Balkans
:
"Balkan" redirects here. For the Turkmen province, see Balkan Province. For the defunct airline, see Balkan Bulgarian Airlines.The
Balkans is the historic and geographic name used to describe a
region of south-eastern
Europe. The region has a combined area of
728,000 km² and a population of around 53 million. 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.
 |
Southeastern Europe seen from NASA's Terra Satellite |
Balkan Peninsula
The Balkans are sometimes referred to as the
"Balkan Peninsula" as they are surrounded 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). While it is not
geographically a
peninsula as it has no
isthmus to connect it to the mainland of Europe, this name is nonetheless commonly used to denote the wider region.
The Balkans
The identity of the Balkans owes as much to its fragmented and often
violent common history as to its mountainous geography. The region was perennially on the edge of great empires, its history dominated by wars, rebellions, invasions and clashes between empires, from the times of the
Roman Empire to the latter-day
Yugoslav wars.
Its fractiousness and tendency to splinter into rival political entities led to the coining of the term
Balkanization (or
balkanizing). The term
Balkan commonly connotes a connection with violence,
religious strife,
ethnic clannishness and a sense of
hinterland. The Balkans, as they are known today, have changed dramatically over the course of
their history.
Although the former characterization of the Balkans is widely used and extremely common today, it is important to note that this characterization is also widely exaggerated and may be connected to historically negative connotations the Balkans have amongst Western European nations and political elites. Recent problems and conflicts in the Balkans have more to do with a complicated set of factors having to do with recent political and social divisions rather than the so-called age-old 'tendency' of the Balkan peoples to engage in war and conflicts. The tendency to portray the Balkans in this way has been studied extensively by
Maria Todorova, whose book
Imagining the Balkans deals with these issues.
It should be noted that the Southern and Eastern parts of the Balkans were relatively stable despite the turmoil in the Western part. Countries in the south such as Greece and in the east such as Bulgaria and Romania haven't experienced the horrors of the recent wars such as their Western counterparts, even if the latter two have suffered internal problems. Not withstanding that, Bulgaria and Romania are also set to join the European Union on January 1, 2007, and Greece is already a member of it.
Etymology and evolving meaning
The region takes its name from the "Balkan" mountain range in
Bulgaria (from a
Turkish word meaning "a chain of wooded mountains"). On a larger scale, one long continuous chain of mountains crosses the region in the form of a reversed letter S, from the
Carpathians south to the Balkan range proper, before it marches away east into
Anatolian Turkey. On the west coast, an offshoot of the
Dinaric Alps follows the coast south through
Dalmatia and
Albania, crosses Greece and continues into the sea in the form of various islands. The word was based on
Turkish balakan 'stone, cliff', which confirms the pure 'technical' meaning of the term. The mountain range that runs across Bulgaria from west to east (Stara Planina) is still commonly known as the
Balkan Mountains.
As time passed, the term gradually obtained political connotations far from its initial geographic meaning, arising from political changes from the late 1800s to the creation of post-
World War I Yugoslavia (initially the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes). Zeune's goal was to have a geographical parallel term to the
Italic and
Iberian Peninsula, and seemingly nothing more. The gradually acquired political connotations are newer, and, to a large extent, due to oscillating political circumstances. After the split of Yugoslavia beginning in June 1991, the term 'Balkans' again received a negative meaning, even in casual usage. For example,
Romania is also labelled a 'Balkanic country' even if this is not compliant with either its initial meaning or later evolutions of the term. Over the last decade, in the wake of the former Yugoslav split,
Croatians and especially
Slovenians have rejected their former label as 'Balkan nations'. This is in part due to the pejorative connotation of the term 'Balkans' in the 1990s, and continuation of this meaning until now. Today, the term 'Southeast Europe' is preferred or, in the case of Slovenia and sometimes Croatia, '
Central Europe'.
Even if incorrect, both historically and politically, it is probable that "Balkans" will continue to have a wider, and pejorative, meaning.
