View source for Balkans

{{Short description|Region of southeastern Europe}}
{{Redirect|Balkan}}
{{Distinguish|text=the [[Baltics]]}}
{{pp-move}}
{{protection padlock|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox peninsulas
| name               = 
| local_name         = 
| image_name         = Geographic map of Balkan Peninsula.svg
| image_caption      = Geographical map of the Balkan Peninsula
| image_alt          = The Balkan Peninsula according to Prof. R. J. Crampton
| locator_map        = 
| mapframe-zoom      = 4
| location           = Southeastern [[Europe]]
| coordinates        = 
| highest_mount      = [[Musala]] ([[Bulgaria]])
| elevation_m        = 2925
| country            = [[#Definitions and boundaries|See below]]
| demonym            = 
}}

The '''Balkans''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|ɔː|l|k|ən|z}} {{respell|BAWL|kənz}}, {{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|ɒ|l|k|ən|z}} {{respell|BOL|kənz}}<ref>{{cite LPD|2|Balkan}}</ref>), corresponding partially with the '''Balkan Peninsula''', is a geographical area in southeastern [[Europe]] with various geographical and historical definitions.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7BakAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA116 |first1=Colin S. |last1=Gray |first2=Geoffrey |last2=Sloan |title=Geopolitics, Geography and Strategy |access-date=10 November 2014 |isbn=9781135265021 |year=2014|publisher=Routledge }}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Balkans |title=Balkans |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=2017-12-13 |archive-date=17 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517055138/https://www.britannica.com/place/Balkans |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Schaefer2008">{{cite book |author=Richard T. Schaefer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YMUola6pDnkC&pg=PT181 |title=Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Society |publisher=Sage |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-4129-2694-2 |page=129}}</ref> The region takes its name from the [[Balkan Mountains]] that stretch throughout the whole of [[Bulgaria]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Niktalab |first=Poopak |author-link=Poopak NikTalab |title=Over the Alps: History of Children and Youth Literature in Europe |publisher=Faradid Publisher |year=2024 |isbn=9786225740457 |edition=1st |location=Tehran, Iran |pages=6 |language=fa}}</ref> The Balkan Peninsula is bordered by the [[Adriatic Sea]] in the northwest, the [[Ionian Sea]] in the southwest, the [[Aegean Sea]] in the south, the [[Turkish straits]] in the east, and the [[Black Sea]] in the northeast. The northern border of the [[peninsula]] is variously defined.<ref name="DaskalovMishkova2017">{{cite book |author=Alexander Vezenkov |editor=Roumen Dontchev Daskalov, Tchavdar Marinov |title=Entangled Histories of the Balkans – Volume Four: Concepts, Approaches, and (Self-) Representations |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R3cEDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA141 |year=2017 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-33782-4 |pages=115–256 |chapter=Entangled Geographies of the Balkans: The Boundaries of the Region and the Limits of the Discipline}}</ref> The highest point of the Balkans is [[Musala]], {{convert|2925|m}}, in the [[Rila]] mountain range, Bulgaria.

The concept of the Balkan Peninsula was created by the German geographer [[August Zeune]] in 1808,<ref name="Tomic2006">{{cite book |author=Olga M. Tomic |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MFWOYUHULgsC&pg=PA35 |title=Balkan Sprachbund Morpho-Syntactic Features |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-4020-4488-5 |page=35}}</ref> who mistakenly considered the Balkan Mountains the dominant mountain system of southeastern Europe spanning from the Adriatic Sea to the Black Sea. In the 19th century the term ''Balkan Peninsula'' was a synonym for [[Rumelia]], the parts of Europe that were provinces of the [[Ottoman Empire]] at the time. It had a geopolitical rather than a geographical definition, which was further promoted during the [[creation of Yugoslavia]] in the early 20th century. The definition of the Balkan Peninsula's natural borders does not coincide with the technical definition of a peninsula; hence modern geographers reject the idea of a Balkan Peninsula, while historical scholars usually discuss the Balkans as a region. The term has acquired a stigmatized and pejorative meaning related to the process of [[Balkanization]].<ref name="DaskalovMishkova2017"/><ref name="BideleuxJeffries2007">{{cite book |author1=Robert Bideleux |author2=Ian Jeffries |title=The Balkans: A Post-Communist History |url=https://archive.org/details/balkanspostcommu0000bide |url-access=registration |year=2007 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-58328-7 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/balkanspostcommu0000bide/page/n22 1]–3}}</ref> The region may alternatively be referred to as [[Southeast Europe]].

The national borders of the Balkans are, due to many contrasting definitions, widely disputed, with no universal agreement on its components. By most definitions, the term encompasses [[Albania]], [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], [[Bulgaria]], [[Croatia]] (only the area south of the [[Sava]] and [[Kupa]] rivers), mainland [[Greece]], [[Kosovo]], [[Montenegro]], [[North Macedonia]], [[Romania]] (only [[Northern Dobruja]]), [[Serbia]] (only the area south of the [[Danube]] river), and [[East Thrace]] in [[Turkey]]. However, some broader definitions also include [[Slovenia]] (in a limited or partial sense, though sources do not specify regions) and the remaining territories of Romania and Serbia. Additionally, some definitions include [[Hungary]] and [[Moldova]] due to cultural and historical factors. The [[province of Trieste]] in northeastern [[Italy]], whilst by some definitions on the geographical peninsula, is generally excluded from the Balkans in a regional context.

==Name==
===Etymology===
The origin of the word ''Balkan'' is obscure; it may be related to [[Turkish language|Turkish]] {{lang|tr|bālk}} 'mud' (from Proto-Turkic *''bal'' 'mud, clay; thick or gluey substance', cf. also Turkic [[:en:wiktionary:Reconstruction:Proto-Turkic/bạl|bal]] 'honey'), and the Turkish suffix ''-an'' 'swampy forest'<ref>Current Trends in Altaic Linguistics; [https://www.academia.edu/5693478/European%20Balkan%20s%20Turkic%20bal%20yk%20and%20the%20problem%20of%20their%20original%20meanings European Balkan(s), Turkic bal(yk) and the Problem of Their Original Meanings] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220710141315/https://www.academia.edu/5693478/European%20Balkan%20s%20Turkic%20bal%20yk%20and%20the%20problem%20of%20their%20original%20meanings |date=10 July 2022 }}, Marek Stachowski, Jagiellonian University, p. 618.</ref> or Persian ''bālā-khāna'' 'big high house'.<ref name="Todorova 1997 27" /> It was used mainly during the time of the [[Ottoman Empire]]. In both [[Ottoman Turkish]] and [[Turkish language|modern Turkish]], ''{{lang|tr|balkan}}'' means 'chain of wooded mountains'.<ref name="Balkan.">{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_/balkan.html |title=Balkan |encyclopedia=Encarta World English Dictionary |publisher=Microsoft Corporation |access-date=31 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070110000315/http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_/balkan.html |archive-date=10 January 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Büyük Türkçe Sözlük |title=balkan |publisher=Türk Dil Kurumu |url=http://www.tdkterim.gov.tr/bts/ |quote=Sarp ve ormanlık sıradağ |language=tr |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110825034714/http://www.tdkterim.gov.tr/bts/ |archive-date=25 August 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kélékian |first=Diran |title=Dictionnaire Turc-Français |publisher=Mihran |year=1911 |pages=247 |language=fr |chapter=بالقان balqan |quote=Chaîne de montagnes couveres de forêts. ''Geogr.'' Le mont Hæmus; le Balkan.}}</ref>

===Historical names and meaning===
====From antiquity to the early Middle Ages====
The region that is presently known as the Balkans is largely the ancient (Europe's oldest) ''[[Danube civilisation]]'',<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tiLoDwAAQBAJ|title=The Mystery of the Danube Civilisation|last1=Haarmann|first1=Harald|publisher=Marix Verlag|date=2020|isbn=9783843806466}}</ref> also referred to as the [[Old Europe (archaeology)|Old Europe]] civilization, and which peaked between 5000 and 3500 BC.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gFEARIQ6zYoC|title=The Lost World of Old Europe: The Danube Valley, 5000-3500 BC|date=2010|isbn=9780691143880|last1=Anthony|first1=David|editor-last1=Anthony|editor-first1=David|editor-last2=Chi|editor-first2=Jennifer|publisher=New York University, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World|pages=29}}</ref>

{{Anchor|Haemus}}From [[classical antiquity]] through the [[Middle Ages]], the Balkan Mountains were called by the local [[Thracians|Thracian]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VDoQAQAAMAAJ&q=hemus+thracian+name |title=Bulgaria |page=54 |work=Hemus – a Thracian name |publisher=Indiana University |year=1986}}</ref> name ''[[Haemus]]''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Balkan Studies|date=1986|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UEJpAAAAMAAJ&q=thracian+sama+greek+haemus}}</ref>

According to Greek mythology, the [[Thrace|Thracian]] king [[Haemus]] was turned into a mountain by [[Zeus]] as a punishment and the mountain has remained with his name.<ref>[[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' 6.87–89</ref> A reverse name scheme has also been suggested. D. Dechev considers that Haemus (Αἷμος) is derived from a [[Thracian language|Thracian]] word ''*saimon'', 'mountain ridge'.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Decev |first1=D |title=Balkan Studies |date=1986 |publisher=University of Michigan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UEJpAAAAMAAJ&q=thracian+sama+greek+haemus |access-date=20 June 2015}}</ref> A third possibility is that "Haemus" ({{lang|grc|Αἵμος}}) derives from the Greek word ''haima'' ({{lang|grc|αἷμα}}) meaning 'blood'. The myth relates to a fight between [[Zeus]] and the monster/titan [[Typhon]]. Zeus injured Typhon with a thunder bolt and Typhon's blood fell on the mountains, giving them their name.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_2900870232069|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_2900870232069/page/20 20]|quote=Haemus bloody zeus typhon.|title=Gods and Heroes of the Greeks: The Library of Apollodorus|publisher=Univ of Massachusetts Press|access-date=12 September 2014|isbn=978-0870232060|last1=Apollodorus|year=1976}}</ref>

====Late Middle Ages and Ottoman period====
The earliest mention of the name appears in an early 14th-century Arab map, in which the [[Haemus Mons|Haemus Mountains]] are referred to as ''Balkan''.<ref name="Dobrev 1989">{{cite book | title = Проиcхождение географического названия Балкан – Sixieme Congres international d'etudes du Sud-Est Europeen |language=fr | first= Ivan | last = Dobrev | publisher = Ed.de l'Académie bulgare des Sciences | year = 1989 | location = Sofia | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=jxYZnQEACAAJ }}</ref> The first attested time the name "Balkan" was used in the West for the mountain range in [[Bulgaria]] was in a letter sent in 1490 to Pope [[Pope Innocent VIII|Innocent VIII]] by [[Filippo Buonaccorsi]], an Italian humanist, writer and diplomat.<ref>{{cite book |last=Todorova |first=Maria |author-link=Maria Todorova |title=[[Imagining the Balkans]] |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-19-538786-5 |page=22}}</ref> The [[Ottoman Turks|Ottomans]] first mention it in a document dated from 1565.<ref name="Todorova 1997 27" /> There has been no other documented usage of the word to refer to the region before that, although other Turkic tribes had already settled in or were passing through the region.<ref name="Todorova 1997 27">{{cite book | title = Imagining the Balkans | first=Maria N. | last =Todorova | publisher = Oxford University Press, Inc. | year = 1997 | location = New York | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=-EuFwLQhvYMC&pg=PA27 | page=27| isbn=9780195087512 }}</ref> There is also a claim about an earlier [[Oghuric languages|Bulgar]] Turkic origin of the word popular in Bulgaria, however it is only an unscholarly assertion.<ref name="Todorova 1997 27" /> The word was used by the Ottomans in [[Rumelia]] in its general meaning of mountain, as in ''Kod̲j̲a-Balkan'', ''Čatal-Balkan'', and ''Ungurus-Balkani̊'', but it was especially applied to the Haemus mountain.<ref>Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Editors: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill Online Reference Works.</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/balkan-SIM_1152?s.num=309&s.start=300|title=Balkan – Brill Reference|website=Brillonline.com|date=2012-04-24|last1=Inalcık|first1=Halil|archive-date=18 May 2015|access-date=7 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518074444/http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/balkan-SIM_1152?s.num=309&s.start=300|url-status=live}}</ref> The name is still preserved in [[Central Asia]] with the [[Balkan Daglary]] (Balkan Mountains)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://land.worldcitydb.com/balkhan_mountains_3522246.html |title=Balkhan Mountains |work=World Land Features Database |publisher=Land.WorldCityDB.com |access-date=31 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080228223148/http://land.worldcitydb.com/balkhan_mountains_3522246.html |archive-date=28 February 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and the [[Balkan Region]] of [[Turkmenistan]]. The English traveler [[John Bacon Sawrey Morritt]] introduced this term into English literature at the end of the 18th century, and other authors started applying the name to the wider area between the Adriatic and the Black Sea. The concept of the "Balkans" was created by the German geographer [[August Zeune]] in 1808,<ref>{{cite web|last=Pavic|first=Silvia|url=http://geography.about.com/library/misc/ucbalkans.htm|title=Some Thoughts About The Balkans|publisher=About, Inc.|date=22 November 2000|access-date=31 March 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080228230925/http://geography.about.com/library/misc/ucbalkans.htm| archive-date= 28 February 2008 | url-status=live}}</ref> who mistakenly considered it as the dominant central mountain system of Southeast Europe spanning from the Adriatic Sea to the Black Sea.<ref name="Somek15"/><ref name="Altić11"/><ref name="DaskalovMishkova2017"/> During the 1820s, "Balkan became the preferred although not yet exclusive term alongside Haemus among British travelers... Among Russian travelers not so burdened by classical toponymy, Balkan was the preferred term".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Todorova |first=Maria |title=Imagining the Balkans |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=9780195087512 |page=24}}</ref> In European books printed until late 1800s it was also known as the Illyrian Peninsula or Illyrische Halbinsel in German.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5RhYAAAAcAAJ |title=Illyrische Halbinsel |year=1851}}</ref>

===Evolution of meaning in the 19th and 20th centuries===
[[File:Cvijic, Jovan - Breisemeister, William A. - Carte ethnographique de la Péninsule balkanique (pd).jpg |thumb|265px|Map of the Balkan Peninsula from 1918 largely according to [[Jovan Cvijić]]]]The term was not commonly used in geographical literature until the mid-19th century because, already then, scientists like [[Carl Ritter]] warned that only the part south of the Balkan Mountains could be considered as a peninsula and considered it to be renamed as "Greek peninsula". Other prominent geographers who did not agree with Zeune were [[Hermann Wagner (geographer)|Hermann Wagner]], [[Theobald Fischer]], [[Marion Newbigin]], and [[Albrecht Penck]], while Austrian diplomat [[Johann Georg von Hahn]], in 1869, for the same territory, used the term ''Südosteuropäische Halbinsel'' ('Southeastern European peninsula'). Another reason it was not commonly accepted as the definition of then [[East Thrace|European Turkey]] had a similar land extent.{{clarify|date=April 2025}} However, after the [[Congress of Berlin]] (1878) there was a political need for a new term and gradually "the Balkans" was revitalized, but in many maps, the northern border was in Serbia and Montenegro and Greece was not included (it only depicted the then Ottoman-occupied parts of Europe), while Yugoslavian maps also included Croatia and Bosnia. At the time, the ''Balkan Peninsula'' was also understood as a synonym for [[Rumelia]] or ''European Turkey'', and, in its broadest sense, encompassed the borders of all former Ottoman provinces in Europe.<ref name="DaskalovMishkova2017"/><ref name="Altić11"/><ref name="VezenkovIWM06">{{cite journal |last=Vezenkov |first=Alexander |date=2006 |title=History against Geography: Should We Always Think of the Balkans As Part of Europe? |url=http://www.iwm.at/publications/5-junior-visiting-fellows-conferences/vol-xxi/alexander-vezenkov/ |journal=Junior Visiting Fellows' Conferences |volume=XXI |issue=4 |access-date=5 January 2018 |archive-date=24 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171224123749/http://www.iwm.at/publications/5-junior-visiting-fellows-conferences/vol-xxi/alexander-vezenkov/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The usage of the term changed in the very end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, when it was embraced by Serbian geographers, most prominently by [[Jovan Cvijić]].<ref name="Somek15"/> It was done with political reasoning as affirmation for [[Serbian nationalism]] on the whole territory of the [[South Slavs]], and also included anthropological and ethnological studies of the South Slavs through which were claimed various nationalistic and racialist theories.<ref name="Somek15"/> Through such policies and Yugoslavian maps the term was elevated to the modern status of a geographical region.<ref name="Altić11"/> The term acquired political nationalistic connotations far from its initial geographic meaning,<ref name="DaskalovMishkova2017"/> arising from political changes from the late 19th century to the creation of post–[[World War I]] [[Yugoslavia]] (initially the [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes]] in 1918).<ref name="Altić11"/> After the [[Breakup of Yugoslavia|dissolution of Yugoslavia]] beginning in June 1991, the term ''Balkans'' acquired a negative political meaning, especially in Croatia and Slovenia, as well in worldwide casual usage for war conflicts and fragmentation of territory.<ref name="Somek15"/><ref name="Altić11"/>

