Which countries are Balkan?????
 

With all these talks about who are in the Balkans I am just wondering, which countries do belong to the Balkans??????? I am just interested, I would appreciate as many opinions and replies as possible, thanks.

I think we discussed this just a bit ago.... the title was "categorizing Europe". Happy searching! <BR>

Don, <BR>The Balkans are located in southeastern Europe east of Italy and the Adriatic Sea. Following WWI,the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Versailles Treaty, the Balkans consisted of two countries, Yugoslavia and Albania, with the former a predominantly Slavic Orthodox nation and Albania predominently Islamic. The Islamic influence in Albania was, and is, a remnant of its occupation by Turks during the reign of the Ottoman Empire. With the dissolution of communism in eastern Europe, the Balkans were broken up into a number of independent nations: Croatia, Bosnia-Herzogovina, Slovenia, Macedonia and a much smaller Yugoslavia made up of the provinces of Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo and finally, Albania. To get a full understanding of the geography of the Balkans , its various cultures, languages, traditions and tortured history, I'd suggest you pick up a copy of Rebecca West's monumental book Black Lamb and Grey Falcon written just prior to the outbreak of WWII.

Wes to the rescue per usual! <BR>While the standard response is Balkan = old Yugoslavia + Albania I have three small ~quibbles~. <BR> <BR>First Balkan is, perhaps, a state of mind. For example Slovenia considers itself European rather than Balkan. Croatia also has inclinations in that direction, with less justification. [These countries did not suffer Ottoman rule in the same way some of the others did. In fact much of Slovenia and Croatia belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, specifically Hungary] <BR> <BR>Second Greece is part of the Balkan peninsula and is as Balkan as the rest. [If not more so from my recent experience!] <BR> <BR>Third: Montenegro and Serbia were provinces in the old Yugoslavia. Kosovo is a province of Serbia, as is Vojodina. [probably the next flash point]. <BR> <BR>Some other reading suggestions: Kaplan's "Balkan Ghosts" and two books by the Croatian writer, Slavenka Drakulic: "How we survived communism and even laughed" and "Cafe Europa."

I agree with Sally about the three books she recommended. Really interesting all of them, and they make you think. I bought last summer "Balkan ghosts" by pure chance, and got stuck in the history. Slavenka Drakulic was recommended to me by some croatian friends that had run away from the conscription in the last war, and I have laughed a lot with her stories. <BR>enjoy them.

A good book about the Greeks is Patricia Storace's account of her year in Greece, entitled "Dinner with Persephone." <BR>

Balkan has two meanings. First, stemming from the Turkish, it means "mountains." Second, geographically, it connotes a peninsula in southeastern Europe that includes several countries -- some of which are sensitive about being included and some wish not to be included. Balkanization simply means to be divided into compartments politically and refers to the miserable conditions that have stemmed from the decline of the Ottoman Empire and the chopping up of territory after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire following World War I and the Treaty of Versailles.

Thanks to S and Wes for the brief history lesson. <BR>Elsa

Thanks to you also Al for your insight. I didn't mean to leave you out in my "thanks to S and Wes" but you and I were posting at the same time. Your response to the question was not listed when I was reading the responses to the <BR>question. <BR>Elsa

Here are the countries that are geographically, politically, culturally, and religiously Balkan <BR> <BR>Rumania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia