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The Balkans is the historic and geographic name used to describe southeastern Europe (see the Definitions and boundaries section below). The
region has a combined area of 550,000 kmē and a population of around 53
million.
The countries of Greece, Albania,
Bulgaria, European part of Turkey, and
the states which were previously part of the former Yugoslavia are normally described as being in the Balkans. Sometimes,
Romania is also assigned to the region.
The region takes its name from the Balkan mountains which run through
the centre of Bulgaria into eastern Serbia, and the term 'Balkan' itself is derived from the Turkish word for mountain.
Southeastern Europe seen from NASA's Terra Satellite
Definitions and boundaries
A geographical definition of the Balkans would be based on the mountain chains, including the Dinaric Alps, Balkan, Rhodope, Šar
and Pindus mountains. This
would exclude all of Slovenia and Romania, northern and southern parts of Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro, northernmost Bulgaria and southern Greece.
The larger land mass is sometimes referred to as the Balkan peninsula as it is surrounded by the Adriatic,
Ionian, Aegean, Marmara and Black seas from the
southwest, south and southeast. While it is not a model peninsula as it has no isthmus to connect it to the mainland Europe, this definition is often used to denote the wider region.
This regional designation's northern border can be interpreted differently. Often, the middle Danubian, Pannonian plain is not considered to be part
of the Balkans. That can mean that everything north of the Sava and
Danube rivers -- north-eastern Slovenia,
northern Croatia (central Croatia and Slavonia), northern Serbia (Vojvodina) and most of Romania -- isn't part of the Balkans. If that
border is taken less literally, these areas plus the southern parts of Romania (but not Transylvania) can be considered part of the Balkans.
However, the area is considered to be a whole not only by its mountainous geography, but primarily by its fragmented and often
violent common history on the marches of the Roman Empire, long dominated or overshadowed by the Ottoman Turks, and later by Balkanization (or
balkanizing). The term Balkan commonly connotes a connection with violence, religious strife, ethnic clannishness and a sense of
hinterland, so some people believe that it is politically incorrect or even abusive.
The Balkan region can be described with the neutral term Southeastern Europe, even though that ignores the
geographical presence of Romania and the Ukraine. The use of this term is slowly catching on, as for example the EU initiative of 1999 is called Stability Pact for South Eastern
Europe, and the on-line newspaper Balkan Times renamed itself Southeast European Times in 2003.
Political map in 2004
The countries commonly included in the Balkan region are:
Romania and Slovenia are sometimes
also included in the list.
Many regions in the countries listed as Balkan states can be in many respects rather distinct from the remainder of the
region, so countries that are borderline cases (often far away from the Balkan mountain itself) usually prefer not to be called
Balkan countries. Prime examples of this are Romania and Slovenia, sometimes also Croatia and Greece.
Other countries not included in the Balkan region that are either close to it and/or play or have played an important role in
the region's geopolitics, culture and history:
Nature and natural resources
Most of the area is covered by mountain ranges running from south-west to north-east. The main ranges are the Dinaric Alps in Croatia and Bosnia continuing onto the Šar-Pindus massive which
spreads from Albania to Macedonia and into Greece. In Bulgaria there are ranges running from east to west: the Balkan mountains and the Rhodope mountains at the border with Greece. The highest mountain is Musala (2925 m) in Rila-Rodopa, Bulgaria.
On the coasts the climate is Mediterranean, in the inland it is moderate continental. In the northern part of the peninsula
and on the mountains, winters are frosty and snowy, while summers are hot and dry. In the southern part winters are milder.
During centuries many woods have been cut down and replaced with bush and brush. In the southern part and on the coast there
is evergreen vegetation. In the inland there are woods typical of Central
Europe (oak and beech, and in the mountains,
spruce, fir and pine). The tree-line in the mountains lies at the height of 1800-2300
m.
The soils are generally poor, except on the plains where areas with natural grass, fertile soils and warm summers provide an
opportunity for tillage. Elsewhere, land cultivation is mostly unsuccessful because of the mountains, hot summers and poor soils,
although certain cultures such as olives and grapes flourish.
Resources of energy are scarce. There are some deposits of coal, especially in Bulgaria,
Serbia and Bosnia. Lignite deposits are more widespread. Petroleum is scarce, although there are small deposits in Serbia, Albania and Croatia. Natural gas deposits are also scarce. Hydropower stations are largely used in
energetics.
