Southeastern Europe Travel Guide

Athens is the capital of Greece. The city of Athens has population of 3 130 000 people.

Capitals of the countries in the Balkans region in photos. This page lists all capital cities in Southeastern Europe with their population and elevation.

Capitals of the countries on the Balkans are all located under 1000 m elevation. Ankara is the city with the highest position - 850 m over the sea level. Podgorica is only 44 m over the sea level.

Ankara also has the biggest population of 3 900 000 people, both with Athens are the biggest capital cities with population over 3 millions people, in comparison with Podgorica which has only 150 000 people. The other big capitals are Bucharest, Belgrade and Sofia with more than 1 million people.

Sofia (capital of Bulgaria)
Population: 1 400 000
Elevation: 550 m (1 804 ft)

Athens (capital of Greece)
Population: 3 130 000
Elevation: 70 - 338 m (230 - 1 109 ft)

Ankara (capital of Turkey)
Population: 3 900 000
Elevation: 850 m (2 789 ft)

Bucharest (capital of Romania)
Population: 1 932 000
Elevation: 60 - 90 m (197 – 295 ft)

Zagreb (capital of Croatia)
Population: 785 000
Elevation: 158 m (518 ft)

Sarajevo (capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Population: 304 000
Elevation: 500 m (1 640 ft)

Podgorica (capital of Montenegro)
Population: 150 000
Elevation: 44 m (144 ft)

Belgrade (capital of Serbia)
Population: 1 630 000
Elevation: 117 m (384 ft)

Tirana (capital of Albania)
Population: 616 000
Elevation: 110 m (361 ft)

Skopje (capital of Republic of Macedonia)
Population: 700 000
Elevation: 240 m (787 ft)

Ljubljana (capital of Slovenia)
Population: 268 000
Elevation: 298 m (978 ft)

Kishinev (capital of Moldova)
Population: 593 000
Elevation: 85 m (279 ft)

Prishtina (capital of Kosovo)
Population: 600 000
Elevation: 652 m (2 139 ft)

This is a list of the national flags of the countries from Southeuropean Europe and the Balkans.

Colors of the flags

The most used color in the Balkans countries flags is the red. Red color is in the national flags of 10 countries from Southeastern Europe (Bulgaria, Turkey, Romania, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Republic of Macedonia, Slovenia and Moldova).

The white color is on the national flags of 7 Balkans countries (Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Slovenia and Kosovo).

The blue color is on the national flag of 7 Southeasteuropean countries (Greece, Romania, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Slovenia, Moldova and Kosovo).

The yellow color is on the coutry flags of 5 countries from the Balkans (Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Republic of Macedonia, Moldova and Kosovo).

The green color is presented only on the national country flag of Bulgaria and the black color is only for the double-head eagle on national flag of Albania.

Animals on the flags

There are few animals on the natioanal flags and in the coats of arms or in the state emblems of the Southeasteuropean countries. We have already said about the double-head eagle on the country flag and in the state emblem of Albania. There is a double-head eagle in the flags and coats of arms of Serbia and Montenegro too. One head eagle is on the coats of arms of Romania and Moldova.

Lions are in the coats of arms of Bulgaria, Montenegro, Romania and Croatia. There are other animals too: bulls, fish, goat, fox, etc.

Elements of the flags

A crown is presented on the coats of arms of Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia and a cross on the state emblems of Bulgaria, Greece, Moldova, Montenegro and Serbia. There is a crescent on the coats of arms of Turkey, Croatia, Romania and Moldova and a star on the Turkish, Croatian, Macedonian, Romanian, Moldovian and Slovenian state emblem.

National flags

Bulgaria
Flag of Bulgaria
Colors in the flag: White - Green - Red

Greece
Flag of Greece
Colors in the flag: Blue - White

Turkey
Flag of Turkey
Colors in the flag: Red - White

Romania
Flag of Romania
Colors in the flag: Blue - Yellow - Red

Croatia
Flag of Croatia
Colors in the flag: Red - White - Blue

Bosnia and Herzegovina
Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Colors in the flag: Blue - Yellow

Montenegro
Flag of Montenegro
Colors in the flag: Red - Yellow

Serbia
Flag of Serbia
Colors in the flag: Red - Blue - White

Albania
Flag of Albania
Colors in the flag: Red - Black

Republic of Macedonia
Flag of Republic of Macedonia
Colors in the flag: Red - Yellow

Slovenia
Flag of Slovenia
Colors in the flag: White - Blue - Red

Moldova
Flag of Moldova
Colors in the flag: Blue - Yellow - Red

Kosovo
Flag of Kosovo
Colors in the flag: Blue - Yellow - White

Greece (Greek: Ελλάδα or Ελλάς), officially the Hellenic Republic (Greek: Ελληνική Δημοκρατία), is a country in Southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula. It borders Albania, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the east. The Aegean Sea lies to the east and south of mainland Greece, while the Ionian Sea lies to the west. Both parts of the Eastern Mediterranean basin feature a vast number of islands.

