The Balkan Peninsula Trivia Quiz

Answer: mountain

'Balkan' is a Turkish word, meaning 'wooded mountain' or 'black mountain'. The Turkish word originates from the Central Asian term 'barkhan', which denotes a crescent-shaped sand dune. The Balkan Peninsula is an almost entirely mountainous region. The average altitude varies from 470 m (Bulgaria) to 850 m (FYR of Macedonia).

The entire peninsula has an area of around 550,000 kmē and has roughly 55 million inhabitants.

Answer: Musala (Mt. Rila)

Musala (2,925 m) is the highest peak of Mount Rila, Bulgaria. Mytikas (2,918 m) is the highest point of Mount Olympus, Greece. Vihren (2,914 m) is the highest point of the Pirin Mountain in south-western Bulgaria. Triglav (2,864 m) is the highest peak of the Julian Alps, in Slovenia. Its positioning in the Balkan peninsula is somewhat controversial though.

It is interesting that the names of these high mountains reflect ancient religious beliefs connecting them to celestial gods. Thus, Mt. Olympus was the seat of Olympic gods of ancient Greeks. Musala derives its name from Mus Allah, or Allah's Mountain, while it's earlier, Bulgarian name, was Tangra. Tangra was ancient god of the skies, creator of entire universe, of Altaic peoples. Triglav (Three-headed) was a god of ancient Slavs.

Answer: Stara Planina

The Stara Planina stretches from eastern Serbia into Bulgaria. It is about 560 km long. Its highest peak is Botev 2,376 m (in Bulgaria). The term 'Balkan Peninsula' was first coined in 1808 by August Zeune, a German geographer. It is noteworthy that the peninsula got its name after the Turkish word for this mountain, and not after its Slavic name, which would have been logical considering the fact that the majority of the population was and is Slavic.

This clearly reflected aggressive aspirations of Europe's big powers towards reigning these regions, as opposed to self-governing drive of Balkan nations in the nineteenth century. Kopaonik and Suva Planina are in Serbia, Sar Planina is at the border between Serbia and Macedonia.

Answer: Morava

The Morava river system (Ibar-Zapadna Morava-Velika Morava) lies in Serbia, and with a length of 550 km it is the longest waterway in the Balkan Peninsula.

The Drina runs through Serbia and Bosnia and is 487 km long. It is formed by the rivers Piva and Tara (the latter is famous for the beautiful canyon and rafting possibilities) and it has a big electroenergetic potential of six billion kilowatt-hours.

The Marica (Maritsa, Greek: Evros), flowing through Bulgaria and constituting the border between Greece and Turkey, is 480 km long. In 1371 an important battle took place on the Marica, between invading Ottoman forces and defending Serb forces. The Serbs lost, and the Ottomans penetrated deep into the Balkans for the first time.

The Vardar (Greek: Axios), the river flowing from Skopje into the Aegean sea close to Thessaloniki, is 388 km long and found in Macedonia.

Answer: Sirocco

Catabatic winds are cold, descending winds. The Vardarac is a northern wind blowing down the valley of Vardar. The Kosava (Koshava) is strong wind in Serbia, blowing from south-east.
The Bura (Italian: Bora) is a very strong catabatic wind on the Adriatic coast, the strongest below Mount Velebit in Croatia. In 2006 a wind speed of 235 km/h was measured on the Croatian island Pag. The Sirocco ("Yugo" in Serbo-Croatian) comes from the Sahara. Blowing over the Mediterranean Sea, it becomes wet bringing clouds, humidity and rain. It is a warm, anabatic (ascending) wind.

Answer: to divide a country into small, ineffectual parts

'To balkanize' means 'to divide into small, quarreling, ineffectual parts'. The term is a reference to the general political situation in the Balkans between the Congress of Berlin (1878) and the Second Balkan War (1913), when the European part of the Ottoman Empire (Rumelia) was split into small states that were often in a state of war.

But this process essentially echoed the competing and antagonistic interests of the big powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Great Britain, France and Russia) in the Ottoman heritage in Balkans.

Answer: The First Serbian Uprising

The First Serbian Uprising (1804-1813) represented a national liberating and anti-feudal revolution of Serbian people. Although it was crushed in the end, it paved the way to the Second Serbian Uprising in 1815, that eventually led to the independence.

The Greek Independence War(1821-1831)led, with the help of European powers, to an independent Greece in 1832. The April Uprising was the Bulgarian insurrection against the Ottomans that lasted from April to May of 1876. Bulgaria got its independence in 1878.

The League of Prizren was an Albanian political movement, created on June 10, 1878 (three days before the Congress of Berlin, discussing the issue of new Balkan states), with the goal of achieving an independent Albanian state. Albania was later created in 1912, after the Balkan Wars, and after enormous pressure from Austria-Hungary and Great Britain on Serbia, Montenegro and Greece to pull out their occupying troops from these lands liberated in war with the Ottoman Empire.

