Following centuries of successive habitation by Celts, Romans, Huns, Slavs, Gepids, and Avars, the foundation of Hungary was laid in the late 9th century by the Hungarian grand prince ÃrpÃ¡d in the HonfoglalÃ¡s ("homeland-conquest"). His great-grandson Stephen I ascended to the throne in 1000 CE, converting the country to a Christian kingdom. By the 12th century, Hungary became a middle power within the Western world, reaching a golden age by the 15th century. Following the Battle of MohÃ¡cs in 1526 and about 150 years of partial Ottoman occupation (1541â€“1699), Hungary came under Habsburg rule, and later formed a significant part of the Austroâ€“Hungarian Empire (1867â€“1918).
Greece (Greek: Î•Î»Î»Î¬Î´Î±, EllÃ¡da [eËˆlaÃ°a] officially the Hellenic Republic (Greek: Î•Î»Î»Î·Î½Î¹ÎºÎ® Î”Î·Î¼Î¿ÎºÏÎ±Ï„Î¯Î±, EllÄ«nikÄ«Ì DÄ«mokratÃa [eliniËˆci Ã°imokraËˆti.a]; Greek: Î•Î»Î»Î¬Ï‚,EllÃ¡s, from the ancient Greek name Hellas á¼™Î»Î»Î¬Ï‚, and known since ancient times as Hellas (/ËˆhÉ›lÉ™s/; is a country located in south eastern Europe. According to the 2011 census, Greeces population is around 10.8 million. Athens is the nations capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki, which is commonly referred to as the co-capital.
Greece is strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Situated on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north and Turkey to the northeast. Greece consists of nine geographic regions: Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands (including the Dodecanese and Cyclades), Thrace, Crete, and the Ionian Islands. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south.
Situated at the strategically important crossroads where Europe meets Asia, Georgia has a unique and ancient cultural heritage, and is famed for its traditions of hospitality and cuisine. Over the centuries, Georgia was the object of rivalry between Persia, Turkey and Russia, before being eventually annexed by Russia in the 19th century. Since emerging from the collapsing Soviet Union as an independent state in 1991, Georgia has again become the arena of conflicting interests, this time between the US and a revived Russia. Tense relations with Russia have been further exacerbated by Moscows support for the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Estonia (/É›ËˆstoÊŠniÉ™/; Estonian: Eesti [ËˆeËsti]), officially the Republic of Estonia (Estonian: Eesti Vabariik), is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia (343 km), and to the east by Lake Peipus and Russia(338.6 km). Across the Baltic Sea lies Sweden in the west and Finland in the north. The territory of Estonia consists of a mainland and 2,222 islands and islets in the Baltic Sea, covering 45,339 km2 (17,505 sq mi) of land, and is influenced by a humid continental climate.
Estonia is a democratic parliamentary republic divided into fifteen counties, with its largest city and capital being Tallinn.
Central Europe that existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until itspeaceful dissolution into the Czech Republic and Slovakia on 1 January 1993.
From 1939 to 1945, following its forced division and partial incorporation into Nazi Germany, the state did not de facto exist but its government-in-exile continued to operate. On 29 June 1945, a treaty was signed between Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union, ceding Carpatho-Ukraine to the USSR.
Croatia (Croatian: Republika Hrvatska listen (helpâ€¢info)) is a sovereign state at the crossroads of Central Europe, Southeast Europe, and the Mediterranean. Its capital city is Zagreb, which forms one of the countrys primary subdivisions, along with its twenty counties. Croatia covers 56,594 square kilometres (21,851 square miles) and has diverse, mostly continental and Mediterranean climates. Croatias Adriatic Sea coast contains more than a thousand islands. The countrys population is 4.28 million, most of whom are Croats, with the most common religious denomination beingRoman Catholicism.
Is a country in southeastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, and the Black Sea to the east. With a territory of 110,994 square kilometres (42,855 sq mi), Bulgaria is Europes 16th-largest country.
Organised prehistoric cultures began developing on Bulgarian lands during the Neolithic period. Its ancient history saw the presence of the Thracians and later theGreeks and Romans. The emergence of a unified Bulgarian state dates back to the establishment of the First Bulgarian Empire in 681 AD, which dominated most of theBalkans and functioned as a cultural hub for Slavs during the Middle Ages.
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( or /ËŒhÉœËrtsÉ™ËˆÉ¡É’váµ»nÉ™/; Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian Latin script: Bosna i Hercegovina, Bosnian and Serbian Cyrillic script: Ð‘Ð¾ÑÐ½a Ð¸ Ð¥ÐµÑ€Ñ†ÐµÐ³Ð¾Ð²Ð¸Ð½Ð°; pronounced [bÃ´sna i xÄ›rtÍ¡seÉ¡oÊ‹ina]), sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or Bosnia & Herzegovina, abbreviated BiH or B&H, and, in short, often known informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeastern Europe located on the Balkan Peninsula.Sarajevo is the capital and largest city. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west, and south; Serbia to the east; Montenegro to the southeast; and the Adriatic Seato the south, with a coastline about 20 kilometres (12 miles) long surrounding the city of Neum. In the central and eastern interior of the country the geography is mountainous, in the northwest it is moderately hilly, and the northeast is predominantly flatland.
Belarus (bÉ›lÉ™ËˆruËs/ bel-É™-ROOSS; Belarusian: Ð‘ÐµÐ»Ð°Ñ€ÑƒÌÑÑŒ, tr. BielaruÅ›, IPA: [bÊ²É›laËˆrusÊ²]; Russian: Ð‘ÐµÐ»Ð¾Ñ€ÑƒÑÑÐ¸Ñ, tr. Byelorussiya; IPA: [bÊ²ÉªlÉËˆrussÉªÊ²É]), officially the Republic of Belarus, 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 is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Hrodna (Grodno), Homiel (Gomel), MahilioÅ (Mogilev) and Vitsebsk (Vitebsk). Over 40% of its 207,600 square kilometres (80,200 sq mi) 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: for example: the Principality of Polotsk (11th to 14th centuries), the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Polishâ€“Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Russian Empire.
The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic proclaimed its independence in 1918 and became the first Muslim-majority democratic and secular republic. It was also the first Muslim-majority country to have operas, theaters and modern universities.The country was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1920 as the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. Azerbaijan proclaimed its independence in October 1991, before the official dissolution of the USSR. Earlier, in September 1991, the disputed Armenian-majority Nagorno-Karabakh region re-affirmed its willingness to create a separate state as the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.
Albania (a(w)l-BAY-nee-É™; Albanian: ShqipÃ«ri/ShqipÃ«ria; Gheg Albanian: Shqipni/Shqipnia, Shqypni/Shqypnia), officially known as the Republic of Albania (Albanian: Republika e ShqipÃ«risÃ«; Albanian pronunciation: [É¾É›puËˆblika É› ÊƒcipÉ™ËˆÉ¾iËs]), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast,[a] the Republic of Macedonia to the east, and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the west and on the Ionian Sea to the southwest.