The Balkans, corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the whole of Bulgaria. The Balkan Peninsula is bordered by the Adriatic Sea in the northwest, the Ionian Sea in the southwest, the Aegean Sea in the south, the Turkish straits in the east, and the Black Sea in the northeast. The northern border of the peninsula is variously defined. The highest point of the Balkans is Musala, 2,925 metres (9,596 ft), in the Rila mountain range, Bulgaria.
Ivo Andrić was a Yugoslav novelist, poet and short story writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1961. His writings dealt mainly with life in his native Bosnia under Ottoman rule.
A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-caffeinated beverages. A coffeehouse may also serve food, such as light snacks, sandwiches, muffins, fruit, or pastries. In continental Europe, some cafés also serve alcoholic beverages. Coffeehouses range from owner-operated small businesses to large multinational corporations. Some coffeehouse chains operate on a franchise business model, with numerous branches across various countries around the world.
The Military Frontier was a borderland of the Habsburg monarchy and later the Austrian and Austro-Hungarian Empire. It acted as the cordon sanitaire against incursions from the Ottoman Empire.
Central Serbia, also referred to as Serbia proper, is the region of Serbia lying outside the autonomous province of Vojvodina to the north and the autonomous province of Kosovo and Metohija to the south. Central Serbia is a term of convenience, not an administrative division of Serbia as such, and does not have any form of separate administration.
Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe (SEE) is a geographical subregion of Europe, consisting primarily of the cultural region of 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.
Bosanska Krajina is a geographical region, a subregion of Bosnia, in western Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is enclosed by a number of rivers, namely the Sava (north), Glina (northwest), Vrbanja and Vrbas. The region is also a historic, economic and cultural entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, noted for its preserved nature and wildlife diversity.
Ćevapi, ćevapčići is a grilled dish of minced meat found traditionally in the countries of southeast Europe. It is considered a national dish of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, with Bosnia and Herzegovina taking steps in branding and placing them on the entity and a state list of intangible heritage, with a nomination for inclusion on the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage under way. The ćevap is also common in Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Slovenia.
This article is about the Demographic history of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and deals with the country's documented demographics over time. For an overview of the various ethnic groups and their historical development, see Ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Macedonian cuisine is the traditional cuisine of North Macedonia. It is influenced by Ottoman and Balkan cuisines. The relatively warm climate of the country provides excellent growth conditions for a variety of vegetables, herbs and fruits. Macedonian cuisine is also noted for the diversity and quality of its dairy products, wines, and local alcoholic beverages, such as rakija. Tavče gravče and mastika are considered the national dish and drink of North Macedonia.
"?" is the oldest, still operational traditional tavern in Belgrade, Serbia. Located at 6 Kralja Petra Street, the building is nearly 200 years old. One of the city's best known landmarks, "?" offers traditional Balkan cuisine with starogradska music being played there.
Sima Ćirković was a Yugoslav and Serbian historian. Ćirković was a member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts, the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts, the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts and the Vojvodina Academy of Sciences and Arts. His works focused on medieval Serbian history.
Tourism in Serbia is officially recognized as a primary area for economic and social growth. The hotel and catering sector accounted for approximately 2.2% of GDP in 2015. Tourism in Serbia employs some 120 000 people, about 4.5% of the country's workforce. In recent years the number of tourists is increasing. In 2019, tourism generated an income of nearly $1.698 billion, hosting 1.85 million tourists. Chinese tourists were the most numerous visitors, followed by tourists from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Germany. In 2022, tourism earnings surged to $2.71 billion and almost 2 million tourists visited the country. Major destinations for foreign tourists are Belgrade, Novi Sad and Niš, while domestic tourists prefer spas and mountain resorts. Eco-friendly and sustainable tourism has also become very popular among domestic tourists, with many visiting various nature reserves and parks in the western and southern part of the country. Serbia is also known for gastronomic tourism, with Belgrade being the central meeting point with over 2000 restaurants, coffee shops, bars and nightlife venues.
The Vilayet Printing House, originally named Sopron's Printing House, was the official printing house of the Ottoman Vilayet of Bosnia from April 1866 until the occupation of the province by Austria-Hungary in August 1878. It was the second printing house that operated in the territory of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, founded in Sarajevo almost 350 years after the Goražde printing house ceased its activity. Its founder was Ignjat Sopron, a publisher and printer from Zemun, who sold the establishment to the Government of the Vilayet of Bosnia in October 1866. Its foundation happened in the context of modernising and Europeanising Tanzimat reforms in the Ottoman Empire. Its principal aim was to issue an official gazette of the vilayet and publish textbooks for the elementary schools of Bosnian Serbs and Croats, thus stopping their import from the Principality of Serbia and the Austrian Empire.
In former Yugoslavia, coffee drinking is an important cultural practice. Coffee culture has a long history, dating back to the Ottoman period. The distinct type of coffeehouse in former Yugoslavia is the kavana/kafana, and the traditional form is the "Turkish coffee" (unfiltered).
Vlachs was a social and fiscal class in several late medieval states of Southeastern Europe, and also a distinctive social and fiscal class within the millet system of the Ottoman Empire, composed largely of Eastern Orthodox Christians who practiced nomadic and semi-nomadic pastoral lifestyle, including populations in various migratory regions, mainly composed of ethnic Vlachs, Serbs and Albanians. From the middle decades of the 17th century the amalgamation of the process of sedentarization of the Orthodox Vlachs and their gradual fusion with Serbian rural population reached a high level and was officially recognized by the Ottoman authorities.
The Mataruge were a medieval Albanian tribe which originally lived in Old Herzegovina and southern Dalmatia. Their name is attested in historical record for the first time in 1222 in the Pelješac peninsula of Dalmatia. Throughout the 20th century, they were considered to have stopped existing as a separate community during the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans in the 15th century. Modern research in the Ottoman archives showed that they had dispersed throughout the western Balkans following Ottoman conquest and formed settlements in other areas. By 1477, a part of them lived in the kaza of Prijepolje, where they formed their own distinct community (nahiye) with 10 villages (katund). One of their leaders appears in the defter to have been a Vojko Arbanash. Other Mataruga communities had moved in central Croatia and Bosnia. Over time they became culturally integrated in the surrounding communities of their new homelands. Families who trace their origin to the tribe are found today in all countries of the western Balkans.
Balkan Jews refers to Jews who live or lived in the Balkans.
The vibrant and dynamic nightlife in Belgrade achieved international prominence in the early 21st century. Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, gained a reputation both due to the traditional nightlife, mostly represented by the kafanas, and the contemporary, modern nightlife, especially including splavovi, barges and floats adapted into the clubs and cafés. Belgrade often makes the lists of the cities with best clubbing and partying, discreetly shaping itself into the fun and accommodating metropolis.
