What is Eastern Europe?
[[File:Europe_subregion_map_world_factbook.svg|link=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Europe_subregion_map_world_factbook.svg|right|thumb|European regions according to [[CIA World Factbook]]{{legend|#FF8080|Eastern Europe here is mainly equal to the European part of the former [[Soviet Union]]}}{{legend|#007FFF|Northern Europe}} {{legend|#00FFFF|Western Europe}} {{legend|#F0DC82|Central Europe}} {{legend|#FF0000|Southwest Europe}} {{legend|#66FF00|Southern Europe}} {{legend|#D2691E|Southeast Europe}}]] '''Eastern Europe''' is the [[east]]ern [[region]] of [[Europe]]. Originally, it meant the [[country|countries]] that were under the [[influence]] of the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] in [[Istanbul|Constantinople]] during the [[Middle Ages]] and [[Western Europe]] meant those countries following [[Catholicism]] or [[Protestantism]]. Later, during the [[Cold War]], it meant the European countries that were [[Alliance|allied]] to the [[Soviet Union]]. It is now used to talk about the European [[post-Soviet states]] and the former [[Warsaw Pact]]. Others say that Eastern Europe is a region of mainly [[Slavic peoples|Slavic]] cultures, though other ethnic groups live there as well. Eastern Europe has a large [[Roma people|Roma gypsy]] population. [[File:European_sub-regions_(according_to_EuroVoc,_the_thesaurus_of_the_EU).png|link=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:European_sub-regions_(according_to_EuroVoc,_the_thesaurus_of_the_EU).png|thumb|European sub-regions according to [[EuroVoc]]{{legend|#FF0000|[[Central Europe|Central]] and [[Eastern Europe]]}}{{legend|#67E863|Western Europe}} {{legend|#F6D600|Southern Europe}} {{legend|#0076D3|Northern Europe}}]] According to the widest contemporary definitions - including those used by the [[United Nations|UN]] Statistics Division, several other UN organizations and [[EuroVoc]] (the multilingual thesaurus of the [[European Union|EU]]) - the following states are in Eastern Europe: # {{flag|Russia}} # {{flag|Belarus}} # {{flag|Adygea}} # {{flag|Serbia}} # {{flag|Hungary}} # {{f