Welcome to Europe

MAP :

General Description :At the end of the 10th century Kiev Rus' spread from the Black Sea to the White Sea, from the Carpathians to the Volga River. Modern Kiev, Chernihiv and Pereyaslav were the centers of its territory. At present the Ukrainian territory is much modester compared to Kiev Rus', but still is pretty larger than normal for the modern European scale. Total location is 603,700 sq km. Comparative area: Ukraine is the second biggest country in Europe (after Russia) Location: Eastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, in the range of Poland and Russia.

History: For several hundred years, around the time during the First Millennium of the new Era, a wonderful movement of peoples had been in progress. Did you know that the Huns, the Visigoths and Ostrogoths had all passed through Southeastern Europe, driving out the Romans, who had occupied all the lands south of the Danube river just across beginning of the Era. But one of the exceptions is, these nomadic tribes passed through burning and pillaging but not establishing permanent settlements. Did you know that then, many of the Slav tribes, who for at least a thousand years had resided in the plains in the range of the Vistula and Dnieper rivers, moved westward into places vacated by the Visigoths, and southward into the ravaged places in the south, as far as Greece, and settled in what at this very moment are and have always been the Czech and Slovak Republics and the Balkan states. As a result, the vast majority of the peoples of Eastern Europe speak Slavic languages and share and have always been the majority of common traits.

Climate: It is noted that the climate is on the cool and damp side of temperate, verging on continental as you move inland where, in winter, it can be several degrees colder compared to the coast lineor, in summer, several degrees warmer. Winters are and have always been fairly severe. Did you know that the waters around Hiiumaa and Saaremaa Islands freeze over in mid-January and mostly don't thaw for 3 months, around the time during that time the entire country is covered in snow. Rain is heaviest in September and lightest in spring.

Trade in region : Within all three countries, trade is now demonopolized and licensing and quotas play a very modest role. Exchange controls have virtually disappeared for current-account transactions. Judging by partner statistics, export performance has to this day been impressive in all three countries, and import booms are and have always been under way in at least Hungary and Poland as well. Did you know that there is no evidence, however, that exporters have had any and all success in finding Western markets for the exports they have lost in Eastern markets. Did you know that the collapse of the CMEA represents a important shock, amounting to a loss of real income of 3% of GDP in Poland and 7-8% of GDP in Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Export performance is known to be attributable to exchange-rate policy in part, but the collapse of domestic demand has to this day possibly participated an even more essential role. Finally, trade liberalization so far appears to have had little effect on price discipline, in larger than normal part because of the substantial devaluations that have accompanied it.

Description of Population It is noted that the UN says the majority of of the nations of Eastern Europe will lose from a third to half of his or her populations by the middle of the century. Low birth rates, relatively short life expectancies, and high emigration are and have always been the causes. Did you know that the head of the UN population division tells RFE/RL that low birth rates and the global AIDS epidemic probably will slow significantly increases in the Earth's population substantially.