The paper discusses general regularities which determine the relationships between nature and human settlement in respect of urban settlement and the primary physio-geographic boundaries. The study looks at the relations between the mountains and the foothills boundary and the distribution and development of cities in the Ukrainian Carpathians over the span of the last thousand years. In the successive periods, the role of the analysed boundaries in the development processes was subject to distinct changes. While the defence function was losing in importance, new functions appeared such as the tourist function. The author's analysis corroborates the hypothesis that the high-rank physio-geographic boundaries such as e.g. premontane gradient zone, have played (and still play) a considerable role in the processes of city location and development.
The paper aims to give specific content to the notion of the Balkans. The author looks at the linkages between the geographically distinct Balkan Peninsula and the Balkans as they are popularly referred to in the media. The article discusses the evolution of the term and the changes in the range of the area on the basis of historical maps. Based on the analysis of the materials, the author concludes that its historical past played a crucial part in the emergence of the Balkan region. The expansion of the Ottoman Turks to the Balkan Peninsula brought the destruction of the existing political structures and a deep transformation of the social relations following the Islamisation of the Balkans. Far-reaching ethnic, cultural and religious changes took place, which last until the present day. The author also looks for the common characteristics of the Balkan countries, manifested primarily in the multi-cultural character of the region and in the linkages between man and the environment. The analysis indicates that the Balkans are fallaciously identified with the Balkan Peninsula as, though being located on the Peninsula, they form a smaller area culturally. The spatial range of the Balkans has changed along with political developments.