A peninsula in southeastern Europe, bounded on the east by the Black sea and Aegean sea, on the south by the Mediterranean sea, and on the west by the Adriatic sea and Ionian sea. This peninsula is carved up into little countries: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzagovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), Albania, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, and European Turkey. The northern boundary is geographically defined as the Sava River; the lower Danube River from the point at Belgrade in Serbia where Sava joins it; and a line drawn arbitrarily from the upper Sava to the Adriatic near Rijeka, Croatia.
Most of the Balkan Peninsula is mountainous, with streams flowing in every direction. The drainage area of the Danube River is the most important hydrographic feature.
Balkan history is characterized by military and political strife. Because the peninsula is politically and economically important as part of the land bridge between Europe and Asia and the overlan route from the Mediterranean sea to the Black sea, it was subjugated for centuries by a series of conquerors. Conflict between Balkan peoples and nations has been common (see the continuing Balkan civil war).