This monograph, published as part of the project "A Secondary Education for Europe," offers some basic data on the contemporary human geography of the European continent, with a focus on central and eastern Europe. The document first describes civic issues in the teaching of geography and cartography of the new Europe. The basic pedagogical intent of the text is to show, through a set of maps, the solidarity that links or should link the nations and states of Europe. The document advocates a geographical approach that takes into account Europe in peacetime and at war, the Europe to be developed, and the Europe to which peace must be brought. It argues that the teaching of geography must be modernized, particularly in the states that are in the process of being created, and that geography must portray territory in terms of different scales--the characteristics of a given area and the ways in which it fits into greater units. The second section describes changes that have affected European space since 1989, criteria for determining and defining Europe, and the demise of old and the creation of new states. Sections 3 through 5 describe basic geography, Europe at peace, and Europe in crisis. The chapters discuss economic gradients, the geography of transition and the focal position of the European Union, geo-economic entities, urbanization, continental reconnections, and migration patterns. Ten maps are included. (Contains 6 references.) (LMI)