===Southeast Europe===
{{Main|Southeast Europe}}

In part due to the historical and political connotations of the term ''Balkans'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/balkanize|title=Balkanize|publisher=merriam-webster.com}}</ref> especially since the military conflicts of the 1990s in Yugoslavia in the western half of the region, the term ''[[Southeast Europe]]'' is becoming increasingly popular.<ref name="Altić11"/><ref>{{cite book |title=A history of Eastern Europe |last=Bideleux |first=Robert |author2=Ian Jeffries |year=2007 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-415-36627-4 |page=37 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PTB0gn_qwTcC}}</ref> A [[European Union]] (EU) initiative of 1999 is called the ''[[Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe]]''. The online newspaper ''Balkan Times'' renamed itself ''[[Southeast European Times]]'' in 2003.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

===Current===
In other languages of the Balkans, the region or peninsula are known as:

* Slavic languages:
** [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]] and {{langx|mk|Балкански Полуостров}}, transliterated: ''{{lang|mk|Balkanski Poluostrov}}''
** [[Bosnian language|Bosnian]], [[Montenegrin language|Montenegrin]] and {{langx|sr|Balkansko poluostrvo}} / {{lang|sr-cyrl|Балканско полуострво}}
** [[Bosnian language|Bosnian]] and {{langx|hr|Balkanski poluotok}}
** {{langx|sl|Balkanski polotok}}
* Romance languages:
** {{langx|rup|Peninsula Balcanicã}} or {{lang|rup|Balcani}}
** {{langx|ro|Peninsula Balcanică}} or {{lang|ro|Balcani}}
** {{langx|it|Penisola balcanica}} or {{lang|it|Balcani}}
* Other languages:
** {{langx|sq|Gadishulli Ballkanik}} and ''{{lang|sq|Siujdhesa e Ballkanit}}''
** {{langx|el|Βαλκανική χερσόνησος}}, transliterated: ''{{lang|el|Valkaniki chersonisos}}''
** {{langx|hu|Balkán-félsziget}} or ''Balkán''
** {{langx|tr|Balkan Yarımadası}} or ''Balkanlar''

==Definitions and boundaries==
[[File:Balkan topo blank.jpg |thumb|265x265px| Topographic map of the Balkan Peninsula]]

=== Balkan Peninsula ===
The Balkan Peninsula is bounded by the [[Adriatic Sea]] to the west, the [[Mediterranean Sea]] (including the [[Ionian Sea|Ionian]] and [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]] seas) and the [[Sea of Marmara]] to the south and the [[Black Sea]] to the east. Its northern boundary is subject to varying interpretations, but is often given as the [[Danube]], [[Sava]] and [[Kupa]] Rivers.{{sfn|Jelavich|1983a|p=1}} <ref>Joseph, Brian D.; Friedman, Victor A. (eds.). ''The Balkan Peninsula and Its Languages''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2004. ISBN 9780521553490. p. 15. (citing Newbigin 1915:15–16, boundary following the Lower Danube, Sava, and Kulpa/Kupa toward Rijeka).</ref><ref>Luca, Denisa-Ștefania (2024). "The Balkans is the easternmost of Europe’s peninsulas… follows the geographical delimitations indicated by the Danube–Sava–Kupa line". ''Central European Journal of Geography and Sustainable Development''. 6 (2): 50–75.</ref><ref>"It is often stated in the literature that the northern border runs from the mouth of the Kupa to the Sava and then along the Danube…" In: ''Scientific Conference with International Participation FRESKA'' (Conference Proceedings). National and University Library of the Republic of Srpska (NUBL), 2022.</ref> The Balkan Peninsula has a combined area of about {{convert|470000|km2|sqmi|sigfig=3|abbr=on}}. The peninsula is generally encompassed in the region known as [[Southeast Europe]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Hajdú |first=Zoltán |year=2007 |title=Southeast-Europe: State Borders, Cross-border Relations, Spatial Structures |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ajvwx3OSE2AC |location=[[Pécs]], Hungary |publisher=[[Hungarian Academy of Sciences]] |isbn=978-963-9052-65-9 |access-date=8 June 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Lampe |first=John R. |year=2014 |title=Balkans Into Southeastern Europe, 1914–2014: A Century of War and Transition |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tAMdBQAAQBAJ |location=[[London]], United Kingdom |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |isbn=978-1-137-01907-3 |access-date=8 June 2015 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor=Švob-Ðokic, Nada |year=2001 |title=Redefining Cultural Identities: Southeastern Europe |url=http://www.culturelink.org/publics/joint/cultid04/Svob-Djokic_Redefining_Cultid_SE.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.culturelink.org/publics/joint/cultid04/Svob-Djokic_Redefining_Cultid_SE.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |location=[[Zagreb]], [[Croatia]] |publisher=[[National and University Library in Zagreb]] |isbn=978-953-6096-22-0 |access-date=8 June 2015}}</ref>

Italy currently holds a small area around [[Trieste]] that is by some older definitions considered a part of the Balkan Peninsula. However, the regions of Trieste and Istria are not usually considered part of the peninsula by Italian geographers, due to their definition limiting its western border to the Kupa River.<ref name="Agostini, 2004, p.78">Istituto Geografico De Agostini, ''L'Enciclopedia Geografica – Vol. I – Italia'', 2004, Ed. De Agostini p. 78</ref>

===Balkans===
The borders of the Balkans region are, due to a multitude of contrasting definitions, widely disputed, with no universal agreement on its components. By most definitions, it fully encompasses Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia (only the area south of the [[Sava]] and [[Kupa]] rivers), mainland Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania (only [[Northern Dobruja]]), Serbia (only the area south of the [[Danube|Danube river]]), and [[East Thrace]] in Turkey. However, some broader definitions also include Slovenia (in a limited or partial sense, though sources do not specify regions) and the remaining territories of Romania and Serbia.
Additionally, some definitions include [[Hungary]] and [[Moldova]] due to cultural and historical factors.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Todorova |first=Maria |title=Imagining the Balkans |date=1997 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-508750-5 |location=New York |page=15}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kolstø |first=Pål |date=2016-08-08 |title='Western Balkans' as the New Balkans: Regional Names as Tools for Stigmatisation and Exclusion |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09668136.2016.1219979 |journal=Europe-Asia Studies |language=en |volume=68 |issue=7 |pages=1245–1263 |doi=10.1080/09668136.2016.1219979 |issn=0966-8136 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=7 December 2024 |access-date=22 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241207122358/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09668136.2016.1219979 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Djurdjevic |first=Maria |title=The Balkans: Past and Present of Cultural Pluralism |url=https://www.iemed.org/publication/the-balkans-past-and-present-of-cultural-pluralism/ |access-date=2024-11-01 |website=European Institute of the Mediterranean |archive-date=8 October 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241008151256/https://www.iemed.org/publication/the-balkans-past-and-present-of-cultural-pluralism/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-09-20 |title=Evidence on Beyond Brexit: the UK and the Balkans |url=https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/81047/html/ |access-date=2025-04-12 |website=UK Parliament |archive-date=31 October 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251031200016/https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/81047/html/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Detrez |first=Raymond |date=2001 |title=Colonialism in the Balkans |url=https://www.kakanien-revisited.at/beitr/theorie/RDetrez1.pdf |pages=1–2 |access-date=1 November 2024 |archive-date=1 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241201030405/https://www.kakanien-revisited.at/beitr/theorie/RDetrez1.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Juhász |first=József |date=2015 |title=Hungary and the Balkans in the 20th Century — From the Hungarian Perspective |url=http://cejsh.icm.edu.pl/cejsh/element/bwmeta1.element.desklight-4acf4d74-0230-4935-89ff-5cd70c155701 |journal=Prague Papers on the History of International Relations |language= |issue=1 |pages=114–119 |quote=After 1918, with the massive reduction of Hungary’s territory and influence, many Western observers held Hungary to be one of the nations of the Balkans. |via=CEJSH |archive-date=9 December 2024 |access-date=22 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241209064308/http://cejsh.icm.edu.pl/cejsh/element/bwmeta1.element.desklight-4acf4d74-0230-4935-89ff-5cd70c155701 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-08-11 |title=Balkans |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Balkans |access-date=2024-08-22 |website=Encyclopaedia Britannica |language=en |quote=Moldova—although located north of the Danube River, which is frequently cited as the region’s northeastern geographic dividing line—is included in the Balkans under some definitions by virtue of its long-standing historical and cultural connections with Romania. |archive-date=17 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517055138/https://www.britannica.com/place/Balkans |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Province of Trieste]] in northeastern Italy, whilst by some definitions on the geographical peninsula, is generally excluded from the Balkans in a regional context.

The term [[Southeast Europe]] may also be applied to the region, with various interpretations, although Balkan countries may alternatively be placed in [[Southern Europe|Southern]], [[Central Europe|Central]] or [[Eastern Europe]]. Turkey, including East Thrace, is generally placed in [[West Asia]] or the [[Middle East]].

===Western Balkans===
{{Further|2015 Western Balkans Summit, Vienna|Strategy for the Western Balkans}}

[[File:Western Balkans.PNG|thumb|Western Balkan countries – [[Albania]], [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], [[Croatia]], [[Kosovo]], [[Montenegro]], [[North Macedonia]], and [[Serbia]]. Croatia (yellow) joined the EU in 2013]]

The ''Western Balkans'' is a political neologism coined to refer to Albania and the territory of the former Yugoslavia, except [[Slovenia]], since the early 1990s.{{ref label|furtherreading2|e}} The region of the Western Balkans, a coinage exclusively used in pan-European parlance, roughly corresponds to the [[Dinaric Alps]] territory.

The institutions of the EU have generally used the term ''Western Balkans'' to mean the Balkan area that includes countries that are not members of the EU, while others refer to the geographical aspects.{{ref label|furtherreading1|d}}
Each of these countries aims to be part of the [[Potential enlargement of the European Union|future enlargement of the EU]] and reach democracy and transmission scores but, until then, they will be strongly connected with the pre-EU waiting programme [[Central European Free Trade Agreement]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://transatlantic.sais-jhu.edu/publications/books/Unfinished%20Business%20Pdf/ch01_Bieber.pdf |title=Perspectives on the Region |access-date=19 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130904001128/http://transatlantic.sais-jhu.edu/publications/books/Unfinished%20Business%20Pdf/ch01_Bieber.pdf |archive-date=4 September 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Croatia, considered part of the Western Balkans, joined the EU in July 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/atyourservice/en/displayFtu.html?ftuId=FTU_6.5.2.html|title=Fact Sheets on the European Union:The Western Balkans|publisher=European Parliament|first=André|last=De Munter|date=December 2016|access-date=22 March 2017|archive-date=12 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170712235244/http://www.europarl.europa.eu/atyourservice/en/displayFtu.html?ftuId=FTU_6.5.2.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Criticism as geographical definition===
The term is scrutinised for having a geopolitical, rather than a geographical meaning and definition, as a multiethnic and political area in the southeastern part of Europe.<ref name="Altić11"/> The geographical term of a [[peninsula]] defines that the sea border must be longer than the land border, with the land side being the shortest in the triangle, but that is not the case for the Balkan Peninsula.<ref name="Somek15"/><ref name="Altić11"/> Both the eastern and western sea catheti from [[Odesa]] to [[Cape Matapan]] ({{circa|1230}}–1350&nbsp;km) and from [[Trieste]] to Cape Matapan ({{circa|1270}}–1285&nbsp;km) are shorter than the land cathetus from Trieste to Odesa ({{circa|1330}}–1365&nbsp;km).<ref name="Somek15"/><ref name="Altić11"/> The land has too long a land border to qualify as a peninsula – [[Szczecin]] (920&nbsp;km) and [[Rostock]] (950&nbsp;km) at the [[Baltic Sea]] are closer to Trieste than Odesa yet it is not considered as another European peninsula.<ref name="Somek15"/> Since the late 19th and early 20th century no exact northern border has been clear,<ref name="Somek15"/><ref name="Altić11"/> with an issue, whether the rivers are usable for its definition.<ref name="DaskalovMishkova2017"/> In studies the Balkans' natural borders, especially the northern border, are often avoided to be addressed, considered as a ''problème fastidieux'' (delicate problem) by André Blanc in ''Géographie des Balkans'' (1965),<ref>{{Cite book|first=André | last=Blanc | title=Géographie des Balkans | location=Paris | publisher=Presses universitaires de France | series=Que sais-je? | year=1965 | oclc=1244781736 | page=5}}</ref> while John Lampe and Marvin Jackman in ''Balkan Economic History'' (1971) noted that "modern geographers seem agreed in rejecting the old idea of a Balkan Peninsula".<ref name="DaskalovMishkova2017"/> Another issue is the name: the [[Balkan Mountains]], mostly in Northern Bulgaria, do not dominate the region by length and area as do the [[Dinaric Alps]].<ref name="Somek15"/> An eventual Balkan peninsula can be considered a territory south of the Balkan Mountains, with a possible name "Greek-Albanian Peninsula".<ref name="DaskalovMishkova2017"/><ref name="Altić11"/> The term influenced the meaning of [[Southeast Europe]] which again is not properly defined by geographical factors.<ref name="Altić11"/>

Croatian geographers and academics are highly critical of inclusion of Croatia within the broad geographical, social-political and historical context of the Balkans, while the neologism Western Balkans is perceived as a humiliation of Croatia by the European political powers.<ref name="Somek15">{{cite magazine |last=Somek |first=Petra |date=29 October 2015 |title=Hrvatska nije na "zapadnom Balkanu" |trans-title=Croatia is not on "Western Balkans" |url=http://www.matica.hr/vijenac/565/hrvatska-nije-na-zapadnom-balkanu-24991/ |language=hr |magazine=[[Vijenac]] |location=Zagreb |publisher=[[Matica hrvatska]] |access-date=31 December 2018 |archive-date=31 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181231194025/http://www.matica.hr/vijenac/565/hrvatska-nije-na-zapadnom-balkanu-24991/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> According to M. S. Altić, the term has two different meanings, "geographical, ultimately undefined, and cultural, extremely negative, and recently strongly motivated by the contemporary political context".<ref name="Altić11">{{cite journal |last=Altić |first=Mirela Slukan |date=2011 |title=Hrvatska kao zapadni Balkan – geografska stvarnost ili nametnuti identitet? |trans-title=Croatia as a Part of the Western Balkans – Geographical Reality or Enforced Identity? |language=hr |journal=Društvena Istraživanja |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=401–413 |doi=10.5559/di.20.2.06 |doi-access=free |issn=1330-0288 }}</ref> In 2018, [[President of Croatia]] [[Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović]] stated that the use of the term "Western Balkans" should be avoided because it does not imply only a geographic area, but also negative connotations, and instead must be perceived as and called Southeast Europe because it is part of Europe.<ref>{{cite news |date=27 September 2018 |title=Predsjednica objasnila zašto izbjegava izraz 'zapadni Balkan' |trans-title=The president explained why she avoids the term "Western Balkans" |url=https://www.vecernji.hr/vijesti/predsjednica-objasnila-zasto-izbjegava-izraz-zapadni-balkan-1272691 |access-date=31 December 2018 |work=[[Večernji list]] |location=Zagreb |language=hr |archive-date=31 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181231194320/https://www.vecernji.hr/vijesti/predsjednica-objasnila-zasto-izbjegava-izraz-zapadni-balkan-1272691 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Slovenian philosopher [[Slavoj Žižek]] said of the definition,<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Spectre of Balkan |author = Slavoj Zizek |journal= The Journal of the International Institute |volume = 6 |issue= 2 |date= Winter 1999 |hdl = 2027/spo.4750978.0006.202 }}</ref>

