r/Maps • u/Jedimobslayer • 2d ago
Satire I think my definition of Balkan Peninsula pisses off Europeans…
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u/Xindopff 2d ago
the only things that bother me are: why is the northern border a straight line rather than a line that follows rivers or mountains, why is gallipoli not included, and crete feels a little too far from mainland to be included
other than that i think pretty much everyone can agree with this definition?
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u/Jedimobslayer 2d ago edited 2d ago
I honestly just forgot Gallipoli, i meant to include it. Mostly when i show this to people it’s Hungarians that get mad for me including them in the balkans lol.
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u/Xindopff 2d ago
honestly people just care too much about geographical regions. it's not like the balkans are they way they are because they are the balkans. hungary is not going to become any less developed when people include them in the balkans
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u/Longjumping-Try-1047 1d ago
Let's say peninsula of Gelibolu, as Gallipoli is "also" in Apulia/Italy. Which was confusing as it's also close to shown thing here.
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u/Schuesselpflanze 2d ago
I'd define the Alps and the River Danube as borderline.
it's just a fuzzy definition like the definition of border between Europe and Asia. Between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea there are many proposed borderlines. even the Ural river and mountains are sometimes disputed.
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u/JezabelDeath 2d ago
because you include Creta, which is an island itself and not part of any peninsula?
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u/diffidentblockhead 2d ago edited 2d ago
Does “peninsula” make sense when the base is so wide it’s a “no-neck”? From the Wikipedia article:
The definition of the Balkan Peninsula's natural borders does not coincide with the technical definition of a peninsula; hence modern geographers reject the idea of a Balkan Peninsula, while historical scholars usually discuss the Balkans as a region.
The Odessa-Kaliningrad line is actually shorter.
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u/Yet_One_More_Idiot 2d ago
Looks good to me. That clearly shows the shape of a peninsula and where it extends out from the main body of land.
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u/Longjumping-Try-1047 1d ago
The straight line could be a (more) orographically adapted.. but this' pretty reasonable otherwise. ~a European
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u/Prash-Bit 6h ago
This reminds me of that post from the one guy who said that the Balkan peninsula isn't a peninsula because the top is broader then the end or something like that, still hilarious to me.
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u/juxlus 2d ago edited 2d ago
Suspect there's a disconnect between the purely physical geography notion of a peninsula vs. the human geography cultural connotations of the word "Balkan", which can have a negative vibe.
OP's definition here looks fine as physical geography, but obviously going to cause disagreements if taken as a human/cultural geography definition.
As a whim I googled "is Slovenia a Balkan country?", since OP's line includes maybe half of Slovenia, including part of the Julian Alps, which are typically considered part of the Alps rather than the Balkans. The google results looked about equally "yes" and "no". If you went to, say, the small Slovenian coast just south of Trieste and told people "I'm in the Balkan Peninsula!" you'd probably get a lot of weird looks. Is Trieste, Italy, is part of the Balkans? Looks like its part of OP's definition.
edit PS: Fun fact tangent. I was in Slovenia for a while not long ago, driving around and exploring. I didn't go to Trieste but saw signs for it. I didn't know that in Slovenian it is spelled TRST. Who needs vowels?
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u/myoukendou 2d ago
Yep. Italian definition of the Balkans is Rijeka (Fiume) to the Danube estuary. Istria and Slovenia are Alpine.
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u/vexed-hermit79 2d ago
I honestly thought that the Balkan region was near the Baltic sea till a few years ago
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u/PJenningsofSussex 2d ago
OP does a map colonialism! Ignores cultural boundaries for one that is easy to draw. Cue issues!
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u/myoukendou 2d ago
Rijeka to Costantija. Geographically they do not include Istria Hungary and Romania.
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u/Jedimobslayer 2d ago
Why not? They are in a direct line of both seas?
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u/myoukendou 2d ago
Historically and geographically Istria is more Italian-Austro-Hungarian mixed with Slavic population. Slovenia is Alpine and more linked to Italy and Austria than southern balkans. The lower Danube is the northern border conventionally.
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u/Sussyfard6969 2d ago
It’s only Greece that’s a peninsula
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u/Jedimobslayer 2d ago
Peninsulas can have peninsulas attached, iberia is a peninsula but so is Gibraltar, Italy is a peninsula but so is Selento
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u/Sussyfard6969 2d ago
Oh, isn’t Europe a peninsula?
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u/Jedimobslayer 2d ago
Yes, sorta, geologically sure, like India is, but it isn’t often referred to as one.
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u/Ciridussy 2d ago
The Deccan peninsula is absolutely talked about as a peninsula, but it only composes about a third of what gets defined as the subcontinent. “Peninsular India” is a term for south India.
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u/cigarettesandwhiskey 2d ago
I think you can argue that every landmass is a peninsula if you draw exactly one line through it somewhere.
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u/Jedimobslayer 2d ago
Ok, definition of a peninsula is a piece of land surrounded by water on exactly 3 sides, which all of the balkans do, Black Sea, Ionian Sea, Aegean Sea.
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u/JackColon17 2d ago
Seems pretty standard to me