Balkans

noun[plural only]1

1. •
   A cultural region and peninsula in Southeastern Europe, roughly equivalent to the area covered by Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, sometimes including Romania, Moldova, Hungary, Slovenia, and European Turkey.

   • As the Ottomans' victories in the Balkans multiplied, increasing numbers of Anatolian warriors flocked to their ranks, and their territorial conquests grew. — 2002