Southeastern Europe
Due to the aforementioned connotations of the term 'Balkan', many people prefer the term
Southeastern Europe instead. The use of this term is slowly growing; a
European Union initiative of
1999 is called the
Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, and the online newspaper
Balkan Times renamed itself
Southeast European Times in
2003.
The use of this term to mean the Balkan peninsula (and only that) technically ignores the geographical presence of northern
Romania and
Ukraine, which are also located in the southeastern part of the European continent.
Ambiguities and controversies
The northern border of the Balkan peninsula is usually considered to be the line formed by the
Danube,
Sava and
Kupa rivers and a segment connecting the spring of the Kupa with the
Kvarner Bay.
Some other definitions of the northern border of the Balkans have been proposed:
*the line
Danube -
Sava -
Krka (river in Slovenia) -
Postojnska Vrata -
Vipava River -
Isonzo River (also known as
Soča river)
*the line
Danube -
Sava -
Ljubljansko polje -
Idrijca river -
Soča river*the line
Dniester -
Timişoara -
Zagreb -
Triglav*the line
Trieste -
Odessa (
Trieste-Odessa line) [
1]
*the line Bay of
Trieste -
Ljubljana -
Sava -
Danube ([
2])
 |
Balkan peninsula (as defined by the Danube-Sava-Kupa line) |
The most commonly used Danube-Sava-Kupa northern boundary is arbitrarily set as to the physiographical characteristics, however it can be easily recognized on the map. It has a historical and cultural substantiation. The region so defined (together with Romania and excluding
Montenegro, Dalmatia, and the
Ionian Islands) constituted most of the European territory of the
Ottoman Empire from the late
15th to the
19th century. The Kupa forms a natural boundary between south-eastern Slovenia and Croatia and has been a political frontier since the
12th century, separating
Carniola (belonging to
Austria) from
Croatia (belonging to
Hungary).
The Danube-Sava-Krka-Postojnska Vrata-Vipava-Isonzo line ignores some historical and cultural characteristics, but can be seen as a rational delimitation of the Balkan peninsula from a geographical point of view. It assigns all the Karstic and Dinaric area to the Balkan region.
The Sava bisects Croatia and Serbia and the Danube, which is the second largest European river (after
Volga), forms a natural boundary between both Bulgaria and Serbia and Romania. North of that line lies the
Pannonian plain and (in the case of Romania) the
Carpathian mountains.
Although Romania (with the exception of
Dobrudja) is not geographically a part of the Balkans, it is often included in the Balkans in public discourse.
According to the most commonly used border, Slovenia lies to the north of the Balkans and is considered a part of
Central Europe. Historically and culturally, it is also more related to Central Europe, although the Slovenian culture also incorporates some elements of Balkan culture.
However, as already stated, the northern boundary of the Balkan peninsula can also be drawn otherwise, in which case at least a part of Slovenia and a small part of
Italy (
Province of Trieste) may be included in the Balkans.
Slovenia is also sometimes regarded as a Balkan country due to its association with the former
Yugoslavia. When the Balkans are described as a twentieth-century geopolitical region, the whole Yugoslavia is included (so, Slovenia,
Istria, islands of
Dalmatia, northern Croatia and
Vojvodina too).
The aforementioned historical justification for the Sava-Kupa northern boundary would preclude including a big part of
Croatia (whose territories were by and large part of the
Habsburg Monarchy and
Venetian Republic during the Ottoman conquest). Other factors such as prior history and culture also bind Croatia to Central Europe and the Mediterranean region more than they bind it to the Balkans. Nevertheless, its peculiar geographic shape (as well as its recent history with Yugoslavia) inherently associates it with the region Bosnia and Herzegovina is part of.
Current common definition
 |
Political map in 2004 |
In most of the English-speaking, western world, the countries commonly included in the Balkan region are:
*, but only the European part of it, including
Istanbul (traditionally called
Rumelia or
Thrace)
Some other countries are sometimes included in the list as well:
Some countries, including Romania, Croatia, Slovenia, and sometimes also Greece, usually prefer not to be called
Balkan countries.
