At these times they were known either simply because they gained independence from the old Soviet Union when it collapsed, or for breaking away from Russia, or splitting internally (the old Czechoslovakia is now two countries).

Since then, for the most part, these places have escaped media attention.

And yet a silent revolution has been taking place as this group of newly-joined EU members have been quietly developing, in fact literally transforming, their economies.

This is what drove them along the road to EU membership and reintegration into the outside world.

That sounds pretty grand but it has big consequences for anyone in search of great property investment potential.

Here are a few facts and figures about the EU and the eight countries that are creating all the excitement:

• The EU grew by more than 30 per cent geographically in May, 2004 when the new members joined.
• The addition of new members has made the EU the world's largest trading bloc - a market of 25 countries and almost 500 million people.
• Joining the EU means countries have adopted the so-called acquis communautaire, which includes applying 80,000 pages of EU law, raising standards of administration and strengthening their judicial systems.
• The average GDP per person in the Eastern Eight is less than half that of the other 15 EU countries.
• Joining the EU does NOT include adopting the Euro - at least not for the time being. Most experts agree it will be 2007 before the eight countries join the Euro.
• Billions of Euros is being handed out in development funds to the new members - Poland is so far the biggest recipient, with an estimated €11.4 billion coming its way in the first two years after joining.
• EU surveys show that organised crime is among the top three concerns of people within the new member states. And the biggest fear of Latvians, Lithuanians and Estonians is an epidemic.
• Around a quarter of Latvians, Hungarians and Slovaks do not know that Euro MPs are elected by popular votes.
• Surveys show that Slovaks consistently feel the most European, with 68% saying they feel European to some extent as well as Slovak.
• The combined population of the Eastern Eight is 73.6 million. Poland is the biggest country (pop: 38.6m people) and Estonia the smallest (pop:1.4m).
• The average cost of a Big Mac in the eight countries is $1.76 (£1.12)
• Total forex reserves for the eight countries amounts to $55.5 billion.

All this makes it clear that EU membership is a massive stabilising force as well as an economic boost and a measure of how far the accession countries have come.