Time zones of Europe:

light blue	Western European Time (UTC+0)
blue	Western European Time (UTC+0) Western European Summer Time (UTC+01:00)
red	Central European Time (UTC+01:00) Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00)
yellow	Eastern European Time (UTC+02:00) Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+03:00)
orange	Further-eastern European Time (UTC+03:00)
light green	Moscow Time (UTC+04:00)

Light colours indicate countries that do not observe summer time: Algeria, Belarus, Iceland, Russia, Tunisia.

Eastern European Time (EET) is one of the names of UTC+02:00 time zone, 2 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. It is used in some European countries that also use Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+03:00) as a summer daylight saving time.

Usage[link]

The following countries, parts of countries, and territories use Eastern European Time during the winter only:

• Belarus, in years 1922-30 and 1990-2011^[1]
• Bulgaria, since 1894
• Cyprus
• Egypt
• Estonia, in years 1921-40 and since 1990
• Finland, since 1921
• Greece, since 1916
• Israel, since 1948
• Jordan
• Latvia, in years 1926-40 and since 1990
• Lebanon
• Lithuania, in 1920-40 and since 1990 with break 1998-1999
• Moldova, in years 1918-40, 1941–44 and since 1991
• Palestinian territories
• Romania
• Syria
• Turkey, since 1910 with break 1978-85
• Ukraine, in years 1922-30 and since 1990^[2]

Moscow used EET in years 1922-30 and 1991-92. Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia also used EET in years 1945 and 1991-2011. In Poland this time was used in years 1918-22.

In time of World War II Germany implemented MET (CET) in east occupied territories.

Anomalies[link]

Since political, in addition to purely geographical, criteria are used in the drawing of time zones, it follows that actual time zones do not precisely adhere to meridian lines. The EET (UTC+2) time zone, were it drawn by purely geographical terms, would consist of exactly the area between meridians 22°30' E and 37°30' E. As a result, there are European locales that despite lying in an area with a "physical" UTC+2 time, actually use another time zone; contrariwise, there are European areas that have gone for UTC+2, even though their "physical" time zone is different from that. Following is a list of such "incongruencies":

Areas that use Eastern European Time (UTC+2)[link]

European winter

European summer

Areas west of 22°30' E ("physical" UTC+1) that use UTC+2[link]

• The westernmost part of Greece, including the cities of Patras, Ioannina and the island of Corfu
• The very westernmost parts of the Bulgarian provinces of Vidin and Kyustendil
• The westernmost part of Romania, including most of the area of the counties of Caraş-Severin, Timiş (capital Timişoara), Arad, and Bihor, as well as the westernmost tips of the counties of Mehedinţi and Satu Mare
• The extreme westernmost tip of Ukraine, near the border with Hungary and Slovakia, at the Ukrainian Transcarpathian Oblast (Zakarpattia Oblast), essentially comprising the city of Uzhhorod and its environs
• Western Lithuania, including the cities of Klaipėda, Tauragė, and Telšiai
• Western Latvia, including the cities of Liepāja and Ventspils
• The westernmost parts of the Estonian islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, including the capital of the Saare County, Kuressaare
• The southwestern coast of Finland, including the city of Turku; also the Åland islands (of Finnish jurisdiction) – the Åland islands are the westernmost locale applying EET in the whole of Europe

Areas east of 37°30' E ("physical" UTC+3) that use UTC+2[link]

• Eastern Turkey, incl. inter alia the cities of Van (43°37' E), Diyarbakır, Trabzon (Trapezous), and Malatya; practically, it comprises all Turkish territory east of Gaziantep, though this is not geographical Europe. The easternmost city of Turkey is Şemdinli at 44°34' E; that is very close to the 45th meridian, which precisely corresponds to UTC+3. There are two "tri-zone" points involving Turkey:
• The Turkey - Iraq - Iran tripoint in the summer only: Turkey follows UTC+2 with DST, Iraq follows UTC+2 with no DST, and Iran follows UTC+3:30 with no DST
• The Turkey - Azerbaijan (Nakhichevan exclave) - Iran tripoint: Turkey follows UTC+2 with DST, Azerbaijan follows UTC+4 with DST, and Iran follows UTC+3:30 with no DST

The Norway - Russia - Finland "tri-zone" point (see Central European Time) is the only one in Europe.

