Map of the Balkans
Map of the Balkans.
The Balkans are one of the three "peninsulas" of Southern Europe, but this traditional name is sometimes disputed in the absence of an isthmus: geographers prefer the term "region". It is bordered by seas on three sides: the Adriatic Sea and the Ionian Sea to the west, the Aegean Sea to the south and the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea to the east. To the north, it is generally defined by the courses of the Danube, Sava and Kupa. This region covers a total area of more than 550,000 km² and has a population of nearly 53 million.
The Balkans are one of the three "peninsulas" of Southern Europe, but this traditional name is sometimes disputed in the absence of an isthmus: geographers prefer the term "region". It is bordered by seas on three sides: the Adriatic Sea and the Ionian Sea to the west, the Aegean Sea to the south and the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea to the east. To the north, it is generally defined by the courses of the Danube, Sava and Kupa. This region covers a total area of more than 550,000 km² and has a population of nearly 53 million.
Share of total area (and land area in brackets) within the Balkan Peninsula by country by the Danube-Sava definition, with Bulgaria and Greece occupying almost the half of the territory of the Balkan Peninsula:
Countries entirely within the Balkan peninsula:
- Albania: 28,749 km² (100% of total land)
- Bosnia and Herzegovina: 51,180 km² (100%)
- Bulgaria : 110,993.6 km² (100%)
- Kosovo: 10,908 km² (100%)
- Montenegro: 13,810 km² (100%)
- North Macedonia: 25,710 km² (100%)
Countries mostly or partially within the Balkan peninsula:
- Croatia (southern mainland): 24,013 km² (46%)
- Greece (mainland): 110,496 km² (83%)
- Italy (Trieste and Monfalcone): 200 km² (0.1%)
- Romania (mainland Dobruja): 11,000 km² (5%)
- Serbia (Central Serbia) 51,000 km² (65%)
- Slovenia (southwestern part): 5,000 km² (25%)
- Turkey (European part): 22,764 km² (3%)