14 LANGUAGES

THE BODY – Diversity and togetherness between Slavonic people around the globe based on language and culture

Never before a common platform has been created for all Slavs in Europe and around the world to join their forces and gather under the roof of CULTURE.

SLAVONIC EUROPE – the International Network for Slavonic Cooperation – puts people together via CULTURE in its classical broad sense of ARTS, DEMOCRACY, EDUCATION & ECONOMY. Diversity and togetherness of a large geographic area are compatible in the long run only, if common roots and a common cultural basis add to existing democratic standards and if the society is aware of its own cultural heritage.

COHESION THROUGH CULTURAL INTEGRATION

The Slavs and the Slavonic culture could theoretically fulfil these requirements and could thus theoretically contribute in substantial manner to an enhanced integration and cohesion of the European continent and even beyond giving an important example at international level.

In this context, the promotion of integrative programmes and projects will play a prominent role both among the Slavonic cultures themselves as well as between Eastern and Western Europe and around the globe.

BELARUS

Belarus, a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, is known among others for its grand fortifications and primeval forests such as the Naliboki State Landscape, the Narachanski National Park or the Biarezinski Biosphere Reserve. In the modern capital, Minsk, the Museum of the Great Patriotic War commemorates the country’s role in WWII and the city is also home to many churches, including the neo-Romanesque Church of Saints Simon and Helena.

Capital: Minsk
Area‎: ‎207 600 km²
Population: 9 498 700
Currency: Belarusian ruble
Official languages: Belarusian, Russian

BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA

Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country on the Balkan Peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its countryside is home to medieval villages, rivers and lakes, plus the craggy Dinaric Alps. National capital Sarajevo has a well preserved old quarter, Baščaršija, with landmarks like 16th-century Gazi Husrev-bey Mosque. Ottoman-era Latin Bridge is the site of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand d’Este, which ignited World War I.

Capital: Sarajevo
Area: 51 197 km²
Population: 3 829 000
Currency: Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark
Official languages: Croatian, Bosnian, Serbian

BULGARIA

Bulgaria is a Balkan nation with diverse terrain encompassing Black Sea coastline, a mountainous interior and rivers, including the Danube. A cultural melting pot with Slavonic, Greek, Ottoman and Persian influences, it has a rich and very old cultural heritage comprising among others traditional dance, music, costumes and crafts. At the foot of domed Vitosha mountain lies its capital city, Sofia, dating to the 5th century B.C.

Capital: Sofia
Area: 110 994 km²
Population: 7 265 000
Currency: Bulgarian lev
Official languages: Bulgarian

CROATIA

Croatia is an Eastern European country with a long coastline on the Adriatic Sea. Encompassing more than a thousand islands, it’s also crossed by the Dinaric Alps. Its inland capital, Zagreb is distinguished by its medieval Gornji Grad (Upper Town) and diverse museums. The major coastal city Dubrovnik has massive 16th-century walls encircling an Old Town with Gothic and Renaissance buildings.

Capital: Zagreb
Area: ‎56 542km²
Population: 4 253 000
Currency: Croatian kuna
Official languages: Croatian

CZECH REPUBLIC

The Czech Republic, in Central Europe, is a country, which is known for its ornate castles, beautiful varied and fluvial landscapes, delicious cuisine and a very long history of statehood dating more than 1 000 years back to the Great Moravian Empire. Prague, the capital, is home to the grand 9th-century Prague Castle, a preserved medieval old town and the famous statue-lined Charles Bridge.

Capital: Prague
Area: 78 866 km²
Population: 10 200 000
Currency: Czech koruna
Official language: Czech

LUSATIA

Lusatia is a historical region in Central Europe, split between Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic being the home to the Slavonic peoples of the Sorbs / Wends. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the east to the Pulsnitz and Black Elster rivers in the west, and is located within the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg, in the Polish voivodeships of Lower Silesia and Lubusz and in the Czech Republic the northern part of the Liberecký kraj. The Lusatian Lake District (Lausitzer Seenland) is Europe’s largest artificial lake district. The village of Herrnhut (Ochranow) is the historical seat of the Moravian Church. Muskau Park in Bad Muskau (Mužakow) and Łęknica is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Major Cities: DE: Budyšin / Bautzen, Chóśebuz / Cottbus, Zhorjelc / Görlitz, Žitawa / Zittau, PL: Zeliona Góra, Bogatynia, CZ: Rumburk, Warnsdorf
Area‎: ‎13 000 km²
Population: 1 300 000
Official languages: Upper Sorbian, Lower Sorbian

MONTENEGRO

Montenegro is a Balkan country with rugged mountains, medieval villages and a narrow strip of beaches along its Adriatic coastline. The Bay of Kotor, resembling a fjord, is dotted with coastal churches and fortified towns such as Kotor and Herceg Novi. Durmitor National Park, home to bears and wolves, encompasses limestone peaks, glacial lakes and the 1 300m-deep Tara River Canyon.

Capital: Podgorica
Area: 13 812 km²
Population: 621 383
Currency: Euro
Official language: Montenegrin

NORTH MACEDONIA

North Macedonia is a landlocked Balkan nation of mountains, lakes and ancient towns with Ottoman and European architecture. The capital, Skopje, is known for its sprawling Old Bazaar quarter and historic buildings turned museums, including the National Gallery of Macedonia, housed in a 15th-century Turkish bath complex. The southern city Ohrid, on a lake of the same name, has a medieval townscape and hilltop castle.

Capital: Skopje
Area: 25 713 km²
Population: 2 107 000
Currency: Macedonian denar
Official languages: Macedonian

POLAND

Poland is an eastern European country on the Baltic Sea known for its medieval architecture, vast and valuable natural areas, such as the famous Białowieża Forest, and a rich Jewish heritage. In the old historical city of Kraków, the former capital of the country, the 14th-century Wawel Castle rises above the medieval old town, home to Cloth Hall, a Renaissance trading post in Rynek Glówny (market square).

Capital: Warsaw
Area: 312 679 km²
Population: 38 530 000
Currency: Polish złoty
Official languages: Polish

RUSSIA

Russia, the world’s largest country, borders European and Asian countries as well as the Pacific and Arctic oceans. Its landscape ranges from tundra and forests to subtropical beaches. It’s famous for Moscow’s Bolshoi and St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky ballet companies. St. Petersburg, founded by Russian tsar Peter the Great, has the baroque Winter Palace, now housing part of the State Hermitage Museum’s art collection.

Capital: Moscow
Area: 17 075 200 km²
Population: 143 500 000
Currency: Russian ruble
Official languages: Russian

SERBIA

Serbia is a country on southeast Europe’s Balkan peninsula with northern plateaus and mountains with ski resorts to the south. Capital city Belgrade is home to a particularly varied architecture and the Kalemegdan Park, the site of the Belgrade Fortress, held successively by the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires. Stari Grad, the old city, is home to 19th-century mansions and the Narodno Pozorište (national theater).

Capital: Belgrade
Area: 88 361 km²
Population: 7 164 000
Currency: Serbian dinar
Official languages: Serbian

SLOVAKIA

Slovakia is a central European country known for its dramatic natural landscape and many castles. Near the Austrian border, capital city Bratislava features a pedestrian-only Old Town with a lively cafe scene. Rising on a hill above the Danube River, Bratislava Castle houses a branch of the Slovak National Museum, with displays ranging from Roman artefacts to 20th-century arts and crafts.

Capital: Bratislava
Area: 49 035 km²
Population: 5 414 000
Currency: Euro
Official languages: Slovak

SLOVENIA

Slovenia, a country in Central Europe, is known for its mountains, ski resorts and lakes. On Lake Bled, a glacial lake fed by hot springs, the town of Bled contains a church-topped islet and a cliffside medieval castle. In Ljubljana, Slovenia’s capital, baroque facades mix with the 20th-century New-Slavonic architecture of native Jože Plečnik, whose iconic Tromostovje (Triple Bridge) spans the tightly curving Ljubljanica River.

Capital: Ljubljana
Area: 20 273 km²
Population: 2 060 000
Currency: Euro
Official languages: Slovene

UKRAINE

Ukraine is a country known for its Orthodox churches, Black Sea coastline and forested mountains. Its capital, Kiev, features the gold-domed St. Sophia’s Cathedral, with 11th-century mosaics and frescoes. Overlooking the Dnieper River is the Kiev Pechersk Lavra monastery complex, a Christian pilgrimage site housing Scythian tomb relics and catacombs containing mummified Orthodox monks.

Capital: Kiev
Area: 603 500 km²
Population: 45 490 000
Currency: Ukrainian hryvnia
Official languages: Ukrainian

Recognised regional languages:
Armenian, Azerbaijani, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Crimean Tatar, Gagauz, German, Greek, Hungarian, Karaim, Krymchak, Moldovan, Polish, Romani, Romanian, Russian, Rusyn, Slovak, Yiddish