Natural conditions and resources of Central Europe. Natural resource potential of Eastern Europe

V.O. Klyuchevsky called nature "a force that holds in its hands the cradle of every nation." He believed that the characteristic geographical feature of Russia is that its center is located in Europe and therefore it is a European power, but Eastern Europe is very different from Western and in some respects closer to Asia than to Western Europe. V.O. Klyuchevsky wrote: “Historically, Russia, of course, is not Asia, but geographically it is not exactly Europe.”

Indeed, the main geographical characteristics of the nature of Eastern Europe contrast sharply with its western part. If in the West the shape of the Earth's surface is distinguished by an impressive variety, then in the East it is no less impressive in its uniformity. To complete the geographical similarity with Asia, the East European Plain passes in the south into the boundless, shallow and treeless steppe, which is absolutely similar to the steppes of inner Asia and constitutes a direct, continuous continuation of them. According to V.O. Klyuchevsky, “this is like an Asian wedge pushed into the European mainland and closely connected with Asia historically and climatically.”

According to the characteristics of the climate, physical geography divides the East European Plain into four climatic zones: Arctic, Northern, Middle and Southern. The Arctic belt is a tundra covered with swamps, mosses and lichens. It is incapable of providing an organized human life and is unsuitable for agriculture. To the south of the tundra stretches a huge forest, the greatest in the world. It covers two climatic zones (Northern and Middle) and partly invades the Southern (forest-steppe). The northern (taiga) belt is a zone of coniferous taiga with podzolic soils, unsuitable (unfavorable) for agriculture. The middle (Forest) belt is a territory occupied by broad-leaved-dark-coniferous mixed forests, in the southern part turning into forest-steppe. It has mainly gray forest soils, favorable for agriculture, but requiring great labor in preparing the soil for agricultural processing (cutting, uprooting the forest). In the southern part of this belt (in the forest-steppe) there are fertile forest chernozems suitable for agriculture. A narrow strip is a layer of deep and powerful chernozem. The southern (Steppe) belt has the deepest and thickest layer of chernozem and is extremely favorable for agriculture, but it is completely treeless. The southeastern corner of the Russian Plain and the northern coast of the Caspian Sea are practically a desert, and their soils (salt marshes and sandstones) are unsuitable for agriculture.

The climate in Eastern Europe has a pronounced continental character. Winter temperatures drop sharply as you move eastward. A feature of the Russian climate is that its coldest regions lie not in the northernmost, but in the easternmost regions. Thus, Verkhoyansk in Yakutia (the "pole of cold") is located at the same latitude as the ice-free Norwegian port of Narvik. Summer temperatures are more uniform. But they are not an indicator of the amount of average annual heat. Sufficiently high temperatures northern regions fall rapidly, the summer there is much shorter than in the southern regions or at the same latitude in Western Europe.

Continentality is also characterized by large temperature fluctuations throughout the year. Such temperature fluctuations, which are in Eastern Europe, its western part does not know. If in Eastern Europe the differences in summer (July) and winter (January) temperatures range from 37 o (Yekaterinburg) to 26 o (Arkhangelsk, St. Petersburg, Kyiv), then in Western Europe in most places the difference does not exceed 22 o. On average, the temperature difference in Eastern Europe is 30.8 o, and in the territory of Western Europe comparable in latitudes - only 19.3 o (that is, 1.5 times less).

No less characteristic in terms of unfavorability for agriculture is the annual distribution of precipitation. Precipitation differs from the pattern of vegetation and soils. They are most abundant where the soil is poorest. At the same time, a feature of precipitation in Russia is that it usually rains the most in the second half of summer. In Western Europe, the annual distribution of precipitation is more even.

characteristic feature In Eastern Europe, the period suitable for sowing and harvesting is extremely short: from 4 months a year in the north-west (Petersburg, Novgorod) to 5.5 months in the center (Moscow) and no more than 6 months in the south (steppe regions). In Western Europe, this period is 8-9 months. On average, in Russia the warm period (at least 10°C) is 4-5 months, in Western European countries it is 1.5-2 times higher.

The result of (mostly) insufficiently favorable conditions for agriculture, poor soils, unreliable rainfall and a short period of field work is the low yield of grain crops in Russia. The minimum yield at which it makes some sense to engage in arable farming is “sam-three” (that is, 1:3).

At the same time, it should be noted that the yield in "sam-three" is, in principle, quite enough to feed oneself. As shown by the studies of agrarians in recent years, the wealth (grain) of the Russian peasant is beyond doubt. But the grain was only enough for food. At the same time, all family members must be employed in agricultural production. Thus, natural and climatic conditions prevented the Russian farmer from producing sufficiently large surpluses of grain. And this hindered the development of the specialization of regions (design public division labor), as well as the organization of exchange, commodity-money relations, intensive economic ties both within the country and outside it.

At the same time, one cannot fail to mention an extremely favorable factor that undoubtedly played a certain role in the peculiarities of the country's historical development. This is a large number of rivers with branched basins and relatively narrow watersheds. Russia has the largest number of the world's longest rivers with large basins.

In Europe, of the 13 largest rivers along the length, eight flow in its Eastern part; in Asia, five of the 10 longest rivers were located on the territory of the Russian Empire (within its borders at the beginning of the 20th century). In the European part, these are the Volga, Ural, Dnieper, Don, Pechora, Dniester, Sev. Dvina with Sukhona, Zap. Dvina. In Asia - the Ob with the Irtysh, the Amur with the Argun, the Lena, the Yenisei, the Syr Darya with the Naryn. The total length of rivers in Eastern Europe compared to the whole of Europe is 54.4%; in the Asian part of Russia compared to the whole of Asia - 42.5%.

No less characteristic figures are obtained when comparing the areas of river basins. In Europe, the total basin of the first 13 rivers is 4862 sq. km; of them on Eastern part accounts for 3362 sq. km (i.e. 69.2%). In Asia, the total basin of the first 10 rivers is 15150 sq. km. km; of them on Russian rivers accounts for 10134 sq. km (i.e. 66.9%).

Watersheds play an important role in the development of the economy. There are several of them in Eastern Europe: the Valdai Upland, the Northern Ridges, the Ural Mountains. The Valdai Upland is the central watershed of the East European Plain. This is where the rivers flow into different directions: Western Dvina (Daugava) - to the west to the Baltic Sea (Gulf of Riga), Dnieper - to the south to the Black Sea, Don - to the south to the Sea of Azov, Volga - to the southeast to the Caspian Sea. In the Northern Uvaly (foothills Northern Urals) are the sources of the Vychegda - the Northern Dvina (flows into the White Sea), Kama (flows into the Volga), Vyatka (flows into the Kama). Rivers originate on the western slope of the Ural Range: Pechora (flows into the Barents Sea), Chusovaya and Belaya (flows into the Kama), Ural (flows into the Caspian Sea). With east slope A large number of rivers flow through the Ural Range, the most significant of which is the Tura (flows into the Tobol, into the Irtysh).

Without much work and special swimming facilities, it was possible from the river. Chusovaya (a tributary of the Kama), coming close to the source of the Tura, to penetrate into the Ob basin of Western Siberia. In turn, the Ob basin is adjacent to the Yenisei, and that one - to the Lena and Amur basins. And there "at hand" to the Pacific Ocean (Sea of Okhotsk), to the Chukotka Peninsula and the North American continent.

The importance of narrow and gentle watersheds (portages) can hardly be overestimated. Thanks to them, with such ease and speed, the Russian people passed through the whole of Siberia and, in a little over 50 years, reached the eastern tip of the Asian continent. It is no coincidence that these people were already called explorers by contemporaries.

So, the natural conditions of Russia are characterized by a wealth of waterways. Russia is the only country in Eurasia with such a dense network of navigable rivers, which cover the entire territory of the country with their basins and are interconnected by convenient portages. As a result, even primitive vehicles can sail from the White or Baltic Sea to the Black or Caspian Sea. From the Caspian one can penetrate into Iran (Persia), Central Asia and India; from the Black Sea - to Asia Minor, the Balkans and the Mediterranean; from the Baltic Sea to Europe; from the Kama-Volga basin - by drag to the West Siberian river systems and along them to China and Japan. In other words, the nature of the country predetermined its great role for the connection between Asia and Europe, for transit routes.

One of the features of Russia was (and still continues to exist) low (in any case, less than in most other European states) population density. In the XVI century. She was no more than 5 people. per sq. km, in the middle of the XVIII century. was 6-7 people, mid-nineteenth in. - no more than 20 people, at the end of the XIX century. - about 50 people per sq. km.

The natural and climatic conditions of the country did not contribute to the development of individual agriculture, but, on the contrary, required collective farming. The fact that in Russia one has to carry out field work in 4-6 months (and not in 8-9, as in the West), they were forced to work very hard and use collectively human and material resources and livestock. The Russian peasant was not able to single-handedly cope with the work in the climatic conditions of the forest zone. This necessitated the existence of a "big family" and " neighborhood community". Which, in turn, brought up collectivism, a consciousness of community among the population.

