I'm not a Balkan but I feel like I have an alternative Balkan personality from inside . I love you guys' culture, music and I love to learn langauges. I'm fluent in Turkish and I'm learning Greek, also little bit of Albanian and Serbian here and there but my question is I don't understand where the word Balkan comes from out of all the Balkan langauges

I'm from south Serbia and I recently learned that in north Serbia they don't celebrate namedays, apart from a few remaining places in Vojvodina where it's celebrated through a religious lens.

But here where I'm from, a nameday is like a second birthday. Everyone knows of namedays and they are not at all seen as an old tradition or strictly religious celebrations.

Most people who celebrate them do so by calling over a few friends for drinks or going to a pub. Though when we were kids, most of us celebrated them just like normal birthdays. And back in the day, our grandparents celebrated them instead of birthdays, which weren't common at the time because the precise date of birth wasn't always known.

Since my mind was recently blown by the fact that northern Serbia doesn't celebrate them or barely even knows about them, what's the case in other Balkan countries? I heard in Greece it's also celebrated, but from what I understand, the celebration is more religious over there.

Do you think it will end badly of will it benefit the countries in the long run? Do you even care?

Hello, Balkaners,

I was wondering if my country, Bulgaria, is the worst in terms of road accidents (among the Balkan countries)? Everyday, literally, people die on our roads. And the problems for these incidents are various:

1) Low quality education for the different driver licenses or even corruption/ bribes to obtain specific documents by the candidates

2) Infrastructure of very bad quality and condition - pot holes everywhere, narrow tarmac, inappropriate/ missings signs, bad asphalt implementation and quality, missing marks, unsafe guardrails

3) Bad overall condition of the vehicles (irrespective of the type) - the annual vehicle checks which are mandatory are nothing but scam - on most places you just pay for a sticker and they don't check anything at all. Therefore, you can see gypsies or old people driving scandalous vehicles (rusty, rattling, smoking etc.), no issue whatsoever.

4) Corruption/ bribes on high level - our country is famous for stealing EU road funds, the companies involved are related to corrupted politicians (basically Mafia) - so they use the cheapest materials/ workforce to build the roads

5) Corrupted traffic police - many trucks are overloaded, with cheap, worn out tires, which are not stopped from driving, because the owner of the trucks bribed the local traffic police department.

In this line of thoughts, in Bulgaria we have the phenomenon "war on the road" - it is very scary and brutal to be driver here. So, I was wondering how is in your country?

Using recent census data, ancestry estimates, and diaspora research, a reasonable estimate is that there are 31–34 million South Slavs worldwide.

Approximate breakdown:

• 🇷🇸 Serbs: 8.5–9.0 million
• 🇧🇬 Bulgarians: 8.0–8.5 million
• 🇭🇷 Croats: 5.5–6.0 million
• 🇧🇦 Bosniaks: 2.5–3.0 million
• 🇸🇮 Slovenes: 2.3–2.6 million
• 🇲🇰 Macedonians: 2.0–2.5 million
• 🇲🇪 Montenegrins: 0.5–0.7 million

That includes both people living in the Balkans and those in the diaspora.

Largest South Slavic diaspora communities

1. 🇺🇸 United States: 2.2–2.7 million
2. 🇩🇪 Germany: 1.8–2.2 million
3. 🇦🇹 Austria: 0.9–1.1 million
4. 🇨🇦 Canada: 0.7–0.9 million
5. 🇦🇺 Australia: 0.55–0.7 million
6. 🇨🇭 Switzerland: 0.5–0.65 million
7. 🇸🇪 Sweden: 0.35–0.45 million
8. 🇫🇷 France: 0.3–0.4 million
9. 🇮🇹 Italy: 0.25–0.35 million
10. 🇬🇧 United Kingdom: 0.2–0.3 million

Other notable communities exist in Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, and South Africa.

In total, the South Slavic diaspora numbers roughly 8–10 million people, with another 23–24 million living in their historic homelands.

For comparison:

• Greece: ~13–14 million worldwide
• Hungary: ~14–15 million
• Romania: ~22–24 million
• South Slavs: 31–34 million

Despite the political divisions of the last century, South Slavs collectively remain one of Europe's larger ethnolinguistic communities, with a global presence spanning North America, Western Europe, Latