(less than $1,000).

For almost half a century after the war, a special type of economy has been formed in the CEE countries, new sectoral and territorial structures of the economy have developed.

Agriculture in the CEE countries is in a very difficult position. On the one hand, the region has favorable agro-climatic resources for diverse and rich farming traditions. On the other hand, joining the EU will inevitably lead to the ruin of a huge mass of both collective and private farms, which will not withstand competition with stronger Western producers. A significant reduction in agricultural production after the final integration into the EU is seen in the countries of the region as a fatal inevitability in the conditions of capitalist overproduction. In this regard, the EU commissions are developing program packages for social support bankrupt peasants, evaluate the possibilities of qualitative restructuring and modernization of agricultural production in case this is necessary for the common food market of the EU. Particularly acute problems arose in countries with inefficient agriculture: Romania, most of the countries of the former Yugoslavia. The situation is somewhat better in, and Slovenia.

In the structure of crop production, the production of potato grain, sugar beet, vegetables, and fruits stands out. Poland is traditionally the region's largest producer of wheat and rye. It is often called the "potato field" of Europe, since until recently there were as many potatoes grown here as in the whole. The main producers here, even in Soviet times, were private traders.

In Hungary they grow corn and beans. A lot of sunflower is a characteristic element of the landscapes of the Middle and Lower Danube plains (Hungary, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria). Bulgaria is a country of diverse vegetable growing (peppers, tomatoes, onions, etc.).

The region has centuries-old traditions in the production of alcoholic beverages. However, today, due to the increasing pressure of competitors, viticulture and winemaking are going through hard times. Since Soviet times, Bulgarian dry and semi-dry wines, the Hungarian "Tokay" are well known in Russia. Strong plum vodka is popular in the Balkan countries. The Czech Republic is famous for its excellent beer, which is brewed in Pilsen. Dark varieties are especially popular among connoisseurs of this drink.

From we note the breeding of cattle (meat and dairy direction), pig breeding, poultry farming, in the south - sheep breeding. Poland stands out as a beef producer, the Baltic republics are known for their high-quality dairy products, Hungary for pork products and chickens.

Following the experience of the Soviet Union, the CEE countries are focusing on priority development basic industries industry, . As a result, a very large industrial potential was created. Within the framework of the CMEA, it developed, in which the USSR played the role of a kind of "raw material appendage" of the CEE countries, which, in turn, supplied our country mainly finished industrial products. In the last decade of the XX century. there was a reduction in industrial production, especially energy-intensive and metal-intensive products.

During the period of socialist construction, a powerful fuel and energy base was created to serve primarily the needs of developing industry. In some countries, such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania, it operates mainly on the basis of local resources. In others - on imported raw materials, as in Hungary and. A striking feature of the energy sector of the countries of the region is high proportion coal in the energy balance. The CEE countries are the world leaders in production, which is burned at thermal power plants built near the fields. The largest territorial production complexes based on brown coal are Upper Silesian, Belkhatuv in Poland, North Czech in the Czech Republic, Belgrade and Kosovo in Serbia. Hard coal is mined primarily in Poland (more than 130 million tons per year in the 1990s). Coal-based energy leads to serious problems. The adoption of programs to minimize pollution from coal-fired thermal power plants was one of the conditions for these countries to join the European Union.

In the Balkans, in the republics of the former Yugoslavia and in Albania, the share of hydroelectric power plants in electricity generation is high. Romania uses local oil - a geopolitically significant resource of the country, as well as gas.

In Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and Bulgaria, there are nuclear power plants built by Soviet specialists, and in the former Yugoslavia by American specialists. A number of countries in the region by the end of the socialist period received a significant part of their electricity from nuclear power plants. So, in Bulgaria, nuclear power plants produced 30% of the country's electricity, in Hungary - 22%, in Czechoslovakia - 21%.

Ferrous metallurgy has traditionally developed in Poland and the Czech Republic, non-ferrous - in Poland and. As part of the CMEA programs, new metallurgical plants were built in the CEE countries. All plants for the production of iron and steel were focused on importing ore from the USSR. The most powerful of them is the Nowa Guta plant in Poland. After the collapse of the CMEA, iron and steel production in the region declined. In 1981, environmental activists in Krakow launched a campaign to modernize the Nowa Huta steel plant, the region's biggest polluter.

Non-ferrous metallurgy enterprises are primarily based on local resources. Poland is one of the ten largest copper producers in the world, the smelting of which in the 1990s. reached 400 thousand tons. Due to its resources, non-ferrous metallurgy actively developed in the Balkans. Aluminum smelters operate on the basis of bauxite deposits in Zador (Croatia), Mostar (), Kidrichevo (Slovenia), Podgorica (). Large aluminum plants operate in Szekesfehervar (Hungary) and Slatina (Romania). In the early 1980s An aluminum plant in Skawina (Poland) was closed for environmentalists and the public, which had an extremely adverse effect on the environment.

During the socialist period, the main industry of most CEE countries (except Albania) was mechanical engineering. However, in general, it is qualitatively less developed than in Western Europe. Most of the products produced are not competitive. This is due, in particular, to the fact that, in contrast to the West, the impact of competition here was minimal. About half of the products were produced for export, a significant part of which was intended for the "unpretentious" consumer - the USSR. For example, the Hungarian Ikarus, which no Western European country would ever have bought, were successfully bought or delivered by barter to our country and still travel on the roads of Russia.

