Central Europe

From Wikinfo

Central Europe is the region of Europe between Eastern and Western Europe, frequently taken to include Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia. The list of countries that are sometimes included in this region is however much larger, and many times it includes Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Sometimes countries that consider themselves part of Central Europe consider states east from them as Eastern Europe. Thus, it is common in Germany to speak about Poland as being part of Eastern Europe, and in Poland to speak the same about Ukraine.

One used to joke that Central Europe is that part of the continent that is considered Eastern by Western Europe and Western by Eastern Europe. Another definition of Central Europe includes those parts of Europe that are Western from culture and history, but that were conquered by Soviet Union during World War II.

References

• Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Central Europe" http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Europe August 21, 2003