Unit+18+INTRODUCTION+TO+CENTRAL+EUROPE+AND+NORTHERN+EURASIA

INTRODUCTION TO CENTRAL EUROPE AND NORTHERN EURASIA

Central Europe and Northern Eurasia spans two continents in the Northern Hemisphere. The land is generally flat in the west and rises higher in the east and the south. The region is covered in broad plains, which allowed for movement throughout history.The climates of the region range from Mediterranean to subarctic. Irkutsk, Russia, has the coldest winters of any place in the world besides Antarctica. The tundra, a treeless plain in arctic areas where short grasses and mosses grow, covers northern Russia. Coniferous forests, called taiga, and grasslands, called the steppe, are found across Central Europe and in Russia. A history of migration has resulted in a multiethnic region, containing many ethnic groups. Although communism, a system in which the govern- ment controlled almost all aspects of political and econom- ic life, restricted religion, Ortho- dox Christianity is an important faith in Central Europe. In the 1980s, the fall of com- munism resulted in a move to capitalism. Industrial activities have led to pollution and acid rain. The fall of communism affected the level of health care in many nations.



1 - How has the geography of Central Europe and Northern Eurasia affected the movement of people across the region?
 * 2 - Map Skills** What country of Central Europe and Northern Eurasia is the largest?