Natural conditions and resources of Eastern Europe. The nature of Eastern Europe and its features'

VO Klyuchevsky called nature "a force that holds the cradle of every nation in its hands." He believed that the characteristic geographical feature of Russia is that its center is located in Europe and therefore it is a European power, but Eastern Europe is very different from Western and in some respects closer to Asia than to Western Europe. VO Klyuchevsky wrote: "Historically, Russia, of course, is not Asia, but geographically, it is not exactly Europe."

Indeed, the main geographic characteristics of the nature of Eastern Europe contrasts sharply with its western part. If in the West the shape of the Earth's surface is distinguished by an impressive variety, in the East it is no less impressive in its uniformity. To complete the geographical similarity with Asia, the East European Plain in the south turns into a boundless shallow and treeless steppe, which is absolutely similar to the steppes of inner Asia and constitutes their direct, continuous continuation. According to V.O.Klyuchevsky, "it is like an Asian wedge pushed into the European continent and is closely connected with Asia historically and climatically."

According to the peculiarities of the climate, the Eastern European Plain is divided by physical geography into four climatic zones: Arctic, Northern, Middle and Southern. The Arctic belt is a tundra covered with swamps, mosses and lichens. She is unable to provide an organized human life and is unsuitable for agriculture. To the south of the tundra lies a vast, largest forest in the world. It covers two climatic zones (North and Middle) and partly invades the South (forest-steppe). The northern (Taiga) belt is a zone of coniferous taiga with podzolic soils, unsuitable (unfavorable) for agriculture. The middle (Forest) belt is a territory occupied by mixed deciduous-dark coniferous forests, in the southern part passing into the forest-steppe. It has mostly gray forest soils, favorable for agriculture, but requiring a lot of work in preparing the soil for agricultural cultivation (deforestation, uprooting). In the southern part of this belt (in the forest-steppe) there are fertile forest chernozems, convenient for agriculture. There is a layer of deep and powerful chernozem in a narrow strip. The southern (Steppe) belt has the deepest and most powerful layer of chernozem and is extremely favorable for agriculture, but completely treeless. The southeastern corner of the Russian Plain and the northern coast of the Caspian Sea are practically desert, and their soils (salt marshes and sandstones) are unsuitable for agriculture.

The climate in Eastern Europe has a pronounced continental character. Winter temperatures drop sharply as you move eastward. The peculiarity of the climate in Russia is that its coldest regions lie not in the most northern, but in the most eastern regions. For example, Verkhoyansk in Yakutia (the “cold pole”) is located at the same latitude as the ice-free Norwegian port of Narvik. Summer temperatures are more uniform. But they are not an indicator of the amount of average annual heat. Rather high temperatures in the northern regions drop rapidly, the summer there is much shorter than in the southern regions or at the same latitude in Western Europe.

Continentality is also characterized by large temperature drops throughout the year. Such temperature drops as in Eastern Europe, its western part does not know. If in Eastern Europe the differences in summer (July) and winter (January) temperatures range from 37 ° (Yekaterinburg) to 26 ° (Arkhangelsk, St. Petersburg, Kiev), then in Western Europe in most places the difference does not exceed 22 °. On average, the temperature drop in Eastern Europe is 30.8 o, and in the territory of Western Europe comparable in latitudes - only 19.3 o (that is, 1.5 times less).

The annual distribution of precipitation is no less typical in terms of unfavorableness for agriculture. Precipitation differs from the pattern of vegetation and soil. They are most abundant where the soil is poorest. At the same time, a feature of precipitation in Russia is that it usually rains most heavily in the second half of summer. In Western Europe, the annual distribution of precipitation is more even.

A characteristic feature of Eastern Europe is the extremely short period suitable for sowing and harvesting: from 4 months a year in the northwest (Petersburg, Novgorod) to 5.5 months in the center (Moscow) and no more than 6 months in the south (steppe regions ). In Western Europe, this period is 8-9 months. On average, in Russia the warm period (at least 10 o C) is 4-5 months, in Western European countries it is 1.5-2 times higher.

Insufficiently favorable (mainly) conditions for agriculture, poor soils, unreliable rainfall and a short period of field work are the result of the low yield of grain crops in Russia. The minimum yield at which it makes some sense to engage in arable farming is "sam-three" (that is, 1: 3).

It should be noted that the yield in "sam-three", in principle, is quite enough to feed. As shown by studies of farmers in recent years, the prosperity (grain) of the Russian peasant is beyond doubt. But there was only enough grain for food. Moreover, all family members must be employed in agricultural production. Thus, the natural and climatic conditions prevented the Russian farmer from producing a sufficiently large surplus of grain. And this hindered the development of regional specialization (formalization of the social division of labor), as well as the organization of exchange, commodity-money relations, intensive economic ties both within the country and outside it.

At the same time, one cannot but mention an extremely favorable factor that undoubtedly played a certain role in the peculiarities of the country's historical development. This is a large number of rivers with branched basins and relatively narrow watersheds. Russia has the largest number of the world's longest rivers with large basins.

In Europe, of the 13 longest rivers, eight flow in its eastern part; in Asia, out of the 10 longest rivers, five were located on the territory of the Russian Empire (within its borders at the beginning of the 20th century). In the European part, these are the Volga, Ural, Dnieper, Don, Pechora, Dniester, North. Dvina with Sukhona, Zap. Dvina. In Asia - Ob with Irtysh, Amur with Argun, Lena, Yenisei, Syrdarya with Naryn. The total length of rivers in the Eastern part of Europe in comparison with the whole of Europe is 54.4%; in the Asian part of Russia in comparison with the whole of Asia - 42.5%.

