start_time chernyakhov culture
Continental climates are defined in the Köppen climate classification has having a coldest month mean temperature below - 3 C ( 26 . 6 F ) or 0 ° C depending on which isotherm used for the coldest month and four months above 10 ° C . In the Köppen climate system , Continental climates were bordered to the south by Temperate climates or C climates ( coldest month above 0 C , but below ___MASK87___ C ) and to the north by Boreal climate or E climates ( only 1 to 3 months with a mean temperature of 50 F ). Köppen also defined continental climates as having more than 30 days with continuous snowcover on the ground . The European Union ( EU ) is a political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe . It has an area of , and an estimated population of over 510 million . The EU has developed an internal single market through a standardised system of laws that apply in all member states . EU policies aim to ensure the free movement of people , goods , services , and capital within the internal market , enact legislation in justice and home affairs , and maintain common policies on trade , agriculture , fisheries , and regional development . Within the Schengen Area , passport controls have been abolished . A monetary union was established in ___MASK46___ and came into full force in 2002 , and is composed of 19 EU member states which use the euro currency . Moldavia ( or "", Romanian Cyrillic alphabet : ) is a historical region , and former principality in Eastern Europe , corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river . An initially independent and later autonomous state , it existed from the 14th century to ___MASK83___ , when it united with Wallachia as the basis of the modern Romanian state ; at various times , Moldavia included the regions of Bessarabia ( with the Budjak ) and all of Bukovina . Moldova ( or sometimes ), or Moldavia , officially the Republic of Moldova , is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe , bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north , east , and south . The capital city is Chiinu . Minsk (; is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Belarus , situated on the Svislach and Nyamiha rivers . It is the administrative centre of the Commonwealth of Independent States ( CIS ). As the national capital , Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administrative centre of Minsk Region ( voblast ) and Minsk raion ( district ). In ___MASK8___ , it had a population of 2 , 002 , ___MASK86___ . The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 13th century until ___MASK55___ . The state was founded by the Lithuanians , one of the polytheistic Baltic tribes from Aukštaitija . Ukraine ( tr . ) is a sovereign state in Eastern Europe , bordered by Russia to the east and northeast , Belarus to the northwest , Poland and Slovakia to the west , Hungary , Romania , and Moldova to the southwest , and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south and southeast , respectively . Ukraine is currently in territorial dispute with Russia over the Crimean Peninsula which Russia annexed in ___MASK80___ but which Ukraine and most of the international community recognise as Ukrainian . Including Crimea , Ukraine has an area of , making it the largest country entirely within Europe and the 46th largest country in the world . It has a population of about 44 . 5 million , making it the 32nd most populous country in the world . Chiinu , also known formerly as Kishinev , is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Moldova . The city is Moldova ' s main industrial and commercial center , and is located in the middle of the country , on the river Bîc . According to the preliminary results of the ___MASK80___ census , the city of Chiinu is home to 492 , 894 residents . The estimated number of resident population in the Municipality of Chiinu ( which includes other nearby communities ), as of 1 January ___MASK12___ , is 736 , 100 . Romania is a sovereign state located in Southeastern Europe . It borders the Black Sea , Bulgaria , Ukraine , Hungary , Serbia , and Moldova . It has an area of and a temperate - continental climate . With ___MASK62___ . 94 million inhabitants , the country is the seventh - most - populous member state of the European Union . The capital and largest city , Bucharest , with its 1 , 883 , 425 inhabitants is the sixth - largest city in the EU . Russia ( from the  Rus '), also officially known as the Russian Federation , is a country in Eurasia . At , Russia is the largest country in the world by surface area , covering more than one - eighth of the Earth ' s inhabited land area , and the ninth most populous , with over 140 million people at the end of March ___MASK63___ . The European western part of the country is much more populated and urbanised than the eastern , about 77 % of the population live in European Russia . Russia ' s capital Moscow is one of the largest cities in the world , other major urban centers include Saint Petersburg , Novosibirsk , Yekaterinburg , Nizhny Novgorod and Samara . Russia , also officially known as the Russian Empire , was a state that existed from 1721 until it was overthrown by the short - lived liberal February Revolution in ___MASK13___ . One of the largest empires in world history , stretching over three continents , the Russian Empire was surpassed in landmass only by the British and Mongol empires . The rise of the Russian Empire happened in association with the decline of neighboring rival powers : the Swedish Empire , the Polish  Lithuanian Commonwealth , Persia and the Ottoman Empire . It played a major role in 1812  14 in defeating Napoleon ' s ambitions to control Europe , and expanded to the west and south . The Sântana de Mure -- Chernyakhov culture is an archaeological culture that flourished between the 2nd and 5th centuries AD in a wide area of Eastern Europe , specifically in what today constitutes Ukraine , Romania , Moldova , and parts of Belarus . The culture is probably the result of a poly - ethnic cultural mélange of the Gothic , Geto - Dacian ( including Romanised Daco - Romans ) , Sarmatian and Slavic populations of the area . Belarus ( lat . ',      ), officially the Republic of Belarus , formerly known by its Russian name Byelorussia ( though this name is no longer used in Belarus itself , even in Russian language ), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe bordered by Russia to the northeast , Ukraine to the south , Poland to the west , and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest . Its capital and most populous city is Minsk . Over 40 % of its is forested . Its strongest economic sectors are service industries and manufacturing . Until the 20th century , different states at various times controlled the lands of modern - day Belarus , including the Principality of Polotsk ( 11th to 14th centuries ), the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , the Polish  Lithuanian Commonwealth , and the Russian Empire . The Polish  Lithuanian Commonwealth , formally the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , after 1791 the Commonwealth of Poland , was a dualistic state , a bi - confederation , of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch , who was both the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania . It was one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th - and 17th - century Europe . At its peak in the early 17th century , the Commonwealth spanned some and sustained a multi - ethnic population of 11 million . The union was formalized by the Union of Lublin in July 1569 , but the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were in a de - facto personal union since 1386 with the marriage of the Polish queen Hedwig and Lithuania ' s Grand Duke Jogaila , who was crowned King " jure uxoris " Wadysaw II Jagieo of Poland . The First Partition of Poland in ___MASK29___ and the Second Partition of Poland in ___MASK38___ greatly reduced the nation ' s size and the Commonwealth disappeared as an independent state following the Third Partition of Poland in 1795 . Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe , one of the three Baltic states . It is bordered by Estonia to the north , Lithuania to the south , Russia to the east , and Belarus to the southeast , as well as a maritime border to the west alongside Sweden . Latvia has 1 , 957 , ___MASK27___ inhabitants and a territory of . The country has a temperate seasonal climate .