Geography and physic features

According to many definitions, the following list is composed of all the countries included in the Eastern Europe region:

• Albania

• Belarus

• Bosnia & Herzegovina

• Bulgaria

• Croatia

• Czech Republic

• Estonia

• Hungary

• Kosovo

• Latvia

• Lithuania

• Macedonia

• Moldova

• Montenegro

• Poland

• Romania

• Russia

• Slovakia

• Slovenia

• Ukraine

References:

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Eastern_Europe

http://www.studentsoftheworld.info/infopays/menu_XEE.html

Physical geography

The region is bordered by the Baltic and Barents seas on the north, the Adriatic, Black, and Caspian seas and the Caucasus Mountains on the south; and the Ural Mountains on the east.

In general, the climate is defined by the Marine West Coast Climate Type. It is a mild and wet climate, with no extreme temperatures. Those are plant-full areas thanks to the regular precipitations, and also a wide variety of birds and small mammals, and in scarcely some areas, bears. The Russian part included in Eastern Europe is better defined by the warm or humid continental climate, and in some parts, subarctic.

The West-central region is characterized by the Alpine System, the huge chain of mountains that determines the climate and physiography of the zone. To the east, we can find a huge geologic plateau, sometimes called the East European Plain, that covers all or most of the Baltic states, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, and the European portion of Russia. To the west, we find de glaciated plains, liked with the East European Plains, or merely also part of the European Plain itself, defined with such adjective because of the ancient origins of the rocks. To the north, the Eastern Europe delimitates with the Baltic seas, the Barents sea, and other lakes or glacial bridges.

Once defined the geographic limits of the zone, we can delve into what kind of geological resources can be found within the región.

The major rivers are the Vistula, the Danube, the Volga, the Dnepr, the Don, the Elbe, the Rhône, and the Ural. Most of them are born in the Carpathian and later derive to the seas such as de Mediterranean or the Baltic.

The Carpathians is the most important chain of mountains inside the Eastern Europe region, slightly dividing the North and the South. The Ural mountains are a natural barrier in the East of Europe, inside Russia. However, the chain does not play an important role at the time to analyze further issues as politics or economy.

None major lake or aquatic resource can be found in the continent.

All this major elements or the physical geography of Eastern Europe have gave a rich amount of natural resources to each country, and furthermore, help to define their economy:

• Poland: natural gas, sulphur and copper deposits

• Belarus: timber, limestone, clay, gravel and sand.

• Romania: petroleum (as of 2014, the petroleum reserves of the country were declining)

• Ukraine and Russia: large natural gas and oil reserves (depending on it).

• Baltic states: poor in natural resources

• Latvia: hydro-power potential.

• Poland: coal reserves natural gas, iron ore and copper reserves. Also some limited supplies of silver (and has historically been a target of larger powers for this reason).

• Serbia: oil and natural gas, copper and zinc. Also has some limited supplies of gold and silver.

• Bulgaria: bauxite and copper.

• Kosovo: the most blessed of all eastern European states, since it is sitting on what some say are trillions of dollars worth of gold, silver, natural gas, bauxite nickel and zinc.

• Russia: large percentage of the world's oil and natural gas, huge reserves of nearly all the most important strategic minerals valued today.

So we can see that the defined geographical zone includes countries with similar climate and natural features, obviously due to a matter of proximity. The natural resources we can find there are quite similar, in aspects of what can they give to the economy: metals used in the industries are common.

The most important or productive resource may be the petrol, found in Russia, Ukraine and Romania, and so represents an important part of the countries wealth. Kosovo is the exception, where we can find precious minerals and other well-valued resources.

In general there is a trend to not exploiting natural renewable sources, excluding the little exceptions, and no visible politics to promote its use. Most probably because the Communist parties had been in the power for almost the entire 20th century, when the industries started to took importance, and there was no benefit for them in limiting their activities, the Eastern Europe zone didn't developed a sense of needing such political activity.

However, it is true that during the last few years the governments have been trying to implant protective environmental regulations, especially since the midd-1990s. A few examples could be the Solid Waste Management Project, in Belarus (2013), the Kosovo Energy Sector Clean-up and Land Reclamation Project (2013), the Phaseout of Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) Project in Slovenia (1995) or the Agricultural Pollution Control Project in Moldova (2002).

References:

http://peopleof.oureverydaylife.com/list-european-natural-resources-8310.html

http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/environment/x/pollution?qterm=&lang_exact=english&admreg_exact=Europe+and+Central+Asia&os=160