Editing Balkans (section)

== Population and culture ==

South Slavic languages are spoken across Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Bulgaria. Albanian is the main language of Albania and Kosovo, while Greek is spoken throughout Greece. Romanian and Turkish are used in the northern and eastern areas connected to Romania and European Turkey.

Orthodox Christianity is the largest religious tradition in much of the eastern and southern Balkans. Roman Catholic communities are concentrated in Croatia, Slovenia, and parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania. Islam has long-established communities in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, and parts of Serbia and Montenegro.

Architecture, food, music, religious institutions, and local government reflect Byzantine, Ottoman, Venetian, Habsburg, Slavic, Greek, Albanian, and Roman traditions. Mountain districts, islands, river valleys, and former imperial borderlands maintain distinct regional identities within the wider Balkan area.