Related countries
Other countries not included in the Balkan region that are close to it and/or play or have played an important role in the region's geopolitics, culture and history:
*
Austria (see also
Austria-Hungary,
Assassination in Sarajevo)
*
Cyprus (see also
Cyprus dispute)
*
Hungary (see also
Austria-Hungary)
*
Italy (see Croatia:
Dalmatia,
Zara,
Fiume;
History of Slovenia)
*
Moldova (see
History of Moldova)
*
Russia (see
History of Serbia)
*
Slovenia (see also
Austria-Hungary)
| | thumb|280px|{{Central European Free Trade Agreement}} (CEFTA)
]] |
| | |
|
See also the
Black Sea Regional organizationsMost of the area is covered by mountain ranges running from south-west to north-east. The main ranges are the
Dinaric Alps in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia, the
Šar massif which spreads from Albania to Republic of Macedonia and the
Pindus range, spanning from southern Albania into central 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 of the region is
Musala in
Bulgaria at 2925 m, with
Mount Olympus in Greece, the throne of Zeus, being second at 2919 m and Vihren in Bulgaria being the third at 2914.
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 the 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 Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Bosnia.
Lignite deposits are widespread in Greece.
Petroleum is most notably present in Romania, although scarce reserves exist in Greece, Serbia, Albania and Croatia.
Natural gas deposits are 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.
Main article: History of the Balkans
The Balkan region was the first area of Europe to experience the arrival of
farming cultures in the
Neolithic era. The practices of growing grain and raising livestock arrived in the Balkans from the
Fertile Crescent by way of
Anatolia, and spread west and north into
Pannonia and
Central Europe.
In pre-classical and
classical antiquity, this region was home to
Greeks,
Illyrians,
Paeonians,
Thracians, and other ancient groups. Later the
Roman Empire conquered most of the region and spread Roman culture and the
Latin language but significant parts still remained under
classical Greek influence. During the
Middle Ages, the Balkans became the stage for a series of wars between the
Byzantine,
Bulgarian and
Serbian Empires.
By the end of the
16th century, the
Ottoman Empire became the controlling force in the region, although it was centered around Anatolia. In the past 550 years, because of the frequent
Ottoman wars in Europe fought in and around the Balkans, and the comparative Ottoman isolation from the mainstream of economic advance (reflecting the shift of Europe's commercial and political centre of gravity towards the
Atlantic), the Balkans has been the least developed part of Europe.
The Balkan nations began to regain their independence in the
19th century (Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro), 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 in Sarajevo (the capital of
Bosnia and Herzegovina) of the
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria.
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 ruled by Soviet-supported communist governments.
However, despite being under communist governments,
Yugoslavia (
1948) and
Albania (
1961) fell out with the Soviet Union. Yugoslavia, led by marshal
Josip Broz Tito (
1892–
1980), first propped up then rejected the idea of merging with
Bulgaria, and instead sought closer relations with the
West, later even 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
Republic of Macedonia. 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). Since
2000, all Balkan countries are friendly towards the
EU and the
USA.
Greece has been a member of the
European Union since
1981;
Slovenia and
Cyprus since
2004.
Bulgaria and
Romania are set to become members in
2007. In
2005 the European Union decided to start accession negotiations with candidate countries
Croatia and
Turkey and the
Republic of Macedonia was accepted as a candidate for the European Union membership. As of 2004,
Bulgaria,
Romania and
Slovenia are also members of
NATO.
Bosnia and Herzegovina and
Serbia and Montenegro started negotiations with the EU over the Stabilisation and Accession Agreements, although shortly after they started, negotiations with Serbia and Montenegro were suspended for lack of co-operation with the
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.
All other countries have expressed a desire to join the EU but at some date in the future.
