Balkans

Balkans (read more on wikipedia) corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in Southeast Europe comprising (though there is no universal agreement on its components) the following countries:

• Albania
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Bulgaria
• Croatia, (only the area south of the Sava and Kupa rivers)
• mainland Greece
• Kosovo
• Montenegro
• North Macedonia
• Romania (only Northern Dobrogea)
• Serbia (only the area south of the Danube river)
• East Thrace in Turkey

The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains, spanning from the Adriatic Sea to the Black Sea. The region may alternatively be referred to as Southeast Europe. Borders and component countries of the Balkans are, however, due to many contrasting definitions, widely disputed, with no universal agreement.
In both Ottoman Turkish and modern Turkish, balkan means 'chain of wooded mountains'