No less characteristic figures are obtained when comparing the areas of river basins. In Europe, the total basin of the first 13 rivers is 4862 sq. km; of these, the Eastern part accounts for 3362 sq. km (i.e. 69.2%). In Asia, the total basin of the first 10 rivers is 15150 sq. km; of these, Russian rivers account for 10,134 sq. km (i.e. 66.9%).

Watersheds play an important role in the development of the economy. There are several of them in Eastern Europe: Valdai Upland, Northern Uvaly, Ural Mountains. The Valdai Upland is the central watershed of the East European Plain. The rivers flowing in different directions originate from here: the Western Dvina (Daugava) - to the west into the Baltic Sea (Gulf of Riga), the Dnieper - to the south to the Black Sea, Don - to the south to the Sea of ​​Azov, the Volga - to the southeast to the Caspian sea. In the Northern Uvals (foothills of the Northern Urals) there are the sources of Vychegda - the Northern Dvina (flows into the White Sea), Kama (flows into the Volga), Vyatka (flows into the Kama). On the western slope of the Ural ridge, rivers originate: Pechora (flows into the Barents Sea), Chusovaya and Belaya (flows into the Kama), Ural (flows into the Caspian Sea). A large number of rivers flow from the eastern slope of the Ural ridge, the most significant of which is the Tura (flows into the Tobol, into the Irtysh).

Without much work and special swimming facilities, it was possible with the river. Chusovaya (tributary of the Kama), coming close to the source of the Tura, penetrate into the Ob basin of Western Siberia. In turn, the Ob basin is adjacent to the Yenisei basin, and the latter is adjacent to the Lensky and Amur basins. And there it is “a stone's throw” to the Pacific Ocean (Sea of ​​Okhotsk), to the Chukchi Peninsula and the North American continent.

It is difficult to overestimate the importance of narrow and gentle watersheds (trails). It was thanks to them that with such ease and speed the Russian people passed through the whole of Siberia and, in a little over 50 years, reached the eastern tip of the Asian continent. It is no coincidence that these people were already called pathfinders by their contemporaries.

So, the natural conditions of Russia are characterized by the richness of waterways. Russia is the only country in Eurasia with such a dense network of navigable rivers, which cover the entire territory of the country with their basins and are connected by convenient portages. As a result, even primitive means of transportation can sail from the White or Baltic Sea to the Black or Caspian Sea. From the Caspian you can penetrate into Iran (Persia), Central Asia and India; from the Black Sea to Asia Minor, the Balkans and the Mediterranean; from the Baltic Sea to Europe; from the Kama-Volga basin - by dragging to the West Siberian river systems and along them to China and Japan. In other words, the nature of the country predetermined its great role for connecting Asia with Europe, for transit routes of communication.

One of the features of Russia was (and still continues to exist) low (at least lower than in most other European states) population density. In the XVI century. she was no more than 5 people. per sq. km, in the middle of the 18th century. was 6-7 people, in the middle of the XIX century. - no more than 20 people, at the end of the 19th century. - about 50 people per sq. km.

The natural and climatic conditions of the country did not contribute to the development of individual farming, but, on the contrary, required collective farming. The fact that in Russia it is necessary to carry out field work in 4-6 months (and not in 8-9 months, as in the West), forced to work very hard and collectively use human and material resources and livestock. The Russian peasant was not able to single-handedly cope with the work in the climatic conditions of the forest zone. This necessitated the existence of a "large family" and a "neighborhood community". This, in turn, fostered collectivism among the population, the consciousness of communality.

Hence another feature of the economic development of Russia - the extensiveness of the economy. Insufficiently favorable soils were quickly depleted. At the same time, there was a lot of free land that had not been introduced into agricultural circulation. This led, on the one hand, to the use of the slash-shifting system of farming (after a number of years of farming, the land was abandoned, a new piece of land was cleared from the forest and included in the crop rotation), and on the other hand, to the easy movement of farmers from place to place in search of virgin lands or fallow lands, which have restored fertility by a long rest.

The ease of penetration into new places determined a very important factor in the historical development of the peoples inhabiting Eastern Europe - this is active movement, migration, economic development of more and more territories. It is impossible not to take into account the wealth of natural resources in the country, the possibility of developing various industries: the extraction of furs, honey, wax, timber, fish, etc. This led to the need to expand the scope of the economic territory, to constant movement.

End of work -

This topic belongs to the section:

Natural and climatic conditions of Eastern Europe. Peoples of Eastern Europe from ancient times to the 9th century

Chapter i .. peoples of eastern europe from ancient times .. to the ix century ..

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Eastern Europe as a historical and geographical region includes: Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, countries formed as a result of the collapse of the former Yugoslavia (Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia), Albania, Latvia, Lithuania , Estonia.

There is also an opinion that the countries of this region should be attributed to either Central or Central Europe, since it would be more correct to call Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova and the European part of Russia Eastern Europe.

But the name "Eastern Europe" stuck with the countries of this region and is recognized throughout the world.

Geographical position. Natural resources

The countries of Eastern Europe are a single natural-territorial massif stretching from the Baltic to the Black and Adriatic seas. The region and adjacent countries are based on the ancient Precambrian platform, covered by a cover of sedimentary rocks, as well as an area of ​​Alpine folding.

An important feature of all countries in the region is their transit position between the countries of Western Europe and the CIS.

The countries of Eastern Europe differ from each other in geographic location, configuration, size of territory, and richness of natural resources.