The short (9 km) only Turkey - Azerbaijan (Nakhichevan exclave) border exhibits the same property as the Norway-Russia one, in that by travelling from west (Turkey) to east (Azerbaijan) one moves forward not one, but two time zones (UTC+2 to UTC+4)

• The easternmost part of Ukraine, incl. the cities of Luhansk, Donetsk, and Mariupol. The town of Milove, Luhansk Oblast, on the Ukrainian-Russian border, is the easternmost city in geographical Europe that applies UTC+2 (if political Europe, which includes the Anatolian part of Turkey, is to be considered, then that title goes to Şemdinli; see above)

Areas that do not use Eastern European Time (UTC+2)[link]

Areas east of 22°30' E ("physical" UTC+2) that use UTC+1[link]

These areas have sunrises and sunsets at least half an hour earlier than places on the UTC+1 meridian.

• The easternmost part of the Republic of Macedonia, including the city of Strumica.
• The absolutely easternmost part of Serbia, in the Pirot District, including the city of Pirot.
• The extreme easternmost tips of Hungary and Slovakia, bordering to the north and south respectively the Ukrainian Transcarpathian Oblast (Zakarpattia Oblast), a bit to the east of the Vásárosnamény, Hungary - Uzhhorod, Ukraine (both at 22°18' E) line
• The easternmost part of Poland, including the cities of Lublin and Białystok
• The extreme northeast of Sweden, in the Norrbotten province, including the cities of Kalix and Haparanda
• The northeast of Norway, lying north of Finland, roughly coinciding with the county of Finnmark. Actually, the easternmost town in Norway, Vardø, lies at 30°51' E, which is so far east, so as to be east even of the central meridian of EET (UTC+2), i.e. east of Istanbul and Alexandria. The Norwegian-Russian border (incl. border passings such as Kirkenes) is the only place where CET (UTC+1/+2) borders Moscow time (UTC+4), resulting in a two (2) (or three in winter) hour time change for the passenger crossing that border. More so, there exists a "tri-zone" point (where UTC+1, UTC+2, and UTC+4 meet) at the Norway-Finland-Russia tripoint (look for the town of Nautsi in this map). Actually, it is interesting to perform the following mental experiment when looking at this map: Go to the westernmost point of the red area (the Jäniskoski-Niskakoski area); this belongs to Russian jurisdiction, hence the time there is UTC+3. Then, take a northeastern (NE) direction (that is an eastwards direction); you will soon be crossing into Finnish territory, thus moving to the UTC+2 time zone. Continuing in that direction, you will eventually reach the Finland-Norway border and enter Norway, thus passing into the UTC+1 time zone. So, moving in a (north-)easterly direction, you will actually be moving from UTC+4 to UTC+2 to UTC+1! A note for time zone tourists: It is illegal to cross the Russian border outside a border control.

Areas west of 37°30' E ("physical" UTC+2) that use UTC+4[link]

• Practically all European Russia west of Moscow; This includes the chunk of land from Murmansk all the way south to Belgorod, including the cities of St. Petersburg, Novgorod, and Pskov, to name only a few. (The westernmost point of contiguous Russia, near Lavry, Pskov Oblast, 27°19' E, is actually the westernmost point in Europe where UTC+3 is applied.) To the above should be added the city of Anapa, at the westernmost tip of the Krasnodar Krai near the entrance to the Sea of Azov, at 37°22' E

Major metropolitan areas[link]

• Adana, Turkey
• Aleppo, Syria
• Alexandria, Egypt
• Amman, Jordan
• Ankara, Turkey
• Athens, Greece
• Beirut, Lebanon
• Brașov, Romania
• Bucharest, Romania
• Bursa, Turkey
• Cairo, Egypt
• Chişinău, Moldova
• Cluj-Napoca, Romania
• Damascus, Syria
• Gaza
• Helsinki, Finland
• Iaşi, Romania
• İstanbul, Turkey
• İzmir, Turkey
• Jerusalem, Israel
• Kyiv, Ukraine
• Nicosia, Cyprus
• Riga, Latvia
• Sofia, Bulgaria
• Tallinn, Estonia
• Tel Aviv, Israel
• Thessaloniki, Greece
• Timişoara, Romania
• Vilnius, Lithuania

References[link]

This article may not provide balanced geographical coverage on Eastern Europe. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page.

Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region".^[1] A related United Nations paper adds that "every assessment of spatial identities is essentially a social and cultural construct".^[2]

One definition describes Eastern Europe as a cultural (and econo-cultural) entity: the region lying in Europe with main characteristics consisting in Byzantine, Orthodox and minor and limited Ottoman influences.^[2][3]

Another definition, considered outdated by several authors,^{[4][5][6][7][8]} was created during the Cold War and used more or less synonymously with the term Eastern Bloc. A similar definition names the formerly communist European states outside the Soviet Union as Eastern Europe.^[3]

Eastern Europe, home of the bulk of world Jewry until the 1940s,^[9] is the birthplace of Hasidic Judaism, Litvak Judaism and several Orthodox churches.

Definitions[link]

Regions used for statistical processing purposes by the United Nations Statistics Division (Eastern Europe marked red) :

  Northern Europe

  Western Europe

  Eastern Europe

  Southern Europe

CIA World Factbook

  Eastern Europe

  Southeastern Europe

  Transcontinental

Pre-1989 division between the "West" (grey) and "Eastern Bloc" (orange) superimposed on current borders: Russia (dark orange), other countries formerly part of the USSR (medium orange), members of the Warsaw Pact (light orange), and other former Communist regimes not aligned with Moscow (lightest orange).

Several definitions of Eastern Europe exist today, but they often lack precision or are extremely general. These definitions vary both across cultures and among experts, even political scientists, recently becoming more and more imprecise.^[10]

UN[link]

• The United Nations Statistics Division developed a selection of geographical regions and groupings of countries and areas, which are or may be used in compilation of statistics. In this collection, the following ten countries were classified as Eastern Europe^[11][12]: Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Ukraine. The assignment of countries or areas to specific groupings is for statistical convenience and does not imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories by the United Nations.^[13] Rather than being geographically correct, the United Nations' definition encompasses all the states which were once under the Soviet Union's realm of influence and were part of the Warsaw Pact.

• The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN) was set up to consider the technical problems of domestic standardization of geographical names.^{[citation needed]} The Group is composed of experts from various linguistic/geographical divisions that have been established at the UN Conferences on the Standardization of Geographical Names.

1. Eastern Europe, Northern and Central Asia Division^[14]: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Russian Federation, and Ukraine
2. East Central and South-East Europe Division^[14]:Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine
3. Romano-Hellenic Division^[14]: Fourteen countries^[15] including Belgium, Cyprus, France, Greece, Holy See, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Romania and Moldova
4. Baltic Division^[14]: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania

• Other agencies of the United Nations (like UNAIDS,^[16] UNHCR,^[17] ILO^[18] or UNICEF)^[19] divide Europe into different regions and variously assign various states to those regions.

European Union[link]

The Multilingual Thesaurus of the European Union^[20] defines the following countries geographically located in:

• Central and Eastern Europe: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Georgia, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine.
• Southern Europe: Cyprus, Greece, Vatican City State, Italy, Malta, Portugal, San Marino, Spain

Geographical[link]

The Ural Mountains are the geographical border on the eastern edge of Europe. In the west, however, the cultural and religious boundaries are subject to considerable overlap and, most importantly, have undergone historical fluctuations, which make a precise definition of the western boundaries of Eastern Europe somewhat difficult.

