1. Eastern Europe The Powder Keg

4. How Has It Changed  Czechoslovakia is divided  Yugoslavia is broken up  Austria-Hungary are separate countries

6. Poland  Physical features  Northern European Plains (most of the country)  Carpathian Mountains (in the south)  Human characteristics  Strong attachment to land  Roman Catholic

7. Poland  People  Poland used to have large Jewish population  Germans fled Poland when the border expanded after WWII  Government/Economy  Communist government supported by USSR after WWII  Started a democracy in the early 90s when the USSR collapsed  Human Environment Interaction  Many people farm in the plains in the north  Mining in the southern mountains

8. Hungary  Hungary is the descendents of Magyars  Hungary used to be communist  Communist from 1945-1989  When USSR started to lose control Hungary changed to democracy  Economics  Called the Breadbasket of Europe because it produces most of Europe's agricultural products  In the west they mine for coal and iron ore

9. Czech and Slovak Republics  Used to be Czechoslovakia  Communist from 1945-1989  Velvet Revolution  No bloodshed (peaceful)  Separated into two countries  Czech Republic  Slovakia  Economy of both countries is struggling

10. Czech Republic  Mostly mountainous  Mining in the west  Coal, iron ore, copper, lead and quartz  Steel industries in the east  Little to no agriculture  Lots of pollution  Water pollution  56% of their forests are destroyed by acid rain

11. Slovakia  Danube plains in the south they farm  Fruits, vegetables and grains  North they grow oats and potatoes  Industry emerged under communism but is now struggling

12. Balkan Peninsula  Countries  Slovenia  Romania  Bulgaria  Albania  Countries  Macedonia  Croatia  Serbia  Bosnia-Herzegovina

13. Balkan Physical Features  Balkan Mountains in the south  Dinaric Alps in south west  Transylvanian Alps and Carpathian Mountains in the north east  Danube River surrounded by Danube plains going through the middle

14. Balkan Human Characteristics  All are descendants of the Slavs  Serbs – Orthodox in religion – speak Serbo- Croatian – write in Cyrillic  Croats – Catholic in Religion – speak Croatian – alphabet is similar to ours  Muslims – Muslim in religion – speak Bosnian – alphabet is similar to ours

17. Balkan Human Characteristics  Politically  Most of the countries, following WWI and WWII were communist  Only way to control the many different ethnic groups  When USSR collapsed most changed to democracy  Economically  Economies have been suffering after the fall of communism  There has been a history of political turmoil since the fall of communism

18. Lingering Problems in the Balkans  Many of the nine countries have had economic troubles  Albania – they are dealing with old equipment, lack of raw materials and uneducated work force  Romania – people don’t have the money to move to private ownership  Civil Wars in the former Yugoslavia  Buildings destroyed  Workers killed or left