Hence another feature of the economic development of Russia - the extensiveness of management. Insufficiently favorable soils were quickly depleted. At the same time, there was a lot of free land that was not put into agricultural circulation. This led, on the one hand, to the use of a slash-and-shift farming system (after a number of years of farming, the land was abandoned, a new plot of land was cleared from the forest and included in crop rotation), and on the other hand, to the easy movement of farmers from place to place in search of virgin land. or fallow lands that have restored their fertility by a long rest.

The ease of penetration into new places has determined a very important factor in the historical development of the peoples inhabiting Eastern Europe - these are active movements, migration, economic development more and more territories. It is impossible not to take into account the wealth of natural resources in the country, the possibility of developing various crafts: the extraction of furs, honey, wax, forests, fish, etc. This led to the need to expand the scope of the economic territory, to constant movements.

End of work -

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Natural and climatic conditions of Eastern Europe. The peoples of Eastern Europe from ancient times to the 9th century

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Primitiveness
The history of mankind covers about 3 million years, of which written sources only the events of the last 7,000 years have been consecrated. The entire preceding period is about 400 times longer than

Cimmerians. Scythians. Sarmatians
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Slavs
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Turkic Khaganate
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Khazar Khaganate
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Volga Bulgaria
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Ancient Russia
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The collapse of ancient Russia
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Kiev principality
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Southwestern Russia. Galician and Volyn principalities
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Central Slavic regions
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Severskaya Rus
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Northeast Russia
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Velikiy Novgorod
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Russia and the West
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Russia and the East
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Russian culture
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Ulus formation
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Feudal War
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Acts of the socio-economic history of North-Eastern Russia at the end of XIV - early XVI in. - M., 1952-1964. - T. 1-3. Acts of feudal landownership and economy of the XIV-XVI centuries. - M., 1951-1961. - Ch.

Europe is the second (after Australia) smallest part of the world by area. However, its strategic location in relation to Asia and Africa, as well as navigable rivers and fertile soils, have made Europe the dominant economic, social and cultural power over a long period of history.

Water resources

Water is an essential component of life on our planet. Ecosystems, societies and economies need enough water to thrive. However, the need for water resources exceeds its availability in many parts of the world, and some regions of Europe are no exception. In addition, a large number of water bodies are in poor ecological condition.

Oceans and seas

Europe is washed by two oceans: in the north - by the Arctic Ocean and in the west - by the Atlantic Ocean; as well as the following seas: North, Baltic, Mediterranean, Black, Azov, Barents, Norwegian, White, Kara and Caspian.

Rivers

A large number of rivers flow through Europe. Some of them form the borders between different countries, while others serve as a valuable source of water for agriculture and fish farming. Most rivers in Europe are rich in dissolved minerals and valuable organic compounds. Many of them also have interesting physical properties and create waterfalls and canyons. European rivers, in fact, are an extremely important part of the continent. The longest rivers in Europe are: the Volga (3,692 km), the Danube (2,860 km), the Urals (2,428 km), the Dnieper (2,290 km), the Don (1,950 km).

lakes

lakes - water bodies with a standing fresh water, although they can also be brackish, i.e. slightly salty. They are characterized physical features, such as area, depth, volume, length, etc.

On the territory of Europe there are more than 500,000 natural lakes larger than 0.01 km² (1 ha). Between 80% and 90% of them are small, with an area of 0.01 to 0.1 km², while about 16,000 are larger than 1 km². Three quarters of the lakes are located in Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Karelian-Kola part of Russia.

24 lakes in Europe have an area of more than 400 km². The largest freshwater lake in Europe - Lake Ladoga - covers an area of 17,670 km² and is located in the northwestern part of Russia, next to the second largest Lake Onega, with an area of 9,700 km². Both lakes are significantly larger than other European lakes and reservoirs. However, they are only 18th and 22nd in the world in terms of area. The third largest is Kuibyshev reservoir, with an area of 6,450 km², located on the Volga River. Another 19 natural lakes, more than 400 km² in size, are located in Sweden, Finland, Estonia, the northwestern part of Russia, as well as in Central Europe.

Demand and provision of water resources

Despite the fact that fresh water, generally found in abundance in Europe, water scarcity and drought continue to affect some water basins in certain times of the year. Mediterranean region and most of the densely populated river basins, in different parts of Europe, are hotspots where water is scarce.

AT winter period, about 30 million people in Europe live in conditions of water scarcity, while this figure in the summer is 70 million people. This corresponds to 4% and 9% of the total population of this part of the world.

About 20% of the total population of the Mediterranean region live in conditions of constant water scarcity. More than half (53%) of the inhabitants of the Mediterranean countries during the summer are forced to experience water shortages.

46% of rivers and 35% of groundwater provide more than 80% of the total water demand in Europe.

Agriculture requires 36% of water from total consumption. In summer, this figure increases to about 60%. Agriculture in the Mediterranean region accounts for almost 75% of the total agricultural water consumption in Europe.

Public water supply accounts for 32% of total water use. This puts pressure on renewable water resources, especially in areas with high population density. The small resort islands of Europe are in severe conditions of water shortage caused by the influx of tourists, which is 10-15 times the number of local residents.

forest resources

In Europe, about 33% of the total land area (215 million ha) is covered by forests, with a positive trend towards increasing forest areas. Other forest lands cover an additional area of 36 million hectares. About 113 million hectares are covered with coniferous forests, 90 million hectares with deciduous forests and 48 million hectares with mixed forests.

The use of forest resources is an important industry in Europe. The timber industry generates more than $600 billion in revenue annually. The forestry and wood processing industry employs about 3.7 million people and accounts for 9% of Europe's gross domestic product (GDP).

The most important branches of the forest industry in Europe are: woodworking, pulp and paper, building materials and furniture products. This part of the world is known for exporting high quality goods such as paper, furniture and wood panels.

In Europe, non-timber forest resources are also in demand, which include the collection of mushrooms and truffles, honey, fruits and berries, as well as the cultivation and collection of medicinal plants. Europe accounts for 80% of the total production of fellema (cork fabric) worldwide.

Map of the percentage of forests to the area of European countries

The largest area of forest resources is occupied in Finland (73%) and Sweden (68%). Forest cover of Slovenia, Latvia, Estonia, Greece, Spain and the European part Russian Federation exceeds 49%.

The smallest amount of forests is found on: the Isle of Man (6%), the island of Jersey (5%), the island of Guernsey (3%) and the island nation of Malta (1%). Gibraltar, Monaco, San Marino and Svalbard and Jan Mayen have less than 1% forest cover.

Land resources

The earth is the basis for most biological resources and human activities. Agriculture, forestry, industry, transport, housing and other forms of land use are important economic resource. The earth is also an integral part of ecosystems and a necessary condition for the existence of living organisms.

Land can be divided into two related concepts:

vegetation cover, which refers to the biophysical land cover (eg, crops, grasses, broadleaf forests, and other biological resources);

land use indicates the socio-economic use of land (eg agriculture, forestry, recreation, etc.).

Forests and other woodlands occupy 37.1% of the total area of Europe, arable land makes up almost a quarter land resources(24.8%), grasslands 20.7%, and shrubs 6.6%, with water areas and wetlands occupying 4.8%.

Agricultural land use is the most common land use in European countries and accounts for 43.5% of the total land area. Areas used for forestry occupy 32.4% of the territory, while 5.7% of the land is intended for housing and recreational purposes. Industry and transport account for 3.4%, and the remaining land is used for hunting and fishing, or is under protection or has no apparent use.

Europe has many different vegetation and land uses that reflect historical changes. In recent years, some of the most important changes in land use have included the decline in agricultural land use and the gradual increase in forest areas (driven by the need to meet global environmental obligations due to climate change). The construction of roads, highways, railways, intensive agriculture and urbanization have led to land fragmentation. This process negatively affects the flora and fauna of Europe.

Mineral resources

Europe has significant reserves of metal resources. Russia is the main supplier of oil, which gives it a strategic advantage in international negotiations. Outside of Russia, there is relatively little oil in Europe (with the exception of fields off the coast of Scotland and Norway). Peat and potash are also important to the European economy. Zinc and copper are the main elements used in almost all European countries. Iceland is a leader in alternative energy sources. Since the Baltic countries are poor in mineral resources, they depend on other states, for example, on Sweden.

Map of the mineral resources of Europe

Mineral resources of countries Northern Europe

The mineral resources of Northern Europe mainly include metals such as bauxite (aluminum is extracted from it), copper and iron ore. Some northern European countries(such as Denmark), have oil reserves and natural gas. Scandinavia is relatively rich in oil and natural gas.

Mineral resources of the countries of Southern Europe

Italy has significant reserves of coal, mercury and zinc. Croatia has a limited amount of oil and bauxite. Bosnia and Herzegovina has reserves of bauxite, coal and iron ore. Greece has some iron ore, bauxite, oil, lead and zinc.

Mineral resources of Western European countries

Spain and France share reserves of coal, zinc, as well as copper and lead. France also has bauxite and uranium. Germany has large reserves of coal, as well as nickel and lignite (or brown coal, similar to peat). The UK has some offshore deposits of oil and natural gas, as well as significant reserves of coal, and small reserves of gold. Iceland is a leader in hydropower and geothermal energy production. Portugal has some gold, zinc, copper and uranium. Ireland has significant reserves of natural gas and peat.