{{blockquote|This very alibi confronts us with the first of many paradoxes concerning Balkan: its geographic delimitation was never precise. It is as if one can never receive a definitive answer to the question, "Where does it begin?" For Serbs, it begins down there in Kosovo or Bosnia, and they defend the Christian civilization against this Europe's Other. For Croats, it begins with the Orthodox, despotic, Byzantine Serbia, against which Croatia defends the values of democratic Western civilization. For Slovenes, it begins with Croatia, and we Slovenes are the last outpost of the peaceful Mitteleuropa. For Italians and Austrians, it begins with Slovenia, where the reign of the Slavic hordes starts. For Germans, Austria itself, on account of its historic connections, is already tainted by Balkanic corruption and inefficiency. For some arrogant Frenchmen, Germany is associated with the Balkanian Eastern savagery—up to the extreme case of some conservative anti-European-Union Englishmen for whom, in an implicit way, it is ultimately the whole of continental Europe itself that functions as a kind of Balkan Turkish global empire with Brussels as the new Constantinople, the capricious despotic center threatening English freedom and sovereignty. So Balkan is always the Other: it lies somewhere else, always a little bit more to the southeast, with the paradox that, when we reach the very bottom of the Balkan peninsula, we again magically escape Balkan. Greece is no longer Balkan proper, but the cradle of our Western civilization.}}

==Nature and natural resources==
[[File:Marichin cirkus IMG 1452.jpg|thumb|View toward [[Rila]], the highest mountain range of the Balkans and [[Southeast Europe]] (2,925&nbsp;m)]]
[[File:NP001 nacionalni park sutjeska perucica.jpg|thumb|[[Sutjeska National Park]] contains [[Perućica]], which is the largest [[Old-growth forest|primeval forest]] in the Balkans, and one of the last remaining in Europe]]
[[File:Lake Skadar, Montenegro 2.jpg|thumb|[[Lake Skadar]] is the [[largest lake]] in the Balkans and [[Southern Europe]]]]

Most of the area is covered by mountain ranges running from the northwest to southeast. The main ranges are the [[Balkan Mountains]] (Stara Planina in [[Bulgarian language]]), running from the [[Black Sea]] coast in Bulgaria to the border with Serbia, the [[Rila]]-[[Rhodope mountains|Rhodope]] [[massif]] in southern Bulgaria, the [[Dinaric Alps]] in [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], Croatia and Montenegro, the [[Korab]]-[[Šar Mountains|Šar]] mountains which spreads from Kosovo to Albania and North Macedonia, and the [[Pindus]] range, spanning from southern Albania into central Greece and the [[Albanian Alps]], and the [[Julian Alps|Alps]] at the northwestern border. The highest mountain of the region is [[Rila]] in Bulgaria, with [[Musala]] at 2,925&nbsp;m, second being [[Mount Olympus (Mountain)|Mount Olympus]] in Greece, with [[Mytikas]] at 2,917&nbsp;m, and [[Pirin]] mountain with [[Vihren]], also in Bulgaria, being the third at 2915&nbsp;m.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Macedonia-Thrace |url=https://www.peakbagger.com/range.aspx?rid=363 |website=Peakbagger.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Mount-Olympus-mountain-Greece|title=Mount Olympus &#124; mountain, Greece|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|date=20 February 2024|access-date=15 December 2020|archive-date=8 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308082148/https://www.britannica.com/place/Mount-Olympus-mountain-Greece|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[karst]] field or [[polje]] is a common feature of the landscape.

On the [[Adriatic Sea|Adriatic]] and [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]] coasts, the climate is [[Mediterranean climate|Mediterranean]], on the Black Sea coast the climate is [[Humid subtropical climate|humid subtropical]] and [[Oceanic climate|oceanic]], and inland it is [[humid continental climate|humid 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. The humid continental climate is predominant in Bosnia and Herzegovina, northern Croatia, Bulgaria, Kosovo, northern Montenegro, the Republic of North Macedonia, and the interior of Albania and Serbia. Meanwhile, the other less common climates, the humid subtropical and oceanic climates, are seen on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria and [[East Thrace|Balkan Turkey (European Turkey)]]. The Mediterranean climate is seen on the Adriatic coasts of Albania, Croatia and Montenegro, as well as the Ionian coasts of Albania and Greece, in addition to the Aegean coasts of Greece and [[East Thrace|Balkan Turkey (European Turkey)]].<ref name="Encyclopedia Britannica 2020">{{cite web | title=Balkans – Definition, Map, Countries, & Facts | website=Encyclopædia Britannica | date=2020-11-10 | url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Balkans | access-date=2021-06-25 | archive-date=17 May 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517055138/https://www.britannica.com/place/Balkans | url-status=live }}</ref>

Over the centuries, forests have been cut down and replaced with [[Bush (plant)|bush]]. In the southern part and on the coast there is [[evergreen]] vegetation. 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 1,800–2,300&nbsp;m. The land provides [[habitat]]s for numerous [[endemic]] species, including extraordinarily abundant insects and reptiles that serve as food for a variety of [[birds of prey]] and rare [[vulture]]s.

The soils are generally poor, except on the [[plain]]s, 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 [[olive]] and grape flourish.

Resources of energy are scarce, except in Kosovo, where considerable [[coal]], [[lead]], [[zinc]], [[chromium]] and [[silver]] deposits are located.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18328859 |title=Regions and territories: Kosovo |work=BBC News |date=20 November 2009 |access-date=17 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090214231712/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/country_profiles/3524092.stm |archive-date=14 February 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref> Other deposits of [[coal]], especially in Bulgaria, Serbia and Bosnia, also exist. [[Lignite]] deposits are widespread in Greece. [[Petroleum]] scarce reserves exist in Greece, Serbia and Albania. Natural gas deposits are scarce. [[Hydropower]] is in wide use, from over 1,000 dams. The often relentless [[bora wind]] is also being harnessed for power generation.

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.

==History and geopolitical significance==
{{Main|History of the Balkans}}

===Antiquity===
[[File:Language border (Matzinger).png|thumb|The [[Jireček Line]]]]
[[File:The new old amphitheater in Pula Istria (19629095974).jpg|thumb|[[Pula Arena]], the only remaining Roman amphitheatre to have four side towers and with all three Roman architectural orders entirely preserved]]
[[File:Felix Romuliana, built in 298 AD by Emperor Galerius, Dacia Ripensis, Serbia (42905999032).jpg|thumb|210px|upright=1.0|Remnants of the [[Gamzigrad|Felix Romuliana Imperial Palace]], a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]]]]

The Balkan region was the first area in Europe to experience the arrival of farming cultures in the [[Neolithic]] era. The Balkans have been inhabited since the [[Paleolithic]] and are the route by which farming from the [[Middle East]] spread to Europe during the [[Neolithic]] (7th millennium BC).<ref name="Borza">{{Citation | last = Borza | first = EN | title = In the Shadow of Olympus: The Emergence of Macedon | page = 58 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=614pd07OtfQC&q=petralona+cave+oldest&pg=PA58 | publisher = Princeton University Press | year = 1992| isbn = 978-0691008806 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation | last = Perlès | first = Catherine | title = The Early Neolithic in Greece: The First Farming Communities in Europe | page = 1 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LQQ3tx5_t7QC&q=sesklo | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 2001| isbn = 9780521000277 }}</ref> The first known [[Neolithic]] culture of Old Europe was [[Kakanj culture]] that appeared in [[Central Bosnia]]'s town of [[Kakanj]] and covered periods dated from 6795 to 4900 BC.<ref name=NewCarbonDatingKakanj>Vander Linden, M., Pandžić, I., Orton, D. (2022) [https://web.archive.org/web/20200319213423/http://www.anubih.ba/godisnjak/god43/Godisnjak43-full.pdf New radiocarbon dates for the Neolithic period in Bosnia & Herzegovina]. [[Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina]], Godišnjak Centra za balkanološka Ispitivanja (43) 7–34 (pdf)</ref>

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 Central Europe, particularly through [[Pannonia]]. Two early culture-complexes have developed in the region, [[Starčevo culture]] and [[Vinča culture]]. The Balkans are also the location of the first advanced civilizations. Vinča culture developed a form of [[proto-writing]] before the [[Sumer]]ians and [[Minoans]], known as the [[Old European script]], while the bulk of the symbols had been created in the period between 4500 and 4000 BC, with the ones on the Tărtăria clay tablets even dating back to around 5300 BC.<ref name="GdS">{{cite book |last=Haarmann |first=Harald |title=Geschichte der Schrift |publisher=C.H. Beck |year=2002 |isbn=978-3-406-47998-4 |page=20 |language=de}}</ref>

The identity of the Balkans is dominated by its geographical position; historically the area was known as a crossroads of cultures. It has been a juncture between the [[Latin]] and [[Greek language|Greek]] bodies of the [[Roman Empire]], the destination of a massive influx of pagan [[Bulgars]] and [[Slavs]], an area where [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] and [[Catholic]] Christianity met, as well as the meeting point between [[Islam]] and Christianity.<ref>{{cite book |author=Goldstein, I. |title=Croatia: A History |url=https://archive.org/details/croatia00ivog |url-access=registration |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |year=1999}}</ref>

[[Albanic]], [[Hellenic languages|Hellenic]], and other [[Palaeo-Balkan languages]], had their formative core in the Balkans after the [[Indo-European migrations]] in the region.<ref name=Friedman>{{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Victor|title=The Cambridge Handbook of Language Contact: Volume 1: Population Movement and Language Change|series=Cambridge Handbooks in Language and Linguistics|chapter=The Balkans|editor=Salikoko Mufwene, Anna Maria Escobar|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2022|isbn=9781009115773|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jWB2EAAAQBAJ}}</ref><ref name=Lazaridis_et_al.>{{cite journal |author-last1= Lazaridis |author-first1= Iosif |author-last2= Alpaslan-Roodenberg |author-first2=Songül | display-authors = et al. | title = The genetic history of the Southern Arc: A bridge between West Asia and Europe | journal = Science | volume = 377 | issue = 6609 | date = 26 August 2022 |article-number= eabm4247 | pmid = 36007055 | pmc = 10064553| doi = 10.1126/science.abm4247 | bibcode =2022Sci...377m4247L|s2cid= 251843620 }} pp. 1, 10.</ref> In pre-classical and [[classical antiquity]], this region was home to [[Greeks]], [[Illyrians]], [[Paeonians]], [[Thracians]], [[Dacians]], and other ancient groups. The [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid Persian Empire]] incorporated parts of the Balkans comprising [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonia]], [[Thrace]] (parts of present-day eastern Bulgaria), and the [[Black Sea]] coastal region of Romania beginning in 512 BC.<ref>Joseph Roisman, Ian Worthington [https://books.google.com/books?id=QsJ183uUDkMC&pg=PA345 ''A Companion to Ancient Macedonia''] pp. 135–138, 342–345 John Wiley & Sons, 2011 {{ISBN|978-1-4443-5163-7}}</ref> Following the Persian defeat in the [[Greco-Persian Wars]] in 479 BC, they abandoned all of their European territories, which regained their independence. During the reign of [[Philip II of Macedon]] (359-336 BC), [[Expansion of Macedonia under Philip II|Macedonia rose to become the most powerful state in the Balkans]].<ref name="King 2017">{{cite book | last=King | first=C.J. | title=Ancient Macedonia | publisher=Taylor & Francis | year=2017 | isbn=978-1-351-71032-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lJ0uDwAAQBAJ | language=es | access-date=2024-02-10 | page=24}}</ref> In the second century BC, the Roman Empire conquered the region and spread Roman culture and the [[Latin]] language, but significant parts still remained under [[Ancient Greece|classical Greek]] influence. The only [[Paleo-Balkan languages]] that survived are [[Albanian language|Albanian]] and [[Greek language|Greek]].<ref name=Friedman/><ref name=Lazaridis_et_al./> The [[Roman Empire|Romans]] considered the [[Rhodope Mountains]] to be the northern limit of the Peninsula of Haemus and the same limit applied approximately to the border between Greek and Latin use in the region (later called the [[Jireček Line]]).<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor = 3063446|title = The Romans and the Greek Language|journal = The Classical Review|volume = 32|issue = 2|pages = 216–218|last1 = MacLeod|first1 = M. D.|year = 1982|doi = 10.1017/S0009840X00114982|s2cid = 161691285}}</ref> However large spaces south of Jireček Line were and are inhabited by [[Vlachs]] ([[Aromanians]]), the Romance-speaking heirs of Roman Empire.<ref>[[Thede Kahl|Kahl, Thede]] - "Istoria aromânilor", Editura Tritonic, București, 2006</ref><ref>A.N. Haciu – "Aromânii. Comerț, industrie, arte, expansiune, civilizație", ediția I, 1936; ediția a II-a, Editura Cartea Armână, Constanța, 2003, 598 p.; {{ISBN|973-8299-25-X}}</ref>

The [[Bulgars]] and [[South Slavs|Slavs]] arrived in the sixth-century and began assimilating and displacing already-assimilated (through Romanization and Hellenization) older inhabitants of the northern and central Balkans.<ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=f1F39vRlERAC&pg=PA125 Twenty Years of Balkan Tangle]''. Mary Edith Durham (2007). p. 125. {{ISBN|1-4346-3426-4}}</ref> This migration brought about the formation of distinct [[ethnic groups]] amongst the South Slavs, which included the [[Bulgarians]], [[Croats]] and [[Serbs]] and [[Slovenes]].<ref name="Curta 2019 pp. 65–77">{{cite book | last=Curta | first=Florin | title=Chapter 5 Migrations—Real and Imagined: Croats, Serbs, and Bulgars (600–800) | chapter=Migrations—Real and Imagined: Croats, Serbs, and Bulgars (600–800) | publisher=Brill | date=2019-06-25 | url=https://brill.com/display/book/9789004395190/BP000013.xml | access-date=2023-11-23 | pages=65–77 | doi=10.1163/9789004395190_006 | isbn=978-90-04-39519-0 | s2cid=203297381 | archive-date=21 May 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240521035636/https://brill.com/display/book/9789004395190/BP000013.xml | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Stanoyevich 1919 pp. 91–97">{{cite journal | last=Stanoyevich | first=Milivoy S. | title=The Ethnography of the Yugo-Slavs | journal=Geographical Review | publisher=[American Geographical Society, Wiley] | volume=7 | issue=2 | year=1919 | issn=0016-7428 | jstor=207774 | pages=91–97 | doi=10.2307/207774 | bibcode=1919GeoRv...7...91S | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/207774 | access-date=2023-11-23 | url-access=subscription | archive-date=23 November 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231123045137/https://www.jstor.org/stable/207774 | url-status=live }}</ref> Prior to the Slavic landing, parts of the western peninsula have been home to the [[Proto-Albanian language|Proto-Albanians]]. Including cities like [[Niš|Nish]], [[Štip|Shtip]], and [[Shkup]]. This can be proven through the development of the names, for example ''Naissos'' > ''Nish'' and ''Astibos'' > ''Shtip'' follow Albanian phonetic sound rules and have entered Slavic, indicating that Proto-Albanian was spoken in those cities prior to the Slavic invasion of the Balkans.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Matzinger |first=Joachim |title=Der altalbanische Text Mbsuame e krështerë (Dottrina cristiana) des Lekë Matrënga von 1592 : eine Einführung in die albanische Sprachwissenschaft |date=2006 |publisher=J.H. Röll |isbn=3-89754-117-3 |location=Dettelbach |oclc=65166691}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Geniş |first1=Şerife |last2=Maynard |first2=Kelly Lynne |title=Formation of a Diasporic Community: The History of Migration and Resettlement of Muslim Albanians in the Black Sea Region of Turkey |journal=Middle Eastern Studies |date=July 2009 |volume=45 |issue=4 |page=557 |doi=10.1080/00263200903009619}}</ref><ref>Katičić, Radoslav (1976). Ancient Languages of the Balkans. Mouton. p. 186. ISBN 9789027933157. "On the other hand Niš from Ναϊσσός, Štip from Ἄστιβος, Šar from Scardus, and Ohrid from Lychnidus presuppose the sound development characteristic for Albanian".</ref><ref>Curtis, Matthew Cowan (2012). ''Slavic-Albanian Language Contact, Convergence, and Coexistence'' (Thesis). The Ohio State University. p. 42.</ref> [[Proto-Albanian language|Proto-Albanian]] speakers were Christianized under the [[Latin]] sphere of influence, specifically in the 4th century CE, as shown by the basic [[Christianity|Christian]] terms in Albanian, which are of [[Latin]] origin and entered Proto-Albanian before the [[Gheg Albanian|Gheg]]–[[Tosk Albanian|Tosk]] dialectal diversification.<ref>{{cite book|last=Malcolm|first=Noel|title=Kosovo: A Short History|year=1998|isbn=978-0-3304-1224-7|pages=36–38}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first1=Bernd J.|last1=Fischer|first2=Oliver Jens|last2=Schmitt|title=A Concise History of Albania|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2022|isbn=9781009254908|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KbqVEAAAQBAJ|page=16}}</ref>

