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Adriatic Sea

(Encyclopedia)Adriatic Sea ādrēăˈtĭk [key], arm of the Mediterranean Sea, between Italy and the Balkan Peninsula. It extends c.500 mi (800 km) from the Gulf of Venice, at its head, SE to the Strait of Otranto,...

Illyria and Illyricum

(Encyclopedia)Illyria ĭlĭrˈĭkəm [key], ancient region of the Balkan Peninsula. In prehistoric times a group of tribes speaking dialects of an Indo-European language swept down to the northern and eastern shore...

horse chestnut

(Encyclopedia)horse chestnut, common name for some members of the Hippocastanaceae, a family of trees and shrubs of the north temperate zones and of South America. The horse chestnut tree, Aesculus hippocastanum, a...

Serbia and Montenegro

(Encyclopedia)CE5 CE5 Serbia and Montenegro mŏnˌtənēˈgrō [key], Serbian Srbija i Crna Gora, former country of SE Europe, in the Balkan Peninsula, a short-lived union (2003–6) of the republics of Serbia...

Sliven

(Encyclopedia)Sliven slēˈvĕn [key], city (1993 pop. 106,958), E central Bulgaria, at the foot of the Balkan Mts. A textile center, it also produces carpets, wood and metal products, foodstuffs, and wine. Sliven ...

Muhammad II, Ottoman sultan

(Encyclopedia)Muhammad II or Mehmet II (Muhammad the Conqueror), 1429–81, Ottoman sultan (1451–81), son and successor of Murad II. He is considered the true founder of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). He completed ...

Korçë

(Encyclopedia)Korçë, Korça kōrētˈsə [key], city (1989 pop. 63,623), capital of Korçë dist., SE Albania, near the Greek border. Located in an agricultural region, it is a commercial and industrial center p...

Enver Pasha

(Encyclopedia)Enver Pasha ĕnvĕrˈ päshäˈ [key], 1881–1922, Turkish general and political leader. He took a prominent part in the Young Turk revolution of 1908, which reestablished the liberal constitution of...

Thrace

(Encyclopedia)Thrace thrās [key], region, 3,310 sq mi (8,575 sq km), SE Europe, occupying the southeastern tip of the Balkan Peninsula and comprising NE Greece, S Bulgaria, and European Turkey. Its boundaries have...

Rumelia

(Encyclopedia)Rumelia or Roumelia both: ro͞omēˈlēə [key], region of S Bulgaria, between the Balkan and Rhodope mts. Historically, Rumelia denoted the Balkan possessions (particularly Thrace and Macedonia, and ...