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North of the Balkans Eastern Europe lies along the vast European plains, as seen in this view of the Polish countryside.  The horse drawn plow of this Polish peasant illustrates a key point:  Eastern Europe lags behind the Western part of the continent in agricultural modernization.  Consequently, a much higher percentage of the population is involved in agricultural production in Eastern Europe (especially the Balkans) than in Western Europe (see Graph 1 below). GRAPH 1                                     1990 Percentage of total population involved in agricultural production in several East and West European countries. Source:  Hammond World Atlas 1998                                                                                           

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