
Originally Posted by
Wikipedia
Etymology and evolving meaning
The term Balkans is due to the Berlin geographer Johann August Zeune (1778-1853) who, in 1808, coined the term Balkanhalbinsel, which had a tremendous impact. Initially it was a purely geographical term, and referred to the mountainous regions of modern Bulgaria, Republic of Macedonia, Albania and Greece. Note that, when the term was coined, all these countries were not independent, and therefore the term had no political connotations. The German word was based on Turkish balakan 'stone, cliff', which confirms the pure 'technical' meaning of the term]
Bookmarks