Eastern Europe and Central Asia

This map shows the countries served by the Peace Coprs (as of July 2004) in the territory called "Eastern Europe and Central Asia." All of the countries highlighted in the map above have Peace Corps Volunteers. I put together some information about these countries before I knew that I was going to Ukraine. Just click on whichever country you want to know more about, and you'll be magically transported down the page.

All the information here (with the exception of my beautifully hand-drawn map) comes from one of these three websites: Peace Corps, CountryWatch, or the CIA World Factbook. By the way, the CIA World Factbook has really good maps for each country. Much better than mine!

I've also included links to Lonley Planet, which is a really great source of information (and very readable), especially for travelers. There's so much there, in fact, that I haven't had time to look at most of it.

Quite a bit of the inforation included below was copied directly from the Factbook, which is in the public domain.

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Albania

Albania has a narrow coastal plain and a mostly mountainous interior that is lightly forested. A few large lakes stretch along the country's borders with Montenegro in the north and Macedonia and Greece in the southeast. The Ionian coast from Vlorë to Saranda offers some of the most beautiful scenery in the country.

 

Capital City	Tirrane
Population	3,500,000
Area	28,750 km2, or slightly larger than Maryland.
Climate	Temperate; cool, cloudy, wet winters; hot, clear, dry summers; interior is cooler and wetter.
Languages	Albanian (Gheg and Tosk dialects) and Greek.
Religions	Largely Muslim, but with significant Albanian Orthodox and Roman Catholic populations.
Links	Peace Corps, CountryWatch, CIA World Factbook, Lonley Planet

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Armenia

The Peace Corps has been operating in Armenia since 1962 (the first Peace Corps Volunteers began serving in 1961).

The first Armenian state was founded in 190 BC. At its zenith, from 95 to 55 BC, Armenia extended its rule over the area of what is now eastern Turkey. For a time, Armenia was the strongest state in the Roman East.

 

Capital City	Yerevan
Population	3,300,000
Area	29,800 km2, or slightly smaller than Maryland.
Climate	Highland continental, hot summers, cold winters. High plateau with mountains, little forest land.
Languages	Armenian is the official language; Russian is spoken by a significant minority.
Religions	The vast majority is Armenian Orthodox.
Links	Peace Corps, CountryWatch, CIA World Factbook, Lonley Planet

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Azerbaijan

2003 was the first year the Peace Corps began sending volunteers to Azerbaijan.

Some scientists this area to be the most ecologically devastated area in the world. There is severe air, soil, and water pollution, the results of oil spills, DDT used as a pesticide, and toxic defoliants used in the production of cotton.

 

Capital City	Baku
Population	8,100,000
Area	86,600 km2, or slightly smaller than Maine.
Climate	Dry, semiarid steppe.
Languages	Azerbaijani is the official language, but many people speak Russian.
Religions	The vast majority is Muslim.
Links	Peace Corps, CountryWatch, CIA World Factbook, Lonley Planet

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Bulgaria

In the late 7th century, the Bulgars (a Central Asian Turkic tribe) joined with local Slavic inhabitants to form the first Bulgarian state. Through the following centuries, Bulgaria struggled with the Byzantine Empire to assert its place in the Balkans, but by the end of the 14th century was overrun by the Ottoman Turks.

 

Capital City	Sofia
Population	7,600,000
Area	110,910 km2, or slightly larger than Tennessee.
Climate	Cold, damp winters; hot, dry summers. Mostly mountainous with large fertile valleys and plains; lowlands in the north and southeast; Black Sea coast on the east.
Languages	Bulgarian
Religions	Mostly Bulgarian Orthodox, but there are also quite a few Muslims.
Links	Peace Corps, CountryWatch, CIA World Factbook, Lonley Planet

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Georgia

Georgian history dates back more than 2,500 years, and Georgian is one of the oldest living languages in the world. Tbilisi, located in a picturesque valley divided by the Mtkvari River, is more than 1,500 years old.

 

Capital City	Tbilisi
Population	4,900,000
Area	69,700 km2, or slightly larger than South Carolina.
Climate	Warm with Mediterranean-like on Black Sea coast. Generally moderate; mild on the Black Sea coast with cold winters in the mountains.
Languages	Georgian
Religions	Majority Georgian Orthodox, with significant Russian Orthodox and Muslim populations.
Links	Peace Corps, CountryWatch, CIA World Factbook, Lonley Planet

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Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is a vast country of desert, steppe, and mountains in central Asia, stretching from the Caspian Sea in the west to Mongolia in the east, from the Siberian forests in the north to the Tien Shan mountains in the south. About 14.8 million people live in an area four times the size of Texas.

