central Europe are characterized by the first type of population reproduction. Therefore, the process of “aging” of the population is taking place here, and in Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania and countries former Yugoslavia throughout the 90s of the XX century. the population was decreasing. Only in Albania natural increase population is quite high (20 people per 1 thousand inhabitants).

AT post-war period urbanization has intensified sharply in the countries of the region, resulting in urban population in all countries (except Albania) 50% prevails. Most urbanized country is the Czech Republic. A prime example population concentration in major city there is the capital of Hungary - Budapest (40% of the urban population). In addition to Budapest, such agglomerations as Bucharest, Prague, Upper Silesia, Warsaw, Sofia, Belgrade are developing in Central Europe.

The population is distributed unevenly. highest density The Czech Republic, Poland, Albania, Hungary, Slovakia, Serbia and Montenegro have the smallest population, the Baltic countries have the smallest.

Single-ethnic countries predominate among the countries of Central Europe. In the countries of the former Yugoslavia, ethnic conflicts that arose due to religious differences have escalated. AT ethnic composition population is heavily dominated Slavic peoples. From other nations, numerous Romanians, Albanians and Hungarians.

The region's population is predominantly employed in industry (40-50%), agriculture- 20-50% and in the non-manufacturing sector - 15-20%, the role of the latter is constantly growing. The unemployment rate is 5-15% and fluctuates depending on the results of the ongoing reforms.

General characteristics of the economy of the countries of Central Europe

Two stages can be distinguished in the post-war socio-economic development of Central Europe. The first (the second half of the 40s - the end of the 80s) is the stage of socialist development, important features whose dominions have become public forms ownership of fixed assets and planned and administrative regulation of the economy.

Practice has shown that this approach is quite effective in the presence of extensive factors of development and the need to create the main industries in a short time. But such a system can provide intensive growth on the basis of scientific and technological progress became especially evident in the 1970s and 1980s in the form of economic, scientific and technical lagging behind countries with a developed market economy.

Central Europe is not so much a geographical reality as a historical one, in in a certain sense historical and ideological concept. There are no natural borders - seas, large rivers or mountain ranges separating this region from its western, eastern or southern neighbors (the only exception is the north, where the Baltic coast serves as the natural border of Central Europe).

At the same time, the history of Central Europe has a number of features. Until the 19th century, Central Europe was distinguished by state and political unity within the framework of two major powers - the Habsburg Empire and the Commonwealth - with ethnocultural diversity.

Friedrich Naumann put forward the concept of Mitteleuropa (German - Middle Europe) outlined by him in the book of the same name at the height of the First World War.

In it, Central (more precisely, “Middle”) Europe was seen as a sphere of influence of Germany, expanded after its alleged victory in the war, but at the same time it stipulated the need to build cooperation between the countries of the region, primarily economic, on a mutually beneficial basis.

In its new form, the concept of Central Europe became the subject of relatively extensive debate in the 1980s. The belonging of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary to the sphere of influence of the USSR caused rejection and rejection among the majority of the intellectual elite of these countries. From this arose the idea of ​​the need in the future to break out of this sphere and “return to Europe”, which was thus identified with Western Europe. This was precisely the pathos of the received in the 1980s " wide popularity in narrow circles» an essay by Milan Kundera about Central Europe, which he described as Europe “kidnapped”, captivated by an alien East, personified by Russia/USSR.

In fact, the "legalization" of the concept of Central Europe took place already after the revolutions of 1989, which ended the communist regimes. It became clear that post-communist transformations in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary were proceeding faster than in former USSR(excluding the Baltic countries) and the former Yugoslavia. So the "big" socialist Eastern Europe of the 1940s-1980s began to be seen as several regions, one of which was the newly-minted Central Europe.

Regional Identity of Central European Countries

There are conflicting assessments and economic interpretations of the place and role of Russia in the foreign policy and foreign economic strategy of the countries of Central Europe, numerous points of view on the formation of a new regional identity Central European countries.

A significant part of the political elite of the countries of Central Europe sees in Russia a source of instability and a threat to European security, in connection with which it is proposed to consider the countries of Central Europe as a "cordon sanitaire", and economic relations with Russia to minimize. Another group of politicians and economists, opposed to the first one, believes that the role of the states of Central Europe in modern system world economic and political relations is to maximize the use of opportunities for economic and political cooperation (Central Europe as " connecting link"), strengthening ties not only with Western, but also with eastern part Europe. The positions of the first group determine the geostrategic aspect of the new regional identity, the positions of the second form the world economic aspect of the self-determination of the countries of the region.