From the reserves of natural resources are allocated: coal (Poland, Czech Republic), oil and natural gas (Romania), iron ores (the countries of the former Yugoslavia, Romania, Slovakia), bauxite (Hungary), chromites (Albania).

In general, it must be said that the region is experiencing a shortage of resources, and in addition, it is a vivid example of the "incompleteness" of the set of minerals. So, in Poland there are large reserves of coal, copper ores, sulfur, but almost no oil, gas, iron ore. In Bulgaria, on the contrary, there is no coal, although there are significant reserves of lignite, copper ores, polymetals.

Population

The population of the region is about 130 million people, but the demographic situation, which is difficult throughout Europe, is the most alarming in Eastern Europe. Despite the active demographic policy pursued for several decades, natural population growth is very small (less than 2%) and continues to decline. In Bulgaria and Hungary, there is even a natural decline in population. The main reason for this is the violation of the sex and age structure of the population as a result of the Second World War.

In some countries, natural growth is higher than the regional average (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia), and the highest rate is in Albania at 20%.

The largest country in the region is Poland (about 40 million people), the smallest is Estonia (about 1.5 million people).

The population of Eastern Europe is distinguished by a complex ethnic composition, but the predominance of the Slavic peoples can be noted. Of the other peoples, the most numerous are Romanians, Albanians, Hungarians, Lithuanians. The most homogeneous ethnic composition is distinguished by Poland, Hungary, Albania. Lithuania.

Eastern Europe has always been the scene of national and ethnic conflicts. After the collapse of the socialist system, the situation became more complicated, especially on the territory of the most multinational country in the region - Yugoslavia, where the conflict escalated into an interethnic war.

The most urbanized country in Europe is the Czech Republic (3/4 of the population lives in cities). There are many urban agglomerations in the region, the largest of which are Upper Silesian (in Poland) and Budapest (in Hungary). But for most countries, historically formed small towns and villages are characteristic, and for the Baltic countries - farms.

Farm

The countries of Eastern Europe today are not characterized by a pronounced socio-economic unity. But in general, we can say that _. in the 2nd half of the XX century. Great changes have taken place in the economies of the countries of Eastern Europe. Firstly, industries developed at a higher rate - by the 80s bastards V. Europe turned into one of the most industrial regions in the world, and secondly, previously very backward regions also began to develop industrially (For example, Slovakia in the former CSFR, Moldova in Romania, northeastern Poland). Such results became possible thanks to the implementation of regional policy.

Energy

Due to the shortage of oil reserves, this region is focused on coal, most of the electricity is generated at thermal power plants (over 60%), but hydroelectric and nuclear power plants also play an important role. One of the largest nuclear power plants, Kozloduy in Bulgaria, has been built in the region.

Metallurgy

In the post-war period, the industry has been actively growing and developing in all countries of the region, and the non-ferrous metallurgy relies mainly on its own raw materials, while the ferrous metallurgy relies on imported ones.

Mechanical engineering

The industry is also represented in all countries, but the most developed in the Czech Republic (primarily machine tools, production of household appliances and computers); Poland and Romania are distinguished by the production of metal-consuming machines and structures, Hungary, Bulgaria, Latvia - by the electrotechnical industry; in addition, shipbuilding is developed in Poland and Estonia.

Chemical industry

The chemical industry of the region lags far behind the West European due to the lack of raw materials for the most advanced branches of chemistry - oil. Still, one can mention the pharmaceutical industry of Poland and Hungary, the glass industry of the Czech Republic.

Agriculture of the region

Mainly meets the needs of the population for food. In the structure of the economy of the countries of Eastern Europe, under the influence of scientific and technological revolution, significant changes took place: the agro-industrial complex appeared, specialization of agricultural production took place. It manifested itself most clearly in grain farming and in the production of vegetables, fruits, and grapes.

The structure of the region's economy is heterogeneous: in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, the Baltic countries, the share of livestock production exceeds the share of crop production, in the rest the ratio is still the opposite.

Due to the diversity of soil and climatic conditions, several zones of crop production can be distinguished: wheat is grown everywhere, but in the north (Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) rye and potatoes play an important role, in the central part of the subregion, vegetable growing and horticulture are cultivated, and the "southern" countries are specialized on subtropical crops.

The main crops grown in the region are wheat, corn, vegetables and fruits.

The main wheat and corn regions of Eastern Europe formed within the Middle and Lower Danube lowlands and the Danube hilly plain (Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria).

Hungary has achieved the greatest success in grain production.

Vegetables, fruits, grapes are cultivated in the sub-region almost everywhere, but there are areas where they primarily determine the specialization of agriculture. These countries and regions also have their specialization in terms of the range of products. For example, Hungary is famous for its winter varieties of apples, grapes, onions; Bulgaria - with oilseeds; Czech Republic - hops, etc.

Livestock raising. The northern and central countries of the region specialize in dairy and meat and dairy cattle breeding and pig breeding, while the southern countries specialize in mountain pasture meat and woolen animal husbandry.

Transport

In Eastern Europe, which lies at the intersection of the routes that have long connected the eastern and western parts of Eurasia, the transport system has been formed over many centuries. Now in terms of the volume of traffic, railway transport is in the lead, but road and sea transport are also developing intensively. The presence of the largest ports contributes to the development of foreign economic relations, shipbuilding, ship repair, and fishing.

Intra-regional differences

The countries of Eastern Europe can be conditionally subdivided into 3 groups according to the commonality of their EGP, resources, and level of development.

1. Northern group: Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia. These countries are still characterized by a low degree of integration, but there are common tasks in the development of the maritime economy.