Mineral resources of Eastern European countries

Ukraine and Russia are rich in natural gas and oil. The Baltic countries are poorer in terms of mineral resources, although Latvia has begun to exploit the hydropower potential. Poland is endowed with coal, natural gas, iron ore and copper, and has limited silver reserves. Serbia has some oil and natural gas, copper and zinc, and limited reserves of gold and silver. Bulgaria is rich in alumina and copper. Kosovo is probably the most blessed country of all Eastern European countries, as it has huge reserves of gold, silver, natural gas, bauxite, nickel and zinc. Finally, Russia has an abundance of natural resources: it has a large percentage of the world's oil and natural gas reserves, as well as vast reserves of almost all of the most important minerals.

biological resources

The biological resources of Europe include all living organisms that inhabit the territory of this part of the world, including: animals, plants, fungi and microorganisms that are used by people for personal needs, as well as wild representatives of flora and fauna that have a direct or indirect impact on the ecosystem.

animal husbandry

Spain, Germany, France, Great Britain and Italy are the largest livestock producing countries in Europe. In 2016, the largest number of pigs were recorded in Spain and Germany (28.4 and 27.7 million heads respectively), in France 19.4 million heads of cattle were raised, and in the UK 23.1 million heads of sheep. Also in Europe, goats and birds (chickens, ducks, geese, etc.) are raised. Animal husbandry provides Europeans with food, including milk, meat, eggs, etc. Some animals are used for work and driving.

Fish farming

Fish farming is an important livestock industry. Europe represents approximately 5% of the world's fisheries and aquaculture. Fishing for wild fish occurs mainly in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Major fish species include: Atlantic herring, sprat, blue whiting and Atlantic mackerel. The leading fishing countries are: Spain, Denmark, Great Britain and France. These countries account for about half of all fish catches in Europe.

crop production

In Europe, crops are grown, including wheat, spelled, barley, corn, rye, etc. This part of the world is the leading producer of sugar beet in the world (about 50% of the world's reserves). Oilseeds are grown here: soybean, sunflower and rapeseed.

The main vegetables grown in Europe are: tomato, onion, carrot. The most important fruits are: apples, oranges and peaches. About 65% of the world's viticulture and winemaking is concentrated in Europe, while the leading producing countries, which account for 79.3% of the total production, are: Italy, France and Spain.

Europe is also the world's largest producer of olive oil, accounting for nearly 3/4 of the world's production. The Mediterranean region produces 95% of the world's olive trees. The main countries producing this oil are: Spain, Italy, Greece and Portugal.

Flora

Probably 80 to 90% of Europe was covered with forest. It stretched from the Mediterranean Sea to the Arctic Ocean. Although more than half of the forests have disappeared due to deforestation, more than 1/4 of the territory is still covered by forests. Recently, deforestation has slowed down and many trees have been planted.

Most important species trees in Central and Western Europe are beech and oak. In the north, the taiga is a mixed spruce-pine-birch forest; further north, within Russia and extreme northern Scandinavia, the taiga gives way to the tundra. In the Mediterranean, many olive trees have been planted which have adapted very well to the characteristic arid climate; Mediterranean cypresses are also widespread in Southern Europe.

Fauna

The last ice age and the presence of humans influenced the distribution of European fauna. In many parts of Europe, most large animals and predators the best views were exterminated. Today, large animals such as wolves and bears are endangered. The reason for this was deforestation, poaching and fragmentation of the natural habitat.

The following species of animals live in Europe: the European forest cat, the fox (especially the red fox), jackals and different kinds martens, hedgehogs. Here you can find snakes (such as vipers and snakes), amphibians and various birds (such as owls, hawks and other birds of prey).

The disappearance of pygmy hippos and pygmy elephants has been linked to the earliest human arrival on the islands of the Mediterranean.

Marine organisms are also an important part of European flora and fauna. Marine life mainly includes phytoplankton. Important marine animals that live in European seas are: molluscs, echinoderms, various crustaceans, squid, octopuses, fish, dolphins, and whales.

The biodiversity of Europe is protected by the "Bern Convention for the Protection of Wild Fauna and Flora and Natural Habitats".

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Eastern Europe as a historical and geographical region includes: Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, countries formed as a result of the collapse of the former Yugoslavia (Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia), Albania, Latvia, Lithuania , Estonia.

There is also an opinion that the countries of this region should be attributed either to the Central or to Central Europe, since it is more correct to call Eastern Europe Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova and the European part of Russia.

But the name "Eastern Europe" has stuck with the countries of this region and is recognized throughout the world.

Geographical position. Natural resources

The countries of Eastern Europe represent a single natural-territorial array stretching from the Baltic to the Black and Adriatic Seas. The region and adjacent countries are based on the ancient Precambrian platform, covered by a cover of sedimentary rocks, as well as the area of Alpine folding.

An important feature of all the countries of the region is their transit position between the countries of Western Europe and the CIS.

The countries of Eastern Europe differ from each other in geographic location, configuration, size of territory, and richness in natural resources.

From the reserves of natural resources stand out: coal (Poland, Czech Republic), oil and natural gas (Romania), iron ore (countries of the former Yugoslavia, Romania, Slovakia), bauxite (Hungary), chromite (Albania).

In general, it must be said that the region is experiencing a shortage of resources, and in addition, it is a prime example"incompleteness" of a set of minerals. So, in Poland there are large reserves of coal, copper ores, sulfur, but almost no oil, gas, iron ore. In Bulgaria, on the contrary, there is no coal, although there are significant reserves of lignite, copper ores, and polymetals.

Population

The population of the region is about 130 million people, but demographic situation, which is not easy in all of Europe, is the most alarming in Eastern Europe. Despite the active demographic policy pursued for several decades, the natural population growth is very small (less than 2%) and continues to decrease. In Bulgaria and Hungary, there is even a natural decline in population. The main reason for this is the violation of the age and sex structure of the population as a result of the Second World War.

In some countries, the natural increase is higher than the average for the region (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia), and it is the largest in Albania - 20%.

The largest country in the region is Poland (about 40 million people), the smallest is Estonia (about 1.5 million people).

The population of Eastern Europe is characterized by a complex ethnic composition, but the predominance of the Slavic peoples can be noted. Of the other peoples, the Romanians, Albanians, Hungarians, and Lithuanians are the most numerous. Poland, Hungary, Albania are distinguished by the most homogeneous national composition. Lithuania.

Eastern Europe has always been an arena of national and ethnic conflicts. After the collapse of the socialist system, the situation became more complicated, especially on the territory of the most multinational country in the region - Yugoslavia, where the conflict escalated into an interethnic war.

Most urbanized country V. Europe - Czech Republic (3/4 of the population lives in cities). There are quite a lot of urban agglomerations in the region, the largest of them are Upper Silesian (in Poland) and Budapest (in Hungary). But most countries are characterized by historically formed small towns and villages, and for the Baltic countries - farms.

economy

The countries of Eastern Europe today are not characterized by a pronounced socio-economic unity. But in general it can be said that _. in the 2nd half of the 20th century. great changes took place in the economies of the countries of Eastern Europe. Firstly, industries developed at a faster pace - by the 80s of V. Europe turned into one of the most industrial regions of the world, and secondly, previously very backward regions also began to develop industrially (For example, Slovakia in the former Czechoslovakia, Moldova in Romania, northeast Poland). Such results became possible thanks to the implementation of regional policy.

Energy

Due to the shortage of oil reserves, this area is focused on coal, most of the electricity is generated at thermal power plants (more than 60%), but important place also owns hydroelectric and nuclear power plants. One of the largest nuclear power plants- "Kozloduy" in Bulgaria.

Metallurgy

In the post-war period, the industry actively grew and developed in all countries of the region, and non-ferrous metallurgy relies mainly on its own raw materials, while ferrous metallurgy relies on imported ones.

mechanical engineering

The industry is also represented in all countries, but is most developed in the Czech Republic (primarily machine tool building, household appliances and computer technology); Poland and Romania are distinguished by the production of metal-intensive machines and structures, Hungary, Bulgaria, Latvia - by the electrical industry; in addition, shipbuilding is developed in Poland and Estonia.

Chemical industry

The region's chemical industry lags far behind Western Europe due to the lack of raw materials for the most advanced branches of chemistry - oil. But still, the pharmaceutical industry of Poland and Hungary, the glass industry of the Czech Republic can be noted.

Agriculture of the region

Mainly meets the needs of the population in food. In the structure of the economy of the countries of Eastern Europe, under the influence of scientific and technological revolution, significant changes took place: agro-industrial complex arose, specialization of agricultural production took place. It manifested itself most clearly in grain farming and in the production of vegetables, fruits, and grapes.

The structure of the economy of the region is heterogeneous: in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, and the Baltic countries, the share of animal husbandry exceeds the share of crop production, in the rest the ratio is still the opposite.

Due to the diversity of soil and climatic conditions, several zones of crop production can be distinguished: wheat is grown everywhere, but in the north (Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) important role rye and potatoes play, vegetable growing and horticulture are cultivated in the central part of the subregion, and the “southern” countries specialize in subtropical crops.

The main crops grown in the region are wheat, corn, vegetables, fruits.

The main wheat and corn regions of Eastern Europe developed within the Middle and Lower Danube lowlands and the Danube hilly plain (Hungary, Rumania, Yugoslavia, and Bulgaria).

