the countries in the Balkan Peninsula: Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia, Rumania, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, and the European part of Turkey
The Balkans is the historic and geographic name used to describe a region of southeastern Europe. The region has a combined area of 550,000 km² and an approximate population of 55 million people. The archaic Greek name for the Balkan Peninsula is the Peninsula of Haemus (ΧεÏσόνησος του Αίμου).