EUROPE III (CHAPTER 1: 64-78)

REGIONS OF EUROPE WESTERN BRITISH ISLES NORTHERN MEDITERRANEAN EASTERN

MEDITERRANEAN EUROPE

SIX COUNTRIES A DISCONTINUOUS REGION ON THE PERIPHERY CULTURAL CONTINUITY DATES FROM GRECO-ROMAN TIMES MEDITERRANEAN CLIMATE HOT - DRY SUMMERS WARM/COOL - MOIST WINTERS

ITALY MOST POPULATED OF MEDITERRANEAN COUNTRIES (57.8 MILLION) BEST CONNECTED TO THE EUROPEAN CORE MOST ECONOMICALLY ADVANCED DISPLAYS A SHARP NORTH/SOUTH CONTRAST (ANCONA LINE ) MILAN ITALY’S LARGEST CITY (4.1 MILLION PEOPLE) AND MANUFACTURING CENTER ALSO THE COUNTRY’S FINANCIAL AND SERVICE-INDUSTRY CENTER

IBERIA SPAIN 42.6 MILLION DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT WITH 17 AUTONOMOUS COMMUNITIES CATALONIA (6.5 MILLION) IS THE LEADING INDUSTRIAL AREA MADRID – THE COUNTRY’S PRIMATE CITY PORTUGAL 10.5 MILLION POPULATION EXHIBITS A COASTAL ORIENTATION LISBON – THE COUNTRY’S PRIMATE CITY

GREECE, CYPRUS, & MALTA GREECE A CRADLE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION 11 MILLION PEOPLE ATHENS – PRIMATE CITY A GEOGRAPHICALLY FRAGMENTED COUNTRY CYPRUS GREEK MAJORITY WITH A TURK MINORITY STILL CONTESTED WITH A NORTHERN TURKISH AND SOUTHERN GREEK SECTOR MALTA A SMALL ARCHIPELAGO WITH ABOUT 400,000 PEOPLE AN ANCIENT CROSSROADS RELIES ON TOURISM

FORMER EASTERN EUROPE

EASTERN EUROPE (REGIONAL IDENTIFIERS) EUROPE’S LARGEST REGION ADJOINS 3 OF 4 OTHER EUROPEAN REGIONS CONTAINS THE MOST COUNTRIES INCLUDES EUROPE’S LARGEST STATE INCORPORATES EUROPE’S POOREST COUNTRY IN 1990, NONE OF ITS STATES COULD MEET THE CRITERIA FOR MEMBERSHIP IN THE EU REACHES INTO THE RUSSIAN ZONE OF INFLUENCE

KEY CONCEPTS BALKANIZATION IRREDENTISM ETHNIC CLEANSING DEVOLUTION SHATTER BELT

BALKANIZATION FROM THE VERB BALKANIZE, WHICH MEANS TO BREAK UP (AS IN A REGION) INTO SMALLER AND OFTEN HOSTILE UNITS ORIGINATES FROM A MOUNTAIN RANGE IN BULGARIA APPLIED TO THE SOUTHERN HALF OF EASTERN EUROPE, i.e., THE BALKAN COUNTRIES OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA

UNDERLYING FORCES CENTRIFUGAL FORCES REFER TO FORCES THAT TEND TO DIVIDE A COUNTRY RELIGIOUS, LINGUISTIC, ETHNIC, OR IDEOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES CENTRIPETAL FORCES FORCES THAT UNITE AND BIND A COUNTRY TOGETHER A STRONG NATIONAL CULTURE, SHARED IDEOLOGICAL OBJECTIVES, AND A COMMON FAITH

IRREDENTISM A POLICY OF CULTURAL EXTENSION AND POLITICAL EXPANSION AIMED AT A NATIONAL GROUP LIVING IN A NEIGHBORING COUNTRY B A A RIVER & BORDER COUNTRIES MINORITY POPULATION BORDER ADJUSTMENT

ETHNIC CLEANSING REFERS TO THE FORCIBLE OUSTER OF ENTIRE POPULATIONS FROM THEIR HOMELANDS BY STRONGER POWERS BENT ON TAKING THEIR TERRITORIES A B A COUNTRIES BORDER MINORITY POPULATION

SHATTER BELT A TERM APPLIED TO EASTERN EUROPE BY GEOGRAPHERS TO DESCRIBE A ZONE OF CHRONIC POLITICAL SPLINTERING AND FRACTURING WHY HERE?

THE NEW EASTERN EUROPE COUNTRIES FACING THE BALTIC SEA THE LANDLOCKED CENTER COUNTRIES FACING THE ADRIATIC SEA COUNTRIES FACING THE BLACK SEA

COUNTRIES FACING THE BALTIC SEA POLAND A CLASSIC NATION-STATE TRADITIONALLY AGRARIAN - WHEAT POST WWII INDUSTRY - SILESIA WARSAW - PRIMATE CITY LITHUANIA LOST INDEPENDENCE IN 1940, REGAINED IN 1991 KALININGRAD - A RUSSIAN EXCLAVE LATVIA SIMILAR HISTORY AS LITHUANIA CONSTITUTE BARE MAJORITY IN OWN COUNTRY BELARUS: RUSSIA’S CLOSEST ALLY

THE LANDLOCKED CENTER CZECH REPUBLIC THE REGION’S MOST WESTERNIZED PRAGUE- A CLASSIC PRIMATE CITY SLOVAKIA THE LEAST DEVELOPED, MOST RURAL PART OF THE FORMER “CZECHOSLOVAKIA” HUNGARY A NATION-STATE OF 10 MILLION THE MAGYARS MOVED INTO THE PRESENT DAY COUNTRY MORE THAN 1,000 YEARS AGO BUDAPEST- A CLASSIC PRIMATE CITY

COUNTRIES FACING THE BLACK SEA BULGARIA: LIBERATED BY RUSSIA IN 1878 ROMANIA: A FORMER ROMAN PROVINCE; RAW MATERIALS (COAL, IRON ORE, OIL, NATURAL GAS) MOLDOVA: IMPOVERISHED, AGRICULTURAL-BASED ECONOMY UKRAINE: REGION’S LARGEST AND MOST POPULOUS (46.7 MILLION) COUNTRY; SUPERB AGRICULTURAL AND NATURAL RESOURCES

COUNTRIES FACING THE ADRIATIC SEA SLOVENIA: FIRST TO SECEDE; ETHNICALLY MOST HOMOGENEOUS CROATIA: 4.4 MILLION PEOPLE (85% CROAT) BOSNIA: LANDLOCKED AND CENTRALLY POSITIONED SERBIA: LARGEST AND MOST POPULOUS MACEDONIA: 60% MACEDONIAN, 25% ALBANIAN SERBIA: POPULATION OF 10 MILLION MONTENEGRO: 620,000 INHABITANTS ALBANIA: REMNANT OF TURKISH OTTOMAN EMPIRE; 70% MUSLIMS; LOWEST ECONOMIC RANKING IN EUROPE KOSOVO: ADMINISTERED BY NATO

EUROPE III (CHAPTER 1: 64-78)