FutureTank
Banned Member
Well, I did learn something today
Until end of WW1 when Poland was a part of the Russian Empire, it was reconed to be in Eastern Europe. This was also true before 1806 because Eastern Europe was simply considered a region of the Slavic speakers.
Here, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Europe Europe is divided into its five regions.
However apparently Mainland Europe has its limits
Northernmost point — Cape Nordkinn, Norway (71° 08′ 02.835″ N)
Southernmost point — Punta de Tarifa, Spain (36° 00′ 00.175″ N)
Westernmost point — Cabo da Roca, Portugal (09° 30′ 02.727″ W)
Easternmost point — easternmost end of the Komi Republic, Russia (66° 11′ 57.225″ E) [4]
The centre of these extreme points is at 53°34′01.505″N, 28°20′57.249″E, 15km north east of Marina Gorka, Belarus.
This is dependant on where one measures from of course :
Locations currently vying for the distinction of being the centre of Europe include:
Bernotai, or Purnuškės near Vilnius in Lithuania;
a point on the island of Saaremaa in Estonia;
the village of Krahule, near Kremnica in central Slovakia;
the small town of Rakhiv, or the village of Dilove near Rakhiv, in western Ukraine;
Suchowola, north of Białystok, in north-eastern Poland; and Toruń in the northern part of central Poland;
Babruysk or Vitebsk in Belarus;
In 1775 the Polish Astronomer Royal Szymon Antoni Sobiekrajski published a report in which he stated that the geographic centre of Europe was located at the town of Suchowola (now in the county (Polish: powiat) of Sokółka). The methodology he used was to calculate the four furthest points (the corners) of the continent and to ascertain where the lines crossed. The town of Suchowola, situated at 53°35′N 23°06′E, has a monument erected declaring this spot to be the geometrical centre of Europe.
On January 1, 2007, with the inclusion of Romania and Bulgaria in the European Union, the geographic center of the European Union changed, to a wheat field outside of the German town Gelnhausen, 110 miles east of the previous marker, at 50°10′21″N, 9°9′0″E[1]. Some people here may have been there while serving at the Coleman Kaserne which is a United States Army facility.
The East European Plain (also Eastern-European Lowland, Eastern European Lowlands, Eastern European Plain, and Russian Plain) is a plain and series of broad river basins in Eastern Europe. It is the largest mountain-free part of the European landscape. The plain spans approximately 4,000,000 km² (~1,544,408 mi²) and averages about 170 m (~558 ft.) in elevation. It stretches from the Ural Mountains and covers most of the European part of Russia, Baltic states, Belarus, most of Ukraine, Moldova, East Poland and West Kazakhstan.
Finding the political centre is even more difficult. This started in Rome, moved to Paris, Vienna, London, Paris again (briefly), Berlin, and finally Brussels. The borders of Europe and its division into regions moved accordingly.
Based on this I suppose Poland is geographicaly in Central Europe, politicaly in Eastern Europe, economicaly in North-Eastern Europe, and culturaly somewhat torn as being the only Catholic Slavs (I think).
Bit OT, but probably helps to define where Turkey is