Cultural Geography Chapter 12--Eastern Europe

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shatter belt

an area in which the size, shape, and number of countries has frequently changed

the Baltic States

Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania

the Soviet bloc

a string of semi-independent countries behind the Iron Curtain

Warsaw

Poland’s largest city and capital

Vistula River

the major artery of shipping through the Central Plains of Poland

Lech Walesa

the head of the Iron Curtain union who helped end communism in Eastern Europe

Auschwitz

the largest of several Nazi “death camps” during the Holocaust

Krakow

the first capital of Poland

the Hill of Crosses

a hill in Lithuania where Catholics who opposed the Soviet Union’s atheistic government by setting up crosses

Carpathian Mountains

a mountain range picking up on the east side of the Danube River, becoming the dominant system in Eastern Europe

Velvet Revolution (1989)

the swift and peaceful overthrow of the Communist Party in Czechoslovakia

Velvet Divorce (1993)

the peaceful division of the Czech Republic and Slovakia

mass privatization

an experiment in which each adult became a shareholder in the nation’s various industries

Prague

the capital of the Czech Republic

The Balkan Peninsula

a mountainous region that juts down from Europe into the eastern end of the Mediterranean

the Balkans

Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, Servia, Kosovo, Bulgaria, and Romania

Balkanization

the tendency of diverse territories to break up into small, hostile nations

gypsies

one of the largest ethnic minorities in Europe with origins linking to northwest India

karst

any exotic limestone landscape

Bosniaks

the followers of Islam in Croatia

Dayton Peace Accords

the agreement made by U.S. president Bill Clinton to end the fighting between the Serbs, Bosniaks, and Croats

Balkan Mountains

rises in the southeast before crossing into Bulgaria

Iron Gate

a break in the Carpathian mountains located in Wallachia

“near abroad”

the CIS republics

Commonwealth of Independent States

formed by the former republics of the Soviet Union meant to establish alliances between the independent states to promote economic ties between them

Orange Revolution

the revolution in Ukraine in which supporters of Viktor Yushchenko wore orange as a sign of their support

Kiev

the most populous city in all of Eastern Europe and capital city of Ukraine

Crimean Peninsula

the most valuable southern region in Ukraine that juts out into the Black Sea

Tirane

capital of Albania

Minsk

capital of Belarus

Sarajevo

capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Sofia

capital of Bulgaria

Zagreb

capital of Croatia

Prague

capital of Croatia

Tallinn

capital of Estonia

Budapest

capital of Hungary

Pristina

capital of Kosovo

Riga

capital of Latvia

Vilnius

capital of Lithuania

Skopje

capital of Macedonia

Chisinau

capital of Moldova

Podgorica

capital of Montenegro

Bucharest

capital of Romania

Belgrade

capital of Serbia

Bratislava

capital of Slovakia

Ljobljana

capital of Slovenia