The automotive industry is not comparable to Western Europe either in terms of quantity or quality. To date, the Czech Skoda has held its own in the European market, the company's enterprises are located in the cities and Mladá Boleslav. The majority of automobile plants either curtailed the production of unprofitable products, or went bankrupt, and their production assets were bought by Western companies and are being modernized. As a legacy from the socialist period, there are factories for the production of heavy trucks and Tatra trucks in Ostrava (Czech Republic), railway wagons and locomotives in the Czech Republic, Poland and (Riga Carriage Works), RAF minibuses (Latvia, Riga), motorcars in Bulgaria, excavators in. Poland and Croatia produced maritime passenger and fishing vessels. Shipyards in Gdansk gained worldwide fame, but not because of the ships they produce, but because the independent trade union Solidarity, headed by Lech Walesa, was born here, raising to fight against the Soviet system already in the early 1980s.

Another industry inherited from the socialist period is the chemical industry. Based on their own resources, the production of mineral fertilizers and coke chemistry developed in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Romania. Oil refineries and petrochemical enterprises are located at the intersection of main oil pipelines with rivers (Plock in Poland, Bratislava in Slovakia, Sasholombatga in Hungary, Pancevo in Serbia and Montenegro). During their construction, primarily for Soviet oil, delivered here through the Druzhba oil pipeline built in 1964. Some oil refining and petrochemical enterprises were built in ports (Gdansk in Poland, Burgas in Bulgaria), which turned out to be more profitable after the collapse of socialist integration and partial reorientation to oil supplies from OPEC countries. Oil and gas processing in Romania is historically and to this day based on the Transylvanian fields in the center of the country. A number of pharmaceutical enterprises remained afloat in the CEE countries. The Russians know the companies "KRRA" (Slovenia), "Gedeon Richter" (Hungary), "Polfa Krakow" (Poland).

The light industry is relatively well represented. CEE countries produce cotton, wool and linen fabrics. The oldest area of ​​the textile industry in Central-Eastern Europe is Lodz in Poland. The former Yugoslavia specializes in the production of knitwear.

Shoe production stands out among the industries. Since Soviet times, Polish, Czech, Romanian and Yugoslav shoes have been known in Russia - the products of factories in Radom and Halmek (Poland), Zlin (former Gottwald, Czech Republic), Timisoara and Cluj-Napoca (Romania), in Borovo and Zagreb (Croatia). The Czech Republic is famous for its glass and artistic ceramics.

The tertiary sector in CEE is less developed than in Western Europe. For most CEE countries, tourism is an important branch of specialization of the economy. In Soviet times, Lake Balaton in Hungary, the resort of Dubrovnik, Varna in Bulgaria were very popular among those who traveled from our country on tourist trips abroad. The main tourist beach areas were formed along and, and mountain tourist areas - in and the Sudetes. The development of tourism in the coastal countries of the former Yugoslavia, especially in Montenegro, slowed down during the period of acute political crisis and wars in the Balkans in the 1990s. Despite the cheapness and favorable climate, many beaches in Bulgaria and Romania are empty. Albania plans to find its niche in the tourism industry of the CEE countries primarily through the use of picturesque seaside landscapes.

Hungary (more than 10 million) and the Czech Republic (8-10 million) receive the most tourists. It is in these countries, which have the richest cultural and historical heritage, that the best tourism infrastructure in the region has been created. Annual revenues from the tourism business in Hungary in 2001 amounted to 3.5 billion dollars, in the Czech Republic they exceeded 2 billion dollars.

IN transport infrastructure in contrast to Western Europe, a high share of rail transport in the total volume of freight traffic remains. Although the density of the railway network here is less than in the West, freight along railways more is transported. The roads are mostly electrified.

Over the past decades, the road network has been consistently improved. High-speed highways of the European class are under construction, in particular from the Baltic Sea to the Bosporus along the route Gdansk - - - Belgrade - Sofia - Istanbul.

Traditionally, a significant role is played by water transport, both sea and inland, river. is carried out through the ports of Gdansk - Gdynia and Szczecin in Poland, Constanta Ajija in Romania, Varna and Burgos in Bulgaria, Rijeka in Croatia. One of the key links in Europe's inland water transport network is the Rhine-Main-Danube waterway. Its development was facilitated by construction in the 1970s. two hydroelectric complexes with the largest locks in foreign Europe and powerful hydroelectric power plants "Iron Gates I and II" in the area of ​​​​the Cataract Gorge between the spurs of the Southern Carpathians from the north (Romania) and the East Serbian Mountains from the south. The operation of waterways, unfortunately, is complicated by frequent conflicts between the Danubian countries on economic and environmental grounds. For more than 10 years there has been a lawsuit between Hungary and Slovakia over the construction of the hydro complex Gabchikovo-Nagymaros.

Territoriality in CEE countries as a whole is relatively less mature than in Western European countries, and has several common features:

• a large gap between the capitals in terms of overall economic potential and other cities;
• strong internal differences of territories by level economic development;
• less saturation of the territory with transport infrastructure.

Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic have the most complex TLC.

The main part of this subcontinent of Eurasia is located within Russia and is discussed in detail in the section Physical geography of Russia and the USSR. Outside the borders of our country, it includes the southwestern part of the Russian Plain within Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova and the so-called Steppe Crimea - the flat part of the Crimean Peninsula (see the map of the physical and geographical zoning of Eurasia with links to nature photographs this region). Under the conditions of a leveled relief, the zoning of the natural soil and vegetation cover is clearly manifested on the platform structures, associated with an increase in heat and a decrease in moisture in the direction from the northwest to the southeast. The high natural resource potential has led to a long and intensive development of these areas by man, as a result of which natural ecosystems have undergone significant changes.