Hungary has achieved the greatest success in grain growing.

Vegetables, fruits, grapes are cultivated almost everywhere in the subregion, but there are areas where they primarily determine the specialization of agriculture. These countries and regions also have their own specialization in the range of products. For example, Hungary is famous for winter varieties of apples, grapes, onions; Bulgaria - oilseeds; Czech Republic - hops, etc.

Livestock. The northern and central countries of the region specialize in dairy and meat and dairy cattle breeding and pig breeding, while the southern countries specialize in mountain pasture meat and wool cattle breeding.

Transport

In Eastern Europe, lying at the crossroads that have long connected the eastern and western parts of Eurasia, the transport system has been formed over many centuries. Now the leader in terms of traffic volume railway transport, BUT the automobile and marine industries are also intensively developing. Availability major ports contributes to the development of foreign economic relations, shipbuilding, ship repair, and fishing.

Intra-regional differences

The countries of Eastern Europe can be conditionally divided into 3 groups according to the commonality of their EGL, resources, and level of development.

1. Northern group: Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia. These countries are still characterized by a low degree of integration, but there are common tasks in the development of the marine economy.

2. Central group: Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary. The economy of the first two countries has a pronounced industrial character. The Czech Republic ranks first in the region in terms of industrial output per capita.

3. Southern group: Romania, Bulgaria, countries of the former Yugoslavia, Albania. In the past, these were the most backward countries, and now, despite great changes in their economy, the countries of this group lag behind the countries of the 1st and 2nd groups in most indicators.

The region of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) covers 15 post-socialist countries: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic (The Czech Republic includes the territory historical areas Czech Republic, Moravia and a small part of Silesia), Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Federation of Serbia and Montenegro (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia), Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Albania. The area of the region, representing a single territorial array, is over 1.3 million km2. with a population of 130 million people. (1998). Of its constituent countries, the group of larger European states includes only Poland and Romania; other countries are relatively small in size (a territory of 20 to 110 thousand square kilometers with a population of 2 to 10 million people).

This region of Europe has gone through a difficult path of political and socio-economic development in the context of the dramatic struggle for the major European powers for spheres of influence on the continent for the peoples inhabiting it. This struggle was waged with particular force in the 19th-20th centuries. between Austria-Hungary, Germany, Russia, Turkey, as well as France and Great Britain. In the course of this struggle and the intensified national liberation movements of the local population, former states were formed and destroyed. After the First World War, the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed, Poland reappeared on the map of Europe, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia formed, and the territory of Romania more than doubled.

Subsequent changes in the political map of CEE were the result of the victory over Nazi Germany and Italy during World War II. Chief among them: the return to Poland of its western and northern lands with wide access to Baltic Sea, Yugoslavia - the Julian Krajina and the Istrian peninsula, inhabited mainly by Slovenes and Croats.

During the transition of the CEE countries from a centrally planned economy to a market economy (late 80s - early 90s), political, socio-economic and national-ethnic contradictions sharply aggravated in them. As a result, there was a breakdown ethnicity Czechoslovakia into two states - the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic, and Yugoslavia into five states: the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the republics of Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The CEE countries are located between the countries of Western Europe and the republics that were (until 1992) part of the USSR. Related to this are a number of common features their political and socio-economic development at the stage of transition to a market economy. They are in the process of deep structural economic restructuring, fundamental changes in the nature and direction of foreign economic relations.

The CEE states are striving to expand their participation in the pan-European economic integration, primarily in the field of transport, energy, ecology, and the use of recreational resources. The region has access to the Baltic, Black and Adriatic seas, the navigable Danube flows through it for a long distance; the territory of the region can be widely used for the transit of goods and passengers between Western Europe, the CIS countries and Asia. For example, with the completion in 1993 of the Bamberg (on the Main River) - Regensburg (on the Danube) canal, the possibility of through trans-European water transport between the North and Black Seas opens up (from Rotterdam at the mouth of the Rhine to Sulina at the mouth of the Danube). waterway at 3400 km.). This is an important link in the development of a unified European network of inland waterways. Another example of the expanding use of the geographical position of the CEE countries is the transit shipments of natural gas and oil from Russia and other Caspian states to the countries of Western and Southern Europe through pipelines. In 1994, the CEE countries signed the European Energy Charter Treaty, which laid down the economic mechanisms for the global energy space of all of Europe.

When assessing natural resources, settlement patterns, and regional differences in economic activity on the modern territory of the CEE countries, one must imagine the most important structural and morphological features of its relief. The region covers: part of the European Plain in the north (the Baltic States, Poland), the Hercynian midlands and hilly uplands (the Czech Republic), part of the Alpine-Carpathian Europe with folded mountains up to 2.5 - 3 thousand meters high and low accumulative plains - Middle and Lower -Danubian (Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, northern Croatia, Serbia and Bulgaria), South European Dinaric and Rhodope-Macedonian massifs up to 2 - 2.5 thousand meters high with intermountain basins and foothill plains(most of Croatia and Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania and southern Bulgaria).

Features of the geological and tectonic structures determine the composition and nature of the geographical distribution of minerals in countries. Greatest economic importance have large (on a European scale) deposits of: coal (the Upper Silesian basin in the south of Poland and the adjacent Ostrava-Karvina basin in the northeast of the Czech Republic), brown coal (Serbia, Poland, Czech Republic), oil and natural gas (Romania, Albania ), oil shale (Estonia), rock salt (Poland, Romania), phosphorites (Estonia), natural sulfur (Poland), lead-zinc ores (Poland, Serbia), bauxite (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary), chromites and nickel (Albania); in a number of countries there are deposits of uranium ores of industrial importance.

In general, the CEE countries are insufficiently provided with primary energy resources. Up to 9/10 of the region's hard coal reserves (about 70 billion tons) are in Poland alone. More than 1/3 of the pan-European lignite reserves are located in CEE; they are more dispersed across the countries of the region, but still more than half lies in Serbia and Poland. No country (except Albania) has sufficient reserves of oil and natural gas. Even Romania, which is better off with them, is forced to partially cover its needs for them through imports. Of the total CEE hydro potential of 182 billion kWh, about half falls on the republics of the former Yugoslavia (primarily Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina) and more than 20% on Romania. The region is rich in healing mineral springs, some of which are effectively used (especially in the Czech Republic).

CEE countries vary greatly in terms of the size, composition and quality of their forest resources. In the south of the region, in the mountainous regions of the Balkan Peninsula, as well as in the Carpathians, increased forest cover is characteristic with a predominance of conifers and beech, while in predominantly flat and heavily plowed Poland and Hungary, the supply of forests is much less. In Poland and the Czech Republic, a significant part of productive forests is represented by artificial plantations, primarily pines.

However, one of the main wealth of CEE is its soil and climatic resources. There are large areas of naturally fertile soils, mostly of the chernozem type. This is primarily the Lower and Middle Danubian plains, as well as the Upper Thracian lowland. Due to the extensiveness of agriculture before the Second World War, about 10 - 15 centners were collected here. from ha. Cereal crops. AT

In the 1980s, the yield reached 35-45 centners. per ha., but was still lower than the fees in some Western European countries with less humus-rich lands.

According to soil and climatic conditions and other natural resources, the CEE countries can be conditionally divided into two groups: northern (the Baltic countries, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia) and southern (other countries). These differences, which are more high temperatures during the growing season and more fertile soils in southern group countries, create an objective basis for the specialization and complementarity of both groups of countries in agricultural production. While most of the territory of the northern group of countries is located in a zone of sufficient moisture, in the southern - during the growing season, arid conditions often arise, causing the need for artificial irrigation (In the Lower Danube and Middle Danube lowlands, one of the most irrigated areas in Europe agriculture). At the same time, the climatic conditions of the southern group of countries, combined with healing mineral springs and wide outlets to warm seas, create important prerequisites for organizing recreation for residents not only of these countries, but also of the northern part of the region, as well as tourists from other, primarily European, states.

Territory. Natural conditions and resources.

The region of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) covers 15 post-socialist countries: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic (The Czech Republic includes the territory of the historical regions of the Czech Republic, Moravia and a small part of Silesia), Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Federation Serbia and Montenegro (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia), Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Albania. The area of the region, representing a single territorial array, is over 1.3 million km2. with a population of 130 million people. (1998). Of its constituent countries, the group of larger European states includes only Poland and Romania; other countries are relatively small in size (a territory of 20 to 110 thousand square kilometers with a population of 2 to 10 million people).

Subsequent changes in the political map of CEE were the result of the victory over fascist Germany and Italy during the Second World War. The most important of them: the return to Poland of its western and northern lands with wide access to the Baltic Sea, Yugoslavia - the Julian Krajna and the Istrian peninsula, populated mainly by Slovenes and Croats.

During the transition of the CEE countries from a centrally planned economy to a market economy (late 80s - early 90s), political, socio-economic and national-ethnic contradictions sharply aggravated in them. As a result, Czechoslovakia was ethnically divided into two states - the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic, and Yugoslavia - into five states: the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the republics of Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The CEE countries are located between the countries of Western Europe and the republics that were (until 1992) part of the USSR. A number of common features of their political and socio-economic development at the stage of transition to a market economy are connected with this. They are in the process of deep structural economic restructuring, fundamental changes in the nature and direction of foreign economic relations.