===Middle Ages and Early modern period===
[[File:Southeastern Europe Late Ninth Century.png|thumb|240px|The Balkans in 850 AD]]
[[File:Hagia Sophia 81.JPG|thumb|The [[Hagia Sophia]], built in the 6th century [[Constantinople]] (now [[Istanbul]], Turkey) as an [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox cathedral]], later it became a mosque, then a museum, and now its both a mosque and a museum]]
[[File:Golubac Fortress (град Голубац).jpg|thumb|The [[Golubac Fortress]], built in the 14th century to overlook the strategically important [[Iron Gates]] gorge, was one of the many Balkan fortresses built in the Middle Ages to resist invading forces]]

During the [[Early Middle Ages]], The [[Byzantine Empire]] was the dominant state in the region, both military and culturally. Their cultural strength became particularly evident in the second half of the 9th century when the [[Population of the Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] [[christian missionaries|missionaries]] [[Cyril and Methodius]] managed to spread the [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Byzantine variant]] of Christianity to the majority of the Balkans inhabitants who were [[pagan]] beforehand. Initially, it was adopted by the Bulgarians and Serbs, with the [[Romanians]] joining a bit later.<ref name="Encyclopedia Britannica 1998 m541">{{cite web | title=Roman Empire, Geography, Culture | website=Encyclopedia Britannica | date=1998-08-05 | url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Balkans/In-the-Roman-Empire#ref43533 | access-date=2023-11-21 | archive-date=21 November 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231121234331/https://www.britannica.com/place/Balkans/In-the-Roman-Empire#ref43533 | url-status=live }}</ref> The lack of [[Old Church Slavonic]] terms in Albanian Christian terminology shows that the missionary activities during the [[Christianization of the Slavs]] did not involve Albanian-speakers; Christianity survived through the centuries and already become an important culoural element in their ethnic identity.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Demiraj|first=Bardhyl|author-link=Bardhyl Demiraj|title=Rrënjë dhe degë të krishterimit ndër shqiptarë|journal=[[Hylli i Dritës]]|volume=2|place=Shkodër|year=2011|pages=58–78|language=Albanian|url=https://www.albanologie.uni-muenchen.de/downloads/publikationen-demiraj/rrenje-dhe-dege.pdf|archive-date=30 January 2025|access-date=15 February 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250130135330/https://www.albanologie.uni-muenchen.de/downloads/publikationen-demiraj/rrenje-dhe-dege.pdf|url-status=live}} p. 71.</ref>

Byzantine control over the Balkans weakened as a result of [[Slavic migrations to the Balkans|Slavic migrations]] and the emergence of the [[First Bulgarian Empire]] and the subsequent [[Byzantine–Bulgarian wars|string of disastrous defeats]] the Byzantine Empire suffered. Towards the end of the 10th century, however, the Empire mounted a counteroffensive against the [[Sviatoslav's invasion of Bulgaria|weakened]] Bulgarians, culminating in the [[Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria|conquest of the Bulgarian Empire]] in 1018. The Byzantines lost power in the Balkans once again after the [[Uprising of Asen and Peter|resurgence of the Bulgarians in the late 12th century]] and the formation of the [[Second Bulgarian Empire]].{{CN|date=March 2026}} Profiting from the subsequent [[Sack of Constantinople|dissolution of the Byzantine Empire]], the Second Bulgarian Empire triumphed over its adversaries, becoming the dominating power in the region under its Emperor (Tsar) [[Ivan Asen II]]. As a result of internal conflicts, [[Mongol invasion of Bulgaria and Serbia|Mongol raids]] and the [[Reconquest of Constantinople|resurgence of the Byzantine Empire]], the Second Bulgarian Empire then declined once more following the death of Ivan Asen II. In the first half of the 14th century, both traditional great powers were eventually overshadowed by the ascent of Serbia under [[Stefan Dušan]], who created the [[Serbian Empire]].<ref name="Encyclopedia Britannica 1999 p824">{{cite web | title=Medieval, Orthodox, Balkan | website=Encyclopedia Britannica | date=1999-07-26 | url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Bulgaria/The-second-Bulgarian-empire | access-date=2023-11-22 | archive-date=12 May 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512223818/https://www.britannica.com/place/Bulgaria/The-second-Bulgarian-empire | url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Ottoman wars in Europe|Ottoman]] expansion in the region began in the second half of the 14th century, as the Byzantine Empire, already much reduced in territory, suffered [[Byzantine–Ottoman wars|several defeats]] from the Ottomans. In 1362, the Ottoman Turks conquered [[Adrianople]] (now [[Edirne]], Turkey), which became the Ottoman capital. At this point, the [[Fall of the Serbian Empire|Serbian Empire had started to disintegrate]], and was gradually incorporated into the Ottoman state following the [[Battle of Kosovo]] in 1389, and finally with the [[Siege of Smederevo (1459)|Siege of Smederevo]] in 1459. Bulgaria fell in 1396, with the [[Tsardom of Vidin|conquest of Vidin]], followed by the [[Fall of Constantinople|Byzantine Empire in 1453]], Bosnia in 1463, Herzegovina in 1482, and Montenegro in 1496. The conquest was made easier for the Ottomans due to existing divisions among the Orthodox peoples and by the even deeper rift that had existed at the time between the [[Eastern Christians|Eastern]] and [[Western Christians]] of Europe.<ref name="Encyclopedia Britannica 1998 v596">{{cite web | title=Ottoman Empire, Southeastern Europe, Conflict | website=Encyclopedia Britannica | date=1998-08-05 | url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Balkans/The-Ottomans | access-date=2023-11-21 | archive-date=21 November 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231121222330/https://www.britannica.com/place/Balkans/The-Ottomans | url-status=live }}</ref>

The Albanians under [[Skanderbeg|Skanderbeg's]] leadership resisted the Ottomans for a time (1443–1468) by using [[guerilla warfare]]. Skanderbeg's achievements, in particular the [[Battle of Albulena]] and the [[Siege of Krujë (1450)|First Siege of Krujë]] won him fame across Europe. The Ottomans eventually conquered the near entirety of the Balkans and reached central Europe by the early 16th century.<ref name="Sedlar1994">{{cite book|author=Jean W Sedlar|title=East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000-1500|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3o5lrvuwOVwC&pg=PA393|year=1994|publisher=University of Washington Press|isbn=978-0-295-97291-6|pages=393–|quote=A rare example of successful Christian resistance to the Turks in the 15th century, although in a fairly remote part of Europe, was provided by Skanderbeg, the Albanian mountain chieftain who became the leader of a national revolt. For over a quarter-century until his death in 1468, he led the Albanians in surprisingly effective guerrilla warfare against the Turkish occupiers.}}</ref> Some smaller countries, such as [[Prince-Bishopric of Montenegro|Montenegro]] managed to retain some autonomy by managing their own internal affairs, since the territory was too mountainous to completely subdue.<ref name="Stephen Clissold 1966">Stephen Clissold (1966). ''A short history of Yugoslavia from earliest times to 1966'', chapter III</ref> Another small country that retained its independence, both [[de facto]] and [[de jure]] in this case, was the [[Adriatic]] trading hub of [[Republic of Ragusa|Ragusa]] (now [[Dubrovnik]], Croatia).<ref name="Birnbaum 2018 o633">{{cite book | last=Birnbaum | first=Marianna D. | title=Chapter 6. In business with Ragusa | publisher=Central European University Press | date=2018-11-06 | isbn=978-615-5053-79-5 | url=https://books.openedition.org/ceup/2138?lang=en | access-date=2023-11-21 | archive-date=21 November 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231121222814/https://books.openedition.org/ceup/2138?lang=en | url-status=live }}</ref>

By the end of the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire had become the controlling force in the region after expanding from Anatolia through [[Thrace]] to the Balkans. Many people in the Balkans place their greatest folk heroes in the era of either the onslaught or the retreat of the Ottoman Empire.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Wasti|first=Syed Tanvir|date=July 2004|title=The 1912–13 Balkan War and the Siege of Edirne|journal= Middle Eastern Studies|volume= 40| issue = 4|pages= 59–78|jstor=4289928|doi=10.1080/00263200410001700310|s2cid=145595992}}</ref> As examples, for Greeks, [[Constantine XI Palaiologos]] and [[Theodoros Kolokotronis|Kolokotronis]]; and for Serbs, [[Miloš Obilić]], [[Lazar Hrebeljanović|Tsar Lazar]] and [[Karađorđe]]; for Albanians, George Kastrioti Skanderbeg; for [[ethnic Macedonians]], [[Nikola Karev]]<ref name="Considered a Bulgarian in Bulgaria">Considered a Bulgarian in Bulgaria</ref> and [[Goce Delčev]];<ref name="Considered a Bulgarian in Bulgaria" /> for Bulgarians, [[Vasil Levski]], [[Georgi Sava Rakovski]] and [[Hristo Botev]] and for [[Croats]], [[Nikola Šubić Zrinjski]].

In the past several centuries, 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 Ocean|Atlantic]]), the Balkans have been the least developed part of Europe. According to [[Halil İnalcık]], "The population of the Balkans, according to one estimate, [[Population decline|fell from a high of 8 million]] in the late 16th-century to only 3 million by the mid-eighteenth. This estimate is based on Ottoman documentary evidence".<ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=c00jmTrjzAoC&pg=PA652 An economic and social history of the Ottoman Empire]''. Suraiya Faroqhi, Donald Quataert (1997). [[Cambridge University Press]]. p. 652. {{ISBN|0-521-57455-2}}</ref>

Most of the Balkan nation-states emerged during the 19th and early 20th centuries as they gained independence from the Ottoman or [[Habsburg monarchy|Habsburg]] empires: Greece in 1821, Serbia and Montenegro in 1878, Romania in 1881, Bulgaria in 1908 and Albania in 1912.

===Recent history===
[[File:Balkans Animation 1800-2008.gif|thumb|Modern political history of the Balkans from 1796 onwards]]

====World wars====
In 1912–1913, the [[First Balkan War]] broke out when the nation-states of Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece and Montenegro united in an [[Balkan League|alliance]] against the [[Ottoman Empire]]. As a result of the war, almost all remaining European territories of the [[Ottoman Empire]] were captured and partitioned among the allies. Ensuing events also led to the creation of an independent [[Albania]]n state. Bulgaria insisted on its status quo territorial integrity, divided and shared by the Great Powers next to the [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–78)]] in other boundaries and on the pre-war Bulgarian-Serbian agreement. Bulgaria was provoked by the backstage deals between its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on the allocation of the spoils at the end of the First Balkan War. At the time, Bulgaria was fighting at the main Thracian Front. Bulgaria marks the beginning of [[Second Balkan War]] when it attacked them. The Serbs and the Greeks repulsed single attacks, but when the Greek army invaded Bulgaria together with an unprovoked Romanian intervention in the back, Bulgaria collapsed. The Ottoman Empire used the opportunity to recapture [[Eastern Thrace]], establishing its new western borders that still stand today as part of modern Turkey.

[[World War I]] was sparked in the Balkans in 1914 when members of [[Young Bosnia]], a revolutionary organization with predominantly Serb and pro-Yugoslav members, [[assassination in Sarajevo|assassinated]] the Austro-Hungarian heir [[Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria]] in Bosnia and Herzegovina's capital, [[Sarajevo]]. That caused a war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia, which—through the existing [[Allies of World War I|chains of alliances]]—led to the World War I. The Ottoman Empire soon joined the [[Central Powers]] becoming one of the three empires participating in that alliance. The next year Bulgaria joined the [[Central Powers]] attacking Serbia, which was successfully fighting Austria-Hungary to the north for a year. That led to Serbia's defeat and the intervention of the [[Allies of World War I|Entente]] in the Balkans which sent an expeditionary force to establish a new [[Macedonian front|front]], the third one of that war, which soon also became static. The participation of Greece in the war three years later, in 1918, on the part of the Entente finally altered the balance between the opponents leading to the collapse of the common German-Bulgarian front there, which caused the exit of Bulgaria from the war, and in turn, the end of World War I and the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.<ref>''Encyclopedia of World War I'', Spencer Tucker, Priscilla Mary Roberts, p. 242</ref>

Between the two wars, in order to maintain the geopolitical status quo in the region after the end of World War I, the [[Balkan Pact]], or Balkan Entente, was formed by a treaty between [[Second Hellenic Republic|Greece]], [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]], Turkey and [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]] on 9 February 1934 in [[Athens]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Balkan Entente {{!}} Europe [1934]|url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Balkan-Entente|access-date=2021-08-31|website=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref>

With the start of the [[World War II]], all Balkan countries, with the exception of Greece, were allies of [[Nazi Germany]], having bilateral military agreements or being part of the [[Axis Pact]]. [[Kingdom of Italy|Fascist Italy]] expanded the war in the Balkans by using its protectorate Albania to [[Greco-Italian War|invade Greece]]. After repelling the attack, the Greeks counterattacked, invading Italy-held Albania and causing Nazi Germany's intervention in the Balkans to help its ally.<ref>''Europe in Flames'', J. Klam, 2002, p. 41</ref> Days before the German invasion, a successful ''[[coup d'état]]'' in Belgrade by neutral military personnel seized power.<ref>Russia's life-saver, Albert Loren Weeks, 2004, p. 98</ref>

Although the new government reaffirmed its intentions to fulfill its obligations as a member of the Axis,{{sfn|Schreiber|Stegemann|Vogel|1995|p=484}} Germany, with Bulgaria, invaded both Greece and Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia immediately disintegrated when those loyal to the Serbian King and the Croatian units mutinied.{{sfn|Schreiber|Stegemann|Vogel|1995|p=521}} Greece resisted, but, after two months of fighting, collapsed and was occupied. The two countries were partitioned between the three Axis allies, Bulgaria, Germany and Italy, and the [[Independent State of Croatia]], a puppet state of Italy and Germany.

During the occupation, the population suffered considerable hardship due to repression and starvation, to which the population reacted by creating a mass resistance movement.<ref>''Inside Hitler's Greece: The Experience of Occupation'', Mark Mazower, 1993</ref> Together with the early and extremely heavy winter of that year (which caused hundreds of thousands of deaths among the poorly fed population), the German invasion had disastrous effects in the timetable of the [[Operation Barbarossa|planned invasion in Russia]] causing a significant delay,<ref>''Hermann Goring: Hitler's Second-In-Command,'' Fred Ramen, 2002, p. 61</ref> which had major consequences during the course of the war.<ref>The encyclopedia of codenames of World War II#Marita, Christopher Chant, 1986, pp. 125–126</ref>

Finally, at the end of 1944, the Soviets entered Romania and Bulgaria forcing the Germans out of the Balkans. They left behind a region largely ruined as a result of wartime exploitation.