Southern coast of Ukraine washed by waters of the Black Sea and the Azov Sea connected with it by the Kerch Strait (the latter is considered by some researchers as a huge estuary - the ancient Don valley flooded by the sea). These are the most isolated and isolated marine areas of the Atlantic Ocean. Through a complex system of straits, they communicate with the Mediterranean Sea, which connects them with the oceans. The area of ​​the Black Sea is 422 thousand km 2: its average depth is 1315 m, and the maximum in the center of the deep basin is 2210 m.

Sea of ​​Azov

The Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov is the shallowest and one of the smallest seas on the globe, its area is only 39 thousand km 2 with an average depth of 7 m and a maximum depth of up to 15 m (in the central part). In the west, the Arabatskaya Strelka sand spit separates a system of shallow bays from the main water area. with total area more than 2500 km 2. This is the so-called Sivash Bay (Rotten Sea), which annually receives up to 1.5 km 3 of Azov water. As a result of evaporation in shallow pools, a saline solution (brine) with a salinity of up to 170% o is formed, which serves as a source of table salt, bromine, magnesium sulfate and other valuable chemicals. The shores of the Kerch Peninsula are not so shallow, but even here, in the coastal regions, depths rarely reach Yum.

The shores of the Black Sea are slightly indented, the only large peninsula is the Crimean. The eastern, southern and a significant part of the northern coast are mountainous, the shelf zone here is only a few kilometers. On the southern coast are the Samsun Bay and the Gulf of Sinop. The largest bays - Odessa, Karkinitsky and Kalamitsky - are located in the northwestern part of the sea entirely within the shelf. The main part of the river flow with the waters of the most significant rivers of the Black Sea basin - the Danube, the Dnieper and the Dniester - also comes here. In the east, the Inguri, Rioni, Chorokh and numerous small rivers flow into the Black Sea, flowing down from the slopes of the mountain ranges of the Caucasus.

Considerable remoteness from the ocean determines the pronounced continental features of the climate of the Black Sea and Azov water areas - significant seasonal temperature fluctuations and a small amount of precipitation (300-500 mm per year over the Sea of ​​Azov and 600-700 mm per year over the Black Sea). In winter, northeast winds often blow over the seas, often reaching storm strength, while the wave height in the open parts of the waters can be 7 m or more. The southwestern and southeastern parts of the Black Sea are the calmest, waves above 3 m are very rare here.

In winter, almost throughout the entire area of ​​the Sea of ​​Azov, the temperature of surface waters is close to 0 °C. At the Kerch Strait, it is 1 ... 3 ° С. In the Black Sea, the surface temperature rises in the direction from northwest to southeast, reaching 7...8 °C in the central and 9...10 °C in its southeastern parts. Ice forms annually on the Sea of ​​Azov, the Black Sea practically does not freeze, with the exception of a narrow coastal strip in the northwest. In summer, the surface waters of both seas get very warm - up to 23 ... 26 ° С. Despite the significant evaporation, seasonal fluctuations in salinity are almost not observed, in the open part of the Black Sea it is 17.5-18% o, and in the Azov - 10-11% o.

Until the beginning of the 50s. of the last century, the Sea of ​​Azov was distinguished by exceptionally high biological productivity, which was largely facilitated by the influx of a large amount of nutrients from the runoff of the Don, Kuban and other rivers. The ichthyofauna of the sea consisted of 80 species, including valuable commercial species (perch, bream, sturgeon). The intensive development of agricultural activities in the Sea of ​​Azov basin and the regulation of large rivers has led to a reduction in the volume of runoff and reduced the supply of nutrients. As a result, the food base has decreased, the area of ​​spawning grounds has decreased, the biological productivity of the sea has fallen sharply, which was largely facilitated by the progressive pollution of waters with pesticides, phenols, and in some areas - with oil products.

Black Sea

A distinctive feature of the Black Sea is the two-layer structure of its water column. Only the upper layer up to a depth of 50 m is well saturated with oxygen. Then its content decreases sharply down to zero at depths of 100-150 m. At the same depths, hydrogen sulfide appears, the amount of which increases to 8-10 mg / l at a depth of about 1500 m. The main source of hydrogen sulfide formation in the Black Sea is considered to be the reduction of sulfates during decomposition organic residues under the influence of sulfate-reducing bacteria. Further oxidation of hydrogen sulfide is difficult due to the slow exchange of water and limited convective mixing. Between the oxygen and hydrogen sulfide zones there is an intermediate layer, which represents the lower boundary of life in the sea.

The diverse flora and fauna of the Black Sea is almost entirely concentrated in the upper layer, which is only 10-15% of its volume. Deep waters are inhabited only by anaerobic bacteria. The ichthyofauna includes about 160 species of fish. Among them there are representatives of the ancient fauna, preserved from the time of the existence of the Ponto-Caspian basin - sturgeon, some types of herring. The most common fish of Mediterranean origin are anchovy, mullet, horse mackerel, sultanka, flounder-kalkan, etc. Some Mediterranean species (bonito, mackerel, tuna) enter the Black Sea only in summer. Anchovy, horse mackerel and sprat, as well as the Black Sea shark katran, are of commercial importance.

Increasing water pollution is also characteristic of the Black Sea, especially in coastal areas experiencing a significant anthropogenic load (water areas adjacent to large ports, recreational areas, estuarine areas). There is a massive development of phytoplankton up to the appearance of the so-called "red tides", since 1970, deaths of aquatic organisms have been regularly observed. As a result, the species diversity of plants and animals is reduced, and the stocks of commercial fish are declining. The most negative changes are typical for the northwestern part of the Black Sea area.

geological structure. At the base of the most extensive Russian Plain in Eurasia is the ancient (Precambrian) East European Platform. Despite slight fluctuations in absolute heights, the relief of the southwestern part of the plain includes various orographic elements, largely inheriting the tectonic features of the platform. The Ukrainian crystalline shield and the Ukrainian anteclise framing it in the relief correspond to the Dnieper and Azov uplands with absolute heights of 300-400 m, as well as the Codri upland in the territory of Moldova. In contrast to the Baltic Shield, the Ukrainian one is covered by a thin cover of sedimentary deposits; crystalline rocks (granites and gneisses) come to the surface mainly near river valleys. The Lower Proterozoic metamorphic complex includes the Krivoy Rog and Kremenchug iron ore formations, which have been actively mined for many decades. In the rest of the territory, the crystalline basement of the platform lies at a depth of up to 1000 m, in the north-west in the area of ​​the Belarusian anteclise - no deeper than 500 m. .

The plains of the Crimean Peninsula also have a platform base, but unlike the territories adjoining them from the north, this is not an ancient, but an epihercynian Scythian platform, formed at the end of the Paleozoic - the beginning of the Mesozoic. The steppe Crimea is a flat plain composed from the surface of marine Neogene and continental Quaternary sediments. In the west of the Crimean peninsula, there is the Tarkhankut uplift with a gently undulating relief and coastal cliffs up to 30-50 m high.

The Donetsk Ridge stretches along the southern border of the Russian Plain - a folded mountain structure of the Paleozoic age, which later experienced significant peneplanation, but now reaches a height of more than 350 m. Due to deep erosional dissection with an incision depth of up to 150-200 m, the relief acquires a low-mountain appearance. Thick Carboniferous strata of the Donets Basin occur in the Carboniferous rocks, which have already been largely worked out by now.

The main territory of the southwestern part of the Russian Plain in its development did not experience either direct or indirect influence of the Quaternary glaciation. The relief is predominantly erosional valley-beam. It is characterized by wide, well-developed river valleys with several floodplain terraces; from them to the watersheds a dense network of ravines and gullies diverges. The interfluve plains are covered with a continuous cover of loess rocks - typical loess in the west of Ukraine and loess-like loams in the eastern regions. The thickness of loess deposits fluctuates significantly, reaching 30-40 m in the Black Sea lowland. A characteristic element of the relief of the plain watersheds are depressions, or steppe saucers, - shallow depressions of a rounded shape with a flat, often swampy bottom. Their formation is usually associated with the development of suffusion-subsidence processes in loess rocks.

Relief. In the relief of the northern part of the territory within Belarus, glacial and water-glacial forms are traced, formed during various stages of the Quaternary glaciation. Northern Belarus is an area of ​​young hilly-morainic relief of the last (Valdai) stage. End-moraine ridges, sandy outwash plains, marshy lacustrine-glacial lowlands are well preserved here. The external appearance of the territory is determined by thousands of large and small lakes, because of the abundance of which it received the name of the Belarusian Lakeland, in the west it merges with the lakelands of Poland and Germany within the Central European Plain.

To the south of Minsk there is an area of ​​wavy-morainic relief of the Moscow stage of the Quaternary glaciation. Most of the territory is smoothed secondary moraine plains covered with mantle loams. Even further south, in the area of ​​the Dnieper glaciation, sandy outwash plains of the Pripyat and Desna woodlands prevail, alternating with secondary moraine plains, largely modified by erosion processes.

climatic conditions. The climatic conditions of the southwestern part of the Russian Plain and the north of the Crimean Peninsula are due to the influx of polar sea air from the Atlantic Ocean, as well as periodic intrusions of arctic (from the north) and tropical (from the south) air masses, for which there are practically no orographic obstacles on this flat territory . In winter, air temperatures vary from -2 ... 3 °С in the Black Sea lowland and in the Crimea to -7 °С in Belarus and -8 ... -9 °С in eastern Ukraine. Thin snow cover persists for 2-3 months. in the southwestern regions of Ukraine and 3-4 months. in Belarus. Summer in Ukraine is hot, with average July temperatures ranging from 19 to 23 °C. In Belarus, summer temperatures do not exceed an average of 18 °C. The average annual precipitation in the area under consideration decreases from the northwest to the southeast, as the influence of the Atlantic weakens and the sea polar air is transformed into continental air. On the uplands of Belarus, 600-800 mm of precipitation falls annually; most of Ukraine receives 400-600 mm of precipitation per year. On the Black Sea lowland and in the Steppe Crimea, the amount of precipitation does not exceed 300-400 mm per year.

To the south of the conditional line passing through Lutsk, Zhytomyr and Kyiv, the positive moisture balance is replaced by a negative one. The unfavorable ratio of heat and moisture is exacerbated by the great instability of moisture. The most dangerous climatic phenomena in the south of the territory under consideration include periodically recurring droughts (spring, summer or autumn), as well as dry winds - hot and dry winds blowing at high speed and literally burning the leaves of trees and crops crops.

Natural water. Most of the rivers of Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova belong to the Black Sea basin. Of the large rivers, only the Neman and Zapadnaya Dvina flowing through the northern regions of Belarus flow into the Baltic Sea. Almost all rivers belong to the predominantly snow type of food with spring floods. In the north, rains and groundwater play a significant role in feeding the rivers, so the rivers here are full of water, with a relatively even distribution of runoff over the seasons. In contrast to them, the rivers of the south of the Russian Plain are characterized by low water and a high proportion (up to 80%) of snow water in their diet. The vast majority of runoff falls on a short period of stormy spring floods, and in summer even large rivers catastrophically reduce water flow due to high evaporation, although it is during this season that the greatest amount of precipitation falls. The short streams of the Steppe Crimea become so shallow during the summer heat that they often do not reach the sea.

