Balkans

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"Balkan" redirects here. For other uses, see Balkan (disambiguation).
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Balkans

The Balkan states

   The Balkan Peninsula using the Danube–Sava–Soča border

  Political communities that are included in the Balkans [1][page  needed]

  Political communities that are often included in the Balkans [1][page  needed]

Geography

Location Southeast Europe (12 Countries)

Coordinates 42°N 22°ECoordinates:  42°N 22°E

Area 466,877 km2 (180,262 sq mi)

Highest elevation 2,925 m (9596 ft)

Highest point Musala (Bulgaria)

Administration

See below

Demographics

Population ca. 55 million (32 million only the peninsula's part)

The Balkans (/ˈbɔːlkənz/ BAWL-kənz), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, are a

geographic area in southeastern Europe with various definitions and meanings,[2]
[3]
 including geopolitical and historical. [4] The region takes its name from the Balkan
Mountains that stretch throughout the whole of Bulgaria. 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.[5] The highest point
of the Balkans is Mount Musala, 2,925 metres (9,596 ft), in the Rila mountain range,
Bulgaria.
The concept of the Balkan Peninsula was created by the German geographer August
Zeune in 1808,[6] who mistakenly considered the Balkan Mountains the dominant
mountain system of Southeast Europe spanning from the Adriatic Sea to the Black Sea.
The term Balkan Peninsula was a synonym for Rumelia in the 19th century, the
provinces of the Ottoman Empire in Southeast Europe. It had a geopolitical rather than
a geographical definition, which was further promoted during the creation of
the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in the early 20th century. The definition of the Balkan
Peninsula's natural borders do not coincide with the technical definition of a peninsula;
hence modern geographers reject the idea of a Balkan peninsula, while scholars [of
what?]
 usually discuss the Balkans as a region. The term has acquired a stigmatized and
pejorative meaning related to the process of Balkanization,[5][7] and hence the preferred
alternative term used for the region is Southeast Europe.