2. Central group: Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary. The economy of the first two countries has a pronounced industrial character. The Czech Republic ranks first in the region in terms of industrial production per capita.

3. Southern group: Romania, Bulgaria, countries of the former Yugoslavia, Albania. In the past, these were the most backward countries, and now, despite major changes in their economy, the countries of this group lag behind the countries of the 1st and 2nd groups in most indicators.

Topic: CENTRAL EASTERN EUROPE (CEE)

Plan

1. 
   Historical stages of economic development of the landscapes of Central and Eastern Europe.
2. 
   Assessment of natural resource potential.

3. The main features of the economy.

4. The main types of land use. Forms of agriculture.
1. Historical stages of economic development of the landscapes of foreign Europe.

The Central Eastern Europe (CEE) region covers 15 post-socialist countries (from north to south: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Federation of Serbia and Montenegro (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia), Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Albania). The area of ​​the region, which is a single territorial array, is almost 1.7 million km 2 with a population of 132 million people (1995). Of its constituent countries, only Poland and Romania are included in the group of larger European states; the rest of the countries are relatively small in size (territory from 20 to 110 thousand km 2 with a population of 2 to 10 million people).

This region of Europe has gone through a difficult path of political and socio-economic development in the context of the dramatic struggle for the peoples inhabiting it by the largest European powers for spheres of influence on the continent. This struggle was waged with particular force in the 19th and 20th centuries. between Austria-Hungary, Germany, Russia, Turkey, as well as France and Great Britain. In the course of this struggle and the intensified national liberation movements of the local population, new states were formed and former states were destroyed. After the First World War, the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed, Poland reappeared on the map of Europe, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia were formed, the territory of Romania more than doubled.

Subsequent changes in the political map of CEE were the result of the victory over fascist Germany and Italy during the Second World War. The main ones are: the return to Poland of its western and northern lands with wide access to the Baltic Sea, Yugoslavia - the Julian region and the Istrian peninsula, inhabited mainly by Slovenes and Croats.

In the process of transition of the CEE countries from a centrally planned economy to a market economy (late 1980s - early 1990s), political, socio-economic and national-ethnic contradictions sharply intensified in them. As a result, Czecho-Slovakia disintegrated along ethnic lines into two states - the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic, and Yugoslavia - into five states: the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the Republics of Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The CEE countries are located between the countries of Western Europe and the republics that were (until 1992) in the USSR. This is associated with a number of common features of their political and socio-economic development at the stage of transition to a market economy. They are in the process of deep structural economic restructuring, radical changes in the nature and direction of foreign economic relations.

The CEE states are striving to expand their participation in the pan-European economic integration, primarily in the field of transport, energy, ecology, and the use of recreational resources. The region has access to the Baltic, Black and Adriatic Seas; the navigable Danube flows through it for a greater length; the territory of the region can be widely used for the transit of goods and passengers between Western Europe, the CIS countries and Asia. For example, with the completion in 1993 of the Bamberg Canal (on the Main River) - Regensburg (on the Danube River), the possibility of end-to-end trans-European water transport between the North and Black Seas opens up (from Rotterdam at the mouth of the Rhine to Sulina at the mouth of the Danube waterway at 3400 km). This is an important link in the development of a unified European network of inland waterways. Another example of the expanding use of the geographic location of CEE countries is pipeline transit of natural gas and oil from Russia to Western and Southern Europe. The CEE countries signed (1994) the European Energy Charter Treaty, which laid down the economic mechanisms of the global energy space throughout Europe.

2. Atnatural resource assessment , features of settlement and regional differences in theactivities in the modern territory of the CEE countries, it is important to representthe most important structural and morphological features of itsrelief.

The region covers: part of the European Plain in the north (Baltic, Poland), Hercynian midlands and hilly hills (Czech Republic), part of Alpine-Carpathian Europe with folded mountains up to 2.5-3 thousand m and low accumulative plains - Middle and Lower Danube ( Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, northern Croatia, Serbia and Bulgaria), southern European Dinaric and Rhodope-Macedonian massifs with intermontane basins and foothill plains up to 2-2.5 thousand meters high (most of Croatia and Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania and southern Bulgaria).

The features of the geological and tectonic structures determine the composition and nature of the geographical distribution mineral countries. Large (on a European scale) deposits are of the greatest economic importance: coal (the Upper Silesian basin in southern Poland and the adjacent Ostrava-Karvinsky basin in the north-east of the Czech Republic), brown coal (Serbia, Poland, Czech Republic), oil and natural gas Romania , Albania), oil shale (Estonia), rock salt (Poland, Romania), phosphorites (Estonia), natural sulfur (Poland), lead-zinc ores (Poland, Serbia, Bulgaria), copper ores (Poland, Serbia), bauxite (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary), chromites and nickel (Albania); in a number of countries there are deposits of uranium ores of industrial importance.

In general, the CEE countries are insufficiently provided with primary energy resources. Up to 9/10 of the region's coal reserves (about 70 billion tons) are in Poland alone. In CEE there are more than 1/3 of the total European reserves of brown coal; they are more dispersed across the countries of the region, but still more than half lie in Serbia and Poland. No country (excluding Albania) has sufficient reserves of oil and natural gas. Even Romania, which is better off with them, is forced to partially cover its needs for them through imports. Of the total technical hydro potential of 182 billion kWh in CEE, about half is in the republics of the former Yugoslavia (primarily Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina) and more than 20% in Romania. The region is rich in healing mineral springs, some of which are effectively used (especially in the Czech Republic).

