1. SECTION
The Balkan Countries

2. HISTORY
 Conquered & ruled by many groups
 Different groups continues to shape life in these areas

3. EARLY HISTORY
 600 B.C.
 Greeks founded colonies (Northern Black Sea coast)
 Romans conquered most of area (Adriatic Sea to
Danube River)
 Roman Empire Divided in late 300s A.D.
 Area became part of Byzantine Empire
 Many became Orthodox Christians at this time
 Muslim Ottoman Turks conquered Byzantine Empire
 Many people became Muslims
 Ottomans drove out in 1800s & separate kingdoms
were created

4. WWI & AFTER
 Trouble between Balkan kingdoms & neighbors led
to WWI
 1800s: Austro-Hungarian Empire took control of part of
Balkan peninsula. A man from Serbia shot the heir to
Austro-Hungarian throne, starting the war
 After WWI
 Europe’s leaders divided peninsula
 Yugoslavia created (combination of several former
independent countries under one gov’t)
 Lasted until the 1990s (conflict between ethnic & religious
groups)

5. CULTURE
 Most diverse culture area in Europe
 Large number of religions practiced & languages
spoken

6. RELIGION
 Most are Christian
 3 Types: Orthodox Christian, Roman Catholic, and
Protestant
 Large group of Muslims who follow Islam

7. LANGUAGE
 3 major:
 Slavic (related to Russian)
 Latin form (related to French, Italian, and Spanish)
 German
 Some languages are not related to these languages
 Albanian
 Roma (have own language)

8. THE BALKANS TODAY
 Recovering from weak economies from Soviet
Communist gov’t
 Poorest in Europe
 Religious & Ethnic groups have had serious
implications
 Violence
 Largest religious or ethnic groups tried to get rid of all other
groups (threatened with punishments or death)
 Known as ethnic cleansing
 Troops sent in 1995 & in 2008 fighting ended

9.  Albania: poorest; struggled since end of Soviet
period; high unemployment & crime rates
 Macedonia: once part of Yugoslavia, broke away in
1991; did so peacefully
 Slovenia: once part of Yugoslavia; joined EU in
2004
 Croatia: once part of Yugoslavia; fighting between
Croats and Serbs; many Serbs left and peace was
restored
 Bosnia & Herzegovina: peacefully since end of
ethnic & religious violence; people working to
rebuild

10.  Serbia: largest nation of former Yugoslavia; fighting
between different ethnic groups
 Kosovo: former province of Serbia; independent in
2008; mostly ethnic Albanian
 Montenegro: mountainous country separated
peacefully from Serbia in 2006
 Romania: largest of Balkan states; recovering from
years of bad gov’t; poor leaders have left gov’t and
economy in ruins
 Bulgaria: people are working to develop a capitalist
economy based on industry and tourism