Answer: Bulgaria

This isn't the only thing that can confuse people and cause considerable misunderstanding. The word 'ne' means 'no' in Serbian and 'yes' in Greek. So watch out when you travel!

Answer: Greeks

The Greeks are the most numerous of the Balkan peoples (around 10.5 million), followed by Serbs (9.5 million) and Bulgarians (6.5 million). The overall majority of inhabitants are of Slavic origin (around 27 million out of around 45 million). The language spoken most widely in the Balkans is Serbo-Croatian, spoken by more than 16 million people.

Answer: Eastern Orthodox Christianity

The majority of the Balkan people belong to Eastern Orthodox Christianity (Greeks, Serbs, Bulgarians, Macedonians, Montenegrins). Majority of Albanians and Turks, and some 40% of population of Bosnia and Herzegovina are Muslims. Croats and Slovenes are mostly Catholic.

The religious differences played a major role in the processes of constituting national states in the 19th century, as well as in the processes of balkanization.

Answer: Danube, Sava and Kupa

There is more than one definition as to what constitutes the northern border of the Balkan Peninsula. The line formed by the rivers Danube, Sava and Kupa is perhaps the most widely used. Also used are the lines Danube-Sava-Krka-Socha, Danube-Sava-Ljubljana-Trieste and others.

Answer: Taurus Mountains

The Rhodopes Mountains (Golyam Perelik 2,191m) lie mostly in Bulgaria.

The Dinaric Alps (Prokletije 2,692m) are a mountain range that is around 650 km long, along the eastern Adriatic coast. It is the third biggest mountain range in Europe, after the Alps and the Scandinavian Mountains.

The Pindus Mountains (Smolikas 2,637m) are a 160 km long mountain range in northern Greece.

The Taurus Mountains are in southeastern Turkey (Aladaglar, 4,000 m).

Answer: Corso

Karst, Kras and Carso are the German, Serbocroation and Italian names for this landscape. This landscape is formed by the dissolution in water of calcium-carbonate bedrock. Characteristic formations are clints, grikes, disappearing and reappearing springs, limestone pavements, poljes (basins), caves, sinkholes etc. Corso is a term for the pedestrian street.

Answer: Postojna

Postojna cave (Postojnska jama) is a very beautiful, 20 km long carst cave system in Western Slovenia. It was discovered in the 17th century. Endemic Proteus anguinus ('Human fish') live in the cave and so does a species of blind salamander. Resava cave is in Eastern Serbia. Krapina is in northern Croatia, where remains of Neanderthal people were found. Vjetrenica is a carst cave system in the region of Herzegovina in southern Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Answer: circle

Almost all Balkan nations dance traditional dances in circular formation (called 'kolo', or circle, in Serbocroatian), whereby people dance holding each other by the hand, thus forming a closed circle. This is a very old tradition that has its mythical roots in symbolic defending the (dancing) community from evil spirits. Kolo is especially well developed in the Central Balkans, and is today well preserved in the popular activity of numerous folklore groups.

There are male kolos, female kolos and mixed kolos, where the structure is man-woman-man-woman etc.

There are numerous very elaborate stepping patterns.

Answer: Ohrid

Lake Ohrid is the deepest and oldest lake in the Balkans (from the Pliocene, about 5 million years ago). It is a tectonic lake found in Macedonia. Lakes of similar origin are rare in the world, the most notable examples being Lake Baikal in Russia and Lake Tanganyika in Africa. Lake Ohrid represents a unique ecosystem harboring more than 200 endemic species.

The Black Drim River flows from Lake Ohrid into the Adriatic Sea. The other answer options are also lakes in Central Balkans.

Answer: Skadar

Lake Skadar (Albanian: Skutari) is the largest lake in the Balkans, with an area of 370-530 km2, depending on the water level. It is shared by Montenegro and Albania. The lake was formed as a crypto-depression. The river Moracha fills the lake while the river Boyana drains it. Lake Skadar is one of the biggest bird reserves in Europe, with almost 300 species.

Answer: foehn

Maltemi is a strong northern wind in the Aegean region, mostly in summer, that is strongest in the afternoons. It can reach 7 to 8 Beaufort.

The Maestral is a mild daily westerly wind in the Adriatic region that blows from the sea onto the coast. It is the result of the daily warming of the coast relative to the sea.

As already said, the Sirocco is a wind that comes from the Sahara, bringing rain and big waves.

The Foehn is a hot and dry wind descending from the leeward side of the Alps.

Answer: Beaufort High

Most of the Balkans has a continental climate, with a Mediterranean climate on its coasts. The weather conditions are influenced by three major weather systems - Siberian High, Azores High and Icelandic Low.