The CEE states are striving to expand their participation in the pan-European economic integration, primarily in the field of transport, energy, ecology, and the use of recreational resources. The region has access to the Baltic, Black and Adriatic seas, the navigable Danube flows through it for a long distance; the territory of the region can be widely used for the transit of goods and passengers between Western Europe, the CIS countries and Asia. For example, with the completion in 1993 of the Bamberg (on the Main River) - Regensburg (on the Danube) canal, the possibility of through trans-European water transport between the North and Black Seas opens up (from Rotterdam at the mouth of the Rhine to Sulina at the mouth of the Danube, a waterway of 3400 km.) . This is an important link in the development of a unified European network of inland waterways. Another example of the expanding use of the geographical position of the CEE countries is the transit shipments of natural gas and oil from Russia and other Caspian states to the countries of Western and Southern Europe through pipelines. In 1994, the CEE countries signed the European Energy Charter Treaty, which laid down the economic mechanisms for the global energy space of all of Europe.

When assessing natural resources, settlement patterns, and regional differences in economic activity on the modern territory of the CEE countries, it is necessary to imagine the most important structural and morphological features of its relief. The region covers: part of the European Plain in the north (the Baltic States, Poland), the Hercynian midlands and hilly uplands (the Czech Republic), part of the Alpine-Carpathian Europe with folded mountains up to 2.5 - 3 thousand meters high and low accumulative plains - Middle and Lower -Danubian (Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, northern Croatia, Serbia and Bulgaria), South European Dinaric and Rhodope-Macedonian massifs up to 2 - 2.5 thousand meters high with intermountain basins and foothill plains (most of Croatia and Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania and southern Bulgaria).

Features of the geological and tectonic structures determine the composition and nature of the geographical distribution mineral countries. Large (on a European scale) deposits are of the greatest economic importance: coal (the Upper Silesian basin in the south of Poland and the adjacent Ostrava-Karvina basin in the north-east of the Czech Republic), brown coal (Serbia, Poland, Czech Republic), oil and natural gas ( Romania, Albania), oil shale (Estonia), rock salt (Poland, Romania), phosphate rock (Estonia), natural sulfur (Poland), lead-zinc ores (Poland, Serbia), bauxite (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary) , chromites and nickel (Albania); in a number of countries there are deposits of uranium ores of industrial importance.

CEE countries vary greatly in size, composition and quality forest resources. In the south of the region, in the mountainous regions of the Balkan Peninsula, as well as in the Carpathians, increased forest cover is characteristic with a predominance of conifers and beech, while in predominantly flat and heavily plowed Poland and Hungary, the supply of forests is much less. In Poland and the Czech Republic, a significant part of productive forests is represented by artificial plantations, primarily pines.

However, from the main wealth of CEE - its soil and climatic resources. There are large areas of naturally fertile soils, mostly of the chernozem type. This is primarily the Lower and Middle Danubian plains, as well as the Upper Thracian lowland. Due to the extensiveness of agriculture before the Second World War, about 10 - 15 centners were collected here. from ha. Cereal crops. AT

In the 1980s, the yield reached 35-45 centners. per ha., but was still lower than the fees in some Western European countries with less humus-rich lands.

According to soil and climatic conditions and other natural resources, the CEE countries can be conditionally divided into two groups: northern (the Baltic countries, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia) and southern (other countries). These differences, consisting in higher temperatures during the growing season and more fertile soils in the southern group of countries, create an objective basis for the specialization and complementarity of both groups of countries in agricultural production. While most of the territory of the northern group of countries is located in a zone of sufficient moisture, in the southern - during the growing season, arid conditions often arise, causing the need for artificial irrigation (In the Lower Danube and Middle Danube lowlands, one of the most irrigated areas in Europe agriculture). At the same time, the climatic conditions of the southern group of countries, combined with healing mineral springs and wide outlets to warm seas, create important prerequisites for organizing recreation for residents not only of these countries, but also of the northern part of the region, as well as tourists from other, primarily European, states.

Population.

The dynamics of the CEE population is characterized by a number of features characteristic of the European continent as a whole: a decrease in the birth rate, an aging population and, accordingly, an increase in the death rate. At the same time, the CEE region, in contrast to Western Europe, is also characterized by a significant population decline due to a negative balance of migration. In the second half of the 1990s, the average population density of CEE (104 people per sq. km) was close to that in Western Europe. Country-by-country differences in population density range from 33 in Estonia to 131 people. At 1 km. sq. in the Czech Republic. Differences in population density within countries are more significant, due to both natural conditions and socio-economic factors. The process of urbanization had a great influence. For most CEE countries, in contrast to the developed countries of Western Europe, the stage of accelerated industrialization and, accordingly, the increase in the concentration of production in cities fell on more late time, mostly after World War II. Therefore, the rate of urbanization during this period was the highest. By the beginning of the 1990s, more than 2/3 of the population of the region was already concentrated in cities (up to 4/5 in Czechoslovakia). There are few large cities compared to Western Europe. Capital cities stand out sharply, among which are the largest two-million inhabitants Budapest and Bucharest, and some urban agglomerations (Upper Silesian).

The unfavorable demographic situation (for a number of years, the death rate has exceeded the birth rate) is especially characteristic of Hungary, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, and Croatia. The situation is somewhat better in Poland, Romania and Slovakia, where there was still natural population growth in the 1990s. It is still high in Albania. But within a number of countries there are large regional differences in natural growth, depending on the national composition and religious characteristics. individual groups population. In some areas of Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, where significant groups of the Muslim faith live, the natural increase is much higher. The consequence of this is a change between the population of different nationalities within each of these countries in favor of representatives of peoples who profess predominantly Islam.

For example, in the former Yugoslavia for the period between the 1961 and 1991 censuses. due to higher natural population growth, the number of Albanians increased from 0.9 to 2.2 million people and Muslim Slavs (primarily in Bosnia and Herzegovina) from 1 to 2.3 million people. Mainly for this reason and partly because of migration, there have been great changes in the structure of the national composition of the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the share of Serbs from 1961 to 1991 decreased from 43 to 31%, and the share of Muslims increased from 26 to 44%)

After the Second World War, in contrast to Western Europe, the homogeneity of the national composition of the population of a number of CEE countries increased significantly. Before the war, in the countries of the region as a whole, national minorities exceeded a quarter of the total population, and, for example, by 1960 they accounted for only about 7%. At the same time, the following were distinguished: single-ethnic countries with a very small proportion of national minorities - Poland, Hungary, Albania; single-ethnic countries with significant groups of national minorities - Bulgaria (ethnic Turks, gypsies), Romania (Hungarians, Germans, gypsies); binational countries - Czechoslovakia, inhabited by Czechs and Slovaks, historically associated with a certain territory, moreover, there were significant minorities in Slovakia - Hungarians and Gypsies; finally, multinational countries - Yugoslavia. The latter was mainly (84% according to the 1991 census) inhabited by South Slavic peoples, but in some of its republics, primarily in Serbia, there were significant groups of national minorities (Albanians and Hungarians).

In the process of aggravation of the political and socio-economic situation in CEE in the late 1980s and early 1990s, interethnic contradictions intensified. This led to the collapse of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. Now the Czech Republic and Slovenia have joined the first group of single-ethnic minorities. At the same time, interethnic problems (and in some cases, acute conflicts) continue to complicate the development of Romania, Bulgaria, and especially Serbia, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Intensive migrations are closely related to interethnic problems and economic factors. Mass internal migration of the population was especially great in the first decade after the war (in Poland and Czechoslovakia, associated with the movement of Germans to Germany from the Polish reunited lands and the border regions of the Czech Republic, as well as in Yugoslavia - from the mountainous regions destroyed by the war to the plains, etc.). There was also emigration; in search of work from Yugoslavia over 1 million people emigrated in the 60-80s (most to Germany and Austria) and a little less from Poland .; part of the ethnic Turks emigrated from Bulgaria to Turkey, the majority from Romania ethnic Germans(in Germany). In the early 1990s, internal and external migration of the population in the former Yugoslavia increased sharply as a result of the most acute ethnic conflicts; the bulk of them are refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. Some of them sought to leave the zones of interethnic conflicts, while others were subjected to forced resettlement in order to achieve greater ethnic homogeneity of the population in certain areas (for example, the eviction of Serbs from Croatian Western Slavonia and Serbian Krajina or Croats from the north of Bosnia and from the east of Slavonia).

A particularly difficult situation was in the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija (AK Kosovo for short) in southern Serbia. There, by the time of the collapse of Yugoslavia (1991), the population consisted of 82% Albanians, 11% Serbs and Montenegrins, 3% Muslim Slavs, as well as Gypsies, etc. The predominance of the Albanian population in Kosovo is the result of several processes.

First, after the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, when Serbian troops suffered a fatal defeat from the Turks advancing into the Balkans, the Serbian population in Kosovo declined. The subsequent uprisings of the Serbs and the wars between the Austrian and Turkish empires for the possession of the Balkans were accompanied by the devastation of Serbian lands and the mass resettlement of Serbs across the Danube (especially in late XVII in.). Albanians gradually began to descend from the mountains to the devastated lands of Metohija and Kosovo with a rare Slavic population, which by the 18th century. Most of them have already converted to Islam. As a result of the first Balkan War Turks were expelled from most of the Balkan Peninsula. It was then, in 1913, that an independent Albanian state was created and the existing borders with its neighbors Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Greece were established to this day.

