1.
Europe
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Europe is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, yet the non-oceanic borders of Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are arbitrary. Europe covers about 10,180,000 square kilometres, or 2% of the Earths surface, politically, Europe is divided into about fifty sovereign states of which the Russian Federation is the largest and most populous, spanning 39% of the continent and comprising 15% of its population. Europe had a population of about 740 million as of 2015. Further from the sea, seasonal differences are more noticeable than close to the coast, Europe, in particular ancient Greece, was the birthplace of Western civilization. The fall of the Western Roman Empire, during the period, marked the end of ancient history. Renaissance humanism, exploration, art, and science led to the modern era, from the Age of Discovery onwards, Europe played a predominant role in global affairs. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European powers controlled at times the Americas, most of Africa, Oceania. The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century, gave rise to economic, cultural, and social change in Western Europe. During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the west and the Warsaw Pact in the east, until the revolutions of 1989 and fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1955, the Council of Europe was formed following a speech by Sir Winston Churchill and it includes all states except for Belarus, Kazakhstan and Vatican City. Further European integration by some states led to the formation of the European Union, the EU originated in Western Europe but has been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The European Anthem is Ode to Joy and states celebrate peace, in classical Greek mythology, Europa is the name of either a Phoenician princess or of a queen of Crete. The name contains the elements εὐρύς, wide, broad and ὤψ eye, broad has been an epithet of Earth herself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion and the poetry devoted to it. For the second part also the divine attributes of grey-eyed Athena or ox-eyed Hera. The same naming motive according to cartographic convention appears in Greek Ανατολή, Martin Litchfield West stated that phonologically, the match between Europas name and any form of the Semitic word is very poor. Next to these there is also a Proto-Indo-European root *h1regʷos, meaning darkness. Most major world languages use words derived from Eurṓpē or Europa to refer to the continent, in some Turkic languages the originally Persian name Frangistan is used casually in referring to much of Europe, besides official names such as Avrupa or Evropa
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Central Europe
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Central Europe lies between Eastern Europe and Western Europe. The concept of Central Europe is based on a historical, social and cultural identity. Central Europe is going through a phase of strategic awakening, with such as the CEI, Centrope. While the regions economy shows high disparities with regard to income, elements of unity for Western and Central Europe were Roman Catholicism and Latin. According to Hungarian historian Jenő Szűcs, foundations of Central European history at the first millennium were in connection with Western European development. The keyword of Western social development after millennium was the spread of liberties and autonomies in Western Europe and these phenomena appeared in the middle of the 13th century in Central European countries. There were self-governments of towns, counties and parliaments, in 1335 under the rule of the King Charles I of Hungary, the castle of Visegrád, the seat of the Hungarian monarchs was the scene of the royal summit of the Kings of Poland, Bohemia and Hungary. They agreed to cooperate closely in the field of politics and commerce, in the Middle Ages, countries in Central Europe adopted Magdeburg rights. Before 1870, the industrialization that had developed in Western and Central Europe, even in Eastern Europe, industrialization lagged far behind. Russia, for example, remained rural and agricultural. The concept of Central Europe was already known at the beginning of the 19th century, an example of that-time vision of Central Europe may be seen in J. Partsch’s book of 1903. On 21 January 1904, Mitteleuropäischer Wirtschaftsverein was established in Berlin with economic integration of Germany, another time, the term Central Europe became connected to the German plans of political, economic and cultural domination. The bible of the concept was Friedrich Naumann’s book Mitteleuropa in which he called for a federation to be established after the war. The concept failed after the German defeat in World War I, the revival of the idea may be observed during the Hitler era. According to Emmanuel de Martonne, in 1927 the Central European countries included, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, italy and Yugoslavia are not considered by the author to be Central European because they are located mostly outside Central Europe. The author use both Human and Physical Geographical features to define Central Europe, the interwar period brought new geopolitical system and economic and political problems, and the concept of Central Europe took a different character. The centre of interest was moved to its eastern part – the countries that have appeared on the map of Europe, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, however, the conflict of interests was too big and neither Little Entente nor Intermarium ideas succeeded. The interwar period brought new elements to the concept of Central Europe, after the war, the Eastern part of Central Europe was placed at the centre of the concept
3.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
4.
Tisza
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The Tisza or Tisa is one of the main rivers of Central Europe. Once, it was called the most Hungarian river because it flowed entirely within the Kingdom of Hungary, today, it crosses several national borders. The Tisza begins near Rakhiv in Ukraine, at the confluence of the White Tisa, from there, the Tisza flows west, roughly following Ukraines borders with Romania, then Hungary, and finally Serbia. It traverses Hungary from north to south, a few kilometers south of the Hungarian city of Szeged, it enters Serbia. Finally, it joins the Danube near the village of Novi Slankamen in Vojvodina, the Tisza drains an area of about 156,087 km2 and has a length of 965 km —the largest catchment and greatest length of any of the Danubes tributaries. Its mean annual discharge is 792 m3/s and it contributes about 13% of the Danubes total runoff. Attila the Hun is said to have been buried under a section of the river Tisza. The river was known as the Tisia in antiquity, other ancient names for it included Tissus and Pathissus and it may be referred to as the Theiss in older English references, after the German name for the river, Theiß. It is known as the Tibisco in Italian, and in older French references it is referred to as the Tibisque. Modern names for the Tisza in the languages of the countries it flows through include, Romanian, Tisa, Ukrainian, Тиса, Slovak, Tisa, Hungarian, Tisza, Serbian, Тиса, the length of the Tisza in Hungary used to be 1419 km. It flowed through the Great Hungarian Plain, which is one of the largest flat areas in central Europe. Since plains can cause a river to flow very slowly, the Tisza used to follow a path with curves and turns. After several small-scale attempts, István Széchenyi organised the regulation of the Tisza which started on August 27,1846, and substantially ended in 1880. The new length of the river in Hungary was 966 km, in the 1970s, the building of the Tisza Dam at Kisköre started with the purpose of helping to control floods as well as storing water for drought seasons. However, the resulting Lake Tisza became one of the most popular tourist destinations in Hungary since it had similar features to Lake Balaton at drastically cheaper prices and was not crowded, the Tisza is navigable over much of its course. The river opened up for international navigation only recently, before, Hungary distinguished national rivers and international rivers, after Hungary joined the European Union, this distinction was lifted and vessels were allowed on the Tisza. Conditions of navigation differ with the circumstances, when the river is in flood, it is often unnavigable, the Tisza has a rich and varied wildlife. Over 200 species of birds reside in the reserve of Tiszafűred
5.
Lake Balaton
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Lake Balaton is a freshwater lake in the Transdanubian region of Hungary. It is the largest lake in Central Europe, and one of the regions foremost tourist destinations, the Zala River provides the largest inflow of water to the lake, and the canalised Sió is the only outflow. The mountainous region of the shore is known both for its historic character and as a major wine region, while the flat southern shore is known for its resort towns. In Hungarian, the lake is known simply as Balaton and it was called lacus Pelsodis or Pelso by the Romans. The name is Illyrian, and therefore Indo-European, later replaced by the Slavic *bolto meaning mud and his well fortified castle and capital of Balaton Principality that became known as Blatnohrad or Moosburg served as a bulwark both against the Bulgarians and the Moravians. The German name for the lake is Plattensee and it is also noteworthy that the average depth of Balaton is not extraordinary for the area. Lake Balaton affects the local area every year. The area receives approximately 5–7 cm more precipitation than most of Hungary, resulting in more cloudy days, the lakes surface freezes during winters. The microclimate around Lake Balaton has also made the ideal for viticulture. The Mediterranean-like climate, combined with the soil, has made the region notable for its production of wines since the Roman period two years ago. The construction of railways in 1861 and 1909 increased tourism substantially, the battle was a German attack by Sepp Dietrichs Sixth Panzer Army and the Hungarian Third Army between 6 March and 16 March 1945, and in the end, resulted in a Red Army victory. Several Ilyushin Il-2 wrecks have been pulled out of the lake after having shot down during the later months of the war. During the 1960s and 1970s, Balaton became a major tourist destination for ordinary working Hungarians and it also attracted many East Germans and other residents of the Eastern Bloc. West Germans could also visit, making Balaton a common meeting place for families, the collapse of the Soviet Union after 1991 and the dismantling of the unions saw the gradual but steady reduction in numbers of lower-paid Hungarian visitors. The major resorts around the lake are Siófok, Keszthely, zamárdi, another resort town on the southern shore, has been the site of Balaton Sound, a notable electronic music festival since 2007. Balatonkenese has hosted numerous traditional gastronomic events, Siófok is known for attracting young people to it because of its large clubs. Keszthely is the site of the Festetics Palace and Balatonfüred is a historical bathing town which hosts the annual Anna Ball, the peak tourist season extends from June until the end of August. The average water temperature during the summer is 25 °C, which makes bathing and swimming popular on the lake, most of the beaches consist of either grass, rocks, or the silty sand that also makes up most of the bottom of the lake
6.
Hungary
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Hungary is a unitary parliamentary republic in Central Europe. With about 10 million inhabitants, Hungary is a member state of the European Union. The official language is Hungarian, which is the most widely spoken language in Europe. Hungarys capital and largest metropolis is Budapest, a significant economic hub, major urban areas include Debrecen, Szeged, Miskolc, Pécs and Győr. His great-grandson Stephen I ascended to the throne in 1000, converting the country to a Christian kingdom, by the 12th century, Hungary became a middle power within the Western world, reaching a golden age by the 15th century. Hungarys current borders were established in 1920 by the Treaty of Trianon after World War I, when the country lost 71% of its territory, 58% of its population, following the interwar period, Hungary joined the Axis Powers in World War II, suffering significant damage and casualties. Hungary became a state of the Soviet Union, which contributed to the establishment of a four-decade-long communist dictatorship. On 23 October 1989, Hungary became again a democratic parliamentary republic, in the 21st century, Hungary is a middle power and has the worlds 57th largest economy by nominal GDP, as well as the 58th largest by PPP, out of 188 countries measured by the IMF. As a substantial actor in several industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds 36th largest exporter and importer of goods, Hungary is a high-income economy with a very high standard of living. It keeps up a security and universal health care system. Hungary joined the European Union in 2004 and part of the Schengen Area since 2007, Hungary is a member of the United Nations, NATO, WTO, World Bank, the AIIB, the Council of Europe and Visegrád Group. Well known for its cultural history, Hungary has been contributed significantly to arts, music, literature, sports and science. Hungary is the 11th most popular country as a tourist destination in Europe and it is home to the largest thermal water cave system, the second largest thermal lake in the world, the largest lake in Central Europe, and the largest natural grasslands in Europe. The H in the name of Hungary is most likely due to historical associations with the Huns. The rest of the word comes from the Latinized form of Medieval Greek Oungroi, according to an explanation the Greek name was borrowed from Proto-Slavic Ǫgǔri, in turn borrowed from Oghur-Turkic Onogur. Onogur was the name for the tribes who later joined the Bulgar tribal confederacy that ruled the eastern parts of Hungary after the Avars. The Hungarians likely belonged to the Onogur tribal alliance and it is possible they became its ethnic majority. The Hungarian endonym is Magyarország, composed of magyar and ország, the word magyar is taken from the name of one of the seven major semi-nomadic Hungarian tribes, magyeri
7.
