Eastern Europe

EASTERN EUROPE
  Eastern Europe is a region lying in the Eastern part of Europe. The term is highly context-dependent and even volatile, as there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe asthere are scholars of the region". A related UN paper adds that "every assessment of spatial identities is essentially a social and cultural construct".
One definition describes Eastern Europe asa cultural (and econo-cultural) entity: the region lying between Central Europe and Western Asia, with main characteristics oconsisting in Byzantine, Orthodox and limited Ottoman influences. Westernadvocates of this view include the OECD, the World Bank, and US VP Joe Biden.
Geographical
The Ural Mountains are the geographical border on the eastern edge of Europe. In the west, however,the cultural and religious boundaries are subject to considerable overlap and, most importantly, have undergone historical fluctuations, which make a precise definition of the western boundaries of Eastern Europesomewhat difficult.
Political and cultural
One view of the present boundaries of Eastern Europe came into being during the final stages of World War II. The area eventually came to encompass allthe European countries which were under Soviet influence. These countries had communist governments, and neutral countries were classified by the nature of their political regimes. The Cold Warincreased the number of reasons for the division of Europe into two parts along the borders of NATO and Warsaw Pact states.
A competing view excludes from the definition of Eastern Europe states that arehistorically and culturally different, constituting part of the so-called Western world. This usually refers to Central Europe and the Baltic states which have significantly different political,religious, cultural, and economic histories from their eastern neighbors.
Countries
Albania 
Albania is a small country in the Balkan region of Southeastern Europe where visitors can enjoy both ski...