During the years of World War II, almost 100,000 Serbs were expelled from Kosovo and Metohija in Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia. In their place, many Albanians were resettled from Albania, which was under the protectorate of fascist Italy. According to the 1948 Yugoslav census, 0.5 million Albanians already lived in Kosovo and Metohija (more than 2/3 of their population).

In the SFRY, as part of the Republic of Serbia, the Autonomous Region of Kosovo and Metohija was allocated. Under the country's new constitution of 1974, the region's population received even greater autonomy (its own government, parliament, judiciary, etc.). In the Kosovo AK, despite the presence of broad autonomy, Albanian separatism and nationalism began to grow. Between 1968 and 1988, under pressure from Albanian nationalists, about 220,000 Serbs and Montenegrins were forced to leave Kosovo.

Secondly, the Muslim Albanian population grew at a high rate as a result of a large natural increase, which was several times higher than that of the Serbs and Montenegrins. In the 60s of the 20th century, a population explosion occurred in the Kosovo AK. For 30 years (from 1961 to 1991), the Albanian population there increased by 2.5 times due to natural growth (from 0.6 to 1.6 million people). Such rapid growth led to the aggravation of vital socio-economic problems in the region. Unemployment rose sharply, and the problem of land became more and more acute. The population density increased rapidly. From 1961 to 1991 it increased from 88 to 188 people per 1 km. sq. The territory of Kosovo and Metohija is the region of the high density population in South East Europe. Under such conditions, inter-ethnic relations in the region became aggravated, the speeches of the Albanians intensified, demanding the separation of the Kosovo AK into a separate republic. The government of the SFRY was forced to introduce internal troops into the Kosovo AK. In 1990, the assembly (parliament) of Serbia adopted a new constitution, according to which the AK of Kosovo loses the attributes of statehood, but retains the features of territorial autonomy. Albanians are holding a referendum on "sovereign independent state Kosovo”, terrorist actions are intensifying, armed groups are being created.

In 1998, Albanian separatists create " liberation army Kosovo" and proceed to open hostilities against the Serbian troops, seeking the internationalization of the "Kosovo issue". They succeed, and after failure peace talks in France, on which the Yugoslav side was ready to grant Kosovo the broadest autonomy, in March 1999, the bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia by aircraft of NATO countries begins.

A new act of the Balkan drama was played out, the Balkan crisis. NATO countries, instead of the declared purpose of the bombing - to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in Kosovo - contributed to this catastrophe. In the month since the start (March 1999) of the NATO air operation against the FR of Yugoslavia, Kosovo was forced to leave (according to UN data) over 600,000 ethnic Albanians. But the tragedy is that the armed conflict in Kosovo did not contribute one step to resolving the "Kosovo question"; at the same time, he inflicted enormous damage on the population and national economy of the SR Yugoslavia.

In the end tragic events in the territory of the former Yugoslavia last decade The 20th century is another stage in the struggle of the NATO countries for dominating influence in the Balkan Peninsula.

The main features of the economy.

Most of the CEE countries (excluding Czechoslovakia) embarked on the path of capitalist development later than the leading countries of Western Europe and, on the eve of World War II, were classified as economically less developed. European states. Their economy was dominated by extensive agriculture. During the Second World War, the countries of the region (especially Poland and Yugoslavia) suffered heavy material and human losses. After the war, as a result of political and socio-economic transformations, they switched to a centrally planned type of economy, in contrast to the market economy of Western European countries. For almost half a century of development (from 1945 to 1989-1991), a specific type of economy was formed in the CEE countries, characterized by excessive centralization of management and monopolization of the social and economic spheres of life.

The level of their economic development has risen significantly; at the same time, there was a significant convergence of the levels of the countries of the region. In the course of the unfolding industrialization, a new sectoral and territorial structure of the economy was formed with a predominance of industry, primarily its basic industries. A new production infrastructure was created, primarily in the field of energy and transport, the involvement of the economy in foreign economic relations increased (especially significantly in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Slovenia). However, the achieved level of development was still significantly lower than that of the leading countries of Western Europe. At the same time, in terms of some quantitative indicators, there was a significant convergence of individual CEE countries with the states of Western Europe (for example, in coal mining, electricity production, steel and basic non-ferrous metal smelting, production of mineral fertilizers, cement, fabrics, shoes, as well as sugar, grain, etc. . per capita). However, a large gap has formed in the quality of manufactured products, in the degree of introduction of modern technologies and more economical production. Manufactured products, although they were sold in the countries of the region and especially in the huge but less demanding market of the USSR, were for the most part uncompetitive in Western markets. The accumulated shortcomings of a structural and technological nature (the predominance of industries heavy with obsolete equipment, increased material and energy intensity, etc.) led to an economic crisis in the 1980s. The period of forced industrialization in the first post-war decades was replaced by stagnation and then a decline in production. The process of transition from a centrally planned economy to a market economy, with the replacement of the “transferable ruble” in foreign economic settlements with a convertible currency and at world prices, had the most severe consequences for the economies of most CEE countries. The integration economic ties between the CEE countries and the republics turned out to be largely destroyed. former USSR, on which their economic systems were basically closed. A radical restructuring on a new, market basis of the entire national economy of CEE was required. Since the beginning of the 1990s, the CEE countries have entered the G1 stage of establishing a more efficient economic structure, in which, in particular, the service sector is developing widely. The share of industry in GDP decreased from 45–60% in 1989 to 25–30% in 1998.

By the end of the 1990s, some of the more developed CEE countries - Poland, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary - were able to get closer to overcoming the crisis. Others (mainly the Balkan countries) were still far from it. But even the first group of countries continued to lag far behind the EU countries in terms of economic development, and it will probably take at least two decades to close this gap. Significant differences in the level of socio-economic development between different groups of countries of the CEE itself can be judged by the following data: 5 of them (the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia), which have more than 2/5 of the territory and half of the population of the CEE region accounts for almost 3/4 of GDP and foreign trade turnover, as well as 9/10 of all foreign direct investment.

Industry.

In the 1950s-1980s, a large industrial potential was created in the CEE countries, designed mainly to cover the needs of the region and close cooperation with the national economy of the USSR, where a significant part of industrial production was sent. This focus industrial development reflected in the formation of the sectoral structure, which differed in a number of features.

In the course of industrialization, fuel and energy and metallurgical bases were created, which served as the basis for the development of the machine-building industry. It is mechanical engineering in almost all countries of the region (excluding Albania) that has become the leading industry and the main supplier of export products. The chemical industry was almost re-created, including organic synthesis. The rapid development of mechanical engineering, chemistry and electric power industry contributed to the fact that their share in the gross industrial output reached half. At the same time, the share of products of the light and food and flavor industries has significantly decreased.

Fuel and energy industry The region was created on the basis of the use of local resources (to a greater extent in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania) and imported energy sources (to the greatest extent in Hungary, Bulgaria). In the total fuel and energy balance, the share of local resources ranged from 1/4 (Bulgaria, Hungary) to 3/4 (Poland, Romania). In accordance with the structure of local resources, most countries were characterized by a coal orientation with a wide use of low-grade brown coal. calorific value. This led to higher specific capital investments in the production of fuel and electricity and increased their cost.

CEE is one of the largest coal mining regions in the world. In the second half of the 1990s, it produced more than 150 million tons of hard coal per year (130-135 in Poland and up to 20-25 in the Czech Republic). The CEE countries are the world's first region for the extraction of brown coal (about 230-250 million tons per year). But if the main production of coal is concentrated in one basin (it is divided by the Polish-Czech border into two unequal parts - into the Upper Silesian and Ostrava-Karvinsky), then brown coal is mined in all countries, moreover, from many deposits. Most of it is mined in the Czech Republic and Poland (50–70 million tons each), Romania, S. R. Yugoslavia, and Bulgaria (30–40 million tons each). Brown coal (like a smaller part of hard coal) is consumed mainly in thermal power plants near the mining sites. Significant fuel and electric power complexes have been formed there - the main bases for the production of electricity. Among them, more large complexes are located in Poland (Upper Silesian, Belkhatuvsky, Kuyavsky, Bogatynsky), Czech Republic (North Czech), Romania (Oltensky), Serbia (Belgrade and Kosovo), Bulgaria (East Maritsky). In Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Albania, the share of hydroelectric power stations in the production of electricity is high, and in Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Slovenia, filling stations. Some power plants also use natural gas (mostly imported from Russia, but in Romania - local). Electricity production in the region reached 370 billion kWh per year in the 1980s. Electricity consumption was significantly higher than production due to its systematic purchase in the former USSR (over 30 billion kWh per year), especially in Hungary, Bulgaria, and Czechoslovakia.

