ГЕОГРАФІЧНІ ІНТЕРПРЕТАЦІЇ РЕГІОНУ «ЦЕНТРАЛЬНА ЄВРОПА»

Today on the political map of the world, Europe occupies a special position, plays an important role in defining and shaping the modern global world order. The full-scale war taking place in the heart of Europe indicates the relevance of the problem of civilizational confrontation in the 21st century and the difficulty in geographically defining those territories and natural regions that occupy a buffer position. Such geography not only determines the degree and rationality of the use of natural conditions and resources, but also the intensity and direction of the reconstruction of the landscape structure of the region, the transformation of natural landscapes into various groups of man-made ones, their subsequent changes and anthropogenic layering. Central Europe is a special region of Europe. This territory has always been at the forefront of scientific and political knowledge during the most difficult stages of the historical formation and development of Europe. In the 20s of the 21st century, it did not lose its importance, and the transformational processes shaping the geopolitical situation in the Northern Hemisphere and on the continent of Eurasia confirm this. A.H. Donska notes that the concept of Central Europe characterizes one of the most unstable and uneven parts of Europe. Without a clear geographical designation, Central Europe can be seen as a response to global political challenges. Scientists claim that today there is a need to rethink the regionalization of Europe, the place and role of Central Europe in the processes of dynamic interaction between the Asia-Pacific region and the European Union. The concept of Central Europe, as a component of the concept of Europe, is the spread of the European integration process, Europeanness and civilizational choice. The aim of the article: to explore geographical interpretations of the Central Europe as a scientific category. The study was based on the principle of natural anthropogenic compatibility, which is thoroughly revealed in the works of G. I. Denysyk. General and specific scientific research methods have been used. The article scientifically substantiates and proves that Central Europe is a natural-geographical, socio-geographical, geopolitical and historical-geographical region, which today should be interpreted as a spiritual concept, state of mind, geographical bastion, appropriate institutional basis, as a struggle for "its western" and understanding of Europeanness. The novelty of the study is that Central Europe was considered not only as a geographical materialist territorial entity (natural, social-geographical), but also from the point of view of humanistic geography as a natural-socio-historical-cultural territory, which is constantly changing in the space and time. Key words: Central Europe, natural-geographical region, socio-geographical region, natural-socio-historical-cultural territory.