Southeast EuropeorSoutheastern Europe (SEE) is a geographical sub-regionofEurope, consisting primarily of the region of the Balkans, as well as adjacent regions and archipelagos. There are overlapping and conflicting definitions of the region, due to political, economic, historical, cultural, and geographical considerations.
Sovereign states and territories that may be included in the region are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece (alternatively placed in the broader region of Southern Europe), Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania (alternatively placed in Eastern Europe), Serbia, and the European part of Turkey (alternatively placed in the broader region of Southern Europe, also in Western Asia with the rest of the country). Sometimes, Cyprus (most often placed in West Asia), Hungary (most often placed in Central Europe), Moldova (most often placed in Eastern Europe) and Slovenia (most often placed in Central Europe) are also included due to cultural or historical factors and affiliation.
The largest cities of the region are Istanbul, Athens, Bucharest, Sofia, and Belgrade.
The first known use of the term "Southeast Europe" was by Austrian researcher Johann Georg von Hahn (1811–1869) as a broader term than the traditional Balkans,[1] a concept based on the boundaries of the Balkan Peninsula. Countries described in 2004 by Istituto Geografico De Agostini as being entirely within the Balkan region, are: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Montenegro, and North Macedonia.[2])
However from the 1990s onwards, in part due to the negative historical and political connotations of the term Balkans,[3] especially since the military conflicts of the 1990s in Yugoslavia in the western half of the region, the term Southeast Europe is becoming increasingly popular.[4][5]
The German Ständige Ausschuss für geographische Namen (Standing Committee on Geographical Names), which develops and recommends rules for the uniform use of geographical names, proposes two sets of boundaries. The first follows international borders of current countries. The second subdivides and includes some countries based on cultural criteria.[6] The following countries are included in their classification "Southeastern Europe":
In this classification, Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia are included in Central Europe, while Turkey (East Thrace) is classified outside of main Europe.
In the CIA World Factbook, the description of each country includes information about "Location" under the heading "Geography", where the country is classified into a region. The following countries are included in their classification "Southeast Europe":[7]
In this classification, Moldova is included in Eastern Europe and Greece is included in Southern Europe.[8][9] Hungary and Slovenia are included in Central Europe.[10]
Media related to Southeastern Europe at Wikimedia Commons