CEE countries were connected to each otherlow-voltage transmission lines and formed, together with the power systems of Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus, a single power system. An oil refining industry has been created in CEE that is sufficient to meet the demand for petroleum products.max. It grew on the basis of large oil deliveries inmainly from Russia, delivered through the systemoil pipeline "Druzhba" (to Poland, Slovakia, Chekhiya, Hungary) and by sea from Novorossiysk (to Bolgaria). Hence the localization of larger refinerieson oil pipeline routes (Plock, Bratislava, Sas-halombatta) or in seaports (Burgas, Nevoda-ri, Gdansk). These refineries (with a capacity of 8-13 million tons)served as the basis for the development of the basic plants of the petrochemical industry of the respective countries. In the 90s, with a decrease inoil rates from Russia and the growth of imports from the stateOPEC member states, the CEE countries were forced to re-equip part of the refinery capacities, according tobuilt earlier based on Russian oil.

Before World War II metallurgist gia was represented mainly by ferrous metallurgy enterprises in the Czech and Polish lands, lead-zinc plants in the south of Poland and a copper smelter in Serbia (Bor). But in 1950-1980. new large ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy plants were built in the region. By the end of the 80s, annual steel production reached 55 million tons, copper - 750 thousand tons, aluminum - 800 thousand tons, lead and zinc - 350-400 thousand tons each. The main producers of iron and steel were Czechoslovakia, Poland and Romania. In each of them, large plants were built either on the basis of domestic coking coal (Poland, Czechoslovakia), or mainly imported (Romania), but all on imported iron ore. Therefore, they were built in the respective coal basins (Upper Silesian, Ostrava-Karvinsky) or on the routes of importing iron-containing raw materials and coking coal from outside, in particular on the banks of the Danube (Galati and Calarasi in Romania, Dunaujvaros in Hungary and Smederevo in Serbia). By 1998, steel production had dropped to 35 million tons.

Non-ferrous metallurgy plants were created mainly on the local raw material base. This industry has received greater development in Poland (copper, zinc), the former Yugoslavia (copper, aluminum, lead and zinc), Bulgaria (lead, zinc, copper), Romania (aluminum). The copper-smelting industry of Poland (the achieved level is over 400,000 tons of copper) and the aluminum industry of a number of republics of the former Yugoslavia (300-350,000 tons) have good prospects; significant reserves of bauxite High Quality available in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Montenegro. On their basis, aluminum plants were built in the area of Zadar (Croatia), Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Podgorica (Montenegro) and Kidricevo (Slovenia). But the largest aluminum smelter in the region operates in Slatina (in southern Romania), operating on domestic and imported raw materials. Yugoslavia and Hungary were suppliers of bauxite and alumina to other countries (Poland, Slovakia, Romania, but most of all to Russia).

The scale and structure of metallurgy significantly affected the nature and specialization of mechanical engineering. In particular, in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania, its metal-intensive industries are more represented, and in the former Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, industries using large volume non-ferrous metals (cable production, electrical engineering, handling equipment).

The main specialization of mechanical engineering in the CEE countries is the production of means of transport and agricultural machinery, machine tools and technological equipment, electrical products and devices. In each of the countries, specialization has developed, aimed at covering the basic needs of the region itself and the former USSR. Poland (especially fishing), Croatia, locomotives, passenger and freight cars - Latvia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, buses - Hungary, minibuses - Latvia, electric cars and motorcars - Bulgaria, excavators - Estonia, etc. d.

Specialization was also great in the defense industry. Even as part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, its main "arsenal" was the Czech Republic (especially the famous Skoda factories in Pilsen). The placement of the newly created defense industry gravitated towards the "internal" regions of the countries, especially the foothills and intermountain basins of the Carpathians, the Dinaric Highlands and the Stara Planina.

In general, the location of mechanical engineering is characterized by a high concentration of enterprises within the center and north of the Czech lands, the Middle Danube valley (including Budapest) and its tributaries the Morava and Vaga. In Poland, this industry is dispersed in large cities in the middle part of the country (the main centers are Warsaw, Poznan, Wroclaw), as well as in the Upper Silesian agglomeration. Machine-building centers stand out in the zone Bucharest-Ploiesti-Brashov (Romania), as well as in the capital cities of Sofia, Belgrade and Zagreb.

From 1/3 to 1/2 of the country's engineering productsCEE sent for export. At the same time, exchanging these products mainly within the framework ofCMEA member countries, the countries of the region in a small grouppenis experienced the impact of the mainengine of scientific and technological progress in the world -competitive struggle. The low mutual demands, especially on the quality of products, led to the fact that in the transition to a marketeconomy and inclusion in the world economya significant part of the produced machines and equipmentdovaniya turned out to be uncompetitive. There was a big decline in production in the industry andAt the same time, imports of higher qualityequipment from Western Europe, USA and Japanresearch institutes. Characteristic fact; Czech Republic -one of the countries with developed mechanical engineering, in whichtoroy in the 80s machinery and equipment compositionaccounted for 55-57% of its exports and only about 1/3 of its imports, already in the early 90s began to buy muchmore machines and equipment than to sell them.A painful process of transformation takes placeof the entire machine-building complex of the countries of the regionit, during which hundreds of major enterprisesThe enterprises were on the verge of collapse and bankruptcy.Faster than other countries to new conditions became underadapt mechanical engineering Czech Republicfaces, Poland and Hungary.

During the post-war period in CEE was, in essence, re-created chemical industry . At the first stage, when mainly large enterprises of basic chemistry were built (especially for the production of mineral fertilizers and chlorine-containing products), Poland and Romania found themselves in a more favorable position, having large reserves of the necessary raw materials. Later, with the development of the organic synthesis industry, its production began to be created in other CEE countries, but for the most part on the basis of oil and natural gas imported from Russia (and in Romania and their local resources) and coke chemistry (Poland, Czechoslovakia); increased specialization in the production of pharmaceutical products (especially Poland, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria) and small-tonnage chemistry.

The most important territorial groups of enterprises in the chemical and oil refining industries are tied, firstly, to the main coal-mining basins (primarily the Upper Silesian and North Bohemian), where, in addition to coal chemistry, industries using oil and oil products supplied through pipelines were later “drawn”; secondly, to the centers for processing imported oil that emerged at the intersection of main oil pipelines with large rivers (Plock in Poland, Bratislava in Slovakia, Saskha-lombatta in Hungary, Pancevo in Serbia), as well as in seaports (Burgas in Bulgaria, the Rijeka region in Croatia, Koper in Slovenia, Navodari in Romania, Gdansk in Poland); thirdly, to the sourcesnatural gas or produced locally (Tran sylvania in the center of Romania), or received through gas pipelines from Russia (Potisie in eastern Hungary, in the middle reaches of the Vistula in eastern Poland).

Light industry satisfies the basic needs of the population in fabrics, clothing, footwear; a significant part of its production is exported. CEE countries occupy a prominent place in Europe in the production of cotton, wool and linen fabrics, leather shoes, as well as such specific products as costume jewelry, art glass and art ceramics (Czech Republic). The main areas of the textile industry have historically developed in the center of Poland (Lodz) and on both sides of the Sudetenland - in the south of Poland and in the north of the Czech Republic.

The region has a large shoe industry - in the 80s, over 500 million pairs of shoes were produced per year. It is more developed in Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Croatia. In particular, the Czech Republic is among the leading countries in the world in terms of the manufacture and export of footwear per capita. Such centers as Zlin (in the Czech Republic), Radom and Helmek (Poland), Timisoara and Cluj-Napoca (Romania), Borovo and Zagreb (Croatia) are widely known in the industry.

CEE has all the main branches of the food industry, but at the same time, each country specializes in the development of certain types of products in accordance with the nature of local agricultural raw materials and national customs in the consumption of certain food products. In the northern group of countries, the share of industries processing livestock products is much higher; among goods plant origin their share in the production of sugar and beer is high. Southern countries stand out for the production of vegetable oil, canned vegetables, grape wines, fermented tobacco and tobacco products. A significant part of these types of products of sub-sectors specialized in the north and south of the region is intended for export.

In the context of the transition to a market economy in the CEE countries, the main changes in industry are the reduction in the share of basic industries (coal and ferrous metallurgy), as well as mechanical engineering. Particularly significant are intra-industry changes in the direction of reducing production of increased energy and material consumption. A number of countries in the region receive loans from Western Europe for the purchase of high-tech equipment and the replacement of obsolete production facilities with new ones, the products of which are in demand on the world market. Industrial modernization in the 1990s was more successful in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland. The most difficult situation in the industry of the republics of the former Yugoslavia (with the exception of Slovenia); they were embroiled in years of conflict, which greatly affected their economy.

Agriculture. The expansion of agricultural production is one of the important areas of promising specialization of the CEE countries. For this, the region has favorable soil and climatic conditions. During the post-war period, the gross agricultural output has increased significantly, and the yields of the main crops and the productivity of livestock have increased several times. But in terms of the general level of development, especially in terms of labor productivity, the agriculture of the CEE countries is still significantly inferior to that of Western Europe. In this regard, there are differences among individual CEE countries. For example, high level agriculture in the Czech Republic, Hungary and below - in the countries of the Balkan Peninsula and in Poland. In general, the population of CEE is provided with basic agricultural products and a large part of it can be exported. In turn, the region, like Western Europe, needs to import tropical products and some types of agricultural raw materials (primarily cotton). In the process of transition to a market economy, agriculture in CEE is increasingly facing difficulties in marketing products in Western markets in the conditions of the crisis of overproduction and intense competition there. At the same time, the vast Russian market is located close to CEE, to which, on new, mutually beneficial conditions, products that are scarce for Russia are supplied in large quantities, primarily vegetables, fruits, grapes and products of their processing.