====Cold War====
During the [[Cold War]], most of the countries on the Balkans were governed by communist governments. Greece became the first battleground of the emerging Cold War. The [[Truman Doctrine]] was the US response to the [[Greek Civil War|civil war]], which raged from 1944 to 1949. This civil war, unleashed by the [[Communist Party of Greece]], backed by communist volunteers from neighboring countries (Albania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia), led to massive American assistance for the non-communist Greek government. With this backing, Greece managed to defeat the partisans and, ultimately, remained one of the two only non-communist countries in the region with Turkey.

However, despite being under communist governments, [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]] (1948) and [[People's Socialist Republic of Albania|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 spearheaded, together with India and Egypt the [[Non-Aligned Movement]]. Albania on the other hand gravitated toward Communist [[China]], later adopting an [[isolationism|isolationist]] position.

On 28 February 1953, Greece, Turkey and Yugoslavia signed the treaty of Agreement of Friendship and Cooperation in [[Ankara]] to form the [[Balkan Pact (1953)|Balkan Pact of 1953]]. The treaty's aim was to deter [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] expansion in the Balkans and eventual creation of a joint military staff for the three countries. When the pact was signed, Turkey and Greece were members of the [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization|NATO]], while Yugoslavia was a non-aligned communist state. With the Pact, Yugoslavia was able to indirectly associate itself with NATO. Though it was planned for the pact to remain in force for 20 years, it dissolved in 1960.<ref name="Balkan Pact of 1953">{{cite web |title=Balkan Pact of 1953 |url=https://www.tarihiolaylar.com/tarihi-olaylar/balkan-pakti-1953-225 |access-date=5 September 2021 |archive-date=7 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407004128/https://www.tarihiolaylar.com/tarihi-olaylar/balkan-pakti-1953-225 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

As the only non-communist countries, Greece and Turkey were (and still are) part of [[NATO]] composing the southeastern wing of the alliance.

====Post–Cold War====
In the 1990s, the transition of the regions' ex-Eastern bloc countries towards democratic free-market societies went peacefully. While in the non-aligned [[Yugoslavia]], [[Yugoslav Wars|Wars between the former Yugoslav republics]] broke out after Slovenia and Croatia held free elections and their people voted for independence on their respective countries' referendums. Serbia, in turn, declared the dissolution of the union as unconstitutional and the [[Yugoslav People's Army]] unsuccessfully tried to maintain the status quo. Slovenia and Croatia declared independence on 25 June 1991, which prompted the [[Croatian War of Independence]] in Croatia and the [[Ten-Day War]] in Slovenia. The Yugoslav forces eventually withdrew from Slovenia in 1991 while the war in Croatia continued [[Operation Storm|until late 1995]]. The two were followed by Macedonia and later Bosnia and Herzegovina, with [[Bosnian War|Bosnia being the most affected]] by the fighting. The wars prompted the United Nations' intervention and [[NATO intervention in Bosnia|NATO]] ground and air forces [[1995 NATO bombing campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina|took action against Serb forces]] in Bosnia and Herzegovina and [[1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia|FR Yugoslavia]] (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro).

[[File:Former Yugoslavia 2008.PNG|upright=1.15|thumb|State entities on the former territory of [[Yugoslavia]], 2008]]
From the dissolution of Yugoslavia, six states achieved internationally recognized sovereignty: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro and [[Serbia]]; all of them are traditionally included in the Balkans which is often a controversial matter of dispute. In 2008, while under UN administration, Kosovo [[2008 Kosovo declaration of independence|declared independence]] (according to the official Serbian policy, Kosovo is still an internal autonomous region). In July 2010, the [[International Court of Justice]], ruled that the declaration of independence was legal.<ref>{{cite news|title=Kosovo independence declaration deemed legal|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-serbia-kosovo-idUSTRE66L01720100722|access-date=16 February 2014|newspaper=Reuters|date=22 July 2010|archive-date=23 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160123052614/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-serbia-kosovo-idUSTRE66L01720100722|url-status=live}}</ref> Most UN member states recognise Kosovo. After the end of the wars a [[Overthrow of Slobodan Milošević|revolution]] broke in Serbia and [[Slobodan Milošević]], the Serbian communist leader (elected president between 1989 and 2000), was overthrown and handed for a trial to the [[International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia|International Criminal Tribunal]] for crimes against the [[International Humanitarian Law]] during the Yugoslav wars. Milošević died of a heart attack in 2006 before a verdict could have been released. Ιn 2001 an [[Insurgency in the Republic of Macedonia|Albanian uprising]] in [[North Macedonia|Macedonia]] (North Macedonia) forced the country to give local autonomy to the [[Albanians in Macedonia|ethnic Albanians]] in the areas where they predominate.

With the dissolution of [[Yugoslavia]], an issue emerged over the name under which the former (federated) republic of Macedonia would internationally be recognized, between the new country and Greece. Being the [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonian part of Yugoslavia]] (see [[Vardar Macedonia]]), the federated republic under the Yugoslav identity had the name [[Socialist Republic of Macedonia|(Socialist) Republic of Macedonia]] on which it declared its sovereignty in 1991. Greece, having a large homonymous region (see [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]]), opposed the usage of the name as an indication of a nationality and ethnicity. Thus dubbed [[Macedonia naming dispute]] was resolved under UN mediation in the June 2018 [[Prespa agreement]] was reached, which saw the country's renaming into North Macedonia in 2019.

Balkan countries control the direct [[European route|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 US.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unodc.org/southeasterneurope/|title=UNODC South Eastern Europe|website=www.unodc.org|access-date=2019-06-17|archive-date=18 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190618073430/http://www.unodc.org/southeasterneurope/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Greece has been a member of the EU since 1981, while [[Slovenia]] is a member since 2004, Bulgaria and Romania are members since 2007, and [[Croatia]] is a member since 2013. In 2005, the EU decided to start accession negotiations with candidate countries; Turkey, and [[North Macedonia]] were accepted as candidates for EU membership. In 2012, Montenegro started [[Accession of Montenegro to the European Union|accession negotiations]] with the EU. In 2014, [[Albania]] is an [[Accession of Albania to the European Union|official candidate]] for accession to the EU. In 2015, Serbia was expected to start [[Accession of Serbia to the European Union|accession negotiations]] with the EU, however this process has been stalled over the recognition of Kosovo as an independent state by existing EU member states.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.deutschland.de/en/topic/politics/serbia-must-accept-kosovo-independence-to-join-eu-gabriel|title=Serbia must accept Kosovo independence to join EU – Gabriel|date=16 February 2018|access-date=29 January 2019|archive-date=23 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190523073624/https://www.deutschland.de/en/topic/politics/serbia-must-accept-kosovo-independence-to-join-eu-gabriel|url-status=live}}</ref>

Greece and Turkey have been [[NATO]] members since 1952. In March 2004, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia have become members of NATO. As of April 2009,<ref>[http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/news_52902.htm Ceremony marks the accession of Albania to NATO] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120911104736/http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/news_52902.htm |date=11 September 2012 }}, NATO – News, 7 April 2009. Retrieved 18 April 2009.</ref> Albania and Croatia are members of NATO. [[Montenegro]] joined in June 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://europeanwesternbalkans.com/2017/04/20/darmanovic-montenegro-becomes-eu-member-in-2022/|title=Darmanović: Montenegro becomes EU member in 2022 – European Western Balkans|first=EWB|last=Archives|date=20 April 2017|access-date=23 July 2017|archive-date=23 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170823121617/https://europeanwesternbalkans.com/2017/04/20/darmanovic-montenegro-becomes-eu-member-in-2022/|url-status=live}}</ref> The most recent member state to be added to NATO was [[North Macedonia]] on 27 March 2020.

Almost all other countries have expressed a desire to join the EU, NATO, or both at some point in the future.<ref name="European Parliament">{{cite news | title=The Western Balkans – Fact Sheets on the European Union | website=European Parliament | url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/factsheets/en/sheet/168/the-western-balkans | access-date=2021-06-25 | archive-date=12 November 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221112060353/https://www.europarl.europa.eu/factsheets/en/sheet/168/the-western-balkans | url-status=live }}</ref>

==Economy==
{{Update|date=September 2021}}
[[File:Sveti Stefan (06).jpg|thumb|A view towards [[Sveti Stefan]] in Montenegro, [[Tourism in Montenegro|tourism]] makes up a significant portion of the [[Montenegrin economy]]<ref name="International Trade Administration 2022 r955">{{cite web | title=Tourism | website=International Trade Administration | date=2022-08-06 | url=https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/montenegro-tourism-0 | access-date=2023-11-23 | archive-date=13 December 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231213020706/https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/montenegro-tourism-0 | url-status=live }}</ref>]]
[[File:Belgrade iz balona.jpg|thumb|A view above [[Belgrade]] in Serbia, which is the capital of Serbia and a major [[industrial city]] that accounts for a large component of the [[Serbian economy]]<ref name="Ralev 2021 b421">{{cite web | last=Ralev | first=Radomir | title=Moody's completes periodic review of three Serbian cities | website=SeeNews | date=2021-11-03 | url=https://seenews.com/news/moodys-completes-periodic-review-of-three-serbian-cities-759653 | access-date=2023-11-23}}</ref>]]
[[File:Pargapanorama.jpg|thumb|A view towards [[Parga]] in Greece; [[Tourism in Greece|tourism]] plays a crucial role in the [[Greek economy]]<ref name="Ελληνική Δημοκρατία - Υπουργείο Εξωτερικών 2023 h221">{{cite web | title=For a Sustainable Tourism Industry | website=Ελληνική Δημοκρατία - Υπουργείο Εξωτερικών | date=2023-11-23 | url=https://www.mfa.gr/usa/en/about-greece/tourism/for-sustainable-tourism-industry.html | access-date=2023-11-23 | archive-date=13 December 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213234113/http://www.mfa.gr/usa/en/about-greece/tourism/for-sustainable-tourism-industry.html | url-status=live }}</ref>]]
[[File:Historical peninsula and modern skyline of Istanbul.jpg|thumb|A view towards European part of Istanbul, which plays an important part for the [[Turkish economy]]]]
[[File:Вишеградска ћуприја са Андрићградом 2.jpg|thumb|A view towards [[Andrićgrad]] and [[Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge]] in Bosnia and Herzegovina; [[Tourism in Bosnia and Herzegovina|tourism]] is a rapidly growing sector of the [[Bosnian economy]]<ref name="U.S. Agency for International Development 2023 f963">{{cite web | title=FACT SHEET: Developing Sustainable Tourism (Turizam) in Bosnia and Herzegovina | website=U.S. Agency for International Development | date=2023-03-10 | url=https://www.usaid.gov/bosnia-and-herzegovina/fact-sheets/fact-sheet-developing-sustainable-tourism-turizam-bosnia-and-herzegovina#:~:text=In%202019%2C%20the%20country%20had,and%20hampered%20the%20sector%27s%20development. | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230330020537/https://www.usaid.gov/bosnia-and-herzegovina/fact-sheets/fact-sheet-developing-sustainable-tourism-turizam-bosnia-and-herzegovina#:~:text=In%202019%2C%20the%20country%20had,and%20hampered%20the%20sector%27s%20development. | url-status=dead | archive-date=30 March 2023 | access-date=2023-11-24}}</ref>]]
[[File:Dubrovnik june 2011..JPG|thumb|A view of [[Dubrovnik]] in Croatia; [[Tourism in Croatia|tourism]] contributes substantially to the [[Croatian economy]]<ref name="OECD iLibrary c995">{{cite web | title=OECD Tourism Trends and Policies 2022 | website=OECD iLibrary | url=https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/98e4b3dd-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/98e4b3dd-en#:~:text=Tourism%20plays%20a%20major%20role,of%20employment%20fall%20to%205.9%25. | access-date=2023-11-23 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref>]]

Currently, all of the states are republics, but until World War II all countries were monarchies. Most of the republics are [[Parliamentary republic|parliamentary]], excluding Romania and Bosnia which are [[semi-presidential system|semi-presidential]]. All the states have [[open economy|open]] [[market economy|market economies]], most of which are in the upper-middle-income range ($4,000–12,000 p.c.), except [[Croatia]], Romania, Greece, and [[Slovenia]] that have [[High income economy|high income economies]] (over $12,000 p.c.), and are classified with very high [[Human Development Index|HDI]], along with Bulgaria, in contrast to the remaining states, which are classified with high HDI. The states from the former [[Eastern Bloc]] that formerly had [[planned economy]] system and Turkey mark gradual economic growth each year. The gross domestic product per capita is highest in Slovenia (over $29,000), followed by Croatia<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2023/April/weo-report?c=960,&s=NGDPD,PPPGDP,NGDPDPC,PPPPC,&sy=2021&ey=2028&ssm=0&scsm=1&scc=0&ssd=1&ssc=0&sic=0&sort=country&ds=.&br=1 | title=Report for Selected Countries and Subjects | author=[[IMF]] | access-date=25 May 2023 | archive-date=11 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230411195641/https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2023/April/weo-report?c=960,&s=NGDPD,PPPGDP,NGDPDPC,PPPPC,&sy=2021&ey=2028&ssm=0&scsm=1&scc=0&ssd=1&ssc=0&sic=0&sort=country&ds=.&br=1 | url-status=live }}</ref> and Greece (~$20,000), Romania, Bulgaria (over $11,000), Turkey, Montenegro, Serbia (between $10,000 and $9,000), and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, North Macedonia (~$7,000) and Kosovo ($5,000).<ref>{{Cite web |title=GDP per capita (current US$) |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD |access-date=2022-08-19 |website=World Bank Open Data |archive-date=1 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190701072201/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Gini coefficient]], which indicates the level of difference by monetary welfare of the layers, is on the second level at the highest monetary equality in Albania, Bulgaria, and Serbia, on the third level in Greece, Montenegro and Romania, on the fourth level in North Macedonia, on the fifth level in Turkey, and the most unequal by Gini coefficient is Bosnia at the eighth level which is the penultimate level and one of the highest in the world. The unemployment is lowest in Romania and Bulgaria (around 5%), followed by Serbia and Albania (11–12%), Turkey, Greece, Bosnia, North Macedonia (13–16%), Montenegro (~18%), and Kosovo (~25%).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Unemployment, total (% of total labor force) (modeled ILO estimate) |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS?view=chart |access-date=2022-08-19 |website=World Bank Open Data |archive-date=30 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220430113409/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS?view=chart |url-status=live }}</ref>

As nations in the Western Balkans opened up to private investment in the 1990s, newly created enterprises (mostly [[Small and medium-sized enterprises|SMEs]]) fueled regional economic development by facilitating the transition from a massive [[State ownership|state-owned structure]] to a [[market economy]].<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |doi=10.2867/828282  |url=https://www.eib.org/en/publications/20230344-the-impact-of-the-eibs-intermediated-lending-to-businesses-in-the-western-balkans |title=The impact of the EIB's intermediated lending to businesses in the Western Balkans |date=2023-12-18 |publisher=European Investment Bank |isbn=978-92-861-5651-9 |language=EN |doi-access=free |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240214205204/https://www.eib.org/en/publications/20230344-the-impact-of-the-eibs-intermediated-lending-to-businesses-in-the-western-balkans |archive-date= 14 February 2024 |author1=European Investment Bank. }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Western Balkans in Transition |url=https://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/publications/pages/publication15155_en.pdf |work=Occasional Paper |publisher=European Commission |date=May 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231227121631/https://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/publications/pages/publication15155_en.pdf |archive-date= 27 December 2023 }}</ref> SMEs now account for 99% of all active businesses, up to 81% of total value created, and 72% of total employment in the Western Balkans.<ref name=":02"/>

The Western Balkans are mostly bank-based economies, with bank credit serving as the primary source of external capital for all enterprises, including SMEs. Despite this, the region's bank credit supply is limited and undeveloped. A recent analysis from the [[European Investment Bank]] estimated the funding deficit to be at US$2.8 billion, or around 2.5% of nominal GDP.<ref name=":02"/>