Metal ores are more usual than other raw materials. Iron ore is rare but in some countries there is a considerable amount of
copper, zinc, tin, chromite, manganese,
magnesite and bauxite. Some metals
are exported.
Geopolitical significance
In the past most of the Balkans was united politically under the Byzantine and
the Ottoman Empires, both of which had their geographical centre of
gravity in Anatolia, now Asiatic Turkey.
Once the most developed part of Europe, in the past 550 years the Balkans has been the least developed, reflecting the shift
of Europe's commercial and political centre of gravity towards the Atlantic and comparative Ottoman isolation from the mainstream of economic advance.
The Balkan nations began to regain their independence in the 19th
century, and in 1912-1913 a Balkan League reduced
Turkey's territory to its present extent in the Balkan Wars.
The First World War was sparked in 1914 by the assassination of the Austrian Archduke in Sarajevo, the
capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. After the Second World War, the Soviet
Union and communism played a very important role in the Balkans.
During the Cold War, most of the countries in the Balkans were communist-ruled.
However, despite being under communist governments, Yugoslavia (1948) and Albania (1961) fell out with the Soviet Union.
Yugoslavia, led by Tito, rejected the Soviet idea
of merging with Bulgaria and sought closer relations with the West, later joining many third world countries in the
Non-Aligned Movement. Albania on the other hand gravitated
toward Communist China, later adopting an
isolationist position. The only non-communist countries were Greece and Turkey, which were (and still are) part of
NATO.
In the 1990s, the region was gravely affected by armed conflict in the former Yugoslav republics, resulting in intervention by NATO forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia. As of 2003, all Balkan countries are friendly towards the EU and the USA. The status of Kosovo
and ethnic Albanians in general is still mostly unresolved.
Balkan countries control the direct land routes between Western Europe and South West Asia
(Asia Minor and the Middle
East).
Greece has been a member of the European Union since 1981. Slovenia is set to become a member in 2004, as are Cyprus and Hungary. Bulgaria and Romania are aiming to be accepted in 2007. Turkey initially applied in 1963 and as of 2004 is still not a full EU member, although some customs agreements have been signed.
Macedonia and Croatia have both signed preliminary agreements with the European Commission, aiding the accession process, but are yet to be put on the official candidate list
or given a date (the usual estimates are 2008 and later).
All other countries have expressed a desire to join the EU but at some date in the future.
Population composition by nationality and religion
The region's principal nationalities include Greeks (10.8 million), Turks (9.2 million in the European part of Turkey), Serbs
(8.5 million), Bulgars (7 million), Albanians (6 million, with about 3.3 millions of them being in Albania), Croats (4.5 million), Bosniaks (2.4 million) and Macedonian Slavs (1.9
million).
The region's principal religions include (Eastern Orthodox and
Catholic) Christianity
and Islam.
Eastern Orthodoxy is the principal religion in the following
countries:
- Bulgaria
- Greece
- Romania
- Serbia and Montenegro
Catholicism is the principal religion in the following countries:
Islam is the principal religion in the following countries:
The populations living in the following countries have a variety of religious and philosophic affiliations:
- Albania: Islam, Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism.
- Bosnia and Herzegovina: Islam, Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism.
- Cyprus (the whole island): Eastern Orthodoxy and Islam. Usually Orthodoxy is practiced by the Greeks (about 70-72% of the
island's population), while Islam is practiced by the Turks (about 28-30% of the island's population).
- Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia: Slavic population is mostly Eastern Orthodox, Albanian population is mostly
Muslim.
Kosovo has an ethnic Albanian majority population who are largely Muslim. The
Republic of Macedonia has a large ethnic Albanian population as well.
Macedonia in northern Greece and southwestern Bulgaria
contains a minority of Macedonian Slavs.
Thrace in eastern Greece contains a Muslim
minority.
Greece, like Italy, has an Albanian minority comprised mostly of Albanian immigrants (most having migrated illegaly in the
1990s).
Greece is also home to a group of people called the Arvanites, who settled
various Greek lands during the Middle Ages and are Orthodox Christians. South Albania has a small Greek Orthodox Christian
population in Northern Epirus.
See also
- For statistical analysis of geo-political assignment in U.S. news coverage: John Hickman and Jonathan Trapp, "Reporting
Romania: A Content
Analysis of The New York Times Coverage." East European Quarterly. Vol. 32, Issue 3, pp 395-409.
- Historical
regions of the Balkan Peninsula
- Orient Express
External links
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