Landlocked
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A landlocked state or landlocked country is a sovereign state entirely enclosed by land, or whose only coastlines lie on closed seas. There are currently 49 such countries, including five partially recognised states, only two, Bolivia and Paraguay in South America, lie outside Afro-Eurasia. As a rule, being landlocked creates political and economic handicaps that access to the high seas avoids, for this reason, states large and small across history have striven to gain access to open waters, even at great expense in wealth, bloodshed, and political capital. The economic disadvantages of being landlocked can be alleviated or aggravated depending on degree of development, language barriers, some historically landlocked countries are quite affluent, such as Switzerland, Luxembourg, and Austria, all of which frequently employ neutrality to their political advantage. The majority, however, are classified as Landlocked Developing Countries,9 of the 12 countries with the lowest Human Development Indices are landlocked. Historically, being landlocked has been disadvantageous to a countrys development and it cuts a nation off from such important sea resources as fishing, and impedes or prevents direct access to seaborne trade, a crucial component of economic and social advance. As such, coastal regions tended to be wealthier and more populated than inland ones. Paul Collier in his book The Bottom Billion argues that being landlocked in a poor geographic neighborhood is one of four major development traps by which a country can be held back. In general, he found that when a neighboring country experiences better growth, for landlocked countries, the effect is particularly strong, as they are limited in their trading activity with the rest of the world. He states, If you are coastal, you serve the world, if you are landlocked, others have argued that being landlocked may actually be a blessing as it creates a natural tariff barrier which protects the country from cheap imports. In some instances, this has led to more robust local food systems, Landlocked developing countries have significantly higher costs of international cargo transportation compared to coastal developing countries. Since Bosnia and Herzegovina is a new country, railways and ports have not been built for its need, there is no freight port along its short coastline at Neum, making it effectively landlocked, although there are plans to change this. Instead the port of Ploče in Croatia is used, after World War I, in the Treaty of Versailles, a part of Germany designated the Polish corridor was given to the new Second Polish Republic, for access to the Baltic Sea. This gave Poland a short coastline, but without a large harbour and this was also the pretext for making Danzig with its harbour the Free City of Danzig, to which Poland was given free access. However, the Germans placed obstacles to free access, especially when it came to military material. In response, the fishing harbour of Gdynia was soon greatly enlarged. Stettin was annexed by Poland after World War II, but Hamburg continued the contract so that part of the port may still be used for sea trade by a successor of Czechoslovakia, the Czech Republic. The Danube is a waterway, and thus landlocked Austria, Hungary, Moldova, Serbia
8.
Austria
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Austria, officially the Republic of Austria, is a federal republic and a landlocked country of over 8.7 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, the territory of Austria covers 83,879 km2. The terrain is mountainous, lying within the Alps, only 32% of the country is below 500 m. The majority of the population speaks local Bavarian dialects of German as their native language, other local official languages are Hungarian, Burgenland Croatian, and Slovene. The origins of modern-day Austria date back to the time of the Habsburg dynasty, from the time of the Reformation, many northern German princes, resenting the authority of the Emperor, used Protestantism as a flag of rebellion. Following Napoleons defeat, Prussia emerged as Austrias chief competitor for rule of a greater Germany, Austrias defeat by Prussia at the Battle of Königgrätz, during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, cleared the way for Prussia to assert control over the rest of Germany. In 1867, the empire was reformed into Austria-Hungary, Austria was thus the first to go to war in the July Crisis, which would ultimately escalate into World War I. The First Austrian Republic was established in 1919, in 1938 Nazi Germany annexed Austria in the Anschluss. This lasted until the end of World War II in 1945, after which Germany was occupied by the Allies, in 1955, the Austrian State Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state, ending the occupation. In the same year, the Austrian Parliament created the Declaration of Neutrality which declared that the Second Austrian Republic would become permanently neutral, today, Austria is a parliamentary representative democracy comprising nine federal states. The capital and largest city, with a population exceeding 1.7 million, is Vienna, other major urban areas of Austria include Graz, Linz, Salzburg and Innsbruck. Austria is one of the richest countries in the world, with a nominal per capita GDP of $43,724, the country has developed a high standard of living and in 2014 was ranked 21st in the world for its Human Development Index. Austria has been a member of the United Nations since 1955, joined the European Union in 1995, Austria also signed the Schengen Agreement in 1995, and adopted the euro currency in 1999. The German name for Austria, Österreich, meant eastern realm in Old High German, and is cognate with the word Ostarrîchi and this word is probably a translation of Medieval Latin Marchia orientalis into a local dialect. Austria was a prefecture of Bavaria created in 976, the word Austria is a Latinisation of the German name and was first recorded in the 12th century. Accordingly, Norig would essentially mean the same as Ostarrîchi and Österreich, the Celtic name was eventually Latinised to Noricum after the Romans conquered the area that encloses most of modern-day Austria, around 15 BC. Noricum later became a Roman province in the mid-first century AD, heers hypothesis is not accepted by linguists. Settled in ancient times, the Central European land that is now Austria was occupied in pre-Roman times by various Celtic tribes, the Celtic kingdom of Noricum was later claimed by the Roman Empire and made a province
9.
Serbia
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Serbia, officially the Republic of Serbia, is a sovereign state situated at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Pannonian Plain and the central Balkans. Relative to its territory, it is a diverse country distinguished by a transitional character, situated along cultural, geographic, climatic. Serbia numbers around 7 million residents, and its capital, Belgrade, following the Slavic migrations to the Balkans from the 6th century onwards, Serbs established several states in the early Middle Ages. The Serbian Kingdom obtained recognition by Rome and the Byzantine Empire in 1217, in the early 19th century, the Serbian Revolution established the nation-state as the regions first constitutional monarchy, which subsequently expanded its territory. During the breakup of Yugoslavia, Serbia formed a union with Montenegro which dissolved peacefully in 2006, in 2008 the parliament of the province of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence, with mixed responses from the international community. Serbia is a member of organizations such as the UN, CoE, OSCE, PfP, BSEC. An EU membership candidate since 2012, Serbia has been negotiating its EU accession since January 2014, the country is acceding to the WTO and is a militarily neutral state. Serbia is an income economy with dominant service sector, followed by the industrial sector. The country ranks high on the Social Progress Index as well as the Global Peace Index, relatively high on the Human Development Index, located at the crossroads between Central and Southern Europe, Serbia is found in the Balkan peninsula and the Pannonian Plain. Serbia lies between latitudes 41° and 47° N, and longitudes 18° and 23° E. The country covers a total of 88,361 km2, which places it at 113th place in the world, with Kosovo excluded, the area is 77,474 km2. Its total border length amounts to 2,027 km, all of Kosovos border with Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro are under control of the Kosovo border police. The Pannonian Plain covers the third of the country while the easternmost tip of Serbia extends into the Wallachian Plain. The terrain of the part of the country, with the region of Šumadija at its heart. Mountains dominate the third of Serbia. Dinaric Alps stretch in the west and the southwest, following the flow of the rivers Drina, the Carpathian Mountains and Balkan Mountains stretch in a north–south direction in eastern Serbia. Ancient mountains in the southeast corner of the country belong to the Rilo-Rhodope Mountain system, elevation ranges from the Midžor peak of the Balkan Mountains at 2,169 metres to the lowest point of just 17 metres near the Danube river at Prahovo. The largest lake is Đerdap Lake and the longest river passing through Serbia is the Danube, the climate of Serbia is under the influences of the landmass of Eurasia and the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea
10.
Croatia
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Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a sovereign state between Central Europe, Southeast Europe, and the Mediterranean. Its capital city is Zagreb, which one of the countrys primary subdivisions. Croatia covers 56,594 square kilometres and has diverse, mostly continental, Croatias Adriatic Sea coast contains more than a thousand islands. The countrys population is 4.28 million, most of whom are Croats, the Croats arrived in the area of present-day Croatia during the early part of the 7th century AD. They organised the state into two duchies by the 9th century, tomislav became the first king by 925, elevating Croatia to the status of a kingdom. The Kingdom of Croatia retained its sovereignty for nearly two centuries, reaching its peak during the rule of Kings Petar Krešimir IV and Dmitar Zvonimir, Croatia entered a personal union with Hungary in 1102. In 1527, faced with Ottoman conquest, the Croatian Parliament elected Ferdinand I of the House of Habsburg to the Croatian throne. In 1918, after World War I, Croatia was included in the unrecognized State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs which seceded from Austria-Hungary, a fascist Croatian puppet state backed by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany existed during World War II. After the war, Croatia became a member and a federal constituent of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. On 25 June 1991 Croatia declared independence, which came wholly into effect on 8 October of the same year, the Croatian War of Independence was fought successfully during the four years following the declaration. A unitary state, Croatia is a republic governed under a parliamentary system, the International Monetary Fund classified Croatia as an emerging and developing economy, and the World Bank identified it as a high-income economy. Croatia is a member of the European Union, United Nations, the Council of Europe, NATO, the World Trade Organization, the service sector dominates Croatias economy, followed by the industrial sector and agriculture. Tourism is a significant source of revenue during the summer, with Croatia ranked the 18th most popular tourist destination in the world, the state controls a part of the economy, with substantial government expenditure. The European Union is Croatias most important trading partner, since 2000, the Croatian government constantly invests in infrastructure, especially transport routes and facilities along the Pan-European corridors. Internal sources produce a significant portion of energy in Croatia, the rest is imported, the origin of the name is uncertain, but is thought to be a Gothic or Indo-Aryan term assigned to a Slavic tribe. The oldest preserved record of the Croatian ethnonym *xъrvatъ is of variable stem, the first attestation of the Latin term is attributed to a charter of Duke Trpimir from the year 852. The original is lost, and just a 1568 copy is preserved—leading to doubts over the authenticity of the claim, the oldest preserved stone inscription is the 9th-century Branimir Inscription, where Duke Branimir is styled as Dux Cruatorvm. The inscription is not believed to be dated accurately, but is likely to be from during the period of 879–892, the area known as Croatia today was inhabited throughout the prehistoric period
11.