In most Western Balkan markets, international banks have a market share of 70% to 90%.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Economic Growth in the Western Balkans To Accelerate in 2024, Albeit Slowly and Unevenly |url=https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2023/10/19/economic-growth-in-the-western-balkans-to-accelerate-in-2024-albeit-slowly-and-unevenly |date=October 19, 2023 |access-date=2023-12-27 |website=World Bank |language=en |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231227121631/https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2023/10/19/economic-growth-in-the-western-balkans-to-accelerate-in-2024-albeit-slowly-and-unevenly|archive-date= 2023-12-27 }}</ref> At the end of 2023, the macroeconomic environment in the Western Balkans indicates that risks are increasing, threatening to worsen the financial imbalance. Recent survey findings give conflicting data on enterprises' funding circumstances. While supply has fallen as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and interest rate increasers, it has showed progressive recovery.<ref name=":02"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Western Balkans Regular Economic Report – No. 22: Beyond the Crises |date=Fall 2022 |publisher=World Bank |url=https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099010110192229651/pdf/P17947808ec26c001094ac004a1b5d70a2a.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231227121631/https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099010110192229651/pdf/P17947808ec26c001094ac004a1b5d70a2a.pdf |archive-date= 27 December 2023 }}</ref><!-- GDP per capita and unemployment is new updated info -->

===Regional organizations===
{{See also|Black Sea#Trans-sea cooperation}}<!-- This section is linked from [[Black Sea]] -->
{| style="width:500px"
|-
|[[File:Southeast European Cooperation Process Map.svg|thumb|upright=1.25|[[Southeast European Cooperation Process]] (SEECP) member states]] || [[File:SP for SEE members.png|thumb|upright=1.25|[[Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe]] {{legend|#ff7f40|members}}{{legend|#00ff00|observers}} {{legend|#007fff|supporting partners}}]]
|-
|[[File:SECI members.png|right|thumb|upright=1.25|[[Southeast European Cooperative Initiative]] (SECI) {{legend|#ff7f40|members}} {{legend|#00ff00|observers}}]] || [[File:BSEC members.png|right|thumb|upright=1.25|[[Black Sea Economic Cooperation]] (BSEC) {{legend|#ff7f40|members}} {{legend|#00ff00|observers}}]]
|}

==Statistics==
<div class="left" style="max-width:100%; overflow:auto;">
{| class=wikitable style="margin:auto; border-collapse:collapse;"
|-
!
! [[Albania]]
! [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]]
! [[Bulgaria]]
! [[Croatia]]
! [[Greece]]
! [[Kosovo]]
! [[Montenegro]]
! [[North Macedonia]]
! [[Romania]]
! [[Serbia]]
! [[Slovenia]]
! [[Turkey]]
|-
! Flag
| style="text-align:center;" | {{Flagicon|Albania|size=45px}}
| style="text-align:center;" | {{Flagicon|Bosnia and Herzegovina|size=45px}}
| style="text-align:center;" | {{Flagicon|Bulgaria|size=45px}}
| style="text-align:center;" | {{Flagicon|Croatia|size=45px}}
| style="text-align:center;" | {{Flagicon|Greece|size=45px}}
| style="text-align:center;" | {{Flagicon|Kosovo|size=45px}}
| style="text-align:center;" | {{Flagicon|Montenegro|size=45px}}
| style="text-align:center;" | {{Flagicon|North Macedonia|size=45px}}
| style="text-align:center;" | {{Flagicon|Romania|size=45px}}
| style="text-align:center;" | {{Flagicon|Serbia|size=45px}}
| style="text-align:center;" | {{Flagicon|Slovenia|size=45px}}
| style="text-align:center;" | {{Flagicon|Turkey|size=45px}}
|-
! Coat of arms
| style="text-align:center;" | {{Coat of arms|Albania|size=45px|text=none}}
| style="text-align:center;" | {{Coat of arms|Bosnia and Herzegovina|size=45px|text=none}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[File:Coat of arms of Bulgaria.svg|Bulgaria|45px]]
| style="text-align:center;" | [[File:Coat of arms of Croatia.svg|Croatia|45px]]
| style="text-align:center;" | [[File:Coat of arms of Greece.svg|Greece|45px]]
| style="text-align:center;" | {{Coat of arms|Kosovo|size=45px|text=none}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[File:Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg|Montenegro|45px]]
| style="text-align:center;" | [[File:Coat of arms of North Macedonia.svg|North Macedonia|45px]]
| style="text-align:center;" | {{Coat of arms|Romania|size=45px|text=none}}
| style="text-align:center;" | {{Coat of arms|Serbia|size=35px|text=none}}
| style="text-align:center;" | {{Coat of arms|Slovenia|size=45px|text=none}}
| style="text-align:center;" | <!-- The Turkish Constitution doesn't specify an official coat of arms -->
|-
! Capital
| [[Tirana]]
| [[Sarajevo]]
| [[Sofia]]
| [[Zagreb]]
| [[Athens]]
| [[Pristina]]
| [[Podgorica]]
| [[Skopje]]
| [[Bucharest]]
| [[Belgrade]]
| [[Ljubljana]]
| [[Ankara]]
|-
! Independence
| 28 November 1912
| 3 March 1992
| 5 October 1908
| 26 June 1991
| 25 March 1821
| 17 February 2008
| 3 June 2006
| 17 November 1991
| 9 May 1878
| 5 June,<br /> 2006
| 25 June,<br /> 1991
| 29 October,<br /> 1923
|-
! Head of state
| [[Bajram Begaj]]
| <small>[[Željka Cvijanović]]<br /> [[Željko Komšić]]<br /> [[Denis Bećirović]]</small>
| [[Iliana Iotova]]
| [[Zoran Milanović]]
| [[Konstantinos Tasoulas]]
| [[Vjosa Osmani]]
| [[Jakov Milatović]]
| [[Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova]]
| [[Nicușor Dan]]
| [[Aleksandar Vučić]]
| [[Nataša Pirc Musar]]
| [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]]
|-
! Head of government
| [[Edi Rama]]
| [[Borjana Krišto]]
| [[Rumen Radev]]
| [[Andrej Plenković]]
| [[Kyriakos Mitsotakis]]
| [[Albin Kurti]]
| [[Milojko Spajić]]
| [[Hristijan Mickoski]]
| [[Ilie Bolojan]]
| [[Đuro Macut]]
| [[Janez Janša]]
| Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
|-
! Population (2023)<ref name="European Commission f167">{{cite web | title=Population on 1 January | website=European Commission | url=https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/TPS00001/default/table?lang=en | access-date=2023-12-03 | archive-date=24 December 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211224094645/https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/tps00001/default/table?lang=en | url-status=live }}</ref>

| {{decrease}}&nbsp;2,761,785
| {{decrease}}&nbsp;3,502,550
| {{decrease}}&nbsp;6,447,710
| {{decrease}}&nbsp;3,850,894
| {{decrease}}&nbsp;10,394,055
| {{decrease}}&nbsp;1,798,188
| {{decrease}}&nbsp;616,695
| {{decrease}}&nbsp;1,829,954
| {{decrease}}&nbsp;19,051,562
| {{decrease}}&nbsp;6,664,449<ref name="Without Kosovo and Metohija">Without Kosovo and Metohija</ref>
| {{increase}}&nbsp;2,116,792
| {{increase}}&nbsp;85,279,553
|-
! Area
| 28,749&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>
| 51,197&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>
| 111,900&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>
| 56,594&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>
| 131,957&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>
| 10,908&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>
| 13,812&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>
| 25,713&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>
| 238,391&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>
| 77,474&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup><ref name="Without Kosovo and Metohija"/>
| 20,273&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>
| 781,162&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>
|-
! Density
| 96/km<sup>2</sup>
| 68/km<sup>2</sup>
| 58/km<sup>2</sup>
| 68/km<sup>2</sup>
| 79/km<sup>2</sup>
| 159/km<sup>2</sup>
| 45/km<sup>2</sup>
| 71/km<sup>2</sup>
| 80/km<sup>2</sup>
| 85/km<sup>2</sup>
| 102/km<sup>2</sup>
| 101/km<sup>2</sup>
|-
! Water area (%)
| 4.7%
| 0.02%
| 2.22%
| 1.1%
| 0.99%
| 1.00%
| 2.61%
| 1.09%
| 2.97%
| 0.13%
| 0.6%
| 1.3%
|-
! GDP (nominal, 2019)<ref name="IMFWEOBALKANS">{{cite web |url=https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2019/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=49&pr.y=10&sy=2017&ey=2021&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=914%2C943%2C963%2C918%2C962%2C960%2C968%2C942%2C961%2C174%2C186%2C967&s=NGDPD%2CPPPGDP%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPPC&grp=0&a= |title=World Economic Outlook Database, October 2019 |publisher=[[International Monetary Fund]] |website=IMF.org |access-date=21 December 2019}}</ref>
| {{increase}} $15.418&nbsp;bln
| {{decrease}} $20.106&nbsp;bln
| {{increase}} $66.250&nbsp;bln
| {{decrease}} $60.702&nbsp;bln
| {{decrease}} $214.012&nbsp;bln
| {{increase}} $8.402&nbsp;bln
| {{decrease}} $5.424&nbsp;bln
| {{increase}} $12.672&nbsp;bln
| {{increase}} $243.698&nbsp;bln
| {{increase}} $55.437&nbsp;bln
| {{increase}} $54.154&nbsp;bln
| {{decrease}} $774.708&nbsp;bln
|-
! GDP ([[Purchasing power parity|PPP]], 2018)<ref name="IMFWEOBALKANS"/>
| {{increase}} $38.305&nbsp;bln
| {{increase}} $47.590&nbsp;bln
| {{increase}} $162.186&nbsp;bln
| {{increase}} $107.362&nbsp;bln
| {{increase}} $312.267&nbsp;bln
| {{increase}} $20.912&nbsp;bln
| {{increase}} $11.940&nbsp;bln
| {{increase}} $32.638&nbsp;bln
| {{increase}} $516.359&nbsp;bln
| {{increase}} $122.740&nbsp;bln
| {{increase}} $75.967&nbsp;bln
| {{increase}} $2,300&nbsp;bln
|-
! GDP per capita (nominal, 2019)<ref name="IMFWEOBALKANS"/>
| {{increase}} $5,373
| {{decrease}} $5,742
| {{increase}} $9,518
| {{increase}} $14,950
| {{decrease}} $19,974
| {{increase}} $4,649
| {{decrease}} $8,704
| {{decrease}} $6,096
| {{increase}} $12,483
| {{increase}} $7,992
| {{increase}} $26,170
| {{decrease}} $8,958
|-
! GDP per capita (PPP, 2018)<ref name="IMFWEOBALKANS"/>
| {{increase}}&nbsp;$13,327
| {{increase}}&nbsp;$13,583
| {{increase}}&nbsp;$23,169
| {{increase}}&nbsp;$26,256
| {{increase}}&nbsp;$29,072
| {{increase}}&nbsp;$11,664
| {{increase}}&nbsp;$19,172
| {{increase}}&nbsp;$15,715
| {{increase}}&nbsp;$26,448
| {{increase}}&nbsp;$17,552
| {{increase}}&nbsp;$36,741
| {{increase}}&nbsp;$28,044
|-
! [[Gini coefficient|Gini Index]] (2018)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=en&pcode=tessi190&plugin=1 |title=Gini coefficient of equivalised disposable income – EU-SILC survey |publisher=[[Eurostat]] |website=ec.europa.eu/eurostat |access-date=21 December 2019 |archive-date=20 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190320064533/https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=en&pcode=tessi190&plugin=1 |url-status=live }}</ref>
| 29.0 {{color|green|low}} (2012)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI?locations=AL |title=Gini index - Albania |publisher=[[World Bank]] Open Data |access-date=21 December 2019 |archive-date=19 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190219015726/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI?locations=AL |url-status=live }}</ref>
| 33.0 {{color|darkorange|medium}} (2011)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI?locations=BA |title=GINI index (World Bank estimate) – Bosnia and Herzegovina |publisher=[[World Bank]] Open Data |access-date=21 December 2019 |archive-date=9 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009110929/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI%3Flocations%3DBA |url-status=live }}</ref>
| {{decreasePositive}} 39.6 {{color|darkorange|medium}}
| {{decreasePositive}} 29.7 {{color|green|low}}
| {{decreasePositive}} 32.3 {{color|darkorange|medium}}
| {{increaseNegative}} 29.0 {{color|green|low}} (2017)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI?locations=XK |title=GINI index (World Bank estimate) – Kosovo |publisher=[[World Bank]] Open Data |access-date=21 December 2019 |archive-date=19 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419083513/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI%3Flocations%3DXK |url-status=live }}</ref>
| {{increaseNegative}} 36.7 {{color|darkorange|medium}} (2017)
| {{decreasePositive}} 31.9 {{color|darkorange|medium}}
| {{increaseNegative}} 35.1 {{color|darkorange|medium}}
| {{decreasePositive}} 35.6 {{color|darkorange|medium}}
| {{decreasePositive}} 23.4 {{color|green|low}}
| {{increaseNegative}} 43.0 {{color|darkorange|medium}}
|-
! [[List of countries by Human Development Index|HDI]] (2018)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hdr.undp.org/en/indicators/137506 |title=Human Development Index (HDI) |publisher=[[Human Development Report|HDRO (Human Development Report Office)]] [[United Nations Development Programme]] |website=hdr.undp.org |access-date=11 December 2019 |archive-date=27 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160627101948/http://hdr.undp.org/en/indicators/137506 |url-status=live }}</ref>
| {{increase}} 0.791 {{color|green|high}}
| {{increase}} 0.769 {{color|green|high}}
| {{increase}} 0.816 {{color|darkgreen|very high}}
| {{increase}} 0.837 {{color|darkgreen|very high}}
| {{increase}} 0.872 {{color|darkgreen|very high}}
| 0.739 {{color|green|high}} (2016)
| {{increase}} 0.816 {{color|darkgreen|very high}}
| {{increase}} 0.759 {{color|green|high}}
| {{increase}} 0.816 {{color|darkgreen|very high}}
| {{increase}} 0.799 {{color|green|high}}
| {{increase}} 0.902 {{color|darkgreen|very high}}
| {{increase}} 0.806 {{color|darkgreen|very high}}
|-
! [[List of countries by inequality-adjusted HDI|IHDI]] (2018)<ref>{{cite web |title=Inequality-adjusted HDI (IHDI) |url=http://hdr.undp.org/en/indicators/138806 |website=hdr.undp.org |publisher=[[United Nations Development Programme|UNDP]] |access-date=22 May 2020 |archive-date=25 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625120421/http://hdr.undp.org/en/indicators/138806 |url-status=live }}</ref>
| {{decrease}} 0.705 {{color|green|high}}
| {{increase}} 0.658 {{color|darkorange|medium}}
| {{increase}} 0.713 {{color|green|high}}
| {{increase}} 0.768 {{color|green|high}}
| {{increase}} 0.766 {{color|green|high}}
| {{steady}} N/A
| {{increase}} 0.746 {{color|green|high}}
| {{decrease}} 0.660 {{color|darkorange|medium}}
| {{increase}} 0.725 {{color|green|high}}
| {{increase}} 0.710 {{color|green|high}}
| {{increase}} 0.858 {{color|darkgreen|very high}}
| {{decrease}} 0.676 {{color|darkorange|medium}}
|-
! Internet [[Country code top-level domain|TLD]]
| .al
| .ba
| .bg
| .hr
| .gr
|  Doesn't have
| .me
| .mk
| .ro
| .rs
| .si
| .tr
|-
! [[List of country calling codes|Calling code]]
| +355
| +387
| +359
| +385
| +30
| +383<ref>As Kosovo*</ref>
| +382
| +389
| +40
| +381
| +386
| +90
|}
</div>

