Central Europe

One of the things that learned many years ago is that Czech Republic is located in Central Europe...not Eastern Europe.  If you look at a map Czechland really is right in the middle of Europe.  Czechs get offended when people say Czechland is in Eastern Europe.

Post WW2 Iron Curtain

After World War II, the Iron Curtain split Europe in to Western Europe and Eastern Europe.  Many people still divide Europe based on political systems that disappeared +30 years ago.  Geographically, Vienna is east of Prague but Vienna gets labeled as western while Prague is considered eastern.


The countries considered to make up Central Europe are Switzerland, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Austria, and Czechland (right in the middle of them all).

Eastern Europe is pretty much all of the countries that used to be part of the Soviet Union.  Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Another arbitrary split is Central and Eastern Europe.  The CEE countries are Czechland, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Albania, Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia, Kosovo, and Bosnia & Herzegovina.  CEE doesn't include Germany, Switzerland, Russia or the former Soviet republics (expect for the three Baltic countries).