The Balkans are a gaggle of nations within the southeast nook of Europe. They’re situated on the Balkan Peninsula. Balkan is a Turkish phrase which means mountain. The Balkans embrace a number of mountain ranges. The area has been referred to as the Powder Keg of Europe as a result of many wars have begun there.
The Balkan Peninsula consists of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Montenegro. As well as, the mainland of Greece, the European a part of Turkey (japanese Thrace), and elements of Croatia, Serbia, and Slovenia are all a part of the Balkans. Most of Romania just isn’t a geographic a part of the peninsula. However Romania is usually thought-about a Balkan nation due to its shut ties with the area in historical past and politics.
Mountains cowl a lot of the peninsula. The Dinaric Alps prolong via Croatia. They proceed alongside the Adriatic Sea to Greece, the place they’re referred to as the Pindus Mountains. The Balkan Mountains stretch from the japanese border of Serbia throughout Bulgaria. The Rhodope Mountains rise in southern Bulgaria. The Danube River is the world’s chief business waterway. Different necessary rivers are the Morava, Vardar, and Maritsa.