| − | The '''Balkan Peninsula''' is the area of south-east [[Europe]] bounded by the [[Adriatic Sea]] and [[Ionian Sea]] to the west, and the [[Black Sea]] and [[Aegean Sea]] to the east. It comprises [[Greece]], the European portion of [[Turkey]], [[Bulgaria]], [[Romania]], [[Albania]], [[Macedonia]], [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], [[Montenegro]], [[Croatia]], [[Serbia]], and [[Slovenia]]. It is named after the Balkan Mountains in Bulgaria. In the early 19th century the Balkan peninsula - or 'the [[Balkans]]' for short - was largely part of the [[Ottoman Empire]]. The subsequent decline of that empire led to the breaking away of smaller independent states, giving rise to the term 'Balkanization'. | + | The '''Balkan Peninsula''' is the area of southern [[Europe]] bounded by the [[Adriatic Sea]] and [[Ionian Sea]] to the west, and the [[Black Sea]] and [[Aegean Sea]] to the east. It comprises [[Greece]], the European portion of [[Turkey]], [[Bulgaria]], [[Romania]], [[Albania]], [[Macedonia]], [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], [[Montenegro]], [[Croatia]], [[Serbia]], and [[Slovenia]]. It is named after the Balkan Mountains in Bulgaria. In the early 19th century the Balkan peninsula - or 'the [[Balkans]]' for short - was largely part of the [[Ottoman Empire]]. The subsequent decline of that empire led to the breaking away of smaller independent states, giving rise to the term 'Balkanization'. |
| | * Jelavich, Barbara. '' History of the Balkans. Vol. 1, Eighteenth and nineteenth centuries'' (1983) [http://www.amazon.com/History-Balkans-Vol-Eighteenth-Publication/dp/0521274583/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243457844&sr=1-3 excerpt and text search] | | * Jelavich, Barbara. '' History of the Balkans. Vol. 1, Eighteenth and nineteenth centuries'' (1983) [http://www.amazon.com/History-Balkans-Vol-Eighteenth-Publication/dp/0521274583/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243457844&sr=1-3 excerpt and text search] |