The most significant river in the southwest of the Russian Plain is the Dnieper. It originates in Russia, on the Valdai Upland, not far from the sources of the Volga and the Western Dvina. For more than 2,200 km, the river flows mainly in a meridional direction - from north to south, crossing increasingly arid regions, and flows into the Black Sea, forming the so-called Dnieper estuary.

The different history of the development of the northern and southern parts of the territory under consideration in the Quaternary and the well-defined climatic zonality within the vast plain spaces led to a significant but regular spatial differentiation of the soil cover, natural vegetation and wildlife.

Vegetation. To the north of Kyiv, the natural vegetation was dominated by mixed forests from spruce, pine, oak and other broad-leaved species. The distribution area of ​​the hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) enters the western, more humid areas, spruce-oak forests on soddy-podzolic soils predominate to the east. Sandy outwash plains are covered mainly with pine forests. The territory is characterized by significant bogging, especially in the area of ​​woodland - flat, poorly drained lowlands with a wide development of low-lying tall-grass, sedge and hypnum-sedge bogs, as well as swampy black alder and birch forests.

Oak forests predominate in the composition of forests, tending to more humid habitats (river terraces, slopes and bottoms of gullies, etc.). On the Volyn and Podolsk uplands, under conditions of good moisture and dissected relief, they were the dominant type of vegetation. Along with English oak (Quercus robur), ash, Norway maple and elm grow in the first tree layer; the second tier is represented by fruit (pear, apple) and various types of maple. The shrub layer of hazel, euonymus, honeysuckle, as well as broad herbs with the participation of lily of the valley, wild hoof, amazing violet (Viola mirabilis), hairy sedge (Carex pilosa) and other nemoral species are well developed.

At present, a significant part of mixed forests has been reduced, the forest cover of the territory does not exceed 30%. The place of highly productive spruce forests and oak forests was occupied by arable lands, meadows and other agricultural lands, and often secondary forests of birch and aspen and even shrub thickets with a predominance of hazel.

To the south, an increase in the aridity of the climate significantly limits the possibilities for the growth of woody vegetation. At first, the forests acquire a sparse, "island" character, alternating with vast areas of forb steppes. For such forest-steppe The landscapes of Ukraine and Moldova are characterized by gray forest soils and chernozems (typical and leached) - the most fertile soils on the globe, developing on loess and loess-like loams. The very name of chernozems speaks of the accumulation of a large amount of humus in them, which is facilitated by an active humus-accumulative process, covering the soil layer to a depth of 1-1.5 m.

Well-drained and therefore drier watersheds in their natural state were covered with continuous herbaceous vegetation, which was characterized by an exceptionally high species diversity. Preserved areas of mixed grass steppes that have survived to this day amaze the eye with their color palette: the yellowness of the blooming spring adonis (Adonis vernalis) is replaced by the gentle blueness of the forget-me-not (Myosotis alpestris), and then the mountain clover (Trifolium alpestre) seems to cover the earth with a snow-white blanket.

Before the beginning of the economic development of the territory, the Codri upland on the territory of Moldova was covered with broad-leaved forests with a predominance of beech, growing on brown forest soils and representing the eastern outpost of typical Western European vegetation.

The Black Sea lowland and areas of the Dnieper and Azov highlands adjacent to it from the north and east are practically devoid of tree vegetation, except for floodplain and ravine oak-broad-leaved forests. Forb-fescue-feather grass steppes the southern slopes of the uplands are replaced by fescue-feather grass steppes on southern chernozems with a low humus content. In the south, up to the coast of the Black and Azov Seas, there are fescue-feather grass and wormwood-cereal steppes on dark chestnut, sometimes alkaline soils. Typical steppe plants are different kinds feather grass (Stipa), fescue (Festuca valesiaca), wheatgrass (Agropyrum), steppe fine-legged (Koeleria gracilis) and other perennial turf grasses. In spring, ephemera and ephemeroids bloom colorfully in the steppes - tulips, irises, stonefly (Erophila verna), goose onion (Gagea bulbifera). The lower reaches of the Dniester, the Southern Bug, the Dnieper and other rivers of the Black Sea steppes are characterized by floodplains - long-term floodplains with dense thickets of reeds, reeds and cattails, sedge marshes and damp meadows.

Animal world. Animal world mixed forests characterized by a combination of typical Eurasian species (brown bear, fox, elk, ermine) and species tending to western broad-leaved forests (European roe deer, pine marten, black polecat, various dormice, etc.). Due to the long-term economic development of the territory, some animals disappeared (sable, tarpan, tour), others became very rare and are taken under protection. An example of successful efforts to restore seemingly lost species is the reacclimatization of the European beaver (Castor fiber).

In the animal kingdom forest-steppes typical forest species (elk, marten, squirrel, hazel grouse, black grouse), typically steppe species (ground squirrel, marmot marmot, steppe polecat, bustard and little bustard), as well as forest-steppe (forest-field) animals, well combined. The latter include wild goat (Capreolus capreolus), common hedgehog, dark polecat, black grouse, goldfinch, etc. A large number of Western European species (European ground squirrel, wild cat, mole, etc.) lived in the western regions.

Majority steppe animals are classified as burrows because the lack of natural shelters makes them provide protection from predators. Ground squirrels, jerboas, pikas, and larks are numerous in the steppes; Corsac fox (Vulpes corsac), steppe eagle (Aquila rapax), steppe harrier (Circus macrourus) live here. Close trophic links unite reptiles (steppe viper, snakes, snakes) and various mouse-like rodents (voles, steppe pied, etc.).