The contradiction in the self-determination of the states of Central Europe in relation to Russia caused a crisis in political and economic cooperation between our countries. If the economic realities in the mid-1990s made it obvious to most of the Central European countries the need to develop economic cooperation with Russia, then the geostrategic thinking of the political elites, following the outdated logic of NATO, contributes to squeezing Russia out of the European region.

The Central European region can either become a "buffer" between the eastern and western part Europe, or a bridge of cooperation. The development of foreign economic relations on the basis of mutual benefit is necessary condition to overcome prejudices, prevent the formation of an "exclusion zone" in Central Europe, which will accelerate the full and effective integration of Russia into world economy and international community. The implementation of the concept of Central Europe as a connecting bridge between East and West is not only uncontested in the geostrategic aspect, but also economically beneficial for all parts of Europe - western, central and eastern.

Central Europe as an economic partner of Russia

The economic crisis of post-socialist countries, caused by systemic transformation, and disintegration processes in post-Soviet space in the 90s led to the dismantling of the previous mechanisms of economic cooperation and the transition from duty-free trade within the framework of the CMEA to the most favored nation regime, as a result of which the foreign economic reorientation of the countries of Central Europe took on the character of a unidirectional trend.

The development of international economic integration processes in Central Europe in the 1990s led to the formation in 2001 of a duty-free trade zone between the participants of the Central European FTA, the Baltic FTA and the EU and EFTA countries. The isolation of Russia, which did not participate in these processes, contributed to a further reduction in the volume of trade and economic interaction between Russia and the countries of Central Europe, and to the degradation of the commodity structure of their foreign trade turnover. Based on the analysis of the transformation of the trade regime of the CE countries in connection with their accession to the EU, and Russia to the WTO, it can be argued that the competitiveness of Russian energy exporters will deteriorate due to the fact that in full force EU requirements for the diversification of sources of energy imports and other norms of EU legislation in the field of energy entered into force.

Central Europe geographically includes the following European countries:

• Austria - Vienna (German: Mitteleuropa, Zentraleuropa)
• Hungary - Budapest (Hung. Közép-Európa)
• Poland - Warsaw (Polish Europa Środkowa)
• Slovakia - Bratislava (Slovak. Stredná Európa)
• Slovenia - Ljubljana (Slovenian Srednja Evropa)
• Croatia - Zagreb (Croatian Srednja Europa)
• Czech Republic - Prague (Czech Střední Evropa)
• Switzerland - Bern (French Europe centrale, Italian Europa centrale)
• Lithuania - Vilnius (lit. Vidurio Europa)
• Serbia - Belgrade (partially northern autonomous region of Vojvodina and Belgrade and its environs; Serb. Middle Europe)
• Russia Moscow ( Kaliningrad region; Russian Central Europe)
• Germany Berlin
• Ukraine, Kyiv ( historical areas Galicia and Transcarpathia; Ukrainian Central Europe)

Population

peoples

• Germans (German Deutsche) - the people of the Germanic language group, the main population of Germany.
• Hungarians (Hungarian Magyarok) are the people of the Ugric language group, the main population of Hungary.
• Croats (Croatian Hrvati), obsolete. Croats - South Slavic people
• Poles (Polish Polacy) are the people of the Slavic language group, the main population of Poland.
• Czechs (Czech. Češi) are the people of the Slavic language group, the main population of the Czech Republic.
• Slovaks (Slovak. Slováci) are the people of the Slavic language group, the main population of Slovakia.
• Lithuanians (lit. Lietuviai) are the people of the Baltic language group, the main population of Lithuania.

Languages

• German (German Deutsch, Deutsche Sprache) - the language of the Germans, Austrians and part of the Swiss, the official language of Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, one of official languages Switzerland, Luxembourg and Belgium. ( Indo-European family, Germanic branch, West Germanic group).
• Hungarian language (Hungarian. Magyar nyelv) - Ural family, Finno-Ugric branch, Ugric group).
• Polish language (Ust. Lyash; język polski, polszczyzna) - (Indo-European family, Slavic branch, West Slavic group, Lechit subgroup).
• Slovak language (words slovenčina, slovenský jazyk) - (Indo-European family, Slavic branch, West Slavic group).
• Slovenian language (Sloven. slovenski jezik, slovenščina) - (Indo-European family, Slavic branch, South Slavic group, western subgroup).
• Croatian language (Croatian hrvatski jezik, hrvatski) - (Indo-European family, Slavic branch, South Slavic group, Western subgroup).
• Czech language (Czech čeština) - (Indo-European family, Slavic branch, West Slavic group).
• Lithuanian language (lit. Lietùvių kalbà) - (Indo-European family, Baltic branch, East Baltic group).