==Demographics==
{{Redirect|Balkanite|the genus|Balkanites{{!}}''Balkanites''}}

The region is inhabited by [[Albanians]], [[Aromanians]], [[Bulgarians]], [[Bosniaks]], [[Croats]], [[Gorani people|Gorani]], [[Greeks]], [[Istro-Romanians]], [[Macedonians (ethnic group)|Macedonians]], [[Hungarians]], [[Megleno-Romanians]], [[Montenegrins]], [[Serbs]], [[Slovenes]], [[Romanians]], [[Turkish people|Turks]], and other ethnic groups which present minorities in certain countries like the [[Romani People|Romani]] and [[Ashkali]].<ref name="EB">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Balkans |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/50325/Balkans |access-date=2019-08-21 |quote=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... 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 on the south by Greece and Turkey or the Aegean Sea (depending on how the region is defined)... For discussion of physical and human geography, along with the history of individual countries in the region, see Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, and Turkey. Area 257,400 square miles (666,700 square km). Pop. (2002 est.) 59,297,000.}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%"
|-
! State !! Population (2023)<ref name="epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu">{{cite web|url=https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/TPS00001/default/table?lang=en|title=Eurostat – Tables, Graphs and Maps Interface (TGM) table|work=europa.eu|access-date=10 August 2023|archive-date=24 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211224094645/https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/tps00001/default/table?lang=en|url-status=live}}</ref>!! Density/km2 (2018)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://statisticstimes.com/demographics/countries-by-population-density.php|title=Countries by Population Density 2019|website=statisticstimes.com|access-date=25 August 2019|archive-date=26 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926222139/http://statisticstimes.com/demographics/countries-by-population-density.php|url-status=live}}</ref>!! Life expectancy (2018)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2102rank.html|work=CIA: The World Factbook|title=Country Comparison: Life Expectancy at Birth|access-date=20 January 2016|archive-date=29 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181229134543/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2102rank.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|-
|{{flagu|Albania}}
|2,402,113
|84
|78.3 years
|-
|{{flagu|Bosnia and Herzegovina}}
|3,502,550
|69
|77.2 years
|-
|{{flagu|Bulgaria}}
|6,447,710
|64
|79.9 years
|-
|{{flagu|Croatia}}
|3,850,894
|73
|78.2 years
|-
|{{flagu|Greece}}
|10,394,055
|82
|80.1 years
|-
|{{flagu|Kosovo}}
|1,585,566
|145
|77.7 years
|-
|{{flagu|Montenegro}}
|623,633
|45
|76.4 years
|-
|{{flagu|North Macedonia}}
|1,829,954
|81
|76.2 years
|-
|{{flagu|Romania}}
|19,051,562
|82
|76.3 years
|-
|{{flagu|Serbia}}
|6,664,449
|90
|76.5 years
|-
|{{flagu|Slovenia}}
|2,116,792
|102
|80.3 years
|-
|{{flagu|Turkey}}
| 11,929,013<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/turkey/|title=Turkey's Population |access-date=10 December 2020}}</ref>{{ref label|European Turkey|c}}
|101
|78.5 years
|}

===Religion===
[[File:AtlBalkrelig.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Map showing religious denominations]]
The region is a meeting point of [[Eastern Orthodoxy]], [[Sunni Islam]] and [[Roman Catholicism]].<ref name="okey">{{cite book | first=Robin |last=Okey | title=Taming Balkan Nationalism | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=2007}}</ref> Eastern Orthodoxy is the majority religion in both the Balkan Peninsula and the Balkan region, The [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] has played a prominent role in the history and culture of Eastern and [[Southeastern Europe]].{{sfn|Ware|1993|p=8}} A variety of different traditions of each faith are practiced, with each of the Eastern Orthodox countries having its own national church, except for Montenegro. A part of the population in the Balkans defines itself as irreligious.

Islam has a significant history in the region where Muslims make up a large percentage of the population. A 2013 estimate placed the total Muslim population of the Balkans at around eight million.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Clayer |first1=Nathalie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qSlBjwEACAAJ |title=Europe's Balkan Muslims: A New History |last2=Bougarel |first2=Xavier |date=2017 |publisher=[[Hurst Publishers]] |isbn=978-1-84904-659-6 |pages=2–4}}</ref> Islam is the largest religion in nations like Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Kosovo with significant minorities in Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro. Smaller populations of Muslims are also found in Romania, Serbia and Greece.<ref name=":0" />
[[File:Albania confessional map with regions circa 1900.PNG|thumb|Approximate distribution of religions in [[Albania]]]]

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;"
|-
!Territories in which the principal religion is [[Eastern Orthodoxy]] (with national churches in parentheses)<ref name=religion>{{cite web|title=Field Listing: Religions|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/fields/401.html|publisher=CIA|access-date=23 February 2019|archive-date=16 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201016203251/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/fields/401.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
! Religious minorities of these territories<ref name=religion />
|-
| Bulgaria: 63% ([[Bulgarian Orthodox Church]])
| [[Islam in Bulgaria|Islam]] (10%), Protestantism (1%), other and undeclared (26%)
|-
| Greece: 81–90% ([[Church of Greece|Greek Orthodox Church]])
| [[Islam in Greece|Islam]] (2%), [[Roman Catholicism in Greece|Catholicism]], other and undeclared
|-
| Montenegro: 71% ([[Serbian Orthodox Church]])
| [[Islam in Montenegro|Islam]] (20%), [[Roman Catholicism in Montenegro|Catholicism]] (3%), other and undeclared (6%)
|-
| North Macedonia: 64% ([[Macedonian Orthodox Church]])
| [[Islam in North Macedonia|Islam]] (33%), [[Roman Catholicism in North Macedonia|Catholicism]]
|-
| Romania: 81% ([[Romanian Orthodox Church]])
| Protestantism (6%), [[Catholic Church in Romania|Catholicism]] (5%), other and undeclared (8%)
|-
| Serbia: 81% ([[Serbian Orthodox Church]])
| [[Roman Catholicism in Serbia|Catholicism]] (4%), [[Islam in Serbia|Islam]] (4%), [[Protestantism in Serbia|Protestantism]] (1%), other and undeclared (8%)
|-
! Territories in which the principal religion is [[Catholic Church|Catholicism]]<ref name=religion />
! Religious minorities of these territories<ref name=religion />
|-
| [[Roman Catholicism in Croatia|Croatia]] (86%)
| [[Orthodoxy in Croatia|Eastern Orthodoxy]] (4%), [[Islam in Croatia|Islam]] (1%), other and undeclared (7%)
|-
| [[Roman Catholicism in Slovenia|Slovenia]] (57%)
| [[Islam in Slovenia|Islam]] (2%), Orthodox (2%), other and undeclared (36%)
|-
! Territories in which the principal religion is [[Islam]]<ref name=religion />
! Religious minorities of these territories<ref name=religion />
|-
| [[Islam in Albania|Albania]] (51%)
| [[Roman Catholicism in Albania|Catholicism]] (8%), [[Orthodoxy in Albania|Orthodoxy]] (7%), other and undeclared (34%)
|-
| [[Islam in Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnia and Herzegovina]] (51%)
| [[Orthodoxy in Bosnia and Herzegovina|Orthodoxy]] (31%), [[Roman Catholicism in Bosnia and Herzegovina|Catholicism]] (15%), other and undeclared (4%)
|-
| [[Islam in Kosovo|Kosovo]] (95%)
| [[Roman Catholicism in Kosovo|Catholicism]] (2%), Orthodoxy (2%), other and undeclared (1%)
|-
| [[Islam in Turkey|Turkey]] (90–99%<ref name="religion" />)
| [[Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople|Orthodoxy]], [[Irreligion in Turkey|Irreligious (5%–10%)]]
|-
|}

The [[Jewish]] communities of the Balkans were some of the oldest in Europe and date back to ancient times. These communities were [[Sephardi Jews]], except in [[Croatia]] and [[Slovenia]], where the Jewish communities were mainly [[Ashkenazi Jews]]. In [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], the small and close-knit Jewish community is 90% [[Sephardic]], and [[Judeo-Spanish|Ladino]] is still spoken among the elderly. The Sephardi Jewish cemetery in [[Sarajevo]] has tombstones of a unique shape and inscribed in ancient Ladino.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090126185330/http://www.eurojewcong.org/ejc/news.php?id_article=59 European Jewish Congress – Bosnia-Herzegovina], Accessed 15 July 2008.</ref> Sephardi Jews used to have a large presence in the city of [[Thessaloniki]], and by 1900, some 80,000, or more than half of the population, were Jews.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/30/thessalonikis-jews-we-cant-let-this-be-forgotten-if-its-forgotten-it-will-die|title=Thessaloniki's Jews: 'We can't let this be forgotten; if it's forgotten, it will die'|last=Jones|first=Sam|date=30 July 2020|work=The Guardian|archive-date=10 June 2024|access-date=3 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240610022755/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/30/thessalonikis-jews-we-cant-let-this-be-forgotten-if-its-forgotten-it-will-die|url-status=live}}</ref> The Jewish communities in the Balkans suffered immensely during [[World War II]], and the vast majority were killed during the [[The Holocaust|Holocaust]]. An exception were the [[Bulgarian Jews]] who [[Boris III of Bulgaria]] sent to forced labor camps instead of Nazi concentration camps. Almost all of the few survivors have emigrated to the (then) newly founded state of Israel and elsewhere.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bulgaria |url=https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/bulgaria |website=Holocaust Encyclopedia |access-date=13 July 2023 |archive-date=13 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613232557/https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/bulgaria |url-status=live }}</ref> Almost no Balkan country today has a significant Jewish minority.

===Languages===
{{Main|Languages of the Balkans}}

{{Further|Balkan sprachbund}}

[[File:Ernst-Ravenstein-Balkans-Ethnic-Map-1880.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Ethnic map of the Balkans (1880)]]
[[File:Balkans ethnic map (1992).jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Ethnic map of the Balkans (1992)]]
[[File:Transhumance ways of the Vlachs.jpeg|thumb|upright=0.9|[[Transhumance]] ways of the Romance-speaking [[Vlachs|Vlach]] shepherds in the past]]
The Balkan region today is a very diverse ethnolinguistic region, being home to multiple [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] and [[Romance languages]], as well as [[Albanian language|Albanian]], [[Greek language|Greek]], [[Turkic languages|Turkish]], [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]] and others. [[Romani language|Romani]] is spoken by a large portion of the [[Romani people|Romanis]] living throughout the Balkan countries. Throughout history, many other ethnic groups with their own languages lived in the area, among them [[Thracians]], [[Illyrians]], [[Ancient Rome|Romans]], [[Celts]] and various [[Germanic peoples|Germanic tribes]]. All of the aforementioned languages from the present and from the past belong to the wider [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] language family, with the exception of the Turkic languages (e.g., [[Turkish language|Turkish]] and [[Gagauz language|Gagauz]]) and Hungarian.

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;"
|-
! State !!Most spoken language<ref name=languages>{{cite web|title=Field Listings: Languages|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/402.html|publisher=CIA|access-date=30 November 2020|archive-date=20 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420180739/https://www.cia.gov/Library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/402.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
! Linguistic minorities<ref name=languages />
|-
|{{flagu|Albania}}
| 98% [[Albanian language|Albanian]]
| 2% other
|-
|{{flagu|Bosnia and Herzegovina}}
| 53% [[Bosnian language|Bosnian]]
| 31% Serbian (official), 15% Croatian (official), 2% other
|-
|{{flagu|Bulgaria}}
| 86% [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]]
| 8% Turkish, 4% Romani, 1% other, 1% unspecified
|-
|{{flagu|Croatia}}
| 96% [[Croatian language|Croatian]]
| 1% Serbian, 3% other
|-
|{{flagu|Greece}}
| 99% [[Greek language|Greek]]
| 1% other
|-
|{{flagu|Kosovo}}
| 94% Albanian
| 2% Bosnian, 2% Serbian (official), 1% Turkish, 1% other
|-
|{{flagu|Montenegro}}
| 43% [[Serbian language|Serbian]]
| 37% [[Montenegrin language|Montenegrin]] (official), 5% Albanian, 5% Bosnian, 5% other, 4% unspecified
|-
|{{flagu|North Macedonia}}
| 67% [[Macedonian language|Macedonian]]
| 25% Albanian (official), 4% Turkish, 2% Romani, 1% Serbian, 2% other
|-
|{{flagu|Romania}}
| 89% [[Romanian language|Romanian]]
| 6% [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]], 3% [[Romani language|Romani]]
|-
|{{flagu|Serbia}}
| 88% Serbian
| 3% Hungarian, 2% Bosnian, 1% Romani, 3% other, 2% unspecified
|-
|{{flagu|Slovenia}}
| 91% [[Slovene language|Slovene]]
| 5% Serbo-Croatian, 4% other
|-
|{{flagu|Turkey}}
| 85% [[Turkish language|Turkish]]<ref name=milliyet-languages>{{cite web|url=http://www.milliyet.com.tr/2007/03/22/guncel/agun.html|title=Türkiye'nin yüzde 85'i 'anadilim Türkçe' diyor|publisher=Milliyet.com.tr|access-date=25 June 2021|archive-date=25 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225063519/http://www.milliyet.com.tr/2007/03/22/guncel/agun.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
| 12% [[Kurdish language|Kurdish]], 3% other and unspecified<ref name="milliyet-languages" />
|-
|}

===Urbanization===
Most of the states in the Balkans are predominantly urbanized, with the lowest number of urban population as % of the total population found in Bosnia and Herzegovina at 49%, Kosovo at 50% and Slovenia at 55%.<ref>{{Cite web |title=World Bank Open Data |url=https://data.worldbank.org/ |access-date=2023-06-17 |website=World Bank Open Data |archive-date=26 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230526025607/https://data.worldbank.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Urbanization in Kosovo: Building inclusive & sustainable cities |url=https://unhabitat.org/kosovo#:~:text=The%20percentage%20of%20the%20total,for%20Spatial%20Planning,%202018). |access-date=2023-06-17 |website=unhabitat.org |archive-date=17 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230617142152/https://unhabitat.org/kosovo#:~:text=The%20percentage%20of%20the%20total,for%20Spatial%20Planning,%202018). |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{wide image|Istanbul panorama and skyline.jpg|750px|Panoramic view of Istanbul}}

