Eastern Europe

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Eastern Europe
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Eastern Europe Physical Map

• OBJECTIVES
• I know when I am successful when
• I can list and find the Eastern European
  Countries.
• I understand the history behind the Eastern
  European Countries
• I list and find the different physical map
  attributes for the Eastern European Countries
• I can list and describe the governments of the
  different Eastern European Countries

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Eastern Europe Physical Map

• LANDFORMS
• Carpathian Mountains are a low mountain range
  just south of the Northern European Plain. They
  stretch from the Alps to the Black Sea.
• The Great Hungarian Plain lies to the south and
  west of the Carpathians. They are fertile and are
  located mostly in Hungary.
• Balkan Peninsula is one of the largest peninsulas
  in Europe and extends into the Mediterranean Sea.
• WATER FEATURES
• The Adriatic Sea lies south of Bulgaria and is
  important for trade routes.
• The Black Sea borders the south eastern countries
  in this region.
• The Baltic Sea lies on the northern border just
  north of the Northern European Plain.

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Eastern Europe - Physical Map

• The Danube River is also vital to trade and
  transportation. It starts in Germany and winds
  through NINE countries before emptying into the
  Black Sea. Thousands of ships travel up and down
  this river each year.

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Eastern Europe- Climate

• The climate around the Baltic Sea is the
  harshest. The winters are long, hard and cold.
  Sometimes there are as few as 30 sunny days a
  year. There are huge forests growing in this
  area.
• The internal plains of Eastern Europe vary in
  vegetation. There are huge forests, grassy plains

Przewalki wild horses
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Eastern Europe Chernobyl

• CHERNOBYL DISASTER
• In 1986 a flawed nuclear reactor that was also
  operated without properly trained personnel
  exploded throwing radioactive steam and fire into
  the atmosphere.
• 30 employees of Chernobyl died from the explosion
  from either radiation poisoning or the accident.
• Over 200 nearby residents died from Acute
  Radiation Syndrome.
• Many believe that this accident was a direct
  result from the Cold War isolationism that
  created a lack of safety culture in the USSR.
• Thousands of people were quickly moved from the
  fall out areas

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Eastern Europe Chernobyl

• CHERNOBYL DISASTER
• Chernobyl released radioactive materials for 10
  days.

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Eastern Europe Chernobyl

• CHERNOBYL DISASTER
• The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone was a way to keep
  the most severely affected areas vacant.
• There are documented mutations of animals from
  the disaster.
• The wildlife expanded abundantly during the
  absence of mankind. There is some debate as to
  how much the radiation actually affected the
  wildlife since the deformed would have been eaten
  or died rather quickly leaving the normal to
  survive.

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Eastern Europe Chernobyl

• CHERNOBYL DISASTER
• Because of the radiation seeping into the soils,
  there has been strict monitoring on crops and
  animals harvested in and around certain areas.
  The restricted area originally covered 9000 farms
  and over 4 million sheep.
• There has been a 95 reduction in land and farms
  monitored due to the areas being cleared of
  radiation.
• Constant monitoring of the site has given
  scientists decades of information on the reaction
  of the environment to radioactivity levels.
• There are several towns that have become ghost
  towns because they were deserted after the
  incident. One town had an amusement park that
  never opened because of the explosion.
• The Red Forest is one of the most contaminated
  places in the world.

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Eastern Europe Chernobyl
Deserted apartments in Pripyat
The abandoned city of Pripyat
Ferris Wheel to never enjoy the sounds of music
and children
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Eastern Europe Poland

• POLAND and the BALTIC REPUBLICS
• Lithuania and Poland were strong countries during
  the Middle Ages.
• WWI and WWII had devastating effects on this
  area.
• In WWI much of the fighting took place in Poland,
  so millions of Poles died.
• WWII began when Germany invaded Poland because
  Hitler wanted more land for the Germans to live
  in and he believed that the Slavs were inferior.
• After the Germans left, Russia moved in and
  invaded also murdering thousands of Poles.
• After WWII, Russia turned Baltic Republics into
  the buffer zone between Western Europe and
  Russia. These new Soviet territories were turned
  into communist countries.
• Poland remained free but was still forced to take
  a communist government.

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Eastern Europe Poland

• POLAND and the BALTIC REPUBLICS
• There are many different languages and religions
  observed in these territories but the cultures
  remain basically the same.
• Cultural differences are
• Poland and Lithuanian traded mostly with Roman
  Catholic countries so the people are mostly
  Catholic.
• Latvia and Estonia were ruled by Sweden for a
  line time so their religion is Lutheran.
• Estonia language is similar to Finnish
• Latvian and Lithuanian languages are similar
• Polish language is related more to the southern
  countries.

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Eastern Europe Poland

• POLAND and the BALTIC REPUBLICS
• Cultural Similarities
• many of the same types of foods are eaten
  potatoes, sausage are very important as is
  seafood.
• Many of the same crafts are practiced
• The Baltic Republics love dancing and music
• The traditional attire is colorful with
  decorations
• The Baltic States today
• Because Russia did not invest much money and time
  into the infrastructure of the Baltic Republics,
  industry could not produce what the area needed.
  Today they are still working on improving the
  infrastructure.
• By working hard to rebuild industry, cities like
  Warsaw, the capital of Poland , are now major
  industrial centers.
• Tourism is one of the biggest contributors to
  greater economic growth.
• The republics are now constitutional democracies
  and practice a market economy.

Latvian Flag
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Eastern Europe Inland

• Inland Eastern Europe consists of Czech Republic,
  Slovakia, Hungary, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova.
• These areas have a mixture of western influence
  as well as Russian influence.
• Most people are Orthodox Christians and some of
  the languages are based on the Cyrillic or
  Russian alphabet.
• During the Soviet era these countries were
  controlled by communist governments, however,
  today all of the countries, but Belarus, are
  republics. Belarus is actually a dictatorship.
• The inland countries have struggled with their
  economies since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
  Four of the six countries now have thriving
  industrial centers.
• Prague, Kiev and Budapest are three of the most
  important cities in this region because of their
  prosperity.

Czech Flag
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Eastern Europe Balkans

• POLAND and the BALTIC REPUBLICS
• Conflict has ruled this region for generations.
  It was a dispute over territory that led to the
  assassination of a leader that led to WWI.
• After WWI, European leaders changed property
  lines for the Baltic as they combined some areas
  and divided others.
• The Balkan states are the most culturally diverse
  area of Europe.
• Mostly, Balkan countries are mostly Christian and
  belong to the Orthodox Church. There are also
  Roman Catholic, Islamic and Muslim religions
  practiced widely
• Most of the languages derive from the Slavic
  group and but there is also Germanic and a Latin
  based language. Albanian language is unlike any
  other language in the world. The Roma also have
  its own unique language.

Romanian Flag
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Eastern Europe Balkans

• The Balkans Today
• Like the rest of Eastern Europe, the Balkan
  countries were once ruled by the USSR and had
  communist governments. When the Soviet Union
  fell, the countries were left poor and with
  little infrastructure to work with.
• Ethnic cleansing has been strongest in this area.
• The violence that raged in this region brought
  the world to its aid and when the conflicts
  finally ended the Balkan area was shared with
  nine newly divided countries Albania,
  Macedonia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia,
  Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Romania and
  Bulgaria.