Until the end of the 1980s, almost all southern and eastern Europe, from Poland to Albania, formed part of the communist world. The collapse of communist rule is bringing dramatic changes to every country.
Southern countries grow grapes and olives.
Most now have democratic governments. But the changeover has uncovered national differences in countries united under the communists, such as former Yugoslavia. In most countries, people speak their own Slavic or German language. Hungarians speak Magyar. Greeks speak Greek and Romanians speak a language like Latin.