East Europe

As a consequence of intensive application of mineral fertilizers, nitrogen and phosphorus biogeochemical provinces have been formed in many regions, for instance, in Central and South East Asia, East Europe, etc. 

The landlocked Caspian Sea is the largest inland body of water on Earth. Surrounded by Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan, the Caspian Sea is home to myriad ecosystems. At the meeting point of the Middle East, Europe, and Asia, the Caspian region includes steppe land in the north, cold, continental deserts and semi-deserts in the northeast and east, and warmer mountain and highland systems in the south and southwest. The coastal wetlands of the Caspian basin include many shallow, saline pools, which attract a variety of bird life and biodiversity over 400 species are unique to the Caspian. In addition, the sea s native sturgeon is famous the world around for the roe it produces sturgeon from the Caspian Sea accounts for approximately 90% of the world s caviar industry. 

Bashkin, V. N., Gregor, H. D. (Eds.). (1999). Calculation of Critical Loads of Air Pollutants at Ecosystems of East Europe. ONTI Publishing House, Pushchino-UBA, Berlin, 132 pp. 

In contrast to a relatively self-contained U.S., Europe and Japan are subject to political turmoils and are at the mercy of political vicissitudes in the Middle East. Europe and Japan are especially vulnerable to adverse changes because they both suffer from low levels of natural resources. 

Silk was first developed as early as 6000 b.c. The Chinese Empress, Xi Ling-Shi, developed the process of retrieving silk filaments by floating the cocoons on warm water. This process and the silkworm itself were monopolized by China until about a.d. 550 when two missionaries smuggled silkworm eggs and mulbetty seeds from China to Constantinople (Istanbul). First reserved for use by the Emperors of China, it eventually spread to the Middle East, Europe, and North America until now when its use is worldwide. The history of silk and the silk trade is interesting and can be obtained at http / en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk. 

In various sections, this report refers to a number of regional designations. These are not official designations. They are defined as follows West and Central Europe EU 25 plus EFTA plus San Marino and Andorra East Europe European CIS countries Southeast Europe Turkey and the non-EU Balkan countries North America Canada, Mexico and United States of America. 

Meanwhile, opiate seizures rose by 17 per cent in East Europe (defined as the European C.I.S. countries), which is supplied with Afghan opiates via Central Asia. Seizures in Central Asia declined by 38 per cent in 2005, mostly because of Tajikistan (down 51 per cent). This decline was associated with the transitional arrangements following the transfer of border control to the Tajik authorities. Nonetheless, Tajikistan seized the... 

Heroin (59 mt) China 15 per cent, Turkey 14 per cent, Afghanistan 12 per cent, Iran 10 per cent, the Russian Federation 8 per cent, as well as Tajikistan, the UK5 and Pakistan 4 per cent each, the USA 3 per cent and Italy 2 per cent. This shows that China is the largest heroin market in East and South-East Asia the Russian Federation is by far the largest in East Europe the UK and Italy are the largest markets in western Europe and the USA is the largest market in the Americas. 

East and South-East Asia Q 3,183 Central Asia and Transcaucasian countries South America South Asia East Europe North America... 

Southeast Europe Q West Central Europe Q East Europe Q Central Asia and Transcaucasian countries ... 

The largest opiates market in East Europe is most likely the Russian Federation. However, estimates of the number of opiate users vary substantially4. UNODC... 

Heroin abuse in West and Central Europe has stablized at 1.4 million. In East Europe levels are higher than in West and Central Europe. Estimates of the number of heroin abusers in Europe as a whole (3.3 million people) are higher than the corresponding estimates for the Americas (1.5 million). The largest numbers of heroin abusers are found in Asia, which accounts for almost half of all heroin use worldwide (5.4 million). Asia and Europe together account for more than three quarters of the world s heroin abuse. 

Opiate use stable to declining in West and Central Europe but rising in East Europe. .. 

Cocaine use in Europe, in contrast, continued to increase unabated. Increases were reported from most of Western Europe and South-Eastern Europe. In fact, most of the global increase of cocaine use over the last decade can be attributed to rapidly rising cocaine consumption in Europe. Only in Central Europe and in East Europe were cocaine use levels reported to have remained stable in 2005-... 

