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Balkan Peninsula

Line stretching from the northernmost point of the Adriatic to the northernmost point of the Black SeaThe Balkans are sometimes referred to as the "Balkan Peninsula" as they are adjoined by water on three sides: the Black Sea to the east and branches of the Mediterranean Sea to the south and west (including the Adriatic, Ionian, Aegean and Marmara seas).

The Balkans is the historic and geographic name used to describe a region of southeastern Europe. The region has a combined area of 550,000 km² and an approximate population of 55 million people. The archaic Greek name for the Balkan Peninsula is the Peninsula of Haemus (Χερσόνησος του Αίμου). The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains which run through the centre of Bulgaria into eastern Serbia.

Contents [hide]
1 Definitions and boundaries
1.1 Balkan Peninsula
1.2 The Balkans
1.3 Etymology and evolving meaning
1.4 Southeastern Europe
1.5 Ambiguities and controversies
1.6 Current common definition
1.7 Related countries
2 Regional organizations
3 Nature and natural resources
4 History and geopolitical significance
5 Population composition by nationality and religion
6 References
7 See also
8 External links



[edit] Definitions and boundaries

[edit] Balkan Peninsula

Line stretching from the northernmost point of the Adriatic to the northernmost point of the Black SeaThe Balkans are sometimes referred to as the "Balkan Peninsula" as they are adjoined by water on three sides: the Black Sea to the east and branches of the Mediterranean Sea to the south and west (including the Adriatic, Ionian, Aegean and Marmara seas).


[edit] The Balkans
The identity of the Balkans is dominated by its geographical position; historically the area was known as a crossroads of various cultures. It has been a juncture between the Latin and Greek bodies of the Roman Empire, the destination of a massive influx of pagan Slavs, an area where Orthodox and Catholic Christianity met, as well as the meeting point between Islam and Christianity. It was also a destination for Jewish refugees of Inquisition.

The Balkans today is a very diverse ethno-linguistic region, being home to multiple Slavic, Romance and Turkic languages in addition to the Greek, Albanian and others. Through its history many other ethnic groups with own their languages lived in the area, among them Celts, Illyrians, Romans, Avars, Vlachs, Germans and various Germanic tribes.

As such, the Balkans have a rich history. Possibly the historical event that left the biggest mark on the collective memories of the peoples of the Balkans was the expansion and later fall of the Ottoman Empire. There is not a people in the Balkans that doesn`t place its greatest folk heroes in the era of either the onslaught or the retreat of the Ottoman Empire. For Croats it is Nikola Zrinski, for Serbs Miloš Obilić, for Albanians Skanderbeg and for Bulgarians Vasil Levski and Gotse Delchev.

In the modern era, Balkan has acquired negative connotations in the West, and is often associated with fragmentation, violence, strife, and clannishness. Although such characterization of the Balkans is common today, it is also widely exaggerated, and misrepresents the totality of the history of the area.