The place of the CEE region in European agricultural production is determined mainly by the production of grain, potatoes, sugar beets, sunflowers, vegetables, fruits and meat and dairy products. In 1996-1998 CEE countries produced on average about 95 million tons of grain per year (almost 40% more than Russia, but twice fewer countries Western Europe). Of this amount, the main grain crops - wheat, corn and barley - accounted for 33, 28 and 13 million tons, respectively. But there are large country-by-country differences in the composition of the prevailing grain crops and the volume of their production. The largest grain producer - Poland (comparable to the UK in terms of volume, but inferior to Ukraine) stands out for the production of wheat and rye. In the southern group of countries, along with wheat, a lot of corn is grown (primarily in Romania, Hungary and Serbia). It is this group of countries that stands out, together with Denmark and France, with the largest per capita grain production in Europe. In the diet of the inhabitants of the southern group of countries, beans stand out, while in the northern group, especially in Poland, potatoes. Poland alone grew almost as many potatoes as Germany, France and Great Britain put together. In the Middle and Lower Danubian plains within Hungary, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria, a lot of sunflower is grown; more sunflower seeds are produced on their lands than in all of Western Europe (only Ukraine is the largest producer in Europe). In the northern group of countries (especially in Poland), another oilseed crop is common - rapeseed. In the Baltic States and Poland, flax has long been cultivated. Sugar beet is also grown there, although this crop has become widespread in all CEE countries. The region is a major producer of vegetables, fruits and grapes, with the southern countries especially growing tomatoes and peppers, plums, peaches and grapes, much of which is destined for export, including to the northern part of the region.

During the post-war period, a significant increase in crop production and a change in its structure in favor of fodder crops contributed to the development of animal husbandry and an increase in the share of its products in total agricultural production. In Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, the breeding of cattle and pigs is of greater importance. They have a higher slaughter weight of livestock and average milk yields. In the southern group of countries, the overall level of animal husbandry is lower; grazing and sheep breeding are common.

Transport.

During the post-war period, the volume of transport work in the region grew faster than national income. This was primarily due to the high rate of industrialization, the expansion of mining and other basic branches of heavy industry, and the increase in agricultural output; with the creation of industry in previously economically underdeveloped areas that were drawn into the sphere territorial division labor; with the transition of the industry to large-scale mass production and with the development of intra-industry specialization and cooperation in production, accompanied in many cases by a spatial division of the technological cycle; with the dynamic expansion of foreign trade exchanges within the region, and especially with the former USSR, from where large flows of fuel and raw materials were sent. All this led to a multiple increase in the mass of transported goods, for which the road network created in the previous period was mainly used; this was especially true of its backbone - the railway network (the density of the railway network in CEE as a whole is much less than in Western Europe). In the 1980s, however, the density of freight traffic by rail in the region was much higher than in the countries of Western Europe. For this, most of the main lines were modernized: they were transferred to electric and diesel traction. It was they who took over the main flows of goods. At the same time, there are significant differences between countries. Along with the closure of a number of minor roads, new lines were built. The main ones are: Upper Silesia - Warsaw, Belgrade - Bar (which connected Serbia with Montenegro through the mountainous regions and provided Serbia with access to the sea), as well as broad gauge lines (as in the CIS countries): Vladimir-Volynsky - Dombrova-Gurnicha and Uzhgorod-Koshitse (to supply Ukraine and Russia with iron ore raw materials for the metallurgy of Poland and Czechoslovakia.) The creation of the sea-ferry railway system Ilyichevsk-Varna was of great importance for accelerating and cheapening transportation between Bulgaria and the USSR.

The network has been significantly expanded and improved highways. First-class highways appeared. Separate sections of the north-south meridional expressway are being built from the shores of the Baltic to the Aegean Sea and the Bosphorus (Gdansk-Warsaw-Budapest-Belgrade-Sofia-Istanbul with a branch to Nis-Thessaloniki). The importance of the latitudinal motorway Moscow-Minsk-Warsaw-Berlin is growing. But in general, the CEE region continues to lag far behind Western Europe in terms of the level of development of the road network and road transport.

The CEE region has become an important link in the developing European pipeline transport system. It ended up in the way of the main flows of oil and natural gas from Russia to the EU countries. The creation of a network of main oil and gas pipelines made it possible to reduce the load on railway transport, the capacity of which was almost exhausted. The basis of the CEE pipeline network is made up of oil and gas pipelines that transfer fuel and raw materials from Russia. A lot of natural gas is also transported through these pipelines to other European countries. Thus, through the territory of Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary, gas is transmitted to the countries of Western Europe, and through Romania and Bulgaria - to Greece and Turkey.

An urgent task of European cooperation in the field of transport is the development of an integrated system of inland waterways international importance. An important link in this system is the Rhine-Main-Danube waterway.

complexes hydraulic structures On thispaths are mostly complete. However, to ensureof regular transportation of bulk cargo beforeit is worth "embroidering" a few "bottlenecks". One of them is the section of the Danube between Slovakia and Hungary.her, where in the period of shallow water (more often in the second halfdue to summer) the passage of loaded ships is difficult.In order to improve navigation conditions onIn this section, it was decided to build a joint hydro complex Gabchikovo - Nagymaros. Shortly before the completion of this major structureHungary in 1989 refused to continue it(for environmental and political reasons).Unfortunately, the political situation putsthere are many slingshots on the way of pan-European integrationtions. Another example: stopping regularnavigation on the Danube in 1994 as a consequence of the economic blockade Federal Republic Yugoglory from the UN. The most difficult partfor navigation on the Danube, until the beginning of the 70s, the area of \u200b\u200bthe Cataract Gorge between the spurs of the SouthernCarpathians from the north (Romania) and spurs of the East Serbian Mountains from the south (Serbia); joint wuxitwo countries were built therehydro complex - "Iron GatesI” and “IrongateII» with Europe's largest gatewaysand near-dam hydroelectric power stations (capacityHPP "Iron Gate"I» more than 2 million kW).

Maritime transport of the CEE countries plays an important role in foreign trade transportation, but in general its importance in transport system of most countries in the region is much less than that of the countries of Western Europe. Naturally, in the economy of coastal countries: Poland (the port complexes of Gdynia-Gdansk and Szczecin-Swinoujscie), Romania (the Constanta-Adzhidzha complex), Bulgaria (the ports of Varna and Burgas) and Croatia (the main port of Rijeka), ports play an important role.

Foreign economic relations CEE countries in the 60-80s were of decisive importance in the formation of the Eastern European integration region, which also included the former USSR. More than 3/5 of the foreign trade turnover of the CEE countries accounted for mutual deliveries within the countries - members of the former Council for Mutual Economic Assistance. The reorientation of the political and economic development of the CEE countries led in the 1990s to changes in their traditional economic ties. Former ties were largely destroyed, and new ones, in the conditions of a large decline in production in the first half of the 1990s, were established with difficulty. Nevertheless, the geographical orientation of the economic relations of the CEE countries has changed towards, first of all, Western Europe. Transformations in the CEE contribute to the penetration of Western European products and capital into the capacious Eastern European market. At the same time, the traditional products of the CEE countries with great difficulty make their way to the West in the face of fierce competition. In the late 1990s, these countries provided only 4% of EU imports. The turn of the CEE towards the West did not bring her the expected quick results in the reconstruction and development of the national economy. It became obvious that the prospective development of the economic complexes of the CEE countries should be based on the objective need to combine broad ties with both the West and the East. Efforts are being made to partially restore, on a mutually beneficial basis, ties with Russia, Ukraine and other republics of the former USSR. The main part - 4/5 of the external trade turnover of the CEE countries is realized within Europe. In the late 1990s, about 70% foreign trade CEE was carried out with the EU countries (the main among them are Germany, Italy, Austria). Mutual trade within the region is also being activated.

Service sector domestic and foreigntourism has become an industry that provides countries in the region with significant income. Tourism is involved in the formation of the territorial structure onnative economy in a number of areas of the CBE countries. This isespecially the Adriatic coast of Croatia,Montenegro and Albania; Black Sea coastBulgaria and Romania; Lake Balaton in Hungary.Tourism contributes relatively little to recoverydeveloped mountainous regions of Slovakia, Slovenia,Poland, Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria. However, its seasonality leads to large fluctuations in employment.population in the off-season. On weakeninguse of recreational areas, especiallyforeign tourists is strongly reflected inpolitical and economic instability. An example of this is the difficult situation inthe first half of the 90s on the Adriaticresorts in Croatia and Montenegro.

In the future, the CEE region will participate in the pan-European and world markets as a consumer, primarily of high-tech equipment, energy carriers (primarily oil and gas), industrial raw materials and a supplier of competitive types of engineering, non-ferrous metallurgy, pharmaceuticals, and food and flavor products. The deficit of foreign trade in the balance of payments, which is typical for the CEE countries, is partially covered by income from transit traffic, money transfers citizens who are temporarily employed in other states from international tourism.

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