2.1. CEE countries vary greatly in size, composition and quality forest resources. In the south of the region, in the mountainous areas of the Balkan Peninsula, as well as in the Carpathians, there is an increased forest cover with a predominance of conifers and beech, while in the predominantly lowland and heavily plowed Hungary and Poland, the provision of forest is much less. In Poland and the Czech Republic, a significant part of productive forests is represented by artificial plantations, primarily pines.

One of the main treasures of CEE is its soil and climatic resources. There are large areas of naturally fertile soils, mostly of the chernozem type. This is primarily the Lower and Middle Danube plains, as well as the Upper Thracian lowland. Due to the extensiveness of agriculture, before the Second World War, about 10-15 centners per hectare of grain crops were harvested here. In the 80s, the yield reached 35-45 centners per hectare, but was still lower than the harvest in some Western European countries with less humus-rich lands.

In terms of soil and climatic conditions and other natural resources, the CEE countries can be conditionally divided into two groups: northern (Baltic countries, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia) and southern (other countries). These differences, consisting in higher temperatures during the growing season and more fertile soils in the southern group of countries, create an objective basis for their specialization.

In the process of aggravating the political and socio-economic situation in CEE in the late 1980s and early 1990s, interethnic contradictions intensified. This led to the disintegration of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. Now the Czech Republic and Slovenia have joined the first group of single-ethnic countries with a small share of national minorities. At the same time, interethnic problems (and in some cases acute conflicts) continue to complicate the development of Romania, Bulgaria and especially Serbia, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Intensive migrations are closely related to interethnic problems and economic factors. Mass internal migration of the population was especially great in the first post-war decade (in Poland and Czechoslovakia, associated with the movement of Germans to Germany from the reunified Polish lands and border regions of the Czech Republic, as well as in Yugoslavia - from the mountainous regions destroyed by the war to the plains, etc.) ... There was also emigration; in search of work, over 1 million people emigrated from Yugoslavia in the 60s and 80s (most to the FRG and Austria) and slightly less from Poland, part of the ethnic Turks emigrated from Bulgaria to Turkey, and most of the ethnic Germans from Romania (to the FRG). Internal and external migration of the population in the former Yugoslavia sharply intensified in the early 90s as a result of the most acute interethnic conflicts; most of them are refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. Some of them sought to leave the zones of interethnic conflicts, while others were forcibly resettled in order to achieve greater ethnic homogeneity of the population in certain areas (for example, the eviction of Serbs from Croatian Western Slavonia or Croats from the north of Bosnia and from the east of Slavonia).

3. The main features of the economy. Most of the CEE countries (excluding the Czech Republic) embarked on the path of capitalist development later than the leading countries of Western Europe and on the eve of World War II belonged to economically less developed European states. Their economy was dominated by extensive agriculture. During the Second World War, the countries of the region (especially Poland and Yugoslavia) suffered heavy material and human losses. After the war, as a result of political and socio-economic transformations, they switched to a centrally planned type of economy, in contrast to the market economy of Western Europe. For almost half a century of development (from 1945 to 1989-1991), a specific type of economy was formed in the CEE countries, characterized by excessive centralization of management and monopolization of the social and economic spheres of life.

The level of their economic development has risen significantly; at the same time, there was a significant convergence of the levels of the countries of the region. During the unfolding industryalization, a new sectoral and territorial structure of the economy was formed withthe predominance of industry, primarily of its basic industries. A new industrial infrastructure was created, primarily in the field of energy and transport, the involvement of the economy in foreign economic relations increased (especially in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Slovenia). However, the achieved level of development was still significantly lower than that of the leading countries of Western Europe. At the same time, according to some quantitative indicators, there was a significant rapprochement of individual CEE countries with the states of Western Europe (for example, in coal mining, electricity production, smelting of steel and basic non-ferrous metals, production of mineral fertilizers, cement, fabrics, footwear, as well as sugar, grain, etc. per capita). However, a large gap has formed in the quality of products, in the degree of introduction of modern technologies and more economical production. The manufactured products, although they were sold in the countries of the region and especially in the huge, but less demanding market of the USSR, were mostly uncompetitive in Western markets. The accumulated shortcomings of a structural and technological nature (the predominance of industries burdened with outdated equipment, increased material and energy intensity, etc.) led to an economic crisis in the 1980s. The period of forced industrialization of the first post-war decades gave way to stagnation, and then a decline in production. The incipient process of transition from a centrally planned economy to a market economy with the replacement of the “transferable ruble” in foreign economic calculations by convertible currency and at world prices had dire consequences for the economies of most CEE countries. The integration economic ties between the CEE countries and the republics of the former USSR, on which their economic systems were mainly closed, turned out to be largely destroyed. It took a radical restructuring on a new, market-based basis of the entire national economy of CEE. Since the early 1990s, the CEE countries have entered the stage of establishing a more efficient national economic structure.

Industry ... In the CEE countries in the 1950s and 1980s, a large industrial potential was created, designed mainly to cover the needs of the region and close interaction with the national economy of the USSR, where a significant part of industrial production was sent. This direction of industrial development was reflected in the formation of the sectoral structure, which differed in a number of features.

In the course of industrialization, a fuel and energy and metallurgical base were created, which served as the basis for the development of the machine-building industry. It is mechanical engineering in almost all countries of the region (excluding Albania) that has become the leading branch of the industry and the main supplier of export products. The chemical industry was almost re-created, including organic synthesis. The advancing development of mechanical engineering, chemistry and power engineering contributed to the fact that their share in the gross industrial output reached half. At the same time, the share of products of the light and food industries has significantly decreased.

