Covering less than 1% of the EU territory, the Steppic Region has only a small foothold in the European Union. But, from these modest beginnings, it develops into a vast band of vegetation that stretches out over southern Moldova, Ukraine, Russia and western Kazakhstan. It eventually continues all the way across Asia to the foothills to the Altai Mountains on the borders of Mongolia.

Within the EU, the Steppic Region is found only in Romania. It begins east of the capital city of Bucharest and incorporates the entire eastern region known as Dobrogea. It is characterised by low-lying plains and undulating hills or plateaus with an average height of 200–300 metres. The region is also crossed by the lower reaches of the majestic Danube and other smaller rivers. Because the land is so flat here the slow moving water tends to create broad shallow floodplains which contrast sharply with the otherwise dry, arid landscape. Every now and then small saltwater lakes also appear.

The natural steppe vegetation is composed mainly of grasses such as couch grass, feather grass and fescue as well as herbaceous plants like cinquefoil, mullein and wormwood which appear randomly amidst the tall grasses. However, because the soils within the steppes aremparticularly rich in humus and consequently very fertile they have been much sought after for agriculture. Today the vast majority of the steppic plains in Romania have been
ploughed over and turned into arable land. The main
crops are wheat, maize, oats, barley, sugar beet, sunflower and vegetables.