A prosperous, democratic country, Austria joined the EU in 1995. It has a well-developed market economy, having modern agricultural and industrial sectors and a high standard of living. It has a thriving tourist scene based around its historic cities and winter sports facilities. Austria is a landlocked country bordered by Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. Geographically, Austria can be...

A country that occupies the western part of the Iberian peninsula in southwest Europe, Portugal borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south, and Spain to the east and north. It also includes two Atlantic archipelagos, the Azores and Madeira that occupy strategic points along the approaches to the Strait of Gibraltar. The overseas territory of Macao (Macau) was returned to China in 1999. Portugal has developed a diverse and increasingly service-oriented...

A country in Central Europe, with a coastline on the Baltic Sea in the north, Poland is bounded to the west by Germany, to the south by the Czech and Slovak Republics, to the east by Ukraine and Belarus, and by Lithuania and the Russian oblast of Kaliningrad to the north. For the most part undulating, Poland is part of the great Northern European Plain, though it rises toward the south through hills that culminate in the Sudeten and Carpathian mountains...

Germany lies in the heart of Europe. It stretches from the North Sea and Baltic coasts in the north to the Alps in the south and has land borders with nine countries: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, and Switzerland. Following Germany's defeat in World War I and the collapse of their empire, they were left with crippling reparations, soaring inflation, and high unemployment. The rise of the Nazi...

A European country in the southern Balkans, Greece is a complicated series of mountain ridges and enclosed valleys, forming a deeply indented peninsula that extends down into the Mediterranean Sea. Greece is famous for the clarity of its light, and no place is very far from the sea. Scores of islands, some of them forming named groups, make up a fifth or so of the country, and are mostly uninhabited. The largest island, Crete, was acquired by Greece...

Denmark is a kingdom of northwest Europe bordering the North and Baltic Seas. It occupies the northern two-thirds of the Jutland Peninsula, together with the islands lying between the peninsula and Sweden. During World War II, Denmark was invaded by Germany, but offered strong resistance throughout the occupation. Denmark joined NATO in 1949 and in 1973, together with Britain, entered the EU. Today, Denmark is a prosperous, progressive, and thoroughly...

A country of Western Europe, Belgium has a coastline on the North Sea but is otherwise surrounded by the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and France. It is characterized by the Ardennes in the southeast, and drained lowland plains by the rivers Meuse and Scheldt. Flemish is spoken mainly in Flanders in the north, and French and Walloon, a French dialect, in Wallonia in the south. Belgium made a rapid recovery after World War II and has made economic...

A kingdom of Northern Europe, Sweden occupies the eastern portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula and borders Finland in the northeast. It has a coastline on the Gulf of Bothnia and the Baltic Sea to the east, and the Skagerrak and Kattegat Straits lie to the southwest. Sweden has enjoyed a long period of peace and neutrality, and an almost continuous Social Democratic government since 1932. This stability, combined with the country's mix of high-tech...