Fuel and energy industry the region was created on the basis of the use of local resources (mostly in Poland, Czech Republic, Romania) and imported energy sources (mostly in Hungary, Bulgaria). In the total fuel and energy balance, the share of local resources ranged from 1/4 (Bulgaria, Hungary) to 3/4 (Poland, Romania). In accordance with the structure of local resources, most countries were characterized by a coal orientation with widespread use: lignite with low calorific value. This led to higher specific capital investments in the production of fuel and electricity and increased their cost.

CEE is one of the largest coal mining regions in the world. In the mid-90s, it produced more than 150 million tons of coal per year (130-135 in Poland and up to 20 in the Czech Republic). The CEE countries are the world's first region for the extraction of brown coal (about 230-250 million tons per year). But if the main coal mining is concentrated in one basin (it is divided by the Polish-Czech border into two unequal parts - the Upper Silesian and Ostrava-Karwinsky), then brown coal is mined in all countries, moreover, from many deposits. Most of it is mined in the Czech Republic, the former Yugoslavia and Poland (50-70 million tons each), Romania and Bulgaria (30-40 million tons each).

Brown coal (as well as a smaller part of bituminous coal) is consumed mainly at thermal power plants near mining sites. Significant fuel and electric power complexes have been formed there - the main bases for the production of electricity. Among them, larger complexes are located in Poland (Upper Silesian, Belkhatuvsky, Kuyavdky, Bogatynsky), Czech Republic (North Bohemian), Romania (Oltensky), Serbia (Belgrade and Kosovsky), Bulgaria (East Maritsky). In Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Albania, the share of hydroelectric power plants in electricity production is high, and in Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Slovenia - nuclear power plants. Some power plants also use natural gas (in mostly imported from Russia, but in Romania- local). Electricity production in the region reached 370 billion kWh per year in the 1980s. Electricity consumption was significantly higher than production due to its systematic purchase in the former USSR (over 30 billion kWh per year), especially in Hungary, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia.

Non-ferrous metallurgy plants were created mainly on the basis of the local raw material base. This industry was more developed in Poland (copper, zinc), the former Yugoslavia (copper, aluminum, lead and zinc), Bulgaria (lead, zinc, copper), Romania (aluminum). The copper-smelting industry in Poland (the level reached over 400 thousand tons of copper) and the aluminum industry of the former Yugoslavia (300-350 thousand tons) have good prospects; significant reserves of high quality bauxite are found in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Montenegro. On their basis, aluminum smelters were built in the region of Zadar (Croatia), Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Podgorica (Montenegro) and Kidrichevo (Slovenia). But the largest aluminum smelter in the region operates in Slatina (southern Romania), using domestic and imported raw materials. Yugoslavia and Hungary were suppliers of bauxite and alumina to other countries (Poland, Slovakia, Romania, but most of all to Russia).

The scale and structure of metallurgy significantly affected the nature and specialization of mechanical engineering. In particular, in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania, its metal-intensive industries are more widely represented, and in the former Yugoslavia and Bulgaria - industries that use a large amount of non-ferrous metals (cable production, electrical engineering, handling equipment).

The main specialization of machine building in the CEE countries is the production of vehicles and agricultural machines, machine tools and technological equipment, electrical products and devices. Each country has developed a specialization aimed at meeting the basic needs of the region itself and the former USSR. Poland (especially fishing) and Croatia specialized in the production of sea-going vessels; locomotives, passenger and freight cars - Latvia, Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, buses - Hungary, minibuses - Latvia, electric cars and motor cars - Bulgaria, excavators - Estonia, etc.

In general, the location of mechanical engineering is characterized by a high concentration of enterprises within the center and north of the Czech lands, the Middle Danube valley (including Budapest) and its tributaries Morava and Vaga. In Poland, this industry is scattered over the large cities of the middle part of the country (the main centers are Warsaw, Poznan, Wroclaw), as well as the Upper Silesian agglomeration. Machine-building centers are distinguished in the Bucharest-Ploiesti-Brasov zone (Romania), as well as in the capital cities of Sofia, Belgrade and Zagreb.

During the post-war period, the chemical industry was essentially re-created in CEE. At the first stage, when mainly large enterprises of basic chemistry were built (especially for the production of mineral fertilizers and chlorine-containing products), Poland and Romania, which had large reserves of the necessary raw materials, were in a more favorable position. Later, as the organic synthesis industry developed, its production began to be created in other CEE countries, but already mostly on the basis of oil and natural gas imported from Russia (and in Romania and their local resources) and coke chemistry (Poland, Czecho-Slovakia ); increased specialization in the production of pharmaceutical products (especially Poland, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria) and low-tonnage chemistry.

Light industry satisfies the basic needs of the population in fabrics, clothing, footwear; a significant part of its production is exported. The CEE countries occupy a prominent place in Europe in the production of cotton, woolen and linen fabrics, leather footwear, as well as such specific products as costume jewelry, art glass and art ceramics (Czech Republic). The main regions of the textile industry have historically developed in the center of Poland (Lodz) and on both sides of the Sudeten Mountains - in the south of Poland and in the north of the Czech Republic.

The region has a large footwear industry - in the 1980s, more than 500 million pairs of shoes were produced per year. It is more developed in Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Croatia. In particular,; The Czech Republic for the manufacture and export of footwear per capita is among the leading countries in the world. Centers such as Zlin (in the Czech Republic), Radom and Helmek (Poland), Timisoara and Cluj-Napoca (Romania), Borovo and Zagreb (Croatia) are widely known in the industry.