A list of largest cities:
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! City !! Country !!data-sort-type="number"| Agglomeration !!data-sort-type="number"| City proper !! Year
|-
| [[Istanbul]]{{ref label|reference name B|b|b}} || {{TUR}} || 10,097,862 || 10,097,862 || 2019<ref name="Istanbul">{{cite web |url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/turkey/istanbul/|title=Istanbul Population |access-date=1 December 2020}}</ref>
|-
| [[Athens]] || {{GRE}} || 3,753,783 || 664,046 || 2018<ref name="Greek">{{cite web|url=http://www.citypopulation.de/Greece-Agglo.html|title=Greece: Regions and Agglomerations|access-date=9 November 2015|archive-date=18 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090418034341/http://citypopulation.de/Greece-Agglo.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| [[Bucharest]] || {{ROU}} ||2,272,163 || 1,887,485 || 2018<ref name="Romanian">{{cite web|url=http://www.citypopulation.de/Romania.html|title=Romania: Counties and Major Cities|access-date=9 November 2015|archive-date=18 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090418193322/http://www.citypopulation.de/Romania.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| [[Sofia]] || {{BUL}} || 1,995,950 || 1,313,595 || 2018<ref name="Bulgarian">{{cite web|url=http://www.citypopulation.de/Bulgaria-Cities.html|title=Bulgaria: Major Cities|access-date=9 November 2015|archive-date=31 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531095827/http://www.citypopulation.de/Bulgaria-Cities.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| [[Belgrade]] || {{SRB}} || 1,659,440 || 1,119,696 || 2018<ref>[http://pod2.stat.gov.rs/ObjavljenePublikacije/Popis2011/Knjiga20.pdf Statistical Officeof the Republic of Serbia] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714191241/http://pod2.stat.gov.rs/ObjavljenePublikacije/Popis2011/Knjiga20.pdf |date=14 July 2014 }} p. 32</ref>
|-
| [[Zagreb]] || {{CRO}} || 1,217,150 || 767,131 || 2021<ref name=":1">{{cite web |url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/croatia/cities/ |title=Croatia: Counties and Major Cities |access-date=7 November 2023 |archive-date=21 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220521153548/https://www.citypopulation.de/en/croatia/cities/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
| [[Thessaloniki]] || {{GRE}} ||1,012,297 || 325,182 || 2018<ref name="Greek" />
|-
| [[Tirana]] || {{ALB}} || 912,000 || 418,495 || 2018<ref>{{cite web|url=https://citypopulation.de/Albania-Cities.html|title=Albania: Prefectures and Major Cities – Population Statistics in Maps and Charts|website=citypopulation.de}}</ref>
|-
| [[Ljubljana]] || {{SLO}} || 537,712 || 292,988 || 2018<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rralur.si/sl/regija/osebna-izkaznica|title=Osebna izkaznica – RRA LUR|work=rralur.si|date=24 February 2020|access-date=10 September 2019|archive-date=27 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327154601/http://www.rralur.si/sl/regija/osebna-izkaznica|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| [[Skopje]] || {{NMK}} || 506,926 || 444,800 || 2018<ref name="Macedonian">{{cite web|url=http://www.citypopulation.de/Macedonia.html|title=Macedonia|access-date=9 November 2015|archive-date=10 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160110114741/http://citypopulation.de/Macedonia.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| [[Constanța]] || {{ROU}} || 425,916 || 283,872 || 2018<ref name="Romanian" />
|-
| [[Craiova]] || {{ROU}} || 420,000 ||269,506 || 2018<ref name="Romanian" />
|-
|[[Edirne]]
|{{TUR}}
|413,903
|306,464
|2019<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/turkey/edirne/|title=Edirne Population|access-date=30 November 2020|archive-date=1 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201011042/https://www.citypopulation.de/en/turkey/edirne/|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| [[Sarajevo]] || {{BIH}} || 413,593 || 275,524 || 2018
|-
| [[Cluj-Napoca]] || {{ROU}} || 411,379 || 324,576 || 2018<ref name="Romanian" />
|-
| [[Plovdiv]] || {{BUL}} || 396,092 || 411,567 || 2018<ref name="Bulgarian" />
|-
| [[Varna, Bulgaria|Varna]] || {{BUL}} || 383,075 || 395,949 || 2018<ref name="Bulgarian" />
|-
| [[Iași]] || {{ROU}} || 382,484 || 290,422 || 2018<ref name="Romanian" />
|-
| [[Brașov]] || {{ROU}} || 369,896 ||253,200 || 2018<ref name="Romanian" />
|-
|[[Kırklareli]]
|{{TUR}}
|361,836
|259,302
|2019<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/turkey/admin/TR213__k%C4%B1rklareli/|title=Kırklareli Population |access-date=1 December 2020}}</ref>
|-
| [[Timișoara]] || {{ROU}} || 356,443 || 319,279 || 2018<ref name="Romanian" />
|-
| [[Novi Sad]] || {{SRB}} || 341,625 || 277,522 || 2018<ref name="Serbian">{{cite web|url=http://www.citypopulation.de/Serbia-Cities.html |title=Serbia: Regions, Districts and Major Cities |access-date=9 November 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151108005723/http://www.citypopulation.de/Serbia-Cities.html |archive-date=8 November 2015}}</ref>
|-
|[[Tekirdağ]]
|{{TUR}}
|215,558
|186,421
|2022<ref>{{cite web |title=Tekirdağ Population |url=https://www.nufusune.com/suleymanpasa-ilce-nufusu-tekirdag |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250304092446/https://www.nufusune.com/suleymanpasa-ilce-nufusu-tekirdag |archive-date=4 March 2025 |access-date=30 November 2020}}</ref>
|-
|[[Split, Croatia|Split]]
|{{CRO}}
|325,600
|161,312
|2021<ref name=":1" />
|}

{{note label|reference name B|b|b}}Only the European part of Istanbul is a part of the Balkans.<ref name="Crampton">{{cite book|last1=Crampton|title=The Balkans Since the Second World War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z9AFBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT14|isbn=978-1317891161|year=2014|publisher=Routledge }}</ref> It is home to two-thirds of the city's 15,519,267 inhabitants.<ref name="Istanbul" />

==Time zones==
The time zones in the Balkans are defined as the following:
* Territories in the time zone of [[UTC+01:00]]: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia
* Territories in the time zone of [[UTC+02:00]]: Bulgaria, Greece, and Romania
* Territories in the time zone of [[UTC+03:00]]: Turkey

==Culture==
* [[Balkan cuisine|Cuisine of the Balkans]]
* [[Balkan music]]
*[[Balkan Athletics Championships]]
*[[Balkan Athletics Indoor Championships]]
*''[[Imagining the Balkans]]''

==Historiography==
{{See also|List of Slavic studies journals}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Europe|Geography
}}

* ''[[Balkan Insight]]''
* [[Balkan Universities Network]]
* [[Balkan Wars]]
** [[First Balkan War]]
** [[Second Balkan War]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}
{| style="margin-left:13px; line-height:150%"
|align="right" valign="top"|b.&nbsp;&nbsp;
|{{note|location}}As ''The World Factbook'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20210110073821/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/turkey cites], regarding Turkey and Southeastern Europe; "that portion of Turkey west of the Bosphorus is geographically part of Europe".
|}
{| style="margin-left:13px; line-height:150%"
|align="right" valign="top"|c.&nbsp;&nbsp;
|{{note|European Turkey}}The population only of [[East Thrace|European Turkey]], that excludes the [[Anatolia|Anatolian Peninsula]], which otherwise has a population of 75,627,384 and a density of 97.
|}
{| style="margin-left:13px; line-height:150%"
|align="right" valign="top"|d.&nbsp;&nbsp;
|{{note|furtherreading1}}See:<ref name="WBSummit">{{cite web |url=http://www.bmeia.gv.at/en/european-foreign-policy/foreign-policy/western-balkans-summit/|title=Western Balkans Summit|access-date=11 August 2015 |author=Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs|author-link=Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/regions/western-balkans/|title=Western Balkans – Trade – European Commission|work=europa.eu|access-date=4 November 2013|archive-date=25 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220325135533/https://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/regions/western-balkans/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Centre for Regional Studies">{{cite book|editor=Zoltan Hajdu|others=Ivan Illes, Zoltan Raffay|title=Southeast-Europe: state borders, cross-border relations, spatial structures|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ajvwx3OSE2AC&pg=PA141|access-date=18 October 2014|year=2007|publisher=Centre for Regional Studies|isbn=978-963-9052-65-9|page=141|chapter=The European integration and regional policy of the West Balkans}}</ref><ref name="eesc.europa.eu">{{cite web|url=http://www.eesc.europa.eu/?i=portal.en.western-balkans|title=European Economic and Social Committee – Western Balkans|work=European Economic and Social Committee|access-date=12 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006203429/http://www.eesc.europa.eu/?i=portal.en.western-balkans|archive-date=6 October 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="bmeia.gv.at">{{Cite web |title=Austrian Foreign Ministry – The Western Balkans – A Priority of Austrian Foreign Policy |url=http://www.bmeia.gv.at/en/foreign-ministry/foreign-policy/europe/western-balkans.html |access-date=5 November 2013 |archive-date=5 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105024449/http://www.bmeia.gv.at/en/foreign-ministry/foreign-policy/europe/western-balkans.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="wbif.eu">{{cite web|url=http://www.wbif.eu/Stakeholders|title=WBIF – Western Balkans Investment Framework – Stakeholders|access-date=12 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006122624/http://www.wbif.eu/Stakeholders|archive-date=6 October 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="ec.europa.eu">{{cite web|url=http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/regions/western-balkans/|title=European Commission – Trade – Countries and regions – Western Balkans|access-date=12 September 2014|archive-date=25 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220325135533/https://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/regions/western-balkans/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/balkans_communication/western_balkans_communication_050308_en.pdf|title=Western Balkans: Enhancing the European Perspective|publisher=Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council|date=5 March 2008|access-date=8 April 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080409004701/http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/balkans_communication/western_balkans_communication_050308_en.pdf| archive-date= 9 April 2008|url-status=live}}</ref>
|}
{| style="margin-left:13px; line-height:150%"
|align="right" valign="top"|e.&nbsp;&nbsp;
|{{note|furtherreading2}}See:<ref name="Altić11"/><ref>{{cite book|title=Endgame in the Balkans: Regime Change, European Style|first=Elizabeth|last=Pond|publisher=Brookings Institution|location=Washington, D.C.|year=2006|page=[https://archive.org/details/endgameinbalkans00eliz/page/5 5]|isbn=978-0-8157-7160-9|url=https://archive.org/details/endgameinbalkans00eliz|url-access=registration|quote=western balkans minus slovenia.}}</ref><ref name="Centre for Regional Studies" /><ref name="eesc.europa.eu" /><ref name="eeas.europa.eu">{{cite web|url=http://eeas.europa.eu/western_balkans/index_en.htm|title=European Union External Action – EU relations with the Western Balkans|access-date=12 September 2014|archive-date=6 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140906180359/http://eeas.europa.eu/western_balkans/index_en.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Redaktion: PT-DLR">{{cite web|url=http://www.internationales-buero.de/en/2114.php|title=Federal Ministry of Education and Research of Germany – Western Balkan Countries|author=Redaktion: PT-DLR|access-date=12 September 2014|archive-date=6 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006141017/http://www.internationales-buero.de/en/2114.php|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="bmeia.gv.at" /><ref name="wbif.eu" /><ref name="ec.europa.eu" /><ref name="auto" />
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last=Gray |first=Colin S. |title=Geopolitics, Geography and Strategy |year=1999 |publisher=Routledge |location=London|isbn=978-0-7146-8053-8}}
* {{cite journal |last=Banac |first=Ivo |author-link=Ivo Banac |date = October 1992|title=Historiography of the Countries of Eastern Europe: Yugoslavia |journal=[[American Historical Review]] |volume=97 |issue=4 |pages=1084–1104 |doi=10.2307/2165494 |jstor=2165494}}
* {{cite book |last=Banac |first=Ivo |title=The National Question in Yugoslavia: Origins, History, Politics |url=https://archive.org/details/nationalquestion0000bana |url-access=registration |year=1984 |publisher=Cornell University Press |location=Ithaca, NY |isbn=978-0-8014-9493-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Goldstein |first=Ivo |title=Croatia: A History |url=https://archive.org/details/croatia00ivog |url-access=registration |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |location=Montreal, Quebec |isbn=978-0-7735-2017-2 |year=1999}}
* Carter, Francis W., ed. (1977). ''An Historical Geography of the Balkans'' Academic Press. {{ISBN?}}
* [[Francis Dvornik|Dvornik, Francis]] (1962). ''The Slavs in European History and Civilization'' Rutgers University Press. {{ ISBN?}}
* [[John V. A. Fine, Jr.|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]. {{ISBN?}}
* Forbes, Nevill (1915). ''The Balkans: A History of Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, Rumania, Turkey'' Clarendon Press, [https://archive.org/details/balkanshistoryof00forbuoft online]
* {{Cite book|last=Jelavich|first=Barbara|author-link=Barbara Jelavich|title=History of the Balkans: Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries|volume=1|year=1983a|publisher=Cambridge University Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qR4EeOrTm-0C|isbn=978-0521274586}}
* {{Cite book|last=Jelavich|first=Barbara|author-link=Barbara Jelavich|title=History of the Balkans: Twentieth Century|volume=2|year=1983b|publisher=Cambridge University Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hd-or3qtqrsC|isbn=978-0521274593}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Jelavich |editor1-first=Charles |editor2-last=Jelavich |editor2-first=Barbara |title=The Balkans in Transition: Essays on the Development of Balkan Life and Politics Since the Eighteenth Century |url=https://archive.org/details/balkansintransit0000jela |url-access=registration |year=1963 |publisher=[[University of California Press]]}}
* {{cite book | last=Kitsikis | first=Dimitri | author-link=Dimitri Kitsikis | title=La montée du national-bolchevisme dans les Balkans. Le retour à la Serbie de 1830 | publisher=Avatar | location=Paris | year=2008}}
* Lampe, John R., and Marvin R. Jackson (1982). ''Balkan Economic History, 1550–1950: From Imperial Borderlands to Developing Nations'' Indiana University Press. {{ISBN?}}
* [[Béla Király|Király, Béla K.]], ed. (1984). ''East Central European Society in the Era of Revolutions, 1775–1856.'' {{ISBN|978-0-88-033042-8}}
* {{cite book |last=Komlos |first=John |author-link=John Komlos |title=Economic Development in the Habsburg Monarchy and in the Successor States |series=East European Monographs No. 28 |year=1990 |publisher=East European Monographs |isbn=978-0-88033-177-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/economicdevelopm0000unse_o8u2 }}
* {{cite book |last=Mazower |first=Mark |author-link=Mark Mazower |title=The Balkans: A Short History |series=[[Modern Library Chronicles]] |year=2000 |publisher=[[Random House]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0-679-64087-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/balkansshorthist00mazo }}
* {{cite book|last1=Schreiber|first1=Gerhard|last2=Stegemann|first2=Bernd|last3=Vogel|first3=Detlef|series=Germany and the 2nd World War|volume=III|title=The Mediterranean, south-east Europe, and north Africa, 1939–1941|year=1995|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GO3_aoOzTi4C|publisher=Clarendon Press|isbn=978-0-19-822884-4}}
* {{cite book |last=Stavrianos |first=L. S. |author-link=L. S. Stavrianos |others=with Traian Stoianovich |title=The Balkans since 1453 |year=2000 |orig-year=1958 |publisher=NYU Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8147-9766-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/balkanssince145300lsst }} [https://archive.org/details/balkanssince145300lsst online free to borrow]
* {{cite book |last=Stoianovich |first=Traian |title=Balkan Worlds: The First and Last Europe |year=1994 |series=Sources and Studies in World History |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |location=New York |isbn=978-1-56324-032-4}}
* [[Edna W. Underwood|Underwood, E. W.]] (1919), ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/73663 Short stories from the Balkans] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730021405/https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/73663 |date=30 July 2024 }}'', Boston: Marshall Jones Company
* {{Cite book |last=Ware |first=Bishop Kallistos (Timothy) |title=The Orthodox Church |date=29 April 1993 |edition=new |place=New York |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-014656-1 |author-link1=Kallistos Ware}}
* Zametica, John (2017). ''Folly and malice: the Habsburg empire, the Balkans and the start of World War One'' London: Shepheard–Walwyn. 416 pp. {{isbn|978-0856835131}}.

==External links==
{{Sister project links|auto=1|wikt=Balkans|s=1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Balkan Peninsula}}
* [http://www.balkaninsight.com/ Balkan Insight – Analysis from Balkans] {{Webarchive|url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20091112112435/http://www.balkaninsight.com/ |date=12 November 2009 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060617145859/http://balkanalysis.com/ Balkanalysis, in-depth research on Balkan geopolitics]
* [https://www.facebook.com/WesternBalkans Western Balkans Photo impression]
* [https://www.academia.edu/18698805/Shared_Pasts_in_Central_and_Southeast_Europe_17th_21st_Centuries_Hungarian_and_Bulgarian_Approaches._Eds._G%C3%A1bor_Demeter_Penka_Peykovska._Sofia-Budapest_2015_440_p/ ''Shared Pasts in Central and Southeast Europe, 17th–21st Centuries''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151231214418/http://www.academia.edu/18698805/Shared_Pasts_in_Central_and_Southeast_Europe_17th_21st_Centuries_Hungarian_and_Bulgarian_Approaches._Eds._G%C3%A1bor_Demeter_Penka_Peykovska._Sofia-Budapest_2015_440_p/ |date=31 December 2015 }}. Eds. G. Demeter, P. Peykovska. 2015.

{{Balkan Countries}}
{{Countries of Europe}}
{{Europe topics (small)|state=autocollapse}}
{{Music of Southeastern Europe (the Balkans)}}
{{Regions of the world}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Balkans| ]]
[[Category:Peninsulas of Europe]]
[[Category:Regions of Europe]]
[[Category:Southeastern Europe]]
[[Category:Turkish toponyms]]