Southeast Europe


Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe is a geographical region of Europe, consisting primarily of the coterminous Balkan Peninsula. There are overlapping and conflicting definitions as to where exactly Southeastern Europe begins or ends or how it relates to other regions of the continent. Sovereign states and territories that are included in the region are, in alphabetical order: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, and East Thrace. Sometimes, Moldova and Slovenia are also included. The largest city of the region is Istanbul, followed by Bucharest, Sofia, Belgrade, and Athens.
The boundaries of the region can vary greatly and are widely disputed, due to political, economic, historical, cultural, and geographical considerations and point of view of the observer.

Definition

The first known use of the term "Southeast Europe" was by Austrian researcher Johann Georg von Hahn as a broader term than the traditional Balkans, a concept based on the boundaries of the Balkan Peninsula.

Geographical Southeast Europe

Countries that are geographically, at least partially, described to be within the region are as follows:
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":
In this classification, Slovenia is included in Central Europe, Greece in Southern Europe, and Moldova in Eastern Europe.

Notable views