Slovenia
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Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a nation state in southern Central Europe, located at the crossroads of main European cultural and trade routes. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and it covers 20,273 square kilometers and has a population of 2.06 million. It is a republic and a member of the United Nations, European Union. The capital and largest city is Ljubljana, additionally, the Dinaric Alps and the Pannonian Plain meet on the territory of Slovenia. The country, marked by a significant biological diversity, is one of the most water-rich in Europe, with a river network, a rich aquifer system. Over half of the territory is covered by forest, the human settlement of Slovenia is dispersed and uneven. Slovenia has historically been the crossroads of South Slavic, Germanic, Romance, although the population is not homogeneous, the majority is Slovene. Slovene is the language throughout the country. Slovenia is a largely secularized country, but its culture and identity have been influenced by Catholicism as well as Lutheranism. The economy of Slovenia is small, open, and export-oriented and has strongly influenced by international conditions. It has been hurt by the Eurozone crisis, started in the late 2000s. The main economic field is services, followed by industry and construction, Historically, the current territory of Slovenia was part of many different state formations, including the Roman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire, followed by the Habsburg Monarchy. In October 1918, the Slovenes exercised self-determination for the first time by co-founding the State of Slovenes, Croats, in December 1918, they merged with the Kingdom of Serbia into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. During World War II, Slovenia was occupied and annexed by Germany, Italy, and Hungary, with a tiny area transferred to the Independent State of Croatia, in June 1991, after the introduction of multi-party representative democracy, Slovenia split from Yugoslavia and became an independent country. Present-day Slovenia has been inhabited since prehistoric times, and there is evidence of habitation from around 250,000 years ago. A pierced cave bear bone, dating from 43100 ±700 BP, in the 1920s and 1930s, artifacts belonging to the Cro-Magnon such as pierced bones, bone points, and needle were found by archaeologist Srečko Brodar in Potok Cave. It shows that wooden wheels appeared almost simultaneously in Mesopotamia and Europe, in the transition period between the Bronze age to the Iron age, the Urnfield culture flourished. Archaeological remains dating from the Hallstatt period have been found, particularly in southeastern Slovenia, among them a number of situlas in Novo Mesto, in the Iron Age, present-day Slovenia was inhabited by Illyrian and Celtic tribes until the 1st century BC
12.
Romania
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Romania is a sovereign state located in Southeastern Europe. It borders the Black Sea, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia and it has an area of 238,391 square kilometres and a temperate-continental climate. With over 19 million inhabitants, the country is the member state of the European Union. Its capital and largest city, Bucharest, is the sixth-largest city in the EU, the River Danube, Europes second-longest river, rises in Germany and flows in a general southeast direction for 2,857 km, coursing through ten countries before emptying into Romanias Danube Delta. The Carpathian Mountains, which cross Romania from the north to the southwest are marked by one of their tallest peaks, Moldoveanu, modern Romania was formed in 1859 through a personal union of the Danubian Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. The new state, officially named Romania since 1866, gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1877, at the end of World War I, Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia united with the sovereign Kingdom of Romania. Romania lost several territories, of which Northern Transylvania was regained after the war, following the war, Romania became a socialist republic and member of the Warsaw Pact. After the 1989 Revolution, Romania began a transition towards democracy and it has been a member of NATO since 2004, and part of the European Union since 2007. A strong majority of the population identify themselves as Eastern Orthodox Christians and are speakers of Romanian. The cultural history of Romania is often referred to when dealing with artists, musicians, inventors. For similar reasons, Romania has been the subject of notable tourist attractions, Romania derives from the Latin romanus, meaning citizen of Rome. The first known use of the appellation was attested in the 16th century by Italian humanists travelling in Transylvania, Moldavia, after the abolition of serfdom in 1746, the word rumân gradually fell out of use and the spelling stabilised to the form român. Tudor Vladimirescu, a leader of the early 19th century. The use of the name Romania to refer to the homeland of all Romanians—its modern-day meaning—was first documented in the early 19th century. The name has been officially in use since 11 December 1861, in English, the name of the country was formerly spelt Rumania or Roumania. Romania became the predominant spelling around 1975, Romania is also the official English-language spelling used by the Romanian government. The Neolithic-Age Cucuteni area in northeastern Romania was the region of the earliest European civilization. Evidence from this and other sites indicates that the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture extracted salt from salt-laden spring water through the process of briquetage
13.
Ukraine
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Ukraine is currently in territorial dispute with Russia over the Crimean Peninsula which Russia annexed in 2014 but which Ukraine and most of the international community recognise as Ukrainian. Including Crimea, Ukraine has an area of 603,628 km2, making it the largest country entirely within Europe and it has a population of about 42.5 million, making it the 32nd most populous country in the world. The territory of modern Ukraine has been inhabited since 32,000 BC, during the Middle Ages, the area was a key centre of East Slavic culture, with the powerful state of Kievan Rus forming the basis of Ukrainian identity. Following its fragmentation in the 13th century, the territory was contested, ruled and divided by a variety of powers, including Lithuania, Poland, the Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary, and Russia. A Cossack republic emerged and prospered during the 17th and 18th centuries, two brief periods of independence occurred during the 20th century, once near the end of World War I and another during World War II. Before its independence, Ukraine was typically referred to in English as The Ukraine, following independence, Ukraine declared itself a neutral state. Nonetheless it formed a limited partnership with the Russian Federation and other CIS countries. In the 2000s, the government began leaning towards NATO, and it was later agreed that the question of joining NATO should be answered by a national referendum at some point in the future. Former President Viktor Yanukovych considered the current level of co-operation between Ukraine and NATO sufficient, and was against Ukraine joining NATO and these events formed the background for the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014, and the War in Donbass in April 2014. On 1 January 2016, Ukraine applied the economic part of the Deep, Ukraine has long been a global breadbasket because of its extensive, fertile farmlands and is one of the worlds largest grain exporters. The diversified economy of Ukraine includes a heavy industry sector, particularly in aerospace. Ukraine is a republic under a semi-presidential system with separate powers, legislative, executive. Its capital and largest city is Kiev, taking into account reserves and paramilitary personnel, Ukraine maintains the second-largest military in Europe after that of Russia. Ukrainian is the language and its alphabet is Cyrillic. The dominant religion in the country is Eastern Orthodoxy, which has strongly influenced Ukrainian architecture, literature, there are different hypotheses as to the etymology of the name Ukraine. According to the older and most widespread hypothesis, it means borderland, while more recently some studies claim a different meaning, homeland or region. The Ukraine now implies disregard for the sovereignty, according to U. S. ambassador William Taylor. Neanderthal settlement in Ukraine is seen in the Molodova archaeological sites include a mammoth bone dwelling
14.
Slovakia
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Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Slovakias territory spans about 49,000 square kilometres and is mostly mountainous. The population is over 5 million and comprises mostly ethnic Slovaks, the capital and largest city is Bratislava. The Slavs arrived in the territory of present-day Slovakia in the 5th and 6th centuries, in the 7th century, they played a significant role in the creation of Samos Empire and in the 9th century established the Principality of Nitra. In the 10th century, the territory was integrated into the Kingdom of Hungary, which became part of the Habsburg Empire. After World War I and the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a separate Slovak Republic existed in World War II as a client state of Nazi Germany. In 1945, Czechoslovakia was reëstablished under Communist rule as a Soviet satellite, in 1989 the Velvet Revolution ended authoritarian Communist rule in Czechoslovakia. Slovakia became an independent state on 1 January 1993 after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The country maintains a combination of economy with universal health care. The country joined the European Union in 2004 and the Eurozone on 1 January 2009, Slovakia is also a member of the Schengen Area, NATO, the United Nations, the OECD, the WTO, CERN, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Visegrád Group. The Slovak economy is one of the fastest growing economies in Europe and its legal tender, the Euro, is the worlds 2nd most traded currency. Although regional income inequality is high, 90% of citizens own their homes, in 2016, Slovak citizens had visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 165 countries and territories, ranking the Slovak passport 11th in the world. Slovakia is the world’s biggest per-capita car producer with a total of 1,040,000 cars manufactured in the country in 2016 alone, the car industry represents 43 percent of Slovakia’s industrial output, and a quarter of its exports. Radiocarbon datingputs the oldest surviving archaeological artefacts from Slovakia – found near Nové Mesto nad Váhom – at 270,000 BC and these ancient tools, made by the Clactonian technique, bear witness to the ancient habitation of Slovakia. Other stone tools from the Middle Paleolithic era come from the Prévôt cave near Bojnice, the most important discovery from that era is a Neanderthal cranium, discovered near Gánovce, a village in northern Slovakia. The most well-known finds include the oldest female statue made of mammoth-bone, the statue was found in the 1940s in Moravany nad Váhom near Piešťany. Numerous necklaces made of shells from Cypraca thermophile gastropods of the Tertiary period have come from the sites of Zákovská, Podkovice, Hubina and these findings provide the most ancient evidence of commercial exchanges carried out between the Mediterranean and Central Europe. The Bronze Age in the territory of modern-day Slovakia went through three stages of development, stretching from 2000 to 800 BC
15.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
16.
Treaty of Trianon
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The treaty regulated the status of an independent Hungarian state and defined its borders. It left Hungary as a state covering 93,073 square kilometres. Its population was 7.6 million, only 36% of the kingdoms population of 20.9 million. The areas that were allocated to neighbouring countries in total possessed a majority of non-Hungarian population, five of the pre-war kingdoms ten largest cities were drawn into other countries. The treaty limited Hungarys army to 35,000 officers and men, the principal beneficiaries of territorial division of pre-war Kingdom of Hungary were the Kingdom of Romania, the Czechoslovak Republic, and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. One of the elements of the treaty was the doctrine of self-determination of peoples. In addition, Hungary had to pay war reparations to its neighbours, the treaty was dictated by the Allies rather than negotiated and the Hungarians had no option but to accept its terms. The Hungarian delegation signed the treaty under protest on 4 June 1920 at the Grand Trianon Palace in Versailles, the treaty was registered in League of Nations Treaty Series on 24 August 1921. The modern boundaries of Hungary are the same as those defined by the Treaty of Trianon except for three villages that were transferred to Czechoslovakia in 1947, the Hungarian government terminated its union with Austria on 31 October 1918, officially dissolving the Austro-Hungarian state. The de facto borders of independent Hungary were defined by the ceasefire lines in November–December 1918. On 1 December 1918, the National Assembly of Romanians in Transylvania declared union with the Kingdom of Romania, Slovakia, which became part of Czechoslovakia. That was signed on 6 December 1918, territories of Banat, Bačka and Baranja came under military control of the Kingdom of Serbia and political control of local South Slavs. The Great Peoples Assembly of Serbs, Bunjevci and other Slavs from Banat, Bačka, the ceasefire line had a character of temporary international border until the treaty. The city of Fiume was occupied by the Italian Army and its affiliation was a matter of international dispute between the Kingdom of Italy and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Croatian-populated territories in modern Međimurje remained under Hungarian control after the agreement of Belgrade from 13 November 1918. After the Romanian Army advanced beyond this line, the Entente powers asked Hungary to acknowledge the new Romanian territory gains by a new line set along the Tisza river. Unable to reject these terms and unwilling to accept them, the leaders of the Hungarian Democratic Republic resigned, in spite of the country being under Allied blockade, the Hungarian Soviet Republic was formed and the Hungarian Red Army was rapidly set up. In the end, this invitation was not issued
17.
