Balkans

From the Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can change

Balkan peninsula with northwest border Soča-Krka-Sava

The Balkans is the historic and geographic name used to describe a region of southeastern Europe. The region has a combined area of 550,000 km² and an approximate population of 55 million people.^[1] The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains which run through the centre of Bulgaria into eastern Serbia.

1 Definitions and boundaries
2 Regional organizations
3 Population composition by nationality and religion
4 References
5 Other websites

[change] Definitions and boundaries

[change] Balkan Peninsula

Line stretching from the northernmost point of the Adriatic to the northernmost point of the Black Sea

The Balkans are adjoined by water on three sides: the Black Sea to the east and branches of the Mediterranean Sea to the south and west (including the Adriatic, Ionian, Aegean and Marmara seas).

[change] The Balkans

The identity of the Balkans is dominated by its geographical position; historically the area was known as a crossroads of several cultures. It has been a juncture between the Latin and Greek parts of the Roman Empire. It became an area where Orthodox and Catholic Christianity met, as well as the meeting point between Islam and Christianity. Many Jewish refugees fled here from Inquisition.

[change] Current common definition

Current political map of the Balkans. Countries firmly considered part of the region are in green; countries sometimes considered part of the region are in turquoise.

In most of the English-speaking, western world, the countries commonly included in the Balkan region are:

, but only the European section of it (traditionally called Rumelia or Eastern Thrace)

Some other countries are sometimes included in the list as well:

[change] Related countries

Other countries not included in the Balkan region that are close to it and/or play or have played an important role in the region's geopolitics, culture and history:

Austria (see also Austria-Hungary, Assassination in Sarajevo)
Cyprus (see also Cyprus dispute)
Hungary (see also Austria-Hungary)
Italy (see Triest and History of the Venetian Republic)
Russia (see History of Serbia)

[change] Regional organizations

Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA)

██ members

██ former members, joined the EU

Central European Initiative (CEI) member states

[change] Population composition by nationality and religion

Ethnic map of the Balkans prior to the First Balkan War.

The region's principal nationalities include:

Romanians (22 million)
Greeks (10.5 million)
Turks (10 million)
Serbs (8.5 million)
Bulgarians (6.6 million)
Albanians (6 million)
Croats (4.5 million)
Bosniacs (2 million)
Slovenes (2 million)
Macedonians (1.3 million)
Montenegrins (0.3 million)
others (Roma, ...)

The region's principal religions are (Eastern Orthodox and Catholic) Christianity and Islam. A variety of different traditions of each faith are practiced, with each of the Eastern Orthodox countries having its own national church.

Eastern Orthodoxy is the principal religion in the following countries:

Bulgaria (Bulgarian Orthodox Church)
Greece (Church of Greece)
Republic of Macedonia (Serbian Orthodox Church and uncanonical Macedonian Orthodox Church)
Montenegro (Serbian Orthodox Church and uncanonical Montenegrin Orthodox Church)
Romania (Romanian Orthodox Church)
Serbia (Serbian Orthodox Church)

Roman Catholicism is the principal religion in the following countries:

Croatia
Slovenia

Islam is the principal religion in the following countries:

Albania
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Turkey

The following countries have many religious groups which exceed 10% of the total population:

Albania: Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism.
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bosniacs are mostly Muslim, Serbs are mostly Serbian (Eastern) Orthodox and Croats are mostly Catholic.
Bulgaria: Islam.
Croatia: Serbs are Orthodox.
Republic of Macedonia: Albanian population is mostly Muslim.
Montenegro: Albanians and Bosniacs are Muslims.
Serbia: Albanians and Bosniacs are mostly Muslim, Hungarians, Slovaks and Croats are mostly Catholic.

For more detailed information and a precise ethnic breakdown see articles about particular states:

Albania, Demographics of Albania
Croatia, (4 million Croats, 0.2 million Serbs)
Bosnia and Herzegovina (2.1 million Bosniacs, 1.7 million Serbs, 0.7 million Croats)
Bulgaria, Demographics of Bulgaria
Greece, Demographics of Greece
Montenegro, (0.3 million Montenegrins, 0.2 million Serbs)
Republic of Macedonia, Demographics of the Republic of Macedonia
Serbia, (6.5 million Serbs, 2 million Albanians, 0.3 million Hungarians)
Turkey, Demographics of Turkey

[change] References

Banac, Ivo. Historiography of the Countries of Eastern Europe: Yugoslavia, American Historical Review, v 97 #4 (October 1992), 1084-1104.
Banac, Ivo. The National Question in Yugoslavia: Origins, History, Politics Cornell University Press, [1984].
Carter, Francis W., ed. An Historical Geography of the Balkans Academic Press, 1977.
Dvornik, Francis. The Slavs in European History and Civilization Rutgers University Press, 1962.
Fine, John V. A., Jr. The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century [1983]; The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, [1987].
John R. Lampe and Marvin R. Jackson; Balkan Economic History, 1550-1950: From Imperial Borderlands to Developing Nations Indiana University Press, 1982
Jelavich, Barbara. History of the Balkans, 2 vols. Cambridge University Press, [1983].
Jelavich, Charles, and Jelavich, Barbara, eds. The Balkans in Transition: Essays on the Development of Balkan Life and Politics since the Eighteenth Century University of California Press, 1963.
Király, Béla K., ed. East Central European Society in the Era of Revolutions, 1775-1856. 1984
Komlos, John, ed. Economic Development in the Habsburg Monarchy and in the Successor States: Essays 1990.
Mazower, Mark, The Balkans: A Short History, 2000
Traian Stoianovich; Balkan Worlds: The First and Last Europe 1994.