CHAPTER 13 EASTERN EUROPE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY LANDFORMS Carpathian

CHAPTER 13: EASTERN EUROPE

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

LANDFORMS • Carpathian Mountains in Slovakia Balkan Mountains in Bulgaria • Dinaric Alps along Adriatic Sea • All are eastern extensions of the Swiss Alps

LANDFORMS • Adriatic coast exhibits KARST topography: limestone bedrock with rocky ground, caves, sinkholes, underground rivers, and absence of surface streams and lakes • Due to the soluble limestone

LANDFORMS • Plains dominate the north (Poland Baltic states) • Part of the Northern European Plain • Hungarian Plain: runs through Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, and western Romania

RIVERS • Danube River: 2 nd longest in Europe; begins in the Black Forest (Germany) and empties into the Black Sea • Vistula River: largest in Poland; empties into Baltic Sea • Oder River: begins in Czech Rep. ; forms part of boundary btwn Poland Germany

SEAS • Black Sea: eastern coast of Balkan Peninsula • Baltic Sea: north; btwn mainland Europe and Scandinavian Peninsula • Adriatic Sea: btwn Balkan Penin. and Italian Penin

NATURAL RESOURCES • Natural gas, coal, and oil in Carpathian Mts • Poland: coal, nat gas, iron, zinc, lead, copper, silver, amber • Bauxite is abundant (used to make aluminum)

SECTION 2: HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

SHATTER BELT • Nickname for E. Europe • Due to constant political and territorial fracturing along ethnic lines • More likely to engage in interstate wars

EARLY PEOPLES • Early people were called Slavs • Migrated from Asia • Balkan peninsula mountains protected them from invaders • 106 A. D. : Romans conquer the area and name it Romania

CONFLICT • Balkans has long been unstable • After WWI (break up of Ottoman Empire), people left with no formal country • Yugoslavia is created, combining numerous different ethnicities in one area • BALKANIZATION: division of a region into smaller regions • Yugoslavia creation was the opposite

SOVIET UNION • After WWII: Eastern Europe falls under control of the communist Soviet Union • Brings about Cold War • E. Euro was a “buffer zone” for the Soviets • Provided military protection and led to different types of political, social, and economic changes

THE NEW ERA • 1950 s-1980 s: periodic revolts against communists • 1989: Berlin Wall falls, marking the end of Soviet control • By 1991, nationalist protests led to the secession of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia. Herzegovina, and Macedonia from Yugoslavia

NEW ERA CONTINUED • Serbia and Montenegro remained in Yugoslavia • Led to ethnic tensions, resulting in civil war • Serbia, under Slobodan Milosevic began practicing… • ETHNIC CLEANSING: the expelling from a country or genocide of an ethnic group • Targeting Bosnia Croats and Bosnian Muslims

NEW ERA CONTINUED • International peace keeping force responds • Milosevic overthrown • 2006: Montenegro declares independence from Serbia • 2008: Kosovo independence • Yugoslavia now divided into 8 countries

ECONOMICS • Industrialized under Soviet rule • Still fairly agrarian • Olives, citrus fruits, dates, grapes • Center for low-cost manufacturing of electronics