The video tutorial allows you to get interesting and detailed information about the countries of Eastern Europe. From the lesson you will learn about the composition of Eastern Europe, the characteristics of the countries of the region, their geographical position, nature, climate, place in this subregion. The teacher will tell you in detail about the main country of Eastern Europe - Poland.

Subject: Regional characteristic peace. Foreign Europe

Lesson: Eastern Europe

Rice. 1. Map of the subregions of Europe. Eastern Europe is highlighted in red. ()

Eastern Europe- cultural and geographical region, which includes states located in the east of Europe.

Compound:

1. Belarus.

2. Ukraine.

3. Bulgaria.

4. Hungary.

5. Moldova.

6. Poland.

7. Romania.

8. Slovakia.

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.

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

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.

Under the influence of scientific and technological revolution, significant changes took place in the structure of the economy of the countries of Eastern Europe: 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 region's economy is heterogeneous: in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, 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) rye and potatoes play an important role, 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 were formed within the Middle and Lower Danube lowlands and the Danube hilly plain (Hungary, Romania, 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.

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. Currently, rail transport is leading in terms of traffic volume, but automobile and sea transport are also intensively developing. The presence of the largest ports contributes to the development of external economic ties, shipbuilding, ship repair, fishing.

Poland. Official name- Republic of Poland. The capital is Warsaw. The population is 38.5 million people, of which more than 97% are Poles. Most are Catholics.

Rice. 3. Historic center of Warsaw ()

Poland borders on Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania and Russia; in addition, it borders on the sea areas (zones) of Denmark and Sweden.

About 2/3 of the territory in the north and in the center of the country is occupied by the Polish lowland. In the north - the Baltic Ridge, in the south and southeast - the Lesser Poland and Lublin Uplands, along the southern border - the Carpathians (the highest point is 2499 m, Mount Rysy in the Tatras) and the Sudetes. Large rivers - Vistula, Odra; dense river network. Lakes are predominantly in the north. Under the forest 28% of the territory.

Minerals of Poland: coal, sulfur, iron ore, various salts.

Upper Silesia is a region of concentration of Poland's industrial production of pan-European significance.

Poland generates almost all electricity at thermal power plants.

Leading manufacturing industries:

1. Mining.

2. Mechanical engineering (Poland occupies one of the leading places in the world in the production of fishing vessels, freight and passenger cars, road and construction machines, machine tools, engines, electronics, industrial equipment, etc.).

3. Ferrous and non-ferrous (large zinc production) metallurgy.

4. Chemical (sulfuric acid, fertilizers, pharmaceutical, perfumery and cosmetic products, photographic products).

5. Textile (cotton, linen, wool).

6. Sewing.

7. Cement.

8. Production of porcelain and faience.

9. Manufacture of sports goods (kayaks, yachts, tents, etc.).

10. Manufacture of furniture.

Poland has a highly developed agriculture. Agriculture is dominated by crop production. The main crops are rye, wheat, barley, and oats.

Poland is a major producer of sugar beets (over 14 million tons per year), potatoes, and cabbage. Importance has exports of apples, strawberries, raspberries, currants, garlic, onions.

The leading branch of animal husbandry is pig breeding, dairy and meat cattle breeding, poultry farming (Poland is one of the largest suppliers of eggs in Europe), and beekeeping.

Homework

Topic 6, Item 3

1. What are the features of the geographical location of Eastern Europe?

2. Name the main areas of specialization in Poland.

Bibliography

Main

1. Geography. A basic level of. 10-11 cells: Textbook for educational institutions / A.P. Kuznetsov, E.V. Kim. - 3rd ed., stereotype. - M.: Bustard, 2012. - 367 p.

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Additional

1. Economic and social geography of Russia: Textbook for universities / Ed. prof. A.T. Khrushchev. - M.: Bustard, 2001. - 672 p.: ill., cart.: tsv. incl.

Encyclopedias, dictionaries, reference books and statistical collections

1. Geography: a guide for high school students and university applicants. - 2nd ed., corrected. and dorab. - M.: AST-PRESS SCHOOL, 2008. - 656 p.

Literature for preparing for the GIA and the Unified State Examination

1. Thematic control in geography. Economic and social geography of the world. Grade 10 / E.M. Ambartsumova. - M.: Intellect-Centre, 2009. - 80 p.

2. The most complete edition of typical options for real USE assignments: 2010. Geography / Comp. Yu.A. Solovyov. - M.: Astrel, 2010. - 221 p.

3. The optimal bank of tasks for preparing students. Unified State Exam 2012. Geography: Textbook / Comp. EM. Ambartsumova, S.E. Dyukov. - M.: Intellect-Centre, 2012. - 256 p.

4. The most complete edition of typical options for real USE assignments: 2010. Geography / Comp. Yu.A. Solovyov. - M.: AST: Astrel, 2010. - 223 p.

5. Geography. Diagnostic work in the format of the Unified State Examination 2011. - M .: MTSNMO, 2011. - 72 p.

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7. Tests in geography: Grade 10: to the textbook by V.P. Maksakovskiy “Economic and social geography of the world. Grade 10 / E.V. Baranchikov. - 2nd ed., stereotype. - M.: Publishing house "Exam", 2009. - 94 p.

8. Study guide for geography. Tests and practical tasks in geography / I.A. Rodionov. - M.: Moscow Lyceum, 1996. - 48 p.

9. The most complete edition of typical options for real USE assignments: 2009. Geography / Comp. Yu.A. Solovyov. - M.: AST: Astrel, 2009. - 250 p.