The region's principal nationalities include
Turks (12.3 million, 11 million of them inhabiting Turkish
Thrace),
Greeks (10.5 million, with about 10 million of them being in Greece),
Serbs (8.5 million),
Bulgarians (7.5 million),
Albanians (6 million, with about 3.3 millions of them being in
Albania),
Croats (4.5 million),
Bosniaks (2.4 million),
Macedonians (1.4 million) and
Montenegrins (0.265 million). If Romania and Slovenia are included, then also
Romanians (26 million) and
Slovenians (2 million). Practically all Balkan countries have a smaller or larger
Roma (Gypsy) minority. Other much smaller stateless minorities include the
Gagauz, the
Gorani, and the
Vlachs.
The region's principal religions are (
Eastern Orthodox and
Catholic)
Christianity and
Islam. A variety of different traditions of each faith are practiced, with each of the Eastern Orthodox countries having its own national church.
Eastern Orthodoxy is the principal religion in the following countries:
*Bulgaria
*Greece
*Republic of Macedonia
*Montenegro
*Romania
*Serbia
Roman Catholicism is the principal religion in the following countries:
*Croatia
*Slovenia
Islam is the principal religion in the following countries:
*Albania
*Turkey
The following countries have many religious groups which exceed 10% of the total population:
*Albania: Islam, Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism.
*Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bosniaks are mostly Muslim, Serbs are mostly Serbian (Eastern) Orthodox and Croats are mostly Catholic.
*Bulgaria: Eastern Orthodoxy, Islam.
*Republic of Macedonia: Macedonians are mostly Eastern Orthodox, Albanian population is mostly Muslim.
*Montenegro: Montenegrins and Serbs are Eastern Orthodox, Albanians and Bosniaks are Muslim.
*Serbia: Serbs are Eastern Orthodox, Albanians and Bosniaks are Muslim.
For more detailed information and a precise ethnic breakdown see articles about particular states:
*
Albania,
Demographics of Albania*
Croatia,
Demographics of Croatia*
Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Demographics of Bosnia and Herzegovina*
Bulgaria,
Demographics of Bulgaria*
Greece,
Demographics of Greece*
Montenegro,
Demographics of Montenegro*
Republic of Macedonia,
Demographics of the Republic of Macedonia*
Serbia,
Demographics of Serbia*
Turkey,
Demographics of Turkey* Banac, Ivo.
Historiography of the Countries of Eastern Europe: Yugoslavia,
American Historical Review, v 97 #4 (October 1992), 1084-1104.
* Banac, Ivo.
The National Question in Yugoslavia: Origins, History, Politics Cornell University Press, [1984].
* Carter, Francis W., ed.
An Historical Geography of the Balkans Academic Press, 1977.
* Dvornik, Francis.
The Slavs in European History and Civilization Rutgers University Press, 1962.
* Fine, John V. A., Jr.
The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century [1983];
The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, [1987].
* John R. Lampe and Marvin R. Jackson;
Balkan Economic History, 1550-1950: From Imperial Borderlands to Developing Nations Indiana University Press, 1982
* Jelavich, Barbara.
History of the Balkans, 2 vols. Cambridge University Press, [1983].
* Jelavich, Charles, and Jelavich, Barbara, eds.
The Balkans in Transition: Essays on the Development of Balkan Life and Politics since the Eighteenth Century University of California Press, 1963.
* Király, Béla K., ed.
East Central European Society in the Era ofRevolutions, 1775-1856. 1984
* Komlos, John, ed.
Economic Development in the Habsburg Monarchy and in the Successor States: Essays 1990.
* Traian Stoianovich;
Balkan Worlds: The First and Last Europe 1994.
*
History of the Balkans**
Historical regions of the Balkan Peninsula**
Balkan wars*
Balkan languages**
Balkan linguistic union*
Balkanization*
Orient Express*
Music of Southeastern Europe*
South-East Europe Review*
Balkanalysis.com*
Balkan History by Steven W. Sowards*
Civilitas Research*
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Balkan Weekly Report*
SEEurope.net - news coverage on Southeastern Europe
*
Southeast European Times*
BalkanBaby travel writing, analysis and photos from the Balkans*
The Centre for South East European Studies*
Balkans region: Oil and Gas Fact Sheet -
United States Department of Energy Analysis Brief
*
Balkans urged to curb trafficking - BBC*
News from Balkans