Kingdom of Hungary
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The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed from the Middle Ages into the twentieth century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen I at Esztergom in about the year 1000, by the 12th century, the kingdom became a European middle power within the Western world. The House of Habsburg held the Hungarian throne after the Battle of Mohács until 1918, from 1867 territories connected to the Hungarian crown were incorporated into Austria-Hungary under the name of Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen. The monarchy ended with the deposition of the last king Charles IV in 1918, the kingdom was nominally restored during the Regency of 1920–46, ending with the Soviet occupation in 1946. From 1102 it also included Croatia, being in union with it. Today, the feast day of the first king Stephen I is a holiday in Hungary. The Latin forms Regnum Hungariae or Ungarie, Regnum Marianum, or simply Hungaria, were the used in official documents in Latin from the beginning of the kingdom to the 1840s. The German name Königreich Ungarn was used officially from 1784 to 1790, the Hungarian name was used in the 1840s, and then again from the 1860s to 1946. The non-official Hungarian name of the kingdom was Magyarország, which is still the colloquial, in Austria-Hungary, the unofficial name Transleithania was sometimes used to denote the regions of the Kingdom of Hungary. Officially, the term Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen was included for the Hungarian part of Austria-Hungary, the Hungarians led by Árpád settled the Carpathian Basin in 895, established Principality of Hungary. The Hungarians led several successful incursions to Western Europe, until they were stopped by Otto I, the principality was succeeded by the Christian Kingdom of Hungary with the coronation of St Stephen I at Esztergom on Christmas Day 1000. The first kings of the kingdom were from the Árpád dynasty and he fought against Koppány and in 998, with Bavarian help, defeated him near Veszprém. The Catholic Church received powerful support from Stephen I, who with Christian Hungarians, Stephen I of Hungary was canonized as a Catholic saint in 1083 and an Orthodox saint in 2000. After his death, a period of revolts and conflict for supremacy ensued between the royalty and the nobles, in 1051 armies of the Holy Roman Empire tried to conquer Hungary, but they were defeated at Vértes Mountain. The armies of the Holy Roman Empire continued to suffer defeats, before 1052 Peter Orseolo, a supporter of the Holy Roman Empire, was overthrown by king Samuel Aba of Hungary. This period of revolts ended during the reign of Béla I, Hungarian chroniclers praised Béla I for introducing new currency, such as the silver denarius, and for his benevolence to the former followers of his nephew, Solomon. The second greatest Hungarian king, also from the dynasty, was Ladislaus I of Hungary. He was also canonized as a saint, however, kingship over all of Croatia would not be achieved until the reign of his successor Coloman
18.
First Vienna Award
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The First Vienna Award was a treaty signed on November 2,1938, as a result of the First Vienna Arbitration. The Arbitration took place at Viennas Belvedere Palace, the Arbitration and Award were direct consequences of the Munich Agreement the previous month and decided the partitioning of Czechoslovakia. Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy sought a non-violent way to enforce the claims of the Kingdom of Hungary. Nazi Germany was by this point well into its own revision of the Versailles Treaty, with the remilitarization of the Rhineland, the First Vienna Award separated largely Magyar-populated territories in southern Slovakia and southern Carpathian Rus from Czechoslovakia and awarded them to Hungary. Hungary thus regained some of the territories in present-day Slovakia and Ukraine lost in the Treaty of Trianon in the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after World War I, after World War II, the 1947 Treaty of Paris declared the Vienna Award null and void. From 1933, Hungarian foreign policy closely collaborated with Nazi Germany in the hope of revising the borders established by the Treaty of Trianon. In March 1933, Hungarian prime minister declared that Hungary requests justice in the historical principle, during a meeting with Hitler in August 1936, Miklós Horthy explained the purpose of a common attack against Czechoslovakia as removing a cancer tumor from the heart of Europe. At the end of 1937, Hitler decided to start action against Czechoslovakia and this outraged Adolf Hitler and led to a change in the German view of the territorial demands of Hungary in the eastern part of Czechoslovakia. Before the Munich Agreement, a Hungarian government emissary officially asked the German and Italian delegations to resolve Hungarian demands together with the questions of Sudeten Germans. However, Hitler did not agree, because he was not satisfied with the passivity of Hungary and had his own plans for Central Europe. The French and British delegates saw potential danger in such a complex solution, after the annexation of Zaolzie and Český Těšín by Poland, the Hungarian question remained open. Poland later annexed territories in northern Slovakia comprising 226 km². In this situation, Hungary decided to fight with Czechoslovakia in the diplomatic field, the Munich Agreement defined a three-month period to resolve Hungarian demands, and the Hungarian government pushed to start negotiations immediately. The pressure was increased on the Hungarian side by border conflicts, Hungarian troops withdrew after the arrival of Czechoslovak reinforcements, who killed nine Hungarians and captured prisoners. Two days later, Hungarian troops tried to cross the Danube near Štúrovo and their situation was worse in Carpathian Ruthenia with its lower density of fortifications, where paramilitary units of Rongyos Gárda infiltrated Czechoslovak territory. The first two units of the Rongyos Gárda crossed the border on October 6,1938, and two later they blew up the bridge over the Borozhava River. Such actions continued during the negotiations and after the First Vienna Award, during the second day of bilateral negotiations Hungarian troops murdered a railway officer in Borozhava and damaged railway facilities. Czechoslovakia had an interest in stabilizing the situation, because the ministry had to resolve problems with Poland and Germany
19.
Czechoslovakia
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From 1939 to 1945, following its forced division and partial incorporation into Nazi Germany, the state did not de facto exist but its government-in-exile continued to operate. From 1948 to 1990, Czechoslovakia was part of the Soviet bloc with a command economy and its economic status was formalized in membership of Comecon from 1949, and its defense status in the Warsaw Pact of May 1955. A period of liberalization in 1968, known as the Prague Spring, was forcibly ended when the Soviet Union, assisted by several other Warsaw Pact countries. In 1993, Czechoslovakia split into the two states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Form of state 1918–1938, A democratic republic, 1938–1939, After annexation of Sudetenland by Nazi Germany in 1938, the region gradually turned into a state with loosened connections among the Czech, Slovak, and Ruthenian parts. A large strip of southern Slovakia and Carpatho-Ukraine was annexed by Hungary, 1939–1945, The region was split into the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and the Slovak Republic. A government-in-exile continued to exist in London, supported by the United Kingdom, United States and its Allies, after the German invasion of Russia, Czechoslovakia adhered to the Declaration by United Nations and was a founding member of the United Nations. 1946–1948, The country was governed by a government with communist ministers, including the prime minister. Carpathian Ruthenia was ceded to the Soviet Union, 1948–1989, The country became a socialist state under Soviet domination with a centrally planned economy. In 1960, the country became a socialist republic, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It was a state of the Soviet Union. 1989–1990, The federal republic consisted of the Czech Socialist Republic, 1990–1992, Following the Velvet Revolution, the state was renamed the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, consisting of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. Neighbours Austria 1918–1938, 1945–1992 Germany Hungary Poland Romania 1918–1938 Soviet Union 1945–1991 Ukraine 1991–1992 Topography The country was of irregular terrain. The western area was part of the north-central European uplands, the eastern region was composed of the northern reaches of the Carpathian Mountains and lands of the Danube River basin. Climate The weather is mild winters and mild summers, influenced by the Atlantic Ocean from the west, Baltic Sea from the north, and Mediterranean Sea from the south. The area was long a part of the Austro Hungarian Empire until the Empire collapsed at the end of World War I, the new state was founded by Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, who served as its first president from 14 November 1918 to 14 December 1935. He was succeeded by his ally, Edvard Beneš. The roots of Czech nationalism go back to the 19th century, nationalism became a mass movement in the last half of the 19th century
20.
Carpatho-Ukraine
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Carpatho-Ukraine was an autonomous region within Czechoslovakia from late 1938 to March 15,1939. It was declared an independent republic by Avgustyn Voloshyn on March 15,1939, Voloshyn named himself the president and asked Hitler to support him. The territory is now administered as Zakarpattia Oblast in Ukraine, soon after the implementation of the Munich Agreement of 29 September 1938 Carpathian Ruthenia and Slovakia declared their autonomy within Czechoslovakia, which Prague accepted. The autonomous Carpathian Ruthenia changed its name to Carpatho-Ukraine soon afterwards, after Munich the Hungarians had remained poised threateningly on the Slovak border. The Czechoslovak army had built 2,000 small concrete emplacements along the border in places where rivers did not serve as natural obstacles, the situation was now verging on open war, which might set the whole of Europe ablaze again. From the German and Italian point of view, this would be premature, so they pressured the Hungarian, on November 2,1938, this found largely in favor of the Hungarians and obliged the Prague government to cede 11,833 km² of Slovakia and Carpatho-Ukraine to Hungary. Not only did this transfer the homes of about 590,000 Hungarians to Hungary, in addition, it cost Slovakia its second-largest city, Košice, and left the capital, Bratislava, vulnerable to further Hungarian pressure. As a consequence, the Slovak end of the Czechoslovak Army had to be reorganized and it had lost its natural defensive positions on the Danube River, almost the entire belt of fortifications along the Hungarian border and several major depots. The Arbitration of Vienna fully satisfied nobody, and there followed 22 border clashes between November 2,1938 and January 12,1939, during which five Czechoslovaks were killed, the Slovak national militia Hlinka Guard participated in these clashes. The ineffectiveness of the Prague government in protecting their interests stirred Slovak, on November 8,1938, the Slovak National Unity Party got 97. 5% of the Slovak votes, and a one-party state was instituted. Slovak autonomy was formalized by the Prague parliament on November 19, and to symbolize this new Slovak assertiveness, Slovak and Ukrainian nationalism grew more intense, and on March 10, there were demonstrations by the Hlinka Guard and Volksdeutsche, demanding their independence from Czecho-Slovakia. In the evening of March 13, Jozef Tiso and Ďurčanský met German leader Adolf Hitler, Joachim von Ribbentrop and Generals Walther von Brauchitsch, in fact, encouraged by the Germans, the Hungarians were largely massing on the adjacent Ukrainian border. Voloshin was new supported by Indigenous population of Subcarpathia, the First Constitutional Law of Carpatho-Ukraine of March 15,1939 defined the new status of the country as follows, Carpatho-Ukraine is an independent state. The name of the state is, Carpatho-Ukraine, Carpatho-Ukraine is a republic, headed by a president elected by the Soim of Carpatho-Ukraine. The state language of Carpatho-Ukraine is the Ukrainian language, the colors of the national flag of the Carpatho-Ukraine are blue and yellow, blue on top and yellow on the bottom. The national anthem of Carpatho-Ukraine is Sche ne vmerla Ukraina and this act comes valid immediately after its promulgation. The head of the Soim was Avhustyn Shtephan, his deputies were Fedir Révaý, the Slovak declaration of independence caused law and order to break down immediately. On the same day, Hungary had learned that the Germans would not object to a Hungarian takeover of Carpatho-Ukraine, the Czecho-Slovak government did not respond, and instead ordered its troops to attack the city of Mukacheve on the morning of March 14,1939
21.
