A politico-geographic term for the region of Southeast Europe through which the river Danube flows to the black sea. It comprises in the main the territory of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, today covered by: Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, the former Yugoslav Federation, and sometimes also Bulgaria is included. Since the dissolution of the old Austrian Empire the Danubian Basin has been divided into a number of small and medium states, with tariff walls, frontier and minority quarrels, and other political antagonisms. Suggestions of the reunion of the region into a Danubian Federation have not had any effect owing to these antagonisms, some of which have been fostered from outside the region. The Danubian region is important for its agricultural and other production, which as a market (the population exceeds 60,000,000); it also controls the approaches to the Balkans. In the recent past, Russia, Germany, and Italy have been the powers showing most interest in the Danubian area, while the Western Powers' influence receded. After World War II almost the whole Danubian came into the Russian sphere of influence. There were however indications of continued interest of the Western Powers, and possibly adding the United States in the region.