Greece lies at the juncture of Europe, Asia, and Africa. It is heir to the heritages of classical Greece, the Byzantine Empire, and nearly four centuries of Ottoman rule. Regarded as the cradle of western civilization and the birthplace of democracy, Western philosophy, the Olympic Games, western literature, political science, major scientific principles and drama including both tragedy and comedy, Greece has a particularly long and eventful history and a cultural heritage considerably influential in Northern Africa and the Middle East, and fundamentally formative for the culture of Europe and what may be called the West.

Modern Greece is a developed country, a member of the European Union since 1981, a member of the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union since 2001, NATO since 1952, the OECD since 1961, the WEU since 1995, and ESA since 2005. Athens is the capital; Thessaloniki, Patras, Heraklion, Volos and Larissa are some of the country’s other major cities.

Greece consists of a mountainous and craggy mainland jutting out into the sea at the southern end of the Balkans, the Peloponnesus peninsula (separated from the mainland by the canal of the Isthmus of Corinth), and numerous islands (around 2 000), including Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Chios, the Dodecanese and the Cycladic groups of the Aegean Sea as well as the Ionian Sea islands. Greece has the tenth longest coastline in the world with 14 880 km; its land boundary is 1 160 km (721 mi).

Four-fifths of Greece consist of mountains or hills, making the country one of the most mountainous in Europe. Western Greece contains a number of lakes and wetlands and it is dominated by the Pindus mountain range. Pindus has a maximum elevation of 2 636 metres (8 648 ft) and it is essentially a prolongation of the Dinaric Alps.

The range continues through the western Peloponnese, crosses the islands of Kythera and Antikythera and find its way into southwestern Aegean, in the island of Crete where it eventually ends. (the islands of the Aegean are peaks of underwater mountains that once constituted an extension of the mainland). Pindus is characterized by its high, steep peaks, often dissected by numerous canyons and a variety of other karstic landscapes. Most notably, the impressive Meteora formation consisting of high, steep boulders provides a breathtaking experience for the hundreds of thousands of tourists who visit the area each year. Special lifts transfer visitors to the scenic monasteries that lie on top of those rocks.

Meteora is situated in the Trikala prefecture. The Vikos-Aoos Gorge is yet another spectacular formation. The Vikos-Aoos Gorge is a popular hotspot for those fond of extreme sports. Mount Olympus is the highest mountain in the country, located in the southwestern Pieria prefecture, near Thessaloniki. Mytikas in the Olympus range has a height of 2 920 m (9 570 ft) at its highest peak. Once considered the throne of the Gods, it is today extremely popular among hikers and climbers who deem its height as a challenge. Moreover, northeastern Greece features yet another high altitude mountain range, the Rhodope range, spreading across the periphery of East Macedonia and Thrace; this area is covered with vast, thick, ancient forests. The famous Dadia forest is in the prefecture of Evros, in the far northeast of the country.

Expansive plains are primarily located in the prefectures of Thessaly, Central Macedonia and Thrace. They constitute key economic regions as they are among the few arable places in the country. Volos and Larissa are the two largest cities of Thessaly. Rare marine species such as the Pinniped Seals and the Loggerhead Sea Turtle live in the seas surrounding mainland Greece, while its dense forests are home to the endangered brown bear, the lynx, the Roe Deer and the Wild Goat.

Balkans 360 is a website collecting information about the Balkans and countries on the Balkans region, in a goal to become the ultimate travel and news guide to the Balkans.

On the Balkans peninsula are located the Southeast European countries Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Croatia, Republic of Macedonia, Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, Slovenia and Moldova.

Capitals of the Balkans countries are the cities Sofia, Athens, Ankara, Zagreb, Skopje, Tirana, Belgrade, Podgorica, Sarajevo, Bucharest, Ljubljana and Kishinev.

Articles on different topics like nature, people, geography, cities, resorts, tourism, sports, politics, history, economics, agriculture, hunt and fishing, water and rivers, weather and climate.

In this website will be featured information related to tourism about the museums, hotels, travel, real estate, time zones, weather forecast, road and geo maps, regional news and local events.

Balkans news agregator collects headlines from the biggest and the best Balkans news media agencies and internet portals to give you the most relevant look on the topic.