In contrast to herb, trafficking in resin is not intra-regional but, significantly inter-regional. This applies, in particular, to trafficking of resin from North Africa (Morocco) to West and Central Europe, from Central Asia to East Europe (notably the Russian Federation) and from the Caribbean (notably Jamaica) to North America (notably Canada). 

South Asia 154,790 West Central Europe Q 54,842 East and South-East Asia 0 43,651 Caribbean Q 42,415 East Europe 131,820 Central Asia and Transcaucasian countries 25,636 Southeast Europe 19,756 Central America 17,428 Oceania 3,514 Near and Middle East /South-West Asia 1,023... 

West Central Europe C Near and Middle East/South-West Asia C North Africa C Southern Africa 0 16,948 East Africa Q 12,334 Caribbean 0 7,879 Southeast Europe I 4,167 South Asia 4,029 East Europe I 2,102 North America I 915 Central Asia and Transcaucasian countries 444 East and South-East Asia 404 South America 124 Oceania 2 West and Central Africa 1... 

The general rise in the cannabis trend indicator was due to increasing cannabis use perceived by the authorities in most of Africa, several parts of Asia (South-Asia, South-West Asia and Central Asia) and most of South America. This more than offset declines perceived in North America and some European countries, as well as the stabilization or declines perceived in several countries of East and South-East Asia. Trend data for Oceania suggest stabilization at lower levels, after cannabis use had fallen for several years, though there are some indications that the downward trend in the region actually continued. Cannabis use trends in Europe showed a mixed picture, with increases perceived in East and South-East Europe and stabilization or decline reported from several West European countries. 

If the 2005 data were considered in isolation, East and South-East Asia accounted for 38 per cent of global ATS seizures, West and Central Europe for 18 per cent, North America for 17 per cent and the Oceania region as well South-East Europe, North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa for 4 per cent each. 

The largest national ATS seizures in 2005 were reported from China (23 per cent), followed by the United States of America (14 per cent) and Saudi Arabia (8 per cent). China and the USA seized primarily methampheta-mine, both produced locally or smuggled into the country from a direct neighbour (Myanmar and Mexico, respectively). Saudi Arabia seized primarily Captagon tablets which had been shipped across several borders from South-East Europe. Other large ATS seizures in 2005 were reported by Taiwan province of China (7 per cent), the Netherlands (6 per cent), Thailand (5 per... 

During the 2000-2005 period, some 80 per cent of global amphetamine seizures took place in Europe, mostly in West and Central Europe (68 per cent) and in South-East Europe (11 per cent). East and South-East Asia accounted for 15 per cent of global amphetamine seizures and the Near and Middle East for 2 per cent (excluding Captagon seizures, which could also fall under the amphetamine category). 

In comparison to the year 2000, amphetamines seizures declined in East and South-East Asia as well as in the Oceania region, South Asia, East Africa and in the Caribbean. Seizures increased in all other regions. When compared to 2004, amphetamines seizures declined in West and Central Europe, South-East Europe, North Africa, South-Asia and Central America, and rose in all other regions. The net result was an increase in global seizures in 2005 as compared to 2004, although global seizures remained some 13 per cent below the record levels of 2000. 

While ecstasy trafficking decreased in West and Central Europe, it increased in East and South-East Europe. Nonetheless, ecstasy seizures for Europe as whole fell by 25 per cent over the 2000-2005 period. During the same period, even stronger declines of ecstasy seizures were reported from North America (minus 35 per cent), reflecting successful efforts to curtail the ecstasy trade and reduce consumption over the last few years. The strongest increases were registered by countries in the Oceania region and, to a lesser extent and from lower levels, by countries in South America and in East and South-East Asia. 

Southeast Europe 1 East Europe South America TOTAL... 

Southeast Europe 134 (3%) Caribbean [] 50 East Europe Q 37 Near and Middle East/South-West Asia 27 South America 15 Central Asia and Transcaucasian countries 4... 

In contrast, in South-East Europe as well as Eastern Europe, ecstasy use rates were reported as continuing to rise (albeit rising from far lower levels). In 2005, all of the countries in Eastern and South-East Europe reporting to UNODC saw rising levels of ecstasy use. 

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