Second Vienna Award
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The Second Vienna Award was the second of two territorial disputes arbitrated by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Rendered on 30 August 1940, it reassigned the territory of Northern Transylvania from Romania to Hungary, the new Magyar nation-state of Hungary was about a third the size of former Hungary, and millions of ethnic Magyars were to be left outside the Hungarian borders. Many historically important areas of Hungary were assigned to countries. The Treaty and its consequences dominated Hungarian public life and political culture in the inter-war period, the alliance with Nazi Germany made possible Hungarys regaining of southern Czechoslovakia in the First Vienna Award of 1938 and Subcarpathia in 1939. But neither that nor the subsequent military conquest of Carpathian Ruthenia in 1939 satisfied Hungarian political ambitions and these awards allocated only a fraction of the territories lost by the Treaty of Trianon, anyway the loss that the Hungarians resented the most was that of Transylvania ceded to the Romanians. However, the Hungarian government interpreted the fact that Romania gave up some areas finally as an admission that it no longer insisted on keeping its national territory intact under pressure. Thus, the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina inspired Budapest to escalate its efforts to resolve the question of Transylvania, Hungary hoped to gain as much of Transylvania as possible, but the Romanians would have none of that and submitted only a small region for consideration. Eventually, the Hungarian-Romanian negotiations fell through entirely, after this, the Romanian government asked Italy and Germany to arbitrate. Meanwhile, the Romanian government had acceded to Italys request for territorial cessions to Bulgaria, on 7 September, under the Treaty of Craiova, the Cadrilater was ceded by Romania to Bulgaria. On 1 July 1940, Romania repudiated the Anglo-French guarantee of 13 April 1939, the next day Carol II addressed a letter to Hitler suggesting Germany send a military mission to Romania and renew the alliance of 1883. Germany used Romanias new desperation to force a settlement of the territorial disputed produced by the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 in favour of Germanys old allies, Hungary, the Romanian foreign minister at the time was Mihail Manoilescu and the German minister plenipotentiary in Bucharest was Wilhelm Fabricius. In accordance with German wishes, Romania began negotiations with Hungary at Turnu Severin on 16 August, the initial Hungarian claim was 69,000 km² of territory with 3,803,000 inhabitants, almost two thirds Romanian. Talks were broken off on 24 August, the Romanians accepted and Foreign Ministers Joachim von Ribbentrop of Germany and Galeazzo Ciano of Italy met on 30 August 1940 at the Belvedere Palace in Vienna. The two powers reduced the Hungarian demands to 43,492 km² with a population of 2,667,007, a Romanian crown council met overnight on 30–31 August to accept the arbitration. At the meeting, Iuliu Maniu demanded that Carol II abdicate, the population statistics in Northern Transylvania and the changes following the award are presented in detail in the next section. The rest of Transylvania, known as Southern Transylvania, with 2,274,600 Romanians and 363,200 Hungarians remained Romanian, the territory in question covered an area of 43,104 km². The 1930 Romanian census registered for this region a population of 2,393,300, in 1941 the Hungarian authorities conducted a new census which registered a total population of 2,578,100. Both censuses asked separately about language and nationality, the results of the two censuses are summarized in the following table
22.
Northern Transylvania
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With an area of 43,104 km2, the population was largely composed of both ethnic Romanians and Hungarians. After World War II, the Paris Peace Treaties returned Northern Transylvania to Romania, the region has a varied history. It was once the nucleus of the Kingdom of Dacia, in 106 AD the Roman Empire conquered the territory, systematically exploiting its resources. After the Roman legions withdrew in 271 AD, it was overrun by a succession of tribes, bringing it under the control of the Carpi, Visigoths, Huns, Gepids, Avars. From 9th to 11th century Bulgarians ruled Transylvania, the Magyars conquered much of Central Europe at the end of the 9th century and for almost six hundred years, Transylvania had been a voivodeship in the Kingdom of Hungary. The dual monarchy dissolved after World War I, the ethnic Romanians, who formed the majority population of Transylvania, elected representatives who proclaimed the Union with Romania, on 1 December 1918. In June 1940, after Romania was forced to settle a claim to Soviet Union over Bessarabian and Bukovinian territories, Hungary attempted to regain Transylvania, Germany and Italy pressured both Hungary and Romania to resolve the situation in a bilateral agreement. The two delegation met in Turnu Severin but the negotiations failed due to a demand for a 60,000 square kilometres territory on Hungarian side, to impede a Hungarian-Romanian war in their hinterland, the Axis powers pressured both governments to accept their arbitration, the Second Vienna Award. Historian Keith Hitchins summarizes the situation created by the award, Far from settling matters and it did not solve the nationality problem by separating all Magyars from all Romanians. One year later, after the arbitration, according to the Hungarian census, Hungary held Northern Transylvania from 1940 to 1944. In 1940 ethnic disturbances between Hungarians and Romanians continued after some incidents following the entrance of the Hungarian Military, culminating in massacres at Treznea, also many Hungarian and Romanians fled or chose to opt between the two countries. There was an exodus, over 100,000 people on both sides of the ethnic and political borders relocated. On March 19,1944, following the occupation of Hungary by the Nazi Germany army through Operation Margarethe, Northern Transylvania came under German military occupation. Like Jews living in Hungary, most of the Jews in Northern Transylvania were sent to concentration camps during World War II, after King Michaels Coup, Romania left the Axis and joined the Allies. The territory was occupied by the Allied forces by late October 1944, Northern Transylvania is a diverse region, both in terms of landscape and population. It contains both largely rural areas as well as cities, such as Cluj-Napoca, Oradea, Târgu Mureș, Baia Mare. Centers of Hungarian culture, such as Miercurea Ciuc and Sfântu Gheorghe, are part of the region
23.
Invasion of Yugoslavia
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The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, was a German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was put forward in Führer Directive No,25, which Adolf Hitler issued on 27 March 1941, following the Yugoslav coup détat. The invasion commenced with an air attack on Belgrade and facilities of the Royal Yugoslav Air Force by the Luftwaffe. These attacks were followed by German thrusts from Romania, Hungary, Italian forces were limited to air and artillery attacks until 11 April, when the Italian army attacked towards Ljubljana and through Istria and Lika and down the Dalmatian coast. On the same day, Hungarian forces entered Yugoslav Bačka and Baranya, a Yugoslav attack into the northern parts of the Italian protectorate of Albania met with initial success, but was inconsequential due to the collapse of the rest of the Yugoslav forces. The invasion ended when an armistice was signed on 17 April 1941, based on the surrender of the Yugoslav army. Yugoslavia was then occupied and partitioned by the Axis powers, some areas of Yugoslavia were annexed by neighboring Axis countries, some areas remained occupied, and in other areas Axis puppet states such as the Independent State of Croatia were created. Along with Italys stalled invasion of Greece on 28 October 1940, and the German-led invasion of Greece and invasion of Crete, in October 1940, Fascist Italy had attacked the Kingdom of Greece only to be forced back into Albania. German dictator Adolf Hitler recognised the need to go to the aid of his ally, Hitler did this not only to restore diminished Axis prestige, but also to prevent Britain from bombing the Romanian oilfields from which Nazi Germany obtained most of its oil. In 1940 and early 1941, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria all agreed to adhere to the Tripartite Pact, Hitler then pressured Yugoslavia to join as well. The Regent, Prince Paul, yielded to pressure. This move was unpopular with the Serb-dominated officer corps of the military and some segments of the public. Military officers executed a coup détat on 27 March 1941, and forced the Regent to resign, while King Peter II, upon hearing news of the coup in Yugoslavia, Hitler called his military advisers to Berlin on 27 March. On the same day as the coup he issued Führer Directive 25 which called for Yugoslavia to be treated as a hostile state, Hungary had joined the Tripartite Pact on 20 November 1940. On 12 December it also concluded a treaty with the Kingdom of Yugoslavia calling for permanent peace, the Hungarian leadership was split after Germanys War Directive 25 was delivered on 27 March 1941. Regent Miklós Horthy and the military favoured taking part in the invasion of Yugoslavia, Prime Minister Pál Teleki sought to prevent German troops passing through Hungary and cited the peace treaty with Yugoslavia as an impediment to cooperation with the Germans. On 1 April Yugoslavia redesignated its Assault Command as the Chetnik Command, the command was intended to lead a guerrilla war should the country be occupied. Its headquarters was transferred from Novi Sad to Kraljevo in south-central Serbia on 1 April and this sent the unmistakable message that Yugoslavia was about to be invaded
24.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
25.
Budapest
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Budapest is the capital and most populous city of Hungary, one of the largest cities in the European Union and sometimes described as the primate city of Hungary. It has an area of 525 square kilometres and a population of about 1.8 million within the limits in 2016. Budapest became a single city occupying both banks of the Danube river with the unification of Buda and Óbuda on the west bank, the history of Budapest began with Aquincum, originally a Celtic settlement that became the Roman capital of Lower Pannonia. Hungarians arrived in the territory in the 9th century and their first settlement was pillaged by the Mongols in 1241–1242. The re-established town became one of the centres of Renaissance humanist culture by the 15th century, following the Battle of Mohács and nearly 150 years of Ottoman rule, the region entered a new age of prosperity, and Budapest became a global city after its unification in 1873. It also became the co-capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a power that dissolved in 1918. Budapest was the point of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, the Hungarian Republic of Councils in 1919, the Battle of Budapest in 1945. Budapest is an Alpha- global city, with strengths in arts, commerce, design, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, services, research, and tourism. Its business district hosts the Budapest Stock Exchange and the headquarters of the largest national and international banks and it is the highest ranked Central and Eastern European city on Innovation Cities Top 100 index. Budapest attracts 4.4 million international tourists per year, making it the 25th most popular city in the world, further famous landmarks include Andrássy Avenue, St. It has around 80 geothermal springs, the worlds largest thermal water system, second largest synagogue. Budapest is home to the headquarters of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, the European Police College, over 40 colleges and universities are located in Budapest, including the Eötvös Loránd University, Central European University and Budapest University of Technology and Economics. Budapest is the combination of the city names Buda and Pest, One of the first documented occurrences of the combined name Buda-Pest was in 1831 in the book Világ, written by Count István Széchenyi. The origins of the names Buda and Pest are obscure, according to chronicles from the Middle Ages, the name Buda comes from the name of its founder, Bleda, brother of the Hunnic ruler Attila. The theory that Buda was named after a person is also supported by modern scholars, an alternative explanation suggests that Buda derives from the Slavic word вода, voda, a translation of the Latin name Aquincum, which was the main Roman settlement in the region. There are also theories about the origin of the name Pest. One of the states that the word Pest comes from the Roman times. According to another theory, Pest originates from the Slavic word for cave, or oven, the first settlement on the territory of Budapest was built by Celts before 1 AD
26.