Political and cultural[link]

One view of the present boundaries of Eastern Europe came into being during the final stages of World War II. The area eventually came to encompass all the European countries which were under Soviet influence. These countries had communist governments, and neutral countries were classified by the nature of their political regimes. The Cold War increased the number of reasons for the division of Europe into two parts along the borders of NATO and Warsaw Pact states. (See: The Cold War section)

A competing view excludes from the definition of Eastern Europe states that are historically and culturally different, constituting part of the so-called Western world. This usually refers to Central Europe and the Baltic states which have significantly different political, religious, cultural, and economic histories from their eastern neighbors. (See: Classical antiquity and medieval origins section)

Contemporary developments[link]

The fall of the Iron Curtain brought the end of the East-West division in Europe,^[21] but this geopolitical concept is sometimes still used for quick reference by the media.^[22]

The Baltic states[link]

The Baltic states were widely recognised as occupied by the former Soviet Union and are EU members. They can be included in definitions of Eastern Europe in being situated between Western Europe and Russia and, geographically, in Northern Europe. However, they are generally considered Western European based on cultural, historical, and religious factors.^[23][24]

•  Estonia
•  Latvia
•  Lithuania

Transcaucasia[link]

The Caucasian states can be included in definitions of Eastern Europe with reference to its Soviet membership and its legacy as well. These countries participate in European Union's Eastern Partnership Program. These countries are members of Council of Europe.

•  Armenia
•  Azerbaijan
•  Georgia

Other former Soviet states[link]

Several other former Soviet republics are considered to be part of Eastern Europe in both a political and a cultural sense.

•  Russia
•  Ukraine
•  Belarus
•  Moldova
•  Kazakhstan is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe, the vast majority of its territory being located in central Asia.^[25]

Central Europe[link]

This section may stray from the topic of the article. Please help improve this section or discuss this issue on the talk page. (March 2012)

Most Central European states had communist governments implemented during the Cold War but became EU members. In the post-Iron Curtain era, the label Eastern European can be regarded as derogatory in a Central European context, especially since the enlightened concept of Central Europe survived the "Great Russian Chauvinism," and ethnocentric, political oppression that lasted since the end of World War II. In the words of historian Timothy Garton Ash, "Central Europe had triumphed" in 1989, and continues to solidify its presence on the geopolitical map of the world, as evidenced by the Visegrad 4 Group (V4). "Capitalism against Communism can no longer be used to clarify difference; instead vague and imprecise definitions exist. These too, are slowly being eroded as Eastern and Western Europe merge into a single 'Europe'".^[26] The following countries are still being labeled Eastern European by some commentators (in the former geopolitical sense, due to their Communist past) and as Central European by others (in the sense of occupying a niche between Western and Eastern Europe in terms of economy, history, religion, and culture).^[23][24][27]

•  Czech Republic
•  Hungary
•  Poland
•  Slovakia
•  East Germany (reunified, now Germany)
•  Slovenia is most often placed in Central Europe but sometimes in Southeastern Europe.^[28]

Southeastern Europe[link]

Most South-eastern European states did not belong to the Eastern Bloc (save Bulgaria, Romania, and for a short time, Albania) although some of them were represented in the Cominform. Only some of them can be included in the classical former political definition of Eastern Europe. Due to cultural diversity of the region, affiliation of individual countries may be difficult. All of these states except Bulgaria, Romania and usually Slovenia can be considered as being in Southern Europe.^[11] However, most can be characterized as belonging to South-eastern Europe, but some of them may also be included in Central Europe or Eastern Europe.^[29]

•  Albania belongs to Southeastern Europe.
•  Bosnia and Herzegovina may be included in Southeastern Europe
•  Bulgaria is in the central part of the Balkans,may be included in Southeastern Europe, but also Eastern Europe in the Cold War context
•  Croatia may be included in Southeastern Europe and Central Europe.
•  Cyprus belongs to Southwest Asia (Middle East), but because of its political, cultural and historical ties with Europe, it may be included into Southeastern Europe.
•  Greece may be included in Southeastern^[30] and Southern Europe, but the country does not form part of Eastern Europe in the geopolitical sense nor in the colloquial sense.
•  Kosovo belongs to Southeastern Europe. Its status as an independent country is still a matter of much dispute. See: International recognition of Kosovo.
•  Macedonia belongs to Southeastern Europe.
•  Montenegro belongs to Southeastern Europe.
•  Romania can be included in Eastern Europe in the Cold War context, but is commonly referred to as belonging to Southeastern Europe^[31] or Central Europe.^[32]
•  Serbia may be included in Southeastern Europe and Central Europe.
•  Turkey lies partially in Southeastern Europe: the region known as East Thrace, which constitutes 3% of the country's total land mass, lies west of the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmara, and the Bosphorus.