10. Unified state exam 2009. Geography. Universal materials for the preparation of students / FIPI - M .: Intellect-Center, 2009. - 240 p.

11. Geography. Answers on questions. Oral exam, theory and practice / V.P. Bondarev. - M.: Publishing house "Exam", 2003. - 160 p.

12. USE 2010. Geography: thematic training tasks / O.V. Chicherina, Yu.A. Solovyov. - M.: Eksmo, 2009. - 144 p.

13. USE 2012. Geography: Standard exam options: 31 options / Ed. V.V. Barabanova. - M.: National Education, 2011. - 288 p.

14. USE 2011. Geography: Standard exam options: 31 options / Ed. V.V. Barabanova. - M.: National Education, 2010. - 280 p.

Materials on the Internet

1. Federal Institute of Pedagogical Measurements ().

2. Federal portal Russian Education ().

natural conditions. The length of the coastline (excluding Russia) is 4682 km. Belarus, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic do not have access to the oceans.

The relief of the region includes lowlands, hilly plains and mountains. The territory is mostly flat. The mountain ranges are mainly located on the edges of the region: the south is surrounded by the Caucasus and Crimean mountains, the north is the Khibiny, the east of the European part of Russia is one of the oldest (Hercynian folding) mountain system in Europe - the Ural Mountains, the event of the region is the Sudeten, Bohemian and Carpathian mountains. In the mountains, vertical zonality is expressed.

The most mountainous system in the region is the Carpathians, which form a convex arc to the northeast, almost 1500 km long. Average heights - 1000 m, maximum - 2655 m (Gerlachovsky Shtit in the Tatras). The Carpathian mountainous country includes the Western and Eastern Carpathians, the Beskids, the Southern Carpathians, the Western Romanian Mountains, and the Transylvanian Plateau. They are part of the Alpine geosynclinal region. The outer belt of the arc is made up of flysch (sandstones, conglomerates, shales), the inner belt is represented by volcanic rocks. There are many thermal springs.

Three-quarters of the region's territory is occupied by plains, and East European (Russian) is one of the largest on the globe (almost 5 million km2). In its north and in the center (the average height is more than 170 m) there are uplands (Timan and Donetsk ridges, Central Russian, Dnieper, Volga, Podolsk uplands, etc.), in the south - a strip of coastal lowlands - the Black Sea, Caspian Sea. The northern territories are characterized by a moraine-hilly relief, while the central and southern territories are characterized by ravine-beam relief. Most of the lowlands are located in the coastal areas and floodplains of the rivers: the Middle Danube (Pannonskaya), Black Sea, Pivnichnopilska, Pridneprovskaya lowlands.

The climate in most of the territory is temperate continental, the average temperatures in January are 3о..-5оС, in July +20 .. +23 оС, precipitation is up to 500-650 mm per year. In the north of the European part of Russia, the climate is subarctic and arctic (average winter temperatures are -25o .. -30, summers are short and moderately warm), in the extreme south of the region - the southern coast of Crimea - subtropical Mediterranean. Tropical air masses come mainly from the Mediterranean Sea in summer and cause cloudless and hot weather, warm (+2 o .. +4 o C) and humid in winter.

The river network in the region is quite dense. Plain rivers - the Danube, Vistula, Oder, Tisza, Volga, Kama, Dnieper, Dniester - and their tributaries are mostly full-flowing, have a calm flow and therefore relatively low energy.

There are many lakes here: the Karelian lake country, Ladoga, Onega, Chudskoye, Balaton, Shatsky lakes and others. Only in Lithuania there are almost 4000 of them. In Belarus, in the north of Ukraine, in Poland there are huge areas of swampy territories, the most famous are the Pripyat swamps.

There are healing mineral springs in Hungary, Lithuania (Druskininkai), the Czech Republic (Karlovy Vary), Ukraine (Mirgorod, Kuyalnik, etc.), Russia (mineral springs of the Caucasus).

Natural resources. The region has significant mineral resources, their richness and diversity is one of the first places in Europe. It fully satisfies its own needs for coal (Upper Silesia (Poland), Kladnensky, Ostrava-Karvinsky (Czech Republic), Donbass, Lvov-Volynsky (Ukraine), Skhidnodonbassky, Pechora (Russia) basins), brown coal, which is mined in all countries mainly open way (Podmoskovny basin in Russia, the Dnieper - in Ukraine, the central regions of Poland, northern Hungary). The Russian subsoil is rich in oil and gas (Volga-Ural, Timan-Pechora basins), there are insignificant reserves in Ukraine (Carpathian region, Dnieper-Donetsk basin) and Hungary (Middle Danube lowland), as well as in the south of Belarus (Rechitsa). Peat occurs in Belarus, Poland, Lithuania, in the north of Ukraine, the largest reserves of oil shale are in Estonia (Kohtla-Jarve) and Russia (Slates). A significant part of the fuel and energy resources, especially oil and gas, countries (except Russia) are forced to import.

Ore minerals are represented by iron ores (the Krivoy Rog basin in Ukraine, Karelia, the Kola Peninsula, the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly (KMA) in Russia), manganese (the Nikopol basin in Ukraine, the largest in Europe and the second largest in the world in terms of reserves), copper ores ( Lower Silesian basin in Poland and the Urals in Russia), bauxite (north-west of Hungary), mercury (Nikitovskoye deposit in Ukraine), nickel (Khibiny in Russia).