Szeged
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Szeged is the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat of Csongrád county. The University of Szeged is one of the most distinguished universities in Hungary, the famous Szeged Open Air Festival is one of the main attractions, held every summer and celebrated as the Day of the City on May 21. The name Szeged might come from an old Hungarian word for corner, others say it derives from the Hungarian word sziget which means island. Others still contend that szeg means dark blond – a reference to the color of the water where the rivers Tisza, Szeged and its area have been inhabited since ancient times. Ptolemy mentions the oldest known name of the city, Partiscum and it is possible that Attila, king of the Huns had his seat somewhere in this area. The name Szeged was first mentioned in 1183, in a document of King Béla III, today only one corner of the castle still remains standing. During the Mongol invasion the town was destroyed and its inhabitants fled to the nearby swamps, King Sigismund of Luxembourg had a wall built around the town. Szeged was raised to free royal town status in 1498, Szeged was first pillaged by the Turkish army on 28 September 1526, but was occupied only in 1543, and became an administrative centre of the Ottomans. The town was a sanjak centre first in Budin Eyaleti, after in Eğri Eyaleti, the town was freed from Turkish rule on 23 October 1686, and regained the free royal town status in 1715. In 1719, Szeged received its coat of arms from Charles III, during the next several years, Szeged grew and prospered. Piarist monks arrived in Szeged in 1719 and opened a new school in 1721. Szeged also held lectures and theatrical plays. These years brought not only prosperity but also enlightenment, between 1728 and 1744 witch trials were frequent in the town, with the Szeged witch trials of 1728-29 perhaps being the largest. In 1720, the population of the city totalled 193 households, Szeged is known as the home of paprika, a spice made from dried, powdered capsicum fruits. Paprika arrived in Hungary in the half of the 16th century as an ornamental plant. About 100 years later the plant was cultivated as an herb, Szeged is also famous for their szekelygulyas, a goulash made with pork, sauerkraut and sour cream. And also famous for their halászlé, fish made of carp. The citizens of Szeged played an important part in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, lajos Kossuth delivered his famous speech here
27.
Danube
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The Danube is Europes second-longest river, after the Volga River, and also the longest river in the European Union region. It is located in Central and Eastern Europe, the Danube was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire, and today flows through 10 countries, more than any other river in the world. Its drainage basin extends into nine more countries, the Latin name Dānuvius is one of a number of Old European river names derived from a Proto-Indo-European *dānu. Other river names from the root include the Dunajec, Dzvina/Daugava, Don, Donets, Dnieper, Dniestr. In Rigvedic Sanskrit, dānu means fluid, drop, in Avestan, in the Rigveda, Dānu once appears as the mother of Vrtra. Known to the ancient Greeks as the Istros a borrowing from a Daco-Thracian name meaning strong, in Latin, the Danube was variously known as Danubius, Danuvius or as Ister. The Dacian/Thracian name was Donaris for the upper Danube and Istros for the lower Danube, the Thraco-Phrygian name was Matoas, the bringer of luck. The Latin name is masculine, as are all its Slavic names, the German Donau is feminine, as it has been re-interpreted as containing the suffix -ouwe wetland. Classified as a waterway, it originates in the town of Donaueschingen, in the Black Forest of Germany, at the confluence of the rivers Brigach. The Danube then flows southeast for about 2,800 km, passing through four capital cities before emptying into the Black Sea via the Danube Delta in Romania and its drainage basin extends into nine more. The highest point of the basin is the summit of Piz Bernina at the Italy–Switzerland border. The land drained by the Danube extends into other countries. Many Danubian tributaries are important rivers in their own right, navigable by barges, from its source to its outlet into the Black Sea, its main tributaries are, The Danube flows through many cities, including four national capitals, more than any other river in the world. Danube remains a mountain river until Passau, with average bottom gradient 0. 0012%. Middle Section, From Devín Gate to Iron Gate, at the border of Serbia and Romania, the riverbed widens and the average bottom gradient becomes only 0. 00006%. Lower Section, From Iron Gate to Sulina, with average gradient as little as 0. 00003%, about 60 of its tributaries are also navigable. In 1994 the Danube was declared one of ten Pan-European transport corridors, routes in Central, the amount of goods transported on the Danube increased to about 100 million tons in 1987. In 1999, transport on the river was difficult by the NATO bombing of three bridges in Serbia during the Kosovo War
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Germany
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Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
29.
Drava
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The Drava or Drave is a river in southern Central Europe. With a length of 749 kilometres, it is the fourth longest tributary of the Danube and its source is near the market town of Innichen, in the Puster Valley of South Tyrol, Italy. The river flows eastwards through East Tirol and Carinthia in Austria into the Styria region of Slovenia and it then turns southeast, passing through Croatia and forming most of the border between Croatia and Hungary, before it joins the Danube near Osijek. In ancient times the river was known as Latin, Dravus, cf. Sanskrit, द्रवति, dravati, the name is most likely of Celtic or Illyrian origin. The river gives its name to the species of tourmaline. The Drava and the Spöl are the two rivers originating in Italy that belong to the Danube drainage basin. The Drava sources are located at the divide between the market town of Innichen and neighbouring Toblach in the west, where the Rienz river rises. The river flows eastwards and after a few kilometres reaches the border with East Tyrol in Austria and it flows through Lienz and into Carinthia at Oberdrauburg. Downstream of Villach, it runs along the slopes of the Karawanks to Ferlach. The Drava passes into Slovenia at Dravograd, from where it runs for 142 kilometres via Vuzenica, Muta, Ruše, and Maribor to Ptuj, the river then passes Varaždin, Belišće and Osijek in Croatia, and Barcs in Hungary. It is navigable for about 90 kilometres from Čađavica in Croatia to its mouth, the hydrological parameters of Drava are regularly monitored in Croatia at Botovo, Terezino Polje, Donji Miholjac and Osijek. Currently, there are 22 hydroelectric power plants on the Drava
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Szamos
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The Someș, located in northwestern Romania, is a left tributary of the Tisza in Hungary. It has a length of 415 km, of which 50 km are in Hungary, the Someș is the fifth river as length and debit in Romania. The hydrographic basin forms by the confluence at Mica, a commune about 4 km upstream of Dej, of Someșul Mare, Someșul Mic originates in the Apuseni Mountains, and Someșul Mare springs from the Rodna Mountains. Someșul Mare has a length of 130 km and an area of 5,033 km2, for the entire basin of Someș, the asymmetry on left becomes pronounced between Dej and Ardusat to change in the opposite direction after receiving Lăpuș River on the right side. The valley of Someșul Mare has much auriferous alluvium that, until the early 20th century, were brought to the surface using traditional tools, specialists say that in the Someșul Mare were found grains of gold of 21 carats. The Someș drains a basin of 18,146 km2, of which 15,740 km2 in Romania and its basin comprises 403 rivers with a total length of 5,528 km, or 7% of the total length of the country. Basin area represents 6. 6% of the area and 71% of the area of Someș–Tisza hydrographic basin. To prevent flooding, the Someș is dammed in the lower course, in the spring of 1970, due to heavy rains, the Someș flooded part of Satu Mare and surrounding plains. The debit exceeded 3,300 m3/s compared to that years average of 210 m3/s
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Freshwater
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Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. The term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water although it does include mineral-rich waters such as chalybeate springs, the term sweet water has been used to describe fresh water in contrast to salt water. The term fresh water does not have the meaning as potable water. Much of the fresh water and ground water is unsuitable for drinking without some form of purification because of the presence of chemical or biological contaminants. It may also be in contact with the underlying underground water. The majority of water on Earth is in ice caps. The source of almost all water is precipitation from the atmosphere, in the form of mist, rain. Fresh water falling as mist, rain or snow contains materials dissolved from the atmosphere and material from the sea, in some cases this acid rain results in pollution of lakes and rivers. In coastal areas fresh water may contain significant concentrations of salts derived from the sea if windy conditions have lifted drops of seawater into the rain-bearing clouds. This can give rise to elevated concentrations of sodium, chloride, magnesium, significant quantities of iron may be transported in this way including the well-documented transfer of iron-rich rainfall falling in Brazil derived from sand-storms in the Sahara in north Africa. Water is an issue for the survival of all living organisms. Some can use water but many organisms including the great majority of higher plants. Out of all the water on Earth, saline water in oceans, seas and saline groundwater make up about 97% of it. Freshwater lakes contain about 87% of this surface water, including 29% in the African Great Lakes, 20% in Lake Baikal in Russia, 21% in the North American Great Lakes. Swamps have most of the balance only a small amount in rivers. In areas with no water on the ground surface, fresh water derived from precipitation may, because of its lower density. Most of the fresh water is frozen in ice sheets. Many areas suffer from lack of distribution of water, such as deserts
32.
Lake Velence
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Lake Velence is the third largest lake in Hungary. It is a holiday destination among Hungarians. The lake has an area of 26 km2, one third of which is covered by the common reed. Because of the climate of the area and the shallowness of the lake, it is one of the warmest lakes in Europe. Lake Velence is located in Fejér county, close to the M7 motorway between Budapest and Székesfehérvár, at the foot of the Velence Mountains, the lake is a bird reserve. hu
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Neusiedler See
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Lake Neusiedl or Fertő is the largest endorheic lake in Central Europe, straddling the Austrian–Hungarian border. The lake covers 315 km2, of which 240 km2 is on the Austrian side and 75 km2 on the Hungarian side, the lakes drainage basin has an area of about 1,120 km3. From north to south, the lake is about 36 km long, on average, the lakes surface is 115.45 m above the Adriatic Sea and the lake is no more than 1.8 m deep. In the past, rainfall and aridity caused significant floods and significant decreases in the lakes level, stratigraphy shows that the lake bed has totally dried up at least 100 times since its formation. Parts of the bed were claimed for agriculture, wheat. However, in 1871 the lake began to return and by the spring of 1876 it had already reassumed its usual size, the last vanishing took place during the summer of 1949 when the northern part of the lake bed fell dry for a few weeks. On earlier occasions the lake was referred to as a swamp. Two records dated to 1318 and 1324, respectively mention a river, today the water level is controlled by a sluice on Hungarian territory near Fertőújlak, and bilateral issues are dealt with by the Austro-Hungarian water commission which was established in 1956. However, comparatively minor fluctuations of the lakes continue to occur. In 1965 the lake gained 100 million cubic metres of water within a single month, the water level decreased to a similar extent, by 30 cm within one year as a result of the drought of 2003. However, the lake remains sensitive to changes in its equilibrium, originally, the lake was thus closely connected to the Danube and the Rába river systems. Most of the lake is surrounded by reeds which serve as a habitat for wildlife and are harvested in winter as soon as the ice is solid enough and this serves a double purpose, one ecological and one economic. During the summer months, there are occasional reed fires, as dry reed is easily flammable, water quality is determined by temperature, wind, and by the amount of salt and mud emanating with the ground water from the sediments. Several plans for dams and other construction works which would have destroyed the lake and its biotopes were discussed during the first half of the 20th century. In 1971 plans for a bridge across the Austrian part of the lake were thwarted by environmentalists, in 1993 the National Park Neusiedler See-Seewinkel gained international acceptance as an IUCN Category II preserve. In 2001 the national parks in Austria and Fertő-Hanság in Hungary were together accepted as a World Heritage Site, Lake Neusiedl See and its surrounding areas in Austria also enjoy protection through the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. Traces of human settlement around Lake Neusiedl go back to the neolithic period, the area became densely populated from the 7th century BC onward, initially by people of the Hallstatt culture and remained so throughout Roman times. In 454 Theodoric the Great, the preeminent king of the Ostrogoths, was born here, near Fertőrákos there are two Roman villas and a 3rd-century Mithras temple open to visitors
34.