History[link]

Classical antiquity and medieval origins[link]

  Countries where a West Slavic language is the national language

  Countries where an East Slavic language is the national language

  Countries where a South Slavic language is the national language

The earliest known distinctions between east and west in Europe originate in the history of the Roman Republic. As the Roman domain expanded, a cultural and linguistic division appeared between the mainly Greek-speaking eastern provinces which had formed the highly urbanized Hellenistic civilization. In contrast the western territories largely adopted the Latin language. This cultural and linguistic division was eventually reinforced by the later political east-west division of the Roman Empire.

The division between these two spheres was enhanced during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages by a number of events. The Western Roman Empire collapsed starting the Early Middle Ages. By contrast, the Eastern Roman Empire, mostly known as the Byzantine Empire, managed to survive and even to thrive for another 1,000 years. The rise of the Frankish Empire in the west, and in particular the Great Schism that formally divided Eastern and Western Christianity, enhanced the cultural and religious distinctiveness between Eastern and Western Europe. Much of Eastern Europe was invaded and occupied by the Mongols.

The conquest of the Byzantine Empire, center of the Eastern Orthodox Church, by the Muslim Ottoman Empire in the 15th century, and the gradual fragmentation of the Holy Roman Empire (which had replaced the Frankish empire) led to a change of the importance of Roman Catholic/Protestant vs. Eastern Orthodox concept in Europe, although even modern authors sometimes state that Eastern Europe is, strictly speaking, that part of Europe where the Greek and/or the Bulgarian Cyrillic alphabet is used (Greece, Cyprus, Serbia, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia).

The Cold war divides Europe into the Eastern and Western bloc[link]

During the final stages of WWII the future of Europe was decided between the Allies at the 1945 Yalta Conference, between the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Winston Churchill, the President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin.

Post-war Europe would be mostly polarized between two major spheres: the mainly capitalist Western Bloc, and the mainly communist Eastern Bloc. With the onset of the Cold War, Europe was divided by the Iron Curtain.

This term had been used during World War II by German Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels and later Count Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk in the last days of the war; however, its use was hugely popularised by Winston Churchill, who used it in his famous "Sinews of Peace" address March 5, 1946 at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri:

As the Cold War continued the use of the term Central Europe declined. Although some countries were officially neutral, they were classified according to the nature of their political and economical systems. This division largely defined the popular perception and understanding of Eastern Europe and its borders with Western Europe till this day, along with the increasing polarization of the West-East relationship.

Eastern Bloc[link]

The political borders of Eastern Europe were largely defined by the Cold War. The Iron Curtain separated the members of the Warsaw Pact (in red) from the European members of NATO (in blue). Dark gray indicates members of the Non-Aligned Movement and light gray indicates other neutral countries.

Eastern Europe was mainly composed of all the European countries liberated and then occupied by the Soviet army. It included the German Democratic Republic (also known as East Germany), formed by the Soviet occupation zone of Germany. All the countries in Eastern Europe adopted communist modes of government. These countries were officially independent from the Soviet Union, but the practical extent of this independence - except in Yugoslavia, Albania, and to some extent Romania - was quite limited.

Under pressure from Stalin these nations rejected to receive funds from the Marshall plan. Instead they participated in the Molotov Plan which later evolved into the Comecon (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance). As NATO was created, most countries of Eastern Europe, became members of the opposing Warsaw Pact, forming a geopolitical concept that became known as Eastern Bloc.

