In Europe, there are an estimated 6,000 to 10,000 breeding pairs. There was a great decline in Central Europe where they are now essentially restricted to the Apennine, Alps, and Carpathian Mountains. The strongholds in the continent are Spain, which holds an estimated 1,300 breeding pairs, Norway, which holds an estimated 860 to 1,040 breeding pairs and European Russia, which holds an estimated 500 to 1,000 breeding pairs. Other European countries with stable and sizable populations include Italy, with an estimated 476-541 pairs, Switzerland, with 300-310 pairs and Romania, with an estimated 85-130 pairs. The following nations are thought to have golden eagle populations that are increasing: Bulgaria with 150-170 pairs, Denmark with 3-5 pairs (has continuously bred in the country since 1998, but the species might also have bred up until the 1800s), Finland with an estimated 300-350 pairs, France with approximately 390-460 pairs, Hungary with 3-5 known pairs, Ireland with 2 current pairs and Poland with approximately 35-40 pairs. The following nations are thought to have decreasing golden eagle populations: Albania with about 50-200 pair, Croatia with approximately 90-110 pairs, England with no known current pairs, Greece with an estimated 100-200 breeding pairs and Latvia with somewhere around 5-10 pairs. Several other European countries have a small number of golden eagles with less than 50 breeding pairs but with populations that are generally considered stable. Despite their large population there, the golden eagle was considered near threatened in Spain in a 2003 report. One of the authors of the previous study asserted that the population had increased in 2008 by perhaps 20% in Spain since the last survey in the late 1990s. In Belarus, the population has reportedly declined considerably due to trapping, poisoning and the draining and development of upland bogs. The golden eagle is considered Critically Endangered in the Czech Republic, where it was once quite common in the Beskydy and Krkonoše Mountains until logging hit the area hard around the time of World War II. All recent breeding attempts by the species in the Czech Republic are believed to have been unsuccessful.