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Balkans. The Balkans ( / ˈbɔːlkənz / BAWL-kənz ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. [1] [2] [3] The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the whole of Bulgaria.
- 2,925 m (9596 ft)
- Edi Rama
- Tirana
- .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct,.mw-parser-output .geo-inline-hidden{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}42°N 22°E / 42°N 22°E
- Overview
- Illyrians and Thracians
There is no universal agreement on what constitutes the Balkans. However, the following are usually included: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia. Portions of Greece and Turkey are also within the Balkan Peninsula.
Where are the Balkans?
The Balkan Peninsula is the easternmost of Europe’s three great southern peninsulas. Generally, the Balkans are bordered on the northwest by Italy, on the north by Hungary, on the north and northeast by Moldova and Ukraine, and the south by Greece and Turkey or the Aegean Sea (depending on how the region is defined).
What is the climate of the Balkans?
The Balkan Mountains have a significant impact on the climate of the Balkan Peninsula. The northern and central parts of the Balkans are characterized by cold winters, warm summers, and well-distributed rainfall. The southern and coastal areas, however, have a Mediterranean type of climate, with hot, dry summers and mild, relatively rainy winters.
Balkans, easternmost of Europe’s three great southern peninsulas. There is not universal agreement on the region’s components. The Balkans are usually characterized as comprising Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia—with all or part of each of those countries located within the peninsula. Portions of Greece and Turkey are also located within the geographic region generally defined as the Balkan Peninsula, and many descriptions of the Balkans include those countries too. Some define the region in cultural and historical terms and others geographically, though there are even different interpretations among historians and geographers. Moreover, for some observers, the term “Balkans” is freighted with negative connotations associated with the region’s history of ethnic divisiveness and political upheaval. Increasingly in the early 21st century, another pair of definitional terms has gained currency: South East (also styled South-East, Southeast, South-Eastern, or Southeastern) Europe, which has been employed to describe the region in broad terms (though, again, without universal agreement on its component states) and the Western Balkans, which are usually said to comprise Albania, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Serbia.
Archaeological evidence indicates that the Balkans were populated well before the Neolithic Period (New Stone Age; about 10,000 years ago). At the dawn of recorded history, two Indo-European peoples dominated the area: the Illyrians to the west and the Thracians to the east of the great historical divide defined by the Morava and Vardar river valleys. The Thracians were advanced in metalworking and in horsemanship. They intermingled with the Greeks and gave them the Dionysian and Orphean cults, which later became so important in classical Greek literature. The Illyrians were more exclusive, their mountainous terrain keeping them separate from the Greeks and Thracians.
Thracian society was tribal in structure, with little inclination toward political cohesion. In what was to become a persistent phenomenon in Balkan history, unity was brought about mostly by external pressure. The Persian invasions of the 6th and 5th centuries bce brought the Thracian tribes together in the Odrysian kingdom, which fell under Macedonian influence in the 4th century bce. The Illyrians, ethnically akin to the Thracians, originally inhabited a large area from the Istrian peninsula to northern Greece and as far inland as the Morava River. During the 4th century bce they were pushed southward by Celtic invasions, and thereafter their territory did not extend much farther north than the Drin River. Illyrian society, like that of the Thracians, was organized around tribal groups who often fought wars with one another and with outsiders. Under the Celtic threat they established a coherent political entity, but this too was destroyed by Macedonia. Thereafter the Illyrians were known mainly as pirates who disturbed the trade of many Greek settlements on the Adriatic coast. The Romans were also affected and took police action, annexing much of Illyrian territory in the early 3rd century bce. An Illyrian kingdom based in modern-day Shkodër, Albania, remained an important factor until its liquidation by Roman armies in 168 bce.
- Matt Rosenberg
- Albania. Albania, or the Republic of Albania, has a total population of approximately 3 million people.1 It is located in the western part of the Balkan peninsula and features a long coastline facing the Adriatic Sea.
- Bosnia and Herzegovina. The country known as Bosnia and Herzegovina is located east of Albania and its capital city is Sarajevo. Bosnia and Herzegovina is ethnically diverse and comprised of three major ethnic groups: Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats.
- Bulgaria. There are approximately 7 million people living in the Republic of Bulgaria today3 and they speak the official language of Bulgarian, a Slavic language related to Macedonian.
- Croatia. Croatia, located on the western edge of the Balkan peninsula along the Adriatic Sea, is a parliamentary representative democratic republic. The capital city is Zagreb.
Balkans, or Balkan Peninsula, Peninsula, southeastern Europe. Located between the Adriatic Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Aegean and Black seas, it is inhabited by a variety of linguistic, religious, ethnic, and national groups. It also contains many countries, including Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria, Greece, Albania, and the independent ...
The Congress of Berlin (13 June – 13 July 1878) was a meeting of the leading statesmen of Europe's Great Powers and the Ottoman Empire. In the wake of the Russia's decisive victory in a war with Turkey, 1877–78, the urgent need was to stabilize and reorganize the Balkans, and set up new nations.
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Apr 20, 2021 · Learn about the geography, people, history, and culture of the Balkan countries, the countries of the Balkan Peninsula in southeastern Europe. Find out the names, locations, and features of the 11 countries that make up the Balkan Peninsula, and their relations with other regions and countries.
The Balkans is a geographical and historical region on the southeastern parts of Europe, bordered by the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, and the Balkan Mountains. It has a population of about 55 million people and a combined area of about 181,000 square miles. The Balkans are home to 12 nations, including Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Greece, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Romania, Turkey and Albania.