• First and foremost was the Soviet Union (which included the modern-day territories of Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova). Other countries dominated by the Soviet Union were the German Democratic Republic, People's Republic of Poland, Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, People's Republic of Hungary, People's Republic of Bulgaria and Socialist Republic of Romania.

• The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (formed after WWII and before its later dismemberment) was not a member of the Warsaw Pact. It was a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement, an organization created in an attempt to avoid being assigned to any of the two blocs. The movement was demonstratively independent from both the Soviet Union and the Western bloc for most of the Cold War period, allowing Yugoslavia and its other members to act as a business and political mediator between the blocs.

• Socialist People's Republic of Albania broke with the Soviet Union in the early 1960s as a result of the Sino-Soviet split, aligning itself instead with China. Albania formally left the Warsaw pact in September 1968, after the suppression of the Prague spring. When China established diplomatic relations with the United States in 1978, Albania also broke with China. Albania and especially Yugoslavia were not unanimously appended to the Eastern Bloc, as they were neutral for a large part of the Cold War period.

Since 1989[link]

Following disappearance of the Iron Curtain, the political situation has changed and some of the former members of the Warsaw Pact joined NATO.

Current members   Acceding members   Promised invitation

Intensified Dialogue   Membership not goal   Undeclared intent

With the Fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 the political landscape of the Eastern Bloc, and indeed of the world, changed. In the German reunification, the Federal Republic of Germany peacefully absorbed the German Democratic Republic in 1990. COMECON and the Warsaw Pact were dissolved, and in 1991, the Soviet Union ceased to exist.

Many European nations which had been part of the Soviet Union regained their independence (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Ukraine, Belarus).

Czechoslovakia peacefully separated into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993.

The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) fell apart, creating new nations in 1992: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) and Macedonia (see Breakup of Yugoslavia). FRY was later renamed to Serbia and Montenegro and, in 2006, it broke up into these two countries.

Many countries of this region joined the European Union, namely Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Three other states, Croatia, Macedonia and Montenegro are currently negotiating membership in the EU.

See also[link]

	Geography portal
	Europe portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Eastern Europe

Notes[link]

Further reading[link]

• Susan Gal and Gail Kligman, The Politics of Gender After Socialism, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000.
• Kristen Ghodsee, Muslim Lives in Eastern Europe: Gender, Ethnicity and the Transformation of Islam in Postsocialist Bulgaria. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009
• Katherine Verdery, What Was Socialism and What Comes Next? Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996
• Myant, Martin; Drahokoupil, Jan (2010), Transition Economies: Political Economy in Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia, Wiley-Blackwell, ISBN 978-0-470-59619-7 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Eastern Europe

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: East/Central Europe

• Eastern Europe Economy Watch
• Eastern Europe Economic Data
• Window on Heartland – online source of geopolitical information on Eastern Europe and the post-Soviet space

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Chris Redfield (クリス・レッドフィールド, Kurisu Reddofīrudo^?) is a fictional character from Capcom's Resident Evil horror series.^[2] Chris debuted as one of two main protagonists in the first Resident Evil video game,^[3] along with Jill Valentine, and is one of the two protagonists in the game Resident Evil Code: Veronica, in which he looks for his missing younger sister, Claire, and one of the main characters in Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles. Chris returned as the protagonist of Resident Evil 5, working alongside his new partner Sheva Alomar,^[4] and also appears in the latest installment of the game series, Resident Evil Revelations, as well as in several other games and the film Resident Evil: Afterlife. The character received a somewhat mixed (in particular regarding his later redesign) but generally positive critical reception.

Character design[link]

Hideki Kamiya described Chris as a "blunt, tough-guy type," admitting that he was a fan of this archetype.^[5] Resident Evil 5 producer Jun Takeuchi said that the series' fans "would really love" a video game featuring both Chris and Leon S. Kennedy as the protagonists due to their popularity, and it would be "pretty dramatic" if the two characters never met when the series ended.^[6]

Chris' increased muscle mass in the game was to show that he had trained heavily in order to fight the series' powerful villain Albert Wesker bare-handed.^[7] Modeler Yosuke Yamagata added that they "made a new design that retained their signature color — green for Chris, blue for Jill — to carry over the same look from the past. The facial structures are mainly based on the visuals of the GameCube version, and we added various details to these in order to develop a realistic structure."^[8]

In video games[link]

This section requires expansion.