Lake Tisza
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Lake Tisza, also known as Kisköre Reservoir, is the largest artificial lake in Hungary. It is located at the edge of Heves county, next to counties Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén, Hajdú-Bihar. As part of the ongoing Tisza River flood control project, the Tisza Dam was built in 1973 and its filling was finished in the 1990s, resulting a 127 km² lake. The lake is 27 km in length, with a depth of 1.3 m. Following the reservoirs completion, Hungarians began to flock to the site for holidays, since it compared favorably with the crowded and expensive Lake Balaton, as a result, tourist infrastructure has been developed on the reservoir—renamed Lake Tisza—and the government has designated it an official tourism destination. The lake has a new local ecology with a diversity of birds, plants, Lake Tisza Ecocentre in Poroszló was erected to collect and display the nature and wildlife of the Tisza River valley and Lake Tisza. It was opened to the public on 27 April 2012, Webpage of the lake Webpage of Lake Tisza Ecocentre Lake Tisza at funiq. hu
35.
Transdanubia
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Transdanubia is a traditional region of Hungary. Transdanubia can also refer to the 21st and 22nd districts of Vienna, the borders of Transdanubia are the Danube River, the Drava and Mura rivers, and the foothills of the Alps roughly along the border between Hungary and Austria. Transdanubia comprises the counties of Győr-Moson-Sopron, Komárom-Esztergom, Fejér, Veszprém, Vas, Zala, Somogy, Tolna, Baranya and this article deals with Transdanubia in this geographical meaning. Before the Treaty of Trianon in 1920 the present-day regions of Burgenland, the three villages of Rusovce, Jarovce and Čunovo also belonged to Transdanubia before the Paris Peace Treaty in 1947. Transdanubia is essentially a Hungarian geographical concept so these ceased to be parts of it when they were annexed by neighbouring countries. Transdanubia is a NUTS territorial unit in the European Union, consisting of Central Transdanubia, Western Transdanubia, Pest county and Budapest belong to the region of Central Hungary. It has an area of 37,000 km2 and a population of around 3.1 million, the territory of the region is 38,000 km², and it comprises almost half of the whole territory of Hungary. The terrain is varied with gentle hills, valleys, basins, mountains and plains. The main geographical formations are the Transdanubian Mountains, the half of the Little Alföld, the Alpokalja, the Transdanubian Hills. The main rivers are the Danube, Drava, Rába, Zala, in the middle of Transdanubia lies the biggest freshwater lake of Central Europe, the Lake Balaton. Other importants lakes are the Lake Velence and the Lake Fertő, historically the counties of Transdanubia were Moson, Győr, Sopron, Vas, Zala, Veszprém, Fejér, Komárom, Esztergom, Somogy, Tolna and Baranya. They comprised the so called Districtus Trans-Danubianus from the beginnings of the 18th century, the boundaries of these counties, established by Stephen I of Hungary remained unchanged for almost 900 years until 1920. Transdanubia has been populated since the Stone Age, between 10 BCE and 434 CE, it was part of the Roman Empire. With some present-day Austrian and Croatian territories, it comprised the Province of Pannonia, in the Age of Migrations it was occupied by the Huns, Ostrogoths, Lombards, Gepids, Avars, Franks and the Slavic peoples. In 900 Pannonia was occupied by the Magyars and after 1000 became part of the Kingdom of Hungary, Transdanubia has been one of the most important regions of Hungary since the 11th century. Esztergom has been the capital of the country since 1001 until today. Other important medieval cities were Veszprém, Pécs, Győr and Sopron, after the devastating Mongol invasion new castles were built, and King Béla IV of Hungary established a new royal capital at Buda, next to the Danube. The regions rich heritage is seen everywhere from the little village churches to the old castles, monasteries
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Alps
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The mountains were formed over tens of millions of years as the African and Eurasian tectonic plates collided. Extreme shortening caused by the event resulted in marine sedimentary rocks rising by thrusting and folding into high mountain peaks such as Mont Blanc, Mont Blanc spans the French–Italian border, and at 4,810 m is the highest mountain in the Alps. The Alpine region area contains about a hundred peaks higher than 4000 metres, the altitude and size of the range affects the climate in Europe, in the mountains precipitation levels vary greatly and climatic conditions consist of distinct zones. Wildlife such as live in the higher peaks to elevations of 3,400 m. Evidence of human habitation in the Alps goes back to the Palaeolithic era, a mummified man, determined to be 5,000 years old, was discovered on a glacier at the Austrian–Italian border in 1991. By the 6th century BC, the Celtic La Tène culture was well established, Hannibal famously crossed the Alps with a herd of elephants, and the Romans had settlements in the region. In 1800 Napoleon crossed one of the passes with an army of 40,000. The 18th and 19th centuries saw an influx of naturalists, writers, in World War II, Adolf Hitler kept a base of operation in the Bavarian Alps throughout the war. The Alpine region has a cultural identity. The Winter Olympic Games have been hosted in the Swiss, French, at present, the region is home to 14 million people and has 120 million annual visitors. The English word Alps derives from the Latin Alpes, maurus Servius Honoratus, an ancient commentator of Virgil, says in his commentary that all high mountains are called Alpes by Celts. The term may be common to Italo-Celtic, because the Celtic languages have terms for high mountains derived from alp and this may be consistent with the theory that in Greek Alpes is a name of non-Indo-European origin. According to the Old English Dictionary, the Latin Alpes might possibly derive from a pre-Indo-European word *alb hill, Albania, a name not native to the region known as the country of Albania, has been used as a name for a number of mountainous areas across Europe. In Roman times, Albania was a name for the eastern Caucasus, in modern languages the term alp, alm, albe or alpe refers to a grazing pastures in the alpine regions below the glaciers, not the peaks. An alp refers to a mountain pasture where cows are taken to be grazed during the summer months and where hay barns can be found. The Alps are a crescent shaped geographic feature of central Europe that ranges in a 800 km arc from east to west and is 200 km in width, the mean height of the mountain peaks is 2.5 km. The range stretches from the Mediterranean Sea north above the Po basin, extending through France from Grenoble, the range continues onward toward Vienna, Austria, and east to the Adriatic Sea and Slovenia. To the south it dips into northern Italy and to the north extends to the border of Bavaria in Germany
37.
North Hungarian Mountains
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This page is about the Hungarian geographical region, called North Hungarian Mountains. For the similar region in Slovakia, see Mátra-Slanec Area, the North Hungarian Mountains is the northern, mountainous part of Hungary. It forms a unity with the Mátra-Slanec Area, the adjacent parts of Slovakia. It is a separate area within the Western Carpathians. The mountains run along in Northeast Hungary, and along the parts of the Hungarian-Slovak border in a broad band from the Danube Bend to the town of Prešov. The Börzsöny range is about 600 km² in area, and mainly of volcanic origin, the highest peak is the Csóványos. The next range towards the east is the Cserhát, with the geological composition as the Börzsöny. Erosion here was more severe, these are mere hills and comprise the lowest part of the North Hungarian Mountains, the highest point is the Naszály. Kékes, the countrys highest peak at 1014 metres, is located in the next range, however, the ranges average height is only 600 metres, less than that of the neighbouring Bükk. Mátra is also of volcanic origin, the Bükk is a limestone range, it has the highest average height in Hungary. It is rich in caves, some of which were inhabited in ancient times, hungarys most popular cave, the Baradla, is located there. The Zemplén Mountains are again of volcanic origin, the high quality favours viticulture
38.
Great Hungarian Plain
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It is the largest part of the Pannonian Plain. Its boundaries are the Carpathians in the north and east, the Transdanubian Mountains and Croatian mountains in the southwest and its territory is 52,000 km² within Hungary, which includes approximately 56% of the total. The highest point of the plain is Hoportyó, and the lowest point is the Tisza River, the terrain ranges from flat to rolling plains. The most important Hungarian writers inspired by and associated with the plain are Ferenc Móra and Zsigmond Móricz, as well as the poets Sándor Petőfi, the most important river of the plain is Tisza. The notable cities and towns with medicinal baths are Berekfürdő, Cserkeszőlő, Gyula, Hajdúszoboszló, Szentes, Pannonian plain in Serbia is mostly divided into 3 large geographical areas, Bačka, Banat and Srem, most of which are located in the Vojvodina province. The term is used in Croatia, and is usually associated with the geography of Hungary. Parts of Pannonian Croatia can be considered an extension of Alföld, particularly eastern Slavonia, part of the plain located in Slovakia is known as Eastern Slovak Lowland. Part of the located in Ukraine is known as Transcarpathian Lowland. In Romania, the plain includes various regions like Banat and Crişana, here, its name is Câmpia de Vest. During the prehistoric era, the Great Hungarian Plain was a place of cultural and technological changes and it is a region of great archaeological importance to major European cultural transitions. Agriculture began in the Great Hungarian Plain with the Early Neolithic Körös culture, followed 5.500 B. C. E. by the Linear Pottery culture which later became the dominant agricultural culture of Europe. The LBK was followed by the Lengyel culture in the Late Neolithic 5000-3400 BC, during the Early Bronze Age, the growing demand for metal ores in Europe resulted in the new pan-European and intercontinental trade networks. In 2014, a study of DNA from burials in the Great Hungarian Plain was published. The 5, 000-year record indicated significant genomic shifts at the beginning of the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages, the earliest Neolithic genome was similar to other European hunter-gatherers and surprisingly there was no evidence of lactase persistence at that period. The most recent samples, from the Iron Age, showed an eastern genomic influence contemporary with introduced Steppe burial rites, there was also a transition towards lighter pigmentation
39.
