Editing Central Europe (section)

==Geography==
[[File:Danubemap.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|The [[Danube]] watercourse system throughout Central and Southeastern Europe]]

Geography defines Central Europe's natural borders with the neighbouring regions to the north across the [[Baltic Sea]], namely Northern Europe (or [[Scandinavia]]), and to the south across the [[Alps]], the [[Apennine peninsula]] (or Italy), and the [[Balkan peninsula]]{{sfn|Magocsi|2002|p=20}} across the [[Soča]]–[[Krka (Sava)|Krka]]–[[Sava]]–Danube line. The borders to Western Europe and Eastern Europe are geographically less defined, and for this reason the [[Culture|cultural]] and historical boundaries migrate more easily west–east than south–north.

Southwards, the [[Pannonian Plain]] is bounded by the rivers [[Sava]] and [[Danube]] – and their respective floodplains.<ref>[http://www.icpdr.org/main/sites/default/files/BA%20Facts%20Figures.pdf Danube Facts and Figures. Bosnia and Herzegovina (April 2007)] (PDF file)</ref> The [[Pannonian Plain]] stretches over the following countries: [[Austria]], [[Croatia]], [[Hungary]], [[Romania]], [[Serbia]], [[Slovakia]] and [[Slovenia]], and touches borders of [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]] and [[Ukraine]] ("peri- Pannonian states").

South of the [[Eastern Alps]] (spanning Austria, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Slovenia and Switzerland),<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Dinaric-Alps |title=Dinaric Alps (mountains, Europe)|access-date=31 January 2010}}</ref> the [[Dinaric Alps]] extend for 650 kilometres along the coast of the [[Adriatic Sea]] (northwest-southeast), from the [[Julian Alps]] in the northwest down to the Šar-Korab massif, north–south. According to the [[Free University of Berlin|Freie Universität Berlin]], this [[Dinaric Alps|mountain chain]] is classified as [[Alps|South Central European]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Juliane Dittrich |url=http://www.grin.com/de/e-book/37159/die-alpen-hoehenstufen-und-vegetation |title=Die Alpen – Höhenstufen und Vegetation – Hauptseminararbeit |date=14 April 2005 |publisher=GRIN |isbn=9783638365840 |access-date=31 January 2010}}</ref> The city of [[Trieste]] in this area, for example, expressly sees itself as a ''città mitteleuropea''. This is particularly because it lies at the interface between the [[Romance languages|Latin]], [[Slavs|Slavic]], [[Culture of German-speaking Europe|Germanic]], [[Culture of Greece|Greek]] and [[Jewish culture]] on the one hand and the geographical area of the [[Mediterranean]] and the [[Alps]] on the other. A geographical and cultural assignment is made.

The Central European [[Phytochorion|flora region]] stretches from Central France (the [[Massif Central]]) to the Northern [[Balkans]], Central [[Romania]] ([[Carpathians]]) and Southern [[Scandinavia]].<ref>[[:de:Wolfgang Frey|Wolfgang Frey]] and [[:de:Rainer Lösch|Rainer Lösch]]; Lehrbuch der Geobotanik. Pflanze und Vegetation in Raum und Zeit. Elsevier, Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, München 2004 {{ISBN|3-8274-1193-9}}</ref>