21.   The Bihac region has seen fierce fighting pitting Bosnian government troops against Croatian and Bosnian Serbs.

22.   The breakaway Chechnya region has seen a plague of kidnappings of journalists and foreign aid workers since Moscow pulled out troops last year.

23.   The Caucasus Mountains region sees frequent seismic activity.

24.   The Decani region has seen some of the worst fighting in recent weeks, causing thousands of its mostly ethnic Albanian population to flee across the border into Albania.

25.   The Decani region has seen some of the worst fighting in past weeks causing thousands of its mostly Albanian population to flee across the border into Albania.

26.   The Decane region has seen some of the worst fighting in the past several months of the Kosovo conflict.

27.   The northern region has seen ferocious battles since the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban government came to power in Kabul last year.

28.   The region has seen growing political and religious unrest and a wave of lawlessness.

29.   The region saw its main agricultural exports plunge in the past decade because of cheaper competition from abroad, mostly Asia.

30.   The region sees frequent seismic activity.