CEE has all the main branches of the food industry, but at the same time, each country specializes in the production of certain types of products in accordance with the nature of local agricultural raw materials and national customs in the consumption of certain food products. In the northern group of countries, the share of industries processing livestock products is much higher; among the products of plant origin, their share in the production of sugar and beer is high. The southern countries are distinguished by the production of vegetable oil, canned vegetables, grape wines, fermented tobacco and tobacco products. A significant part of these types of products specialized in the north and south of the region of the sub-sectors are intended for export.

In the context of the transition to a market economy in the CEE countries, the main changes in industry consist in a decrease in the share of basic industries (coal and ferrous metallurgy), as well as mechanical engineering. Particularly significant are intra-industry changes in the direction of reducing the production of increased energy and material consumption. Several countriesregion receives loans from Western Europe for the purchase of high-techequipment and replacement of outdated production facilities with new ones whose products are usedin the global market in demand. Industrial modernization by the mid-90sadvanced more successfully in Hungary, Czech Republic and Poland. The most difficult situation inindustry of the republics of the former Yugoslavia (with the exception of Slovenia); they turn outwere embroiled in a long-term conflict that was largely disorganizedshaft their economy.

4. Agriculture. Expansion of agricultural production is one of the important areas of promising specialization of the CEE countries. For this, the region has favorable soil and climatic conditions. During the post-war period, the gross agricultural output has grown significantly, the yield of the main crops and the productivity of livestock have increased several times. But in terms of the general level of development, especially in terms of labor productivity, the agriculture of the CEE countries is still significantly inferior to that of Western Europe. In this respect, there are differences among the individual CEE countries. So, for example, a high level of agriculture in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and lower - in the countries of the Balkan Peninsula and in Poland. In general, the population of CEE is provided with basic agricultural products and a large part of it is exported. In turn, the region, like Western Europe, needs to import tropical products and some types of agricultural raw materials (primarily cotton). In the process of transition to a market economy, agriculture in CEE is increasingly encountering difficulties in marketing its products on Western markets in the context of the crisis of overproduction and intense competition there. Together with Meanwhile, close to CEE there is a vast Russian market, to which, on new, mutually beneficial terms, products that are in short supply for Russia are supplied in large quantities, primarily vegetables, fruits, grapes and their processed products.

The place of the CEE region in European agricultural production is determined mainly by the production of grain, potatoes, sugar beets, sunflowers, vegetables, fruits and meat and dairy products.

In the diet of the inhabitants of the southern group of countries, beans are allocated, while in the northern group, especially in Poland, potatoes. Poland alone grew almost as much potatoes as the whole of Western Europe or other largest producers in the world - Russia and China. A lot of sunflower is grown in the Middle and Lower Danube Plains within Hungary, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria; more sunflower seeds are produced on their lands than in the whole of Western Europe (the largest producer in Europe is only Ukraine). In the northern group of countries (especially in Poland), another oilseed crop is widespread - rapeseed. Flax has long been cultivated in the Baltics and Poland. More sugar beets are also grown there, although this crop has become widespread in all CEE countries. This region is a large producer of vegetables, fruits and grapes, and in the southern countries, tomatoes and peppers, plums, peaches and grapes are especially grown, a significant part of which is exported, including to the northern part of the region.

During the post-war period, a significant increase in crop production and a change in its structure in favor of forage crops contributed to the development of livestock and an increase in the share of its products in total agricultural production (on average, up to half, but in Latvia, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Bulgaria, the share of livestock is even higher). In Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, the breeding of cattle and pigs is of great importance. They have a higher slaughter weight of livestock and average milk yields. In the southern group of countries, the general level of livestock raising is lower, grazing and sheep breeding are widespread.

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The peculiarities of the geological and tectonic structures determine the composition and nature of the geographical distribution of mineral resources of the countries. Large (on a European scale) deposits are of the greatest economic importance: coal (the Upper Silesian basin in southern Poland and the adjacent Ostrava-Karvin basin in the north-east of the Czech Republic), brown coal (Serbia, Poland, Czech Republic), oil and natural gas ( Romania, Albania), oil shale (Estonia), rock salt (Poland, Romania), phosphorites (Estonia), natural sulfur (Poland), lead-zinc ores (Poland, Serbia), bauxite (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary) , chromites and nickel (Albania); in a number of countries there are deposits of uranium ores of industrial importance.

In general, the CEE countries are insufficiently provided with primary energy resources. Up to 9/10 of the region's coal reserves (about 70 billion tons) are in Poland alone. In CEE there are more than 1/3 of the total European reserves of brown coal; they are more dispersed across the countries of the region, but still more than half lie in Serbia and Poland. No country (excluding Albania) has sufficient reserves of oil and natural gas. Even Romania, which is better off with them, is forced to partially cover its needs for them through imports. About half of the total hydro potential of CEE of 182 billion kWh falls on the republics of the former Yugoslavia (primarily Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina) and more than 20% on Romania. The region is rich in healing mineral springs, some of which are effectively used (especially in the Czech Republic).

CEE countries vary greatly in the size, composition and quality of forest resources. In the south of the region, in the mountainous regions of the Balkan Peninsula, as well as in the Carpathians, there is an increased forest cover with a predominance of conifers and beech, while in the predominantly lowland and heavily plowed Poland and Hungary, the provision of forest is much less. In Poland and the Czech Republic, a significant part of productive forests is represented by artificial plantations, primarily pines.

However, one of the main treasures of CEE is its soil and climatic resources. There are large areas of naturally fertile soils, mostly of the chernozem type. This is primarily the Lower and Middle Danube plains, as well as the Upper Thracian lowland. Due to the extensiveness of agriculture before the Second World War, about 10 - 15 centners were collected here. from ha. Cereals. IN

In the 80s, the yield has already reached 35 - 45 centners. per hectare, but was still lower than the collection in some Western European countries with less humus-rich lands.