The Azores High is an anticyclonic high pressure system (sea-level pressure 1024 mbar) near the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean. It brings warm and dry weather in summer.

The Icelandic Low is a cyclonic low-pressure system near Iceland in northern Atlantic, cyclonic activity bringing rain and moisture.

The Siberian High is an anticyclonic system (sea-level pressure often above 1040 mbar, with record of 1083.8 mb!) of cold dry air that accumulates above Eurasia in winter (November-March). The air in Siberian High is often colder than - 40 Celsius. It is responsible for cold winters in Balkans.

Beaufort High is an anticyclone that is formed above the Beaufort Sea, north of northwestern Canada.

Answer: Gipsy

The Serbo-Croatian term 'vlah' illustrates the complicated ethnic history of the Balkans well. In the Middle Ages the term was used to describe the old Balkan population (romanized Illyrians, Thracians and Celts) that retreated to the mountains and to Adriatic islands during Great Shift of nations in 6th and 7th centuries. They eventually became shepherds, so the term has gradually acquired the meaning of shepherd as an occupation.

After the Ottoman conquest, Christians were to a greater extent marginalized in mountainous areas, thus also becoming shepherds, or 'vlahs' for the newly Islamized population.

Vlahs in eastern Serbia, however, are a separate ethnic group, culturally and linguistically linked to Romanians. There are many geographic toponyms reflecting this history, like Mount Vlasic in Bosnia, region Stari Vlah in Serbia, Mount Romania in Bosnia etc.

Answer: Great Kazan

The Iron Gate (Djerdapska Klisura) is a 134 km-long system of gorges in the Danube, forming part of the border between Romania and Serbia. The main gorges are Golubac Gorge (14.5 km long, 230 wide on the narrowest part), Gospodin Vir (15 km long, 220 m wide) and Great Kazan (Kazan means 'kettle' in Serbian), with a length of 19 km (together with the Small Kazan) and the narrowest point of 150 m.

The Danube is 54 m deep here. In 105 AD, before his conquest of Dacia (Romania), the Roman emperor Trajan erected a bridge (Trajan's Bridge) here. Today the Iron Gate is a national park in Serbia. Lepenski Vir is the archeological site in the Iron Gate, where exciting ichtiomorphical (piscine) Mesolithic figures were excavated (the peak of the Lepenski Vir Culture was between 5300 BC and 4800 BC). Rich findings in Lepenski Vir indicate the high cultural level of these early Europeans.

Answer: Vinca

Some 15 km east of Belgrade, near the village of Vinca (pronounced Vincha), the first urban settlement in Europe was built in the 6th millennium BC. This is earlier than the first urban settlements in Mesopotamia. It was the main settlement of the Neolithic Vinca culture, discovered by Miloje Vasic in 1908.

The site was excavated from 1918-1934. The Vinca culture flourished between the 6th and 3rd millennium BC in the wider Balkan area, stretching also into Asia Minor and Central Europe. The Kostolac culture is a culture from the Copper Age that succeeded the Vinca culture.

The Butmir Culture is also a Neolithic culture, in Bosnia, dating around 2,500 BC. Butmir is near Sarajevo. It is noteworthy that near Krapina (North-western Croatia), archeologist Dragutin Gorjanovic-Kramberger discovered what is today the biggest fossil site of the Neanderthal man.

He found over eight hundred fossil remains. They are dated to be around 100,000 years old. On the other site near Vindija, Croatia, a 38,000 year old bone fragment was found in 1980. Analysis showed that Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens share about 99.5% of their DNA.

Answer: Democracy

Democracy (from the Greek words demos or 'people' and kratos 'rule') was a political system developed by the ancient Greeks in Athens, during the first millennium BC. Liberalism is an English political thought developed during the 18th and 19th centuries. Socialism was developed in France, Germany and England during 19th century. Fascism was developed in Italy during the 1920s.

Answer: Maquisards

The entire Balkans fell under Nazi occupation in 1941. However, strong liberation movements soon developed in many parts of the Balkans, and by 1944 vast territories were freed. The strongest antifascist movements were the partisans of Yugoslavia, led by Marshal Tito, but strong movements also developed in Greece and later in Albania.

The EAM (Ethniko Apeleftherotiko Metopo), was the main resistance movement in Greece.

NLM was the National Liberation Movement of Albania. The maquisards were the rural guerrilla movement in France.

Answer: Dinaric

Physical anthropology divides races according to various physical measurements. The Dinaric variety of the Caucasian race is tall, relatively robust, with long legs, brachicephalic, brown eyes, and hair dark brown. The nose is large and convex. It is prototyped in the Western Balkans, and got its name from the Dinaric Mountain Range. Nordic, Alpine and Mediterranean are other types of Caucasians.