Among non-metallic minerals there are significant reserves of rock salt (Donbass and Crimea in Ukraine, the lower reaches of the Vistula in Poland), potash salt (Carpathian region in Ukraine, Soligorsk in Belarus, Solikamsk, Bereznyaki in Russia), sulfur (southeast and Carpathian region in Poland , the west and the Carpathians - the Novy Rozdol deposit - in Ukraine), amber (Latvia and the Kaliningrad region of Russia), phosphorites ( Leningrad region Russia, Estonia), apatites (Khibiny in Russia).

Forest resources are the largest in Russia (forest cover 50%), Estonia (49%), Belarus (47%), Slovakia (45%), Latvia (47%). The main part of the forest area is plantations that protect waters, fields, sea coast, landscape, as well as groves and parks in recreational areas. In Russia (mainly in the north), forests are of industrial importance. The average forest cover of the region is 37%.

Agro-climatic resources are favorable in the southern part of the region due to sufficient heat: Ukraine, southern Russia, Hungary.

The main recreational resources include the sea coast, mountain air, rivers, forests, mineral springs, karst caves. The most famous sea resorts are located in the region: Yalta, Alushta, Evpatoria (Ukraine), Sochi, Gelendzhik, Anapa (Russia), Jurmala (Latvia) and others. The largest lake resort is on Lake Balaton in Hungary. Ski resorts are located in the Carpathians, the Caucasus, the Tatras and the Khibiny. Forest machines for recreational purposes are widely used in Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Poland. Recently, many national parks have been created in the countries of Eastern Europe, among which the national park "Belovezhskaya Pushcha" is especially famous and popular, where bison are protected.

Largely due to the European part of Russia, the natural resource potential of the region is the largest in Europe. And given the fact that in the northern regions of Russia there are huge reserves of fuel, some metallic (non-ferrous metals) and non-metallic (formerly potassium salts and apatites) minerals, its natural resources are of world importance.

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 regarding small size(territory from 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 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 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 one (late 80s - early 90s), political, socio-economic and national-ethnic contradictions sharply aggravated in them. As a result, Czechoslovakia broke up along ethnic lines 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 is a number of common features of their political and socio-economic development at the stage of transition to 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, 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 through pipelines of natural gas and oil from Russia and other Caspian states to the countries of Western and Southern Europe. 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 evaluating natural resources, features of settlement 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 (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.

In general, CEE countries are underserved 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 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 availability 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. IN

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 CEE countries can be conditionally divided into two groups: northern (Baltic countries, Poland, 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, increased concentration of production in cities occurred at a later time, mainly after the Second World War. 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 increase, depending on national composition and religious characteristics of certain groups of the 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 ethnic Turks emigrated from Bulgaria to Turkey, from Romania - the majority of 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 the 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 at the end of the 17th century). 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, the 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 XX century, Kosovo came under population explosion. 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 southeastern 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. The Albanians are holding a referendum on the question of a "sovereign independent state of Kosovo", terrorist acts are intensifying, and armed detachments are being created.

In 1998, the Albanian separatists created the "Kosovo Liberation Army" and proceeded to open military operations against the Serbian troops, seeking the internationalization of the "Kosovo issue". They succeed, and after the failure of the peace talks in France, at which the Yugoslav side was ready to grant Kosovo the widest autonomy, in March 1999, the bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia by NATO aircraft began.

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 the solution of the "Kosovo question"; at the same time, he inflicted enormous damage on the population and national economy of the SR Yugoslavia.

Ultimately, the tragic events in the territory of the former Yugoslavia in the last decade of the 20th century are yet 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. Over 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 social and economic spheres 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 intensified in foreign economic relations(especially significant in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, 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 implementation modern technologies and more economical productions. 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 in the 80s to economic crisis. 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 in 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 and 1980s, a large industrial potential was created in the CEE countries, designed mainly to cover the needs of the region and close interaction with the national economy of the USSR, where a significant part of industrial production was sent. This focus industrial development influenced the formation 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 (mostly in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania) and imported energy sources (mostly 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 extensive use of brown coals of low 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 extraction 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 the extraction of brown coal is carried out 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, larger complexes are located in Poland (Upper Silesian, Belkhatuvsky, Kuyavsky, Bogatynsky), the 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 corresponding 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 high quality bauxite are found 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 that use a large amount of non-ferrous metals (cable production, electrical engineering, material 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 across big cities the middle part of the country (the main centers are Warsaw, Poznan, Wroclaw), as well as 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 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 placeTotal machine-building complex regional countriesit, 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 were in a more favorable position, having large reserves 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 arose 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 V 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 certain types 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 the products of 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 market economy in the CEE countries, the main changes in the 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. So, for example, a high level of agriculture in the Czech Republic, Hungary and lower - 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 context of the crisis of overproduction and intense competition there. At the same time, close to CEE there is a vast market of Russia, 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 half as much as the countries of 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. This region is a major producer of vegetables, fruits and grapes, and in southern countries especially many are grown tomatoes and peppers, plums, peaches and grapes, a significant part of which is intended 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, which were drawn into the sphere of the territorial division of labor; with the transition of the industry to large-scale mass production and with the development of intra-industry specialization and cooperative 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 Ilyichevsk-Varna sea ferry railway system was of great importance for speeding up and cheapening transportation between Bulgaria and the USSR.

The road network has been significantly expanded and improved. 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 of 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 ecoeconomic blockade of the Federal Republic of Southglory 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 the transport system of most countries of 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 perspective development 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 territorial structure onnative economy in a number of areas of the CBE countries. Thisespecially 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, remittances from citizens who are temporarily employed in other states, and from international tourism.