Chris Redfield debuted in the original Resident Evil as one of the main playable protagonists, along with Jill Valentine, partnered with the rookie officer Rebecca Chambers. He is introduced as a former U.S. military pilot^[10] and a member of the local police special force STARS' Alpha Team which was sent to investigate the disappearance of Bravo Team after their helicopter went missing in Raccoon Forest. Chris, accompanied by Albert Wesker, Barry Burton and Jill Valentine, soon find themselves trapped in the nearby mansion, which is filled with horrific zombies and monsters, and deadly booby traps. In the end, Chris and his comrades discover how the nightmare began and witness the death of Albert Wesker, who was betraying them all along, and they face and kill a prototype Tyrant released by Wesker.

Chris returns in Resident Evil Code: Veronica, set five months later. As the protagonist of the second half of the game, he attempts to rescue his younger sister, Claire, from Umbrella Corporation's research facilities in Rockfort Island and in Antarctica. Upon discovering she is now in Antarctica, Chris is briefly confronted by Wesker, seeking revenge on Chris for having destroyed his plans. Eventually, he confronts Alexia Ashford, the creator of the T-Veronica virus. At the end of the game, he fights with Wesker shortly after killing Alexia. He is no match for Wesker at this point in his life, and their fight is cut short due to the imminent destruction of the base. They vow to finish things another time.

Chris was one of the main characters of Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles,^[11] in which he reunites with Jill Valentine. Parts of the game are essentially an inaccurate retelling of Resident Evil. The two of them join a private biohazard-containment force and in 2003 embark on a mission to destroy the Umbrella Corporation after hearing rumours of a new BOW being developed, resulting in their successful attack on an Umbrella facility located in Russia's Caucasus region.

Chris is the main protagonist in Resident Evil 5,^[12] in which he is a founding member of the UN paramilitary group Bio-terrorism Security Assessment Alliance (BSAA). In the game, Chris investigates a terrorist threat in Kijuju, Africa while looking for his old partner and friend Jill, who is missing and presumed dead. Accompanying him is his new partner Sheva Alomar. Eventually, they manage to find and free Jill, and to ultimately defeat and destroy Wesker who was planning to release a new virus into the atmosphere, ensuring the end of humanity.

Chris makes an appearance in Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles as a playable character in "Game of Oblivion" scenario's final chapter, a re-imagining of Code: Veronica.^[13] He is also available in the Extreme Battle mode featured in the later versions of Resident Evil 2 (the PlayStation 2 Dual Shock edition and the PC, Dreamcast and GameCube ports)^{[citation needed]} and is one of the eight playable characters in Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D.^{[citation needed]}

Chris returned in Resident Evil Revelations, with Jill Valentine.^[14]

Chris will return as one of the primary protagonists of Resident Evil 6, alongside Leon S. Kennedy.^{[citation needed]}

Outside of the Resident Evil franchise, Chris also appears as a playable character in the crossover fighting game Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. The game's first cinematic trailer showed him fighting versus Hulk.^[15]

Gameplay[link]

This section requires expansion.

In the original Resident Evil, Chris's scenario is more challenging than Jill's, as he has a smaller carrying capacity and lacks certain items. He is also not equipped with a lockpick and so he needs to find small desk keys. On the other hand, Chris can take a lot more damage from enemies than Jill.^[16]

In other media[link]

In the rejected Resident Evil movie script by George A. Romero, Chris is a Native American civilian and ultimately one of the few survivors.^[17]

Chris appears in the 2010 live-action film Resident Evil: Afterlife, portrayed by Wentworth Miller.^[1] In the film, Chris is found trapped in a maximum security cell after his unit's attempt to control the T-virus in Los Angeles goes haywire and the survivors who find him believe him to be a prisoner. He is reunited with his sister Claire, who cannot remember him due to memory damage caused by an Umbrella mind-control device. He, Alice and Claire eventually defeat Albert Wesker and rescue imprisoned survivors being used for Umbrella's experiments.

