Eastern European Countries and Capitals

This map has the old names of some countries but reprezents the geographical area of the former communist bloc.

Source: Wikimedia

Eastern Europe, with its mosaic of countries, nations, languages and ethnicities may seem overwhelming for an out of the area tourist. And it is understandable: the geographical boundaries have constantly moved during centuries, the culture of the area is very eclectic, the ethnic groups are mixed, and the political frontiers are oscillating according with obscure diplomatic interests. Yet, despite all of the above, the countries of Eastern Europe, have their own identities, formed long time ago.

As a Romanian living in the U.S., I was often told by numerous americans that the capital of my native country is Budapest, which is wrong, that we speak some russian dialect, which is again wrong, or that our currency is euros which is far from being true. Their innocence was only matched by my own, when mixing the U.S. states or even presidents. But I have knowledge about Eastern European countries just as well as an American knows the states of its country.

What is Eastern Europe? A big bewilderment!

Eastern Europe as a geographical area does not have defined boundaries. However, it once use to have political frontiers. The most recent ones were set according with the political regime mainly divided between “the communist”and the rest of the world. The communists were the countries that were part of the former “Warsaw Pact”, or “Communist Block”.
Today, this division is considered old and inaccurate. New definition of the Easter Europe have emerged from United Nation Organization or from European Union.
Rather than speaking about an Eastern Bloc, as not to discriminate between nations and for too many worries of being politically correct, they redesigned the map and reassigned countries to subregions and regions, all over European continent. So, there is Central and Eastern Europe as well as an Eastern Europe which is united with some parts of Asian Continent.
As for cultural frontiers, each country has its own personality, very few characteristics being similar from a region to another, particularly on the borders.

The countries of Eastern Europe

As I said before, it is hard to draw a map of this region. Most people living in this part of the world would would speak about this area as “the former communist bloc”, as defined by NATO and UN, and include the following countries, in alphabetical order. Belarus
Bulgaria
Czech Republic
Hungary
Moldova
Poland
Romania
Russia
Slovakia
Ukraine

Below is a sketch of each of these countries, in 2012. It contains basic political and geographical information, and few words about people’s origine, alphabet and language. There are two most known or interesting facts and the neighbours are presented clockwise.

The capital Minsk

Source: moretravel.com

Belarus

Belarus is a former Soviet Union country which gained its independence in 1991. It is now a presidential republic. Its neighbours are Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. The Capital, Minsk, is located in the center of the country. The population has a slavic origin and there are two languages: belarusian and and russian. They use a cyrillic alphabet.
It is good to know that Belarus hosts the Europe’s largest ancient forest at Belovezhskaya and that it has the world’s biggest population of bisons, majority of them living in the ancient forest.

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia

Source: inestrabel.bg

Bulgaria

Bulgaria is a former communist state, member of Warsaw Treaty, which, in 1989, manage to overthrow the communism and become a parliamentary republic. The capital, Sofia, is an old city located in the western part of the country. Bulgaria’s neighbours are: Romania, Serbia, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey and the Black Sea. The population is slavic as well and the official language is Bulgarian. The alphabet is cyrillic.
They make very good pickles and they have great beaches.

Praga

Source: mundoturistico.es

Czech Republic

While under communist regime, Czech Republic was part of Czech and Slovak Federal Republic. In 1993 the two countries separated in Czech Republic and Slovakia. The author, Vaclav Havel, was one of the most known political figure that have fought against communism, later becoming president.
The neighbours are Germany, Poland, Slovakia and Austria.
The Czech capital is Praga, one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. Czechs speak a slavic language, named Czech, and, for writing, they use the latin alphabet.
They are best known for their gardens and hand made Bohemian glass.

Budapest

Source: http://hu.earth-photography.com

Hungary

Hungary, as well as the above countries, was part of the communist bloc, until 1989. Now is a parliamentary democracy. The capital is Budapest and the city is divided by the Danube river in two parts, Buda and Pest. The neighbours are Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria.
Hungarians speak Hungarian, a finno-ugric language, like Finnish and Estonian. They call it Magyar and they call themselves Magyars as well. The alphabet is latin.
They are well know for the Tokay wine. Also, the inventor of Rubik Cube, is a hungarian engineer named Erno Rubik.

Chisinau, Moldova

Source: citypictures.org

Moldova

Moldova is a relatively young country. It is also very small. Before 1991, it was part of the Soviet Union. Now, it is parliamentary republic, squeezed between Romania and Ukraine. The official language is Moldavian, which, in fact, is a romanian dialect. They are mix of slavic and latin population but have adopted the latin alphabet. The capital is Chisinau.
The neighbours are Ukraine, The Black Sea and Romania.
Once, they were famous in the area for their wine. Also, some say they have beautiful women.

