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 Western Europe considered and are now considering Russia as a source of instability and a threat to European security, Central or Eastern Europe has become a big cordon on the way of fencing off the laws of life in Russia. 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 these are ski resorts, and in summer it is interesting 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 disadvantage in tourism. It is interesting to rank the countries of Central Europe in terms of 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. The leader in the Human Development Index is Germany, Switzerland and Austria, while Serbia and Romania graze behind.

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.

Although the countries that make up the Visegrad Group are almost always considered de facto countries of Central Europe. Various sources belong to the countries of Central Europe various countries, but most often the countries of Central Europe include the following:

Depending on the context, the Central European countries are sometimes classified as Western, sometimes as Eastern Europe. For example, Austria can be referred to as Central European countries, Eastern European and Western European.

Other countries

Some researchers also include the following countries in Central Europe, based on historical, geographical and / or cultural ties:

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 economic realities in the mid-1990s made it obvious to most of the countries of Central Europe 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 1990s, they led to the dismantling of the previous mechanisms of economic cooperation and the transition from the duty-free trade regime within the CMEA to the most favored nation regime, as a result of which the foreign economic reorientation of the Central European countries 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 energy import sources and other norms of EU legislation in the field of energy entered into force.

see also

Notes

1. The World Factbook: Field listing – Location (indefinite) (unavailable link). The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency (2009). Retrieved May 3, 2009. Archived from the original on May 24, 2011.
2. Regions, Regionalism, Eastern Europe by Steven Cassedy (indefinite) . New Dictionary of history of Ideas, Charles Scribner's Sons (2005). Retrieved January 31, 2010.
3. Lecture 14: The Origins of the Cold War. historyguide.org. Retrieved on 29 October 2011.
4. Central Europe - The future of the Visegrad group, The Economist(April 14, 2005). Retrieved March 7, 2009.
5. For the Record – The Washington Post – HighBeam Research (indefinite) (unavailable link). Highbeam.com (May 3, 1990). Retrieved January 31, 2010. Archived from the original on June 24, 2011.
6. From Visegrad to Mitteleuropa, The Economist(April 14, 2005).
7. Borders in Central Europe: From Conflict to Cooperation // Geopolitics of European Union Enlargement: The Fortress Empire . - Routledge, 2007. - P. 165. - ISBN 978-1-134-30132-4.
8. Map of Europe (indefinite) . TheFreeDictionary.com. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
9. United Nations Statistics Division-Standard Country and Area Codes Classifications (M49) (indefinite) . Unstats.un.org (31 October 2013). Retrieved 4 August 2014.
10. World Population Aging: 1950-2050 (indefinite) . United Nations. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
11. Browse MT 7206 | EuroVoc (indefinite) . Eurovoc.europa.eu. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
12. Webra International Kft. The Puzzle of Central Europe (indefinite) . Visegradgroup.eu (March 18, 1999). Retrieved 4 August 2014.
13. Highlights of Eastern Europe (Vienna through Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic) (indefinite) . a-ztours.com. Retrieved January 15, 2015. Archived from the original on October 20, 2014.
14. Mastication Monologues: Western Europe (indefinite) . masticationmonologues.com. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
15. Taranov P. M. Transformation of trade and investment cooperation between Russia and the countries of Central Europe: Abstract of the thesis. dis. for the competition scientist step. Ph.D. - Rostov n/a: Rost. state un-t, 2004. - 26 p.
16. In the Heavy Shadow of the Ukraine/Russia Crisis, page 10 (indefinite) . European Bank for Reconstruction and Development(September 2014). Retrieved 15 January 2015.
17. UNHCR in Central Europe (indefinite) . UNCHR. Archived from the original on August 26, 2013.

List of Central European countries. Tourism: capitals, cities and resorts. Cards foreign countries region of Central Europe.

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The center of the Old World and the brainchild of two great medieval empires- The Habsburgs and the Commonwealth, Central Europe and today "breaks up" into two parts, gravitating towards different poles. Austria and Switzerland keep a snobbish isolation - it is customary here to offer all the best and immediately, of course, at the appropriate price. More democratic, rather frivolous and somewhere even slovenly (but so dear!) Views reign in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary - perhaps as part of the former socialist camp, possibly as a result historical affiliation to Eastern European culture. Strictly speaking, the term “Central Europe” itself is not used so often: the countries included in the region can easily be attributed to the West and East, respectively.

So, why are the countries of Central Europe interesting from the point of view of a tourist? Firstly, by the fact that it is here that such definitely tourist destinations as Switzerland and Austria are located - and this is the Lucky case when the winter flow is in no way inferior to the summer one and even surpasses it. "Skiing", excursions and "non-hot" rest - this is how you can briefly characterize the "chips" of these countries.

Let's not forget to mention high-quality treatment - and not in the field of relaxation coatings, but real "heavy artillery" - operations on internal organs, excellent orthopedics, plastic surgery, dentistry. Finally, these states enjoy the well-deserved attention of businessmen - Austria and Switzerland are among the ten most popular business tourism destinations. And, of course, there are plenty of tidbits for "highly specialized" tourists - music lovers, for example, who rush to the concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic or performances of the Vienna Opera with lust in their eyes, fans of cheese, chocolate, Mozart, Swarovski and Swiss watches.

Tour of Central Europe

Let's face the East. Poland and Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia can offer for the most part high-quality and, which is especially pleasant, inexpensive vacation - among lakes and mountains, in the open spaces nature reserves, on the coast gentle sea under the cool rays of the sun, finally, in the bowels of boarding houses and sanatoriums, where they are guaranteed to bring you to life after working days.

In addition, local ski resorts you can ride well on very well-groomed slopes and at the same time not fly out into the pipe. Yes, and the atmosphere here is the most friendly, even if you first got up on skis and began to write out unstable zigzags in front of other skiers.

Excursion riches listed countries- these are, first of all, numerous medieval buildings (there are only more than two thousand castles in the Czech Republic alone, and cathedrals, town halls, bell towers and houses - without counting at all), as well as interesting museums, galleries... breweries, finally! Let's not forget about the healing wealth of the region. First of all, this mineral water with almost all useful trace elements known in balneology, as well as other gifts of the earth - mud, hydrogen sulfide sources, etc.

So if you are looking for a varied vacation at reasonable prices, while in a comfortable climate and with a lot of interesting local “chips”, you won’t find a better destination in Central Europe!

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.