According to soil and climatic conditions and other natural resources, the CEE countries can be conditionally divided into two groups: northern (Baltic countries, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia) and southern (other countries). These differences, consisting in higher temperatures during the growing season and more fertile soils in the southern group of countries, create an objective basis for the specialization and complementarity of both groups of countries in agricultural production. While most of the territory of the northern group of countries is located in a zone of sufficient moisture, in the southern - during the growing season, conditions of aridity often arise, causing the need for artificial irrigation (In the Lower Danube and Middle Danube lowlands in the second half of the XX century, one of the most irrigated areas in Europe emerged. agriculture). At the same time, the climatic conditions of the southern group of countries, combined with healing mineral springs and wide outlets to warm seas, create important prerequisites for organizing recreation for residents not only of these countries, but also of the northern part of the region, as well as tourists from other, primarily European, states.

Population.

The population dynamics in CEE is characterized by a number of features characteristic of the European continent as a whole: a decrease in the birth rate, an aging population and, accordingly, an increase in the death rate. At the same time, the CEE region, in contrast to Western Europe, is also characterized by a significant decrease in population due to a negative balance of migration. In the second half of the 1990s, the average population density in CEE (104 people per square kilometer) was close to that in Western Europe. Country-by-country differences in population density range from 33 in Estonia to 131 people. 1 km. sq. in the Czech Republic. The differences in population density within countries are more significant, due to both natural conditions and socio-economic factors. The urbanization process has had a great influence. For most of the CEE countries, in contrast to the developed countries of Western Europe, the stage of accelerated industrialization and, accordingly, an increase in the concentration of production in cities occurred at a later time, mainly after the Second World War. Therefore, the rate of urbanization during this period was the highest. By the beginning of the 90s, more than 2/3 of the region's population was concentrated in cities (in Czechoslovakia up to 4/5). There are few big cities in comparison with Western Europe. Capital cities stand out sharply, among which the largest two million are Budapest and Bucharest, and some urban agglomerations (Upper Silesian).

(less than $ 1000).

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

Agriculture in CEE countries is in a very difficult situation. On the one hand, the region has favorable agro-climatic resources for a varied and rich farming tradition. On the other hand, joining the EU will inevitably lead to the ruin of a huge mass of both collective and private farms, which cannot withstand competition with stronger Western producers. A significant reduction in agricultural production after the final integration into the EU is viewed in the countries of the region as a fatal inevitability in the context of capitalist overproduction. In this regard, the EU commissions are developing packages of programs for social support of ruined peasants, assessing the possibilities of high-quality restructuring and modernization of agricultural production, if necessary for the common EU food market. Particularly acute problems have arisen in countries with ineffective agriculture: Romania, most of the countries of the former Yugoslavia. The situation is somewhat better in, and Slovenia.

In the structure of crop production, the production of grain, potatoes, sugar beets, vegetables and fruits is distinguished. Poland is traditionally the largest producer of wheat and rye in the region. It is often called the "potato field" of Europe, since until recently, as much potatoes were grown here as elsewhere. Private traders were the main producers here even in Soviet times.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

During the socialist period, mechanical engineering became the main industry in most CEE countries (except Albania). However, in general, it is qualitatively weaker developed than in western Europe. Most of the manufactured products are uncompetitive. This is due, in particular, to the fact that, in contrast to the West, the impact of competition here was minimal. About half of the Products were produced for export, a significant part of which was intended for the "unpretentious" consumer - the USSR. For example, the Hungarian "Ikarus", which would never have been bought by any Western European country, were successfully bought or supplied on a barter basis to our country and still roam the roads of Russia.

The automotive industry is neither quantitatively nor qualitatively comparable to the Western European one. To date, the Czech Škoda has retained its position on the European market; the company's enterprises are located in Pilsen and Mlada Boleslav. Most of the automobile factories either curtailed the production of unprofitable products, or went bankrupt, and their production assets were bought by Western companies and are being modernized. As a legacy from the socialist period, there are factories for the production of heavy trucks and trucks "Tatra" in Ostrava (Czech Republic), railway cars and locomotives in the Czech Republic, Poland and (Riga Carriage Works), minibuses "RAF" (Latvia, Riga), motorcars in Bulgaria , excavators in. Poland and Croatia produced sea passenger and fishing vessels. The shipyards in Gdansk gained worldwide fame, not because of the ships they produced, but because the independent trade union "Solidarity", headed by Lech Walesa, was born here, which raised to fight the Soviet system already in the early 1980s.

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

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

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

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

Most of the tourists are received by Hungary (over 10 million) and the Czech Republic (8-10 million). It is in these countries with the richest cultural and historical heritage that the best tourism infrastructure in the region has been created. Annual revenues from the tourism business in Hungary in 2001 amounted to $ 3.5 billion, in the Czech Republic exceeded $ 2 billion.

The transport infrastructure, in contrast to the Western European one, retains a high share of railway transport in the total volume of cargo transportation. Although the density of the railway network here is less than in the West, more cargo is transported by rail. The roads are mostly electrified.

The road network has been consistently improving over the past decades. The construction of high-speed highways of the European class is underway, in particular from the Baltic to the Bosphorus on the route Gdansk - - - Belgrade - Sofia - Istanbul.

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

The territorial structure of the economy in the CEE countries as a whole is relatively less mature than in the countries of Western Europe, and has several common features:

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

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