Physical map of the Balkan Peninsula
The Balkans, or the Balkan peninsula is the historical and geographical name to designate the southeastern region of Europe that encompasses Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, the self-proclaimed independent Kosovo, the portion of Turkey on the European continent (Thrace), as well as Croatia, Romania and Slovenia. The region is named after the Balkan Mountains and extends from the east of Serbia to the Black Sea. Map 1999.
In the most commonly accepted definition, this region covers a total area of over 550,000 km². Its northern limit is set by the Danube-Sava-Kupa rivers. The relief of the Balkan Peninsula culminates at 2925 m at Mount Musala in the Rila Massif (Bulgaria); Mount Olympus (Greece) is in second position with 2,919 m. Most of the peninsula is mountainous, with average altitudes of 500 m, significant gradients, watercourses of an average length of 250 to 300 km, narrow and small watersheds (10,000 to 20 000 km²).
The plains, small and few, are located along the rivers and coasts. Four main mountain ranges, all of them dating back to the Alpine Orogeny, radiate around a central region, located around the Sar massif, south of the Kosovo Polje depression:
- The Dinaric Alps, which runs along the Adriatic Sea towards the west towards the Alps, and forms the dividing line of waters between this sea and the Danube basin;
- The Pindus mountain range, towards the south, which forms the watershed in continental Greece;
- The Balkan mountain range, eastward to the Black Sea, which forms the watershed between the Maritsa and Danube Basins;
- The Rhodope Mountains, southeast to the Aegean Sea.