 

Capital City	Astana
Population	14,800,000
Area	2,717,300 km2, or 4 times the size of Texas.
Climate	Continental, cold winters and hot summers, arid and semiarid.
Languages	Kazak is the official language, but most people speak Russian, which is used in business.
Religions	Two major religions, Russian Orthodox and Muslim.
Links	Peace Corps, CountryWatch, CIA World Factbook, Lonley Planet

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Kyrgyzstan

The Peace Corps website calls this country the Kyrgyz Republic, but both the CIA World Factbook and CountryWatch refer to Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyzstan is a land of ice-capped mountains and fertile river valleys, frigid, barren plateaus and rolling hills covered with wildflowers.

 

Capital City	Bishkek
Population	4,865,000
Area	198,500 km2, or slightly smaller than South Dakota.
Climate	Dry continental to polar in high Tien Shan; subtropical in southwest (Fergana Valley); temperate in northern foothill zone.
Languages	There are two official languages, Russian and Kirghiz.
Religions	The majority is Muslim, but there is also a significant percentage of Russian Orthodox.
Links	Peace Corps, CountryWatch, CIA World Factbook, Lonley Planet

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Macedonia

The Peace Corps has suspended its program in Macedonia twice, out of concern for the safety and security of its volunteers. First in 1991, when refugees began pouring in from Kosovo. The program restarted 4 months later. Then in July 2001 the program was again suspended, this time due to regional instability. In 2002, after the implementation of the Lake Ohrid Peace Agreement, the Peace Corps went back in.

 

Capital City	Skopje
Population	2,050,000
Area	25,333 km2, or slightly larger than Vermont.
Climate	Hot, dry summers and autumns and relatively cold winters with heavy snowfall.
Languages	Macedonian, Albanian, Romani.
Religions	Majority Eastern Orthodox, with a heavy percentage of Muslim.
Links	Peace Corps, CountryWatch, CIA World Factbook, Lonley Planet

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Moldova

Moldova has no major mineral deposits, but does enjoy a favorable climate and good farmland. As a result, the economy depends heavily on agriculture (fruits, vegetables, wine, and tobacco). Moldova imports all supplies of oil, coal, and natural gas, largely from Russia.

 

Capital City	Chisinau
Population	4,400,000
Area	33,700 km2, or slightly larger than Maryland.
Climate	Moderate winters, warm summers. Rolling steppe, gradual slope south to Black Sea.
Languages	Romanian, Russian
Religions	Almost entirely Eastern Orthodox.
Links	Peace Corps, CountryWatch, CIA World Factbook, Lonley Planet

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Romania

Do you know where Dracula came from? He was based on Vlad the Impaler, a Romanian monarch from the 15th century.

 

Capital City	Bucharest
Population	22,458,000
Area	237,500 km2, or somewhat smaller than New York and Pennsylvania combined.
Climate	Temperate; cold, cloudy winters with frequent snow and fog; sunny summers with frequent showers and thunderstorms. Consists mainly of rolling, fertile plains; hilly in the eastern regions of the middle Danube basin; and major mountain ranges running north and west in the center of the country, which collectively are known as the Carpathians.
Languages	Romanian and Hungarian
Religions	The majority is Roman Orthodox.
Links	Peace Corps, CountryWatch, CIA World Factbook, Lonley Planet

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Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan is largely desert country with intensive agriculture in irrigated oases and large gas and oil resources. One-half of its irrigated land is planted in cotton, making it the world's tenth-largest producer.

Turkmenistan's economic statistics are state secrets.

 

Capital City	Ashgabat
Population	5,500,000
Area	488,100 km2, or slightly larger than California.
Climate	Subtropical desert. 80% covered in subtropical, sandy Karakum Desert, with dunes rising to the Kopet Dag Mountains in the south along the border with Iran.
Languages	Turkmen and Russian.
Religions	The majority is Muslim.
Links	Peace Corps, CountryWatch, CIA World Factbook, Lonley Planet

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Ukraine

Ukraine was the first successor nation of the Soviet Union to invite the Peace Corps to establish a program on its territory.

 

Capital City	Kiev (or Kyiv)
Population	48,400,000
Area	603,700 km2, or slightly smaller than Texas.
Climate	Temperate continental; winters vary from cool along the Black Sea to cold farther inland; summers are warm across the greater part of the country. Hot in the south.
Languages	Ukrainian and Russian.
Religions	Ukrainian Orthodoxy and Ukrainian Greek Catholicism.
Links	Peace Corps, CountryWatch, CIA World Factbook, Lonley Planet

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Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan is a land of deserts and steppes, snow-capped mountains and fertile oases. The ancient Uzbek engineers created sparkling blue and green tiled domes and thriving caravan cities.

The leading cities of the famous Silk Road-- Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva--are located in Uzbekistan.

 

Capital City	Tashkent
Population	25,600,000
Area	447,400 km2, or slightly larger than California.
Climate	Mostly midlatitude desert, long, hot summers, mild winters, semiarid grassland in east.
Languages	Mostly Uzbek, with some Russian.
Religions	Majority is Muslim (Sunni).
Links	Peace Corps, CountryWatch, CIA World Factbook, Lonley Planet

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