This is an old revision of this page, as edited by David Parker (talk | contribs) at 10:32, 17 December 2001. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 10:32, 17 December 2001 by David Parker (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Region of southeastern Europe, usually considered to comprise Greece, Albania, Bulgaria, the European part of Turkey and the former (pre-1991) republics of Yugoslavia, with a combined area of 550,000 sq. km. and population of 53 million. Once the most developed part of Europe, in the past 550 years it has been the least developed, reflecting the shift of Europe's commercial and political centre of gravity towards the Atlantic and comparative Balkan isolation under the Ottoman Empire from the mainstream of economic advance. Principal nationalities include Serbs (11 million), Greeks (10.8 million), Turks (9.2 million), Bulgars (7 million), Albanians (6 million) and Croats (4.5 million). In recent years the region has been affected by conflict in the former Yugoslav republics, resulting in intervention by NATO forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Macedonia.