Warsaw, Poland

Source: tripadvisor.com

Poland

Poland was a communist country until 1989 and now is a republic. Poland was a pioneer in the fight against communist regime. The main figure is Lech Walesa and it’s movement called Solidarity.
Poland neighbouring countries are Lithuania, the Russian Province Kaliningrad, Belarus, Ukraine, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Germany and The Baltic Sea. The Capital is Warsaw which is the city that give the name to the famous Warsaw Treaty, a military document that separated the western democratic Europe from the eastern soviet world. The polish people have a slavic origin and the polish language is also slavic. The alphabet is latin.
One of the most famous people in history, astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, was Polish. They also have very good sausages.

Bucharest, the old town.

Source: my own

Romania

Romania became a presidential republic in 1989, after the fall of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. The country shares borders with Ukraine, Moldova, The Black Sea, Bulgaria and Hungary. The capital is Bucharest, a city situated at the intersection of many old and new roads. Romanians have a latin origin but there live also other ethnic groups like germans, hungarians and gypsies. The language, also a latin language is called romanian and the alphabet is latin.
The country is well known for its Gymnastic team and for being the place of origin of the famous character Dracula. Romania has also the largest population of brown bear in Europe.

Moscow

Source: skyscrapecity.com

Russia

Russia, the former Soviet Union, is now a Federation that includes some of the states inherited from communists. The Federation has 183 “federal subjects” or “”constituent entities”. Russia’s neighbours are way too numerous to be listed here. The country excels in size and in the amount of natural resources. When speaking formally about this country, the best name to use is Russian Federation but in an informal environment it is custom to call it simply Russia. The capital is Moscow or Moscova. The federation includes a mix of 183 ethnic groups, the biggest ones being russians and tatars. The official language is Russian but there are many others spoken around the country. The alphabet is cyrillic.
Among other facts, Russia hosts the largest lake in Europe: Ladoga Lake. It has a spacecraft launch station, called “cosmodrome”, in Baikonur. Its ballet school is famous and, also, its Vodka.

Bratislava, Slovakia

Source: paradiseintheworld.com

Slovakia

Before 1993, this country was part of Czechoslovakia, a communist state that collapsed in 1989. Slovakia is now a republic and its official name is Slovak Republic. The capital is Bratislava and it is situated on the Danube river. Slovakians and their language have slavic origins and the alphabet is latin, like Czechs and Polish. Slovakia shares its frontiers with Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, Austria and Czech Republic.
Slovakia is a good place for skiing and hiking. Also, the country has six site sprotected by UNESCO.

Kiev, Ukraine

Source: civitas.com

Ukraine

The recent history of Ukraine is very similar with Belarus. It was part of the former Soviet Union until 1991 when became independent. Now, Ukraine is a presidential republic. The capital, Kiev, is one of the oldest city in Eastern Europe. Ukraine is surrounded by Belarus, Russia, the Azov Sea, the Black Sea, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia and Poland. the population and the language have slavic origin and the alphabet is cyrillic.
Ukrainians say that they host the center of the European continent in a small town called
Rahiv, located on the west side of the country. They also make a famous soup, called borsch.

The above countries, some of which are geographically located in Eastern Europe and others in Central Europe, all share a the same recent past: they were part of the Warsaw Treaty before the fall of the communist regime in 1989. There are many other states in Southeastern and Central Europe that have had a similar experience. At one point in the future I plan to include them in this article.

• Romania and Moldova are the only countries in the region that speak a latin language.
• Hungary has a finno-ugric language.
• The nations that have a slavic origin and orthodox religion have adopted a cyrillic alphabet, while the ones with slavic origin but catholic religion have adopted the latin alphabet.
• Not all these countries are members of the European Union.
• Some of the above countries use Euro, as their currency.
• These countries are located in Eastern Europe as well as in Central Europe.
• All these nations had, once, communist government.

Countries, capitals, currency, language, alphabet

Country	Capital	Curency	Language	Alphabet	European Union Member
Belarus	Minsk	Belarus Ruble	Belarusian and Russian	cyrillic	no
Bulgaria	Sofia	Lev	Bulgarian	cyrillic	yes
Czech Republic	Praga	crown	Czech	latin	yes
Hungary	Budapest	Forint	Hungarian	latin	yes
Moldova	Chisinau	Moldavian Leu	Moldovian (Romanian)	latin	no
Poland	Warsaw	Zlot	Polish	latin	yes
Romania	Bucharest	Leu	Romanian	latin	yes
Russia	Moskow	Rouble	Russian	cyrillic	no
Slovakia	Bratislava	Koruna	Slovakian	latin	yes
Ukraine	Kiev	Hryvna	Russian (and Ukrainian)	cyrillic	no