During the release of the Japanese Sega Saturn version of the original game, Capcom published a promotional sourcebook The True Story Behind Biohazard, containing an original short story titled Biohazard: The Beginning by Hiroyuku Ariga. The story depicts the events prior to the first game and fleshes out his character, describing the deaths of his parents in a car accident and his service in the USAF.

He also appears in several Resident Evil comic books by WildStorm, Image Comics and Marvel Comics.^[18]

In merchandise[link]

A double-pack of action figures of Chris and the monster Cerberus was released in 1998 in the Resident Evil Series 1 by Toy Biz. Another action figure from the original game was released in 2002 by Moby Dick. Palisades Toys released two action figures (differing only by their color patterns) of Chris from Code: Veronica in 2002. An action figure of Chris from the original game was released as part of the 2006's Resident Evil Anniversary Series 1 by NECA. An action figure of Chris from Resident Evil 5 was released in 2009 by Hot Toys.^[19]

A PVC diorama figure of Chris facing the monster Yawn from the original game's remake was released in 2008 in the Bio Hazard Figure Collection Vol.4 by Organic (Beagle).^[19] A figure of Chris from the same game was also released in 2009 by Gaya Entertainment.^[20]

Reception[link]

Chris Redfield's critical reception has been mixed. GameZone ranked Chris as fourth on a list of the top five "gaming gods" of 2008 for his looks, calling him "one gorgeous hunk" with "a killer body and dreamy good-looks."^[21] In 2009, Chris and his sister Claire were included in IGN's "Ultimate Zombie Strike Team", Chris for his "long, fruitful career killing zombies" that "proved that Umbrella's fearsome bio-weapons are no match for a lone warrior with guts."^[22] That same year, Gameplanet stated that if Chris and Leon S. Kennedy would both appear in the next game it would be "awesome," adding that both are the main protagonists of the series.^[23] Chris was also repeatedly compared with Leon by IGN, both of them being regarded as the leading heroes of the series.^[24][25] In 2010, GamesRadar featured his team-up with Sheva in their article about the gaming's "most violent double acts" for their actions in Resident Evil 5.^[26]

Among negative criticism, Chris was ranked fifth in IGN's 2009 list of most overrated video game characters, with a suggestion that he should "ditch the 'roids and concentrate on getting the job done",^[27] and included in UGO.com's 2010 list of top ten out-of-luck game characters for his failures across the series.^[28] His new design in the Resident Evil 5, called by GameSpy to be "a cross between Colin Farrell and Hugh Jackman",^[29] in particular became a source of controversy and was often ridiculed. GameSpot gave Chris the special award for "character most likely to fail a performance-enhancing drug test" in the Dubious Honors awards in 2009, adding that "the man is clearly a walking pharmacy."^[30] Including him on the list of "ten game heroes who fail at the simple stuff" for his inability to shoot while moving in RE5, GameDaily called him "to spend a little more time on the shooting range and a little less time pumping iron in front of a mirror."^[31] Joystiq commented that possibly during The Umbrella Chronicles Chris started his "steroid abuse",^[32] which was also suggested by IGN.^[27] In 2011, BeefJack featured Chris among the five game characters who are supposed to be sexy but turned out awkward, as "he looks like the runner-up in a Popeye lookalike contest."^[33] On the other hand, when GamesRadar compared his Code Veronica and RE5 designs while trying to evaluate which would fit better for a zombie apocalypse, they found the latter to give better chances to survive to a zombie attack,^[34] also rating Chris from the original game to be "horribly ill-prepared".^[35]

In 2009, GameTrailers made a video focusing on the his evolution throughout the series.^[36] Game Informer explored the meaning of Chris Redfield's name.^[37]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Chris Redfield - Resident Evil Wiki
• Chris Redfield - Capcom Database