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BALKAN PENINSULA

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Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 258 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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BALKAN

BALKAN See also:
PENINSULA
PENINSULA (Lat. paeninsula, from paene, almost, and insula, an island)
PENINSULA , the most easterly of the three large peninsulas which See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form the See also:

SOUTHERN

southern extremities of the See also:

EUROPEAN

European See also:

CONTINENT (from Lat. continere, "to hold together "; hence " connected," " continuous ")

continent. Its See also:

AREA

area, 184,779 sq. m., is about 35,000 sq. m. less than that of the Iberian Peninsula, but more than twice that of the See also:

ITALIAN

Italian. Its See also:

NORTHERN

northern boundary stretches from the See also:

KILIA

Kilia mouth of the See also:

DANUBE (Ger. Donau, Hungarian Duna, Rumanian Dunarea, Lat. Danubius or Danuvius, and in the lower part of its course Ister)

Danube to the Adriatic See also:

Sea near See also:

FIUME (Slay. Rjeka, Rieka or Reka, Ger. St Veit am Flaum)

Fiume, and is generally regarded as marked by the courses of the See also:

rivers Danube, See also:

SAVE, or SAVA (Ger. Sau; Hungarian Szdva; Lat. Savus)

Save and Kulpa. On the E. it is bounded by the See also:

Black Sea, the Sea of See also:

Marmora, and the See also:

AEGEAN

Aegean; on the S. by the Mediterranean; on the W. by the Ionian Sea and the Adriatic. With the exception of the Black Sea See also:

COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

coast and the Albanian littoral, its shores are considerably indented and flanked by See also:

groups of islands. The Peninsula in its See also:

general See also:

CONTOUR

contour resembles an inverted See also:

PYRAMID

pyramid or triangle, terminating at its See also:

APEX

apex in a subsidiary peninsula, the See also:

PELOPONNESUS (" Island of Pelops ")

Peloponnesus or Morea. Its See also:

SURFACE

surface is almost entirely mountainous, the only extensive plains being those formed by the valleys of the Danube and Maritza, and the See also:

basin of See also:

THESSALY

Thessaly drained by the Salambria (See also:

ancient Peneus). The Danubian See also:

PLAIN (O. Fr. plain, from Lat. plenum)

plain, lying, for the most See also:

PART

part, outside the Peninsula, is enclosed, on the See also:

north, by the Carpathians; and on the See also:

south by the Balkans, from which the Peninsula derives its name. These ranges form together the See also:

GREAT

great semicircular See also:

mountain-See also:

CHAIN (through the O. Fr. citable, chcene, &c., from Lat. catena)

chain, known as the See also:

ANTI, or CAMPA

anti-Dacian See also:

SYSTEM

system, through which the Danube finds a passage at the See also:

IRON [symbol Fe, atomic weight 55.85 (0=16)]

Iron See also:

GATES, HORATIO (1728-1806)

Gates. The other mountain-systems display great complexity of formation; beginning with the Dinaric See also:

ALPS

Alps and the parallel ranges of Bosnia, they run, as a See also:

RULE

rule, from north-See also:

west to south-See also:

east; the great chain of Rhodope traverses the centre of the Peninsula, throwing out spurs towards the Black Sea and the Aegean; farther west are the lofty Shar Dagh and the mountains of See also:

MONTENEGRO

Montenegro and See also:

ALBANIA

Albania, continued by the See also:

PINDUS

Pindus range and the heights of See also:

ACARNANIA

Acarnania and See also:

AETOLIA

Aetolia. The See also:

PRINCIPAL

principal summits are See also:

OLYMPUS

Olympus (9794 ft.), overlooking the Gulf of See also:

SALONICA, SALONIKA

Salonica; Musalla (9631) and Popova Shapka (8855), both in the Rhodope system; Liubotrn in the Shar Dagh (8989); Elin, in the Perin Planina (8794); Belmeken in southern See also:

Bulgaria (chain of Dospat, 8562); Smolika in the Pindus range (8445); • Dormitor in northern Montenegro (8294); Kaimakchalan in central See also:

MACEDONIA

Macedonia (8255);and Kiona in Aetolia (8235). Owing to the See also:

DISTRIBUTION (Lat. distribuere, to deal out)

distribution of the mountain-chains, the principal rivers flow in an easterly or south-easterly direction; the Danube falls into the Black Sea; the Maritza, Mesta, Struma (Strymon), Vardar and Salambria into the Aegean.

The only considerable rivers flowing into the Adriatic are the Narenta, Drin and Viossa. The principal lakes are those of See also:

OCHRIDA (also written OKHRIDA and ACHRIDA; Turkish Ochri)

Ochrida, Prespa, See also:

Scutari and See also:

IANNINA (i.e. " the city of St John "; Gr. Ioannina; Turk Yanid; also written Janina, Jannina, and, according to its Albanian pronunciation, Yanina)

Iannina. The See also:

CLIMATE

climate is more severe than that of the See also:

SISTER

sister peninsulas, and the temperature is liable to sudden changes. The See also:

winter, though See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short, is often intensely See also:

COLD (in O. Eng. cald and ceald, a word coming ultimately from a root cognate with the Lat. gelu, gelidus, and common in the Teutonic languages, which usually have two distinct forms for the substantive and the adjective, cf. Ger. Kolte, kalt, Dutch koude

cold, especially in the Danubian plain and in See also:

THRACE

Thrace, the rigorous climate of which is frequently alluded to by the Latin poets. See also:

BITTER, KARL THEODORE FRANCIS (1867– )

Bitter north-easterly winds prevail in the See also:

SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

spring, and See also:

SNOW (in O. Eng. sndw; a common Indo-European word; cf. in Teutonic languages, Ger. Schnee, Du. sneeuw; in Slavonic snieg', Lith. snegas; Gr. vi4a, Lat. nix, nivis, whence the Romanic forms, Ital. neve, Fr. neige, &c.; Ir. and Gael. sneachd; the original

snow is not uncommon even in the See also:

low-lying districts of See also:

GREECE

Greece. The autumn See also:

WEATHER (O. Eng. weder; the word is common to Teutonic languages; cf. Du. weder, Dan. veir, Icel. ve8r, and Ger. Wetter and Gewitter, storm; the root is wa- to blow, from which is derived " wind ")

weather is generally See also:

FINE

fine and clear. See also:

GEOLOGY (from Gr. yp7, the earth, and Abyor, science)

Geology.—Broadly speaking, the Balkan Peninsula may be divided into four areas which geologically are distinct. There is a central region, roughly triangular in shape, with its See also:

BASE

base resting upon the emeeyW5 e,, ..

End of Article: BALKAN PENINSULA

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