The Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical and cultural region of Southeast Europe. The region has its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch from the east of Bulgaria to the very east of Serbia.
The total area of the Balkans is 257,400 square miles (666,700 square km) and the total population is 59,297,000 (est. 2002).[1] The Balkans meet the Adriatic Sea on the northwest, Ionian Sea on the southwest, the Mediterranean and Aegean Sea on the south and southeast, and the Black Sea on the east and northeast. The highest point of the Balkans is mount Musala 2,925 metres (9,596 ft) on the Rila mountain range in Bulgaria.
The history of the Balkans dates to prehistoric times. Archaeological evidences indicate that the Balkans were populated before the Neolithic period.
The Balkans comprise the following territories:
Albania (28,748 km2)
Bosnia and Herzegovina (51,197 km2)
Bulgaria (110,993 km2)
Croatia (56,594 km2) - mostly not included[18]
Greece (131,990 km2)
Kosovo (disputed status) [a]
Republic of Macedonia (25,713 km2)
Montenegro (13,812 km2)
Serbia (88,361 km2
Most of the area is covered by mountain ranges running from north-west to south-east.On the Adriatic and Aegean coasts the climate is Mediterranean, on the Black Sea coast the climate is humid subtropical and oceanic, and inland it ishumid 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 region's principal religions are Christianity (Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic) and Islam . Eastern Orthodoxy is the majority religion in both the Balkan peninsula and the Balkan region. A variety of different traditions of each faith are practiced, with each of the Eastern Orthodox countries having its own national church.
- Territories in which the principal religion is Eastern Orthodoxy:
- Bulgaria (Bulgarian Orthodoxy)
- Greece (Greek Orthodoxy)
- Macedonia (Macedonian Orthodoxy)
- Montenegro (Serbian Orthodox Church and Montenegrin Orthodoxy)
- Romania (Romanian Orthodoxy)
- Serbia (Serbian Orthodoxy)
- Territories in which the principal religion is Roman Catholicism:
- Croatia (87.83% Catholics (3 897 332); according to 2001 census official data)
- Slovenia (57.80% Catholics (1 135 626); according to 2002 census official data)
- Territories in which the principal religion is Sunni Islam:
- Albania
- Kosovo[a]
- Turkey
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
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