Little Hungarian Plain
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The Little Hungarian Plain or Little Alföld is a plain of approximately 8,000 km² in northwestern Hungary, south-western Slovakia, and eastern Austria. It is a part of the Pannonian plain which covers most parts of Hungary and its borders are the Carpathians on the north, the Bakony-Vértes Hills in the south, the Gerecse Hills in the east, and the Leitha Mountains and the foothills of the Alps in the west. In Hungary, it includes most of Győr-Moson-Sopron and Vas counties, the plain is roughly cut in half by the Danube which is split up into many arms between Bratislava and Komárno, forming large islands. Its main tributaries are the Váh, the Rába, the Rábca, smaller microregions of the Little Alföld are Hanság, Seewinkel, Neusiedl Basin, Rábaköz, Szigetköz, Marcali Basin, Moson Plain, Komárom-Esztergom Plain and Žitný ostrov. The plain has been an important area of agriculture since the Neolithic Age, the southern part of it belonged to the Roman province of Pannonia between the 1st and 5th centuries and later was inhabited by Germans and Slavic people and since about 900 also by Hungarians. Since about 1000, the became part of the Kingdom of Hungary. After World War I the Little Alföld was divided between Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Austria, in the 1990s Slovakia built a large dam and power plant at Gabčíkovo. There are also groups of Croats in the tri-state border region. Important cities in the region are Győr, Komárom, Komárno, Dunajská Streda, Nové Zámky, and Mosonmagyaróvár
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Racka
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The Racka is a breed of sheep known for its unusual spiral-shaped horns. These unique appendages are unlike any other domestic sheep horns, the smallest standard length is 20 in for rams and 12–15 in for ewes. Originating in Hungary, the Racka has existed since at least the 1800 and it is a hardy, multi-purpose breed used for milking, wool and meat. Their wool is long and coarse, and appears in two types, a cream wool with light brown faces and legs, and a black variation. Ewes weigh around 88 lb, and rams 132 lb, the breeds unique appearance and quiet disposition would make it a desirable animal for hobby situations. This breed is unique with both sexes possessing long spiral shaped horns, the cork-screw horns protrude almost straight upward from the top of the head. There are two color patterns with the Racka. The most common color is brown wool covering the heads and legs with the fiber varying in color dark brown to light brown. Individuals can also be solid black, the wool tips on the black-colored sheep fades to a reddish black with exposure to sunlight and as they get older, the points of the fiber turns gray. The fiber diameter varies within this breed and generally is found to be 12 to 40 micrometres with a yield of 38% to 65%, staple length is approximately 30 cm. Fleece weight must be at least 3 kg for rams, the softness and crimp of the wool would indicate its interest with hand spinners. The minimum acceptable mature body weight for ewes is 40 kg, the rams average 72 cm in height
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Zala County
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Zala is an administrative county in south-western Hungary. It is named after the Zala River and it shares borders with Croatia and Slovenia and the Hungarian counties Vas, Veszprém and Somogy. The capital of Zala county is Zalaegerszeg and its area is 3,784 square kilometres. Lake Balaton lies partly in the county, in the 10th century, the Hungarian Nyék tribe occupied the region around Lake Balaton. Their occupation was mainly in the areas known today as Zala, parts of the western territory of the former county of Zala are now part of Slovenia. In 1919 it was part of the state of the Republic of Prekmurje. In 2015, it had a population of 277,290, besides the Hungarian majority, the main minorities are the Roma, Croats and Germans. Total population,282,179 Ethnic groups, Identified themselves,255069 persons, Hungarians,241408 Gypsies,6981 Croats,3248 Others,38,000 persons in Zala County did not declare their ethnic group at the 2011 census. Religious adherence in the county according to 2011 census, Catholic –62. 8%, Reformed –2. 5%, Evangelical –1. 4%, other religions –0. 8%, Non-religious –8. 2%, Atheism –0. 8%, Undeclared –23. 5%. Official site in Hungarian and German Zalai Hírlap - The county portal
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Puszta
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The Pannonian Steppe is a variety of grassland ecosystems found in the Pannonian Basin. The Pannonian Steppe is found in modern-day Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, in Hungary it is known as Puszta. The Puszta is a grassland biome on the Great Hungarian Plain around the River Tisza in the part of Hungary as well as on the western part of Hungary. The Hungarian puszta is an exclave of the Eurasian Steppe and it covers a total area of ca.50,000 km². The word Puszta means plains, a vast wilderness of shrubs, the name comes from an adjective of the same form, meaning waste, barren, bare. Puszta is ultimately a Slavic loanword in Hungarian, landscape is widely cultivated, the original Puszta landscape now being found only in a few places, for example in Hortobágy National Park. 300 species of birds are found here, the Čenkovská steppe near Mužla is the only steppe National nature reserve in Slovakia. The protected area declared in 1951 covers a total of 83 hectares, two of the biomes are Devínska Kobyla and the Slovak Karst. The Pannonian steppe in Austria is present in Burgenland mainly around Lake Neusiedl, central Europe Pannonian Basin Great Hungarian Plain Eurasian Steppe Meleckova,2009, Cenkovska step National Park Hortobágy - The Puszta
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Alpokalja
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Alpokalja is a geographic region in Western Hungary. Its highest point in Hungary is Írott-kő, with 882 metres, although there are several lower mountains, the majority of the territory is hilly. Fir forests are characteristic to the region, alpokalja contains two major, but not very extensive mountain range, the Kőszeg Mountains and the Sopron Mountains. The Vas Hills and Balfi Hills are also considered part of the territory
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Mecsek
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Mecsek is a mountain range in southern Hungary. It is situated in the Baranya region, in the north of the city of Pécs, the Hungarian toponym Mecsek derives from the sobriquet version of the name Mihály. Originally applied only to the adjacent to Pécs, the name Mecsek was first mentioned in 16th century. The mountains cover an area of approximately 500 km², the highest peak in the mountain range is Zengő, which has an elevation of 682 metres. The Mecsek Hills consist of plateau-like block mountains of a broken and its basis is crystalline rock of variscian origin surmounted by Triassic and Jurassic limestone and dolomite and Tertiary formations that form the main block. The mountains are divided by a fault running NW to SE. The eastern part consist mainly of high ridges of sedimentary rock, the west has extensive limestone plateaux and areas dominated by sandstones of the Permian-Triassic period. There are important karst phenomena to be found on the limestone plateaux, Mecsek is rich in minerals compared to other territories of Hungary. The climate is mixed and represents elements of the mediterranean and continental climate, the territory gives home to 20-30 plant species which are unknown in other parts of the Carpathian Basin. The forested hills also offered protection against the possible enemies. The first significant political centre of the region was formed on the top of Jakab-hegy during the Iron Age which was captured and developed into an oppidum by the Celts in the 2nd century BC. Throughout the Hungarian Middle Ages the valleys of the Mecsek became more densely populated, the castles of Szászvár, Márévár and Kantavár were built in the era as residencies of nobles or the Church. The Order of Saint Paul the First Hermit partially stemmed from the communities of the Mecsek. The significant Pécsvárad Abbey also controlled substantial areas in the region, due to the Ottoman occupation of Hungary and the following wars, raids and over-taxation the population growth stagnated, however the everyday and religious life of the locals didnt change much. The region was protected by its remoteness, after the Treaty of Karlowitz, the local nobles invited German settlers to the region. The territories east of Mecsek became a part of the German ethnic island commonly referred to as Swabian Turkey, significant amounts of black coal were discovered in the 19th century, the strategic resource greatly advanced the industrialization of the region. Mines were opened in Pécs, Szászvár and Komló which were all connected to the Hungarian economy with railways. A huge part of the German-speaking population of the area was expelled from Hungary after World War II, the socialist Hungary further developed the coal mines of Pécs and Komló
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Pilis
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Pilis is a town in Pest County, Hungary. The town was inhabited in prehistoric times, but it was abandoned at the end of the Roman rule, Pilis was then first mentioned in 1326. It was destroyed during the Ottoman rule in the 16th century, and was reestablished only in 1711, by János Beleznay and he brought Slovak settlers from Upper Hungary, and built a palace in 1717 for himself and his family. The Beleznay family sold the town and its surroundings in the 19th century to the Nyári family, there are various explanations for the name of the village. On the basis of a few documents, it is believed that Pylis was the name of a Hungarian family arriving in the region during the Magyar Conquest. The name „Pilis”, however, may allude to the typical hairstyle of monks or to the arid land without vegetation. Pál Csernai, football player and manager Tibor Csernai, football player and brother of Pál Pilis. hu, the towns official homepage History of Pilis in English at the official homepage Street map
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Tokaji
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Tokaji or Tokay is the name of the wines from the Tokaj wine region in Hungary or the adjoining Tokaj wine region in Slovakia. This region is noted for its wines made from grapes affected by noble rot. The nectar coming from the grapes of Tokaj is also mentioned in the anthem of Hungary. The Slovak wine region of Tokaj may use the Tokajský/-á/-é label if they apply the Hungarian quality control regulation and this area used to be part of the greater Tokaj-Hegyalja region within the Kingdom of Hungary, but was divided between Hungary and Czechoslovakia after the Treaty of Trianon. Nevertheless, a range of different types and styles of wines are produced in the region, ranging from dry whites to the Eszencia. The area where Tokaji wine is grown is a small plateau,457 metres above sea level. The soil is of volcanic origin, with concentrations of iron. The location of the region has a climate, beneficial to this particular viniculture. Winters are bitterly cold and windy, spring tends to be cool and dry, usually, autumn brings rain early on, followed by an extended Indian summer, allowing a very long ripening period. The Furmint grapes begin maturation with thick skins, but as they ripen the skins become thinner and this allows the sun to penetrate the grape and evaporate much of the liquid inside, producing a higher concentration of sugar. Other types of grapes mature to the point of bursting, however, unlike most other grapes and this also has the effect of concentrating the grapes natural sugars. The grapes are left on the vine long enough to develop the noble rot mold, grapes then are harvested, sometimes as late as December. Typical yearly production in the runs to a relatively small 10,028,000 litres. Dry Wines, The fine quality dry Tokaji Furmint is a new development in the region. For centuries the main product of the area was the sweet wine, the dry Furmint got into the attention of wine connoisseurs and experts of the world when the Úrágya 2000 single vineyard selection had been introduced by István Szepsy. The wine expressed great minerality, complexity and structure, which has experienced only in the finest white wines of historic regions like Burgundy or the Mosel before. The aging potential was also promising, in 2003 more producers of Mád village produced single vineyard selected dry Furmint wines with great success. These wines, once referred to as common, ordinárium, are now named after their respective grape varieties, Tokaji Furmint, Tokaji Hárslevelű, Tokaji Sárgamuskotály, Szamorodni, This type of wine was initially known as főbor, but from the 1820s Polish merchants popularised the name samorodny
Austria: 366 km (227 mi), 
Slovakia: 679 km (422 mi), 
Ukraine: 103 km (64 mi), 
Romania: 443 km (275 mi), 
Serbia: 151 km (94 mi), 
Croatia: 329 km (204 mi) and 
Slovenia: 102 km (63 mi)
This article incorporates public domain material from the Library of Congress Country Studies website http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/.
This article incorporates 
