Physical Geography
Poland and the Baltic Republic
Inland Eastern Europe
The Balkan Countries
Key Terms and Places
100
What is most of the Balkan Peninsula covered by?
mountains
100
Name the biggest economic challenge facing Poland and the Baltic Republics today.
Building infrastructure
100
Name the capital of Hungary.
Budapest
100
What is ethnic cleansing?
forcing out of ethnic or religious groups
100
Name the most important river in the region.
Danube
200
What is the climate of the Balkan coast like?
Warm summers and mild winters
200
What happened to the government in much of Eastern Europe after the collapse of the Soviet Union?
Many became democratic.
200
What country split into two in 1993?
Czechoslovakia
200
Which country was formed by European leaders after WWI and combined many independent countries under one government?
Yugoslavia
200
Name the major industrial center in Poland.
Warsaw
300
Where is the coldest and most heavily forested parts of Eastern Europe?
Close to the Baltic Sea
300
What happened to the government in much of Eastern Europe after WWII?
They were forced to accept governments run or influenced by the Soviet Union.
300
What is the Commonwealth of Independent States?
An alliance among former Soviet republics
300
What caused much of the violence in the Balkans in the 1990s?
Ethnic conflict
300
Name the 1st Balkan country to join the EU.
Slovenia
400
What was Chernobyl?
Site of a terrible nuclear accident - nuclear power plant explosion - ruined forests and soil
400
What are the main cultural differences between Poland and the Baltic Republics?
Languages and religions
400
Describe Kiev.
City that was once the center of a great empire in what is today Ukraine.
400
What were the economies of many Eastern European countries like after the collapse of the Soviet Union?
Much weaker than in Western European countries.
400
What is infrastructure?
A set of resources like roads and factories.
500
Why does vegetation in Eastern Europe vary greatly from the northern part of the region to the south?
Vegetation in all areas is affected by climate. In the north, the climate is cold and wet so huge forests grow. The interior plains have a milder climate with forests in the northern plain and grassland in the south. The Balkan Peninsula has a Mediterranean climate with little rain, and shrubs and trees that don't require much water.
500
How are the histories of the Baltic Republics and the Balkan countries of Moldova, Belarus, and Ukraine alike and different?
All are former Soviet republics that became independent after the fall of the Soviet Union. Poland and the Baltic Republics have built strong industrial centers and cities and have developed tourism, and some have ties to western or northern European countries. Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus have closer ties to Russia than to Western Europe.
500
What has caused economic problems in many Eastern European countries?
Bad economic planning under Soviet control
500
What countries were formed after the breakup of Yugoslavia?
Serbia and Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Slovenia
500
What countries are included in the Baltic Republic?
Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania
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