What Countries Are in Central Europe?

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The Central Europe Programme lists the Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, Italy, Poland, Hungary, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Ukraine as Central European countries. There is some disagreement, however, as to which countries should be classified as part of Central Europe.

The Visegrad Group constituents are almost always classified as Central European countries. This group is made up of the Slovak Republic, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.

Central Europe is sometimes divided into West-Central Europe and East-Central Europe. The countries of West-Central Europe are Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Slovenia. These countries exist on the border of Central Europe and Western Europe, and they can be classified as either.

East-Central Europe includes the Slovak Republic, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Because these countries exist on the border of Central Europe and Eastern Europe, they are sometimes classified as Eastern Europe instead of Central Europe.

Other countries sometimes included in Central Europe are Serbia, Romania and Croatia. According to the German tradition of geographical delineation, the countries of Northern Europe are classified as part of Central Europe.

Opinions on what constitutes Central Europe differ because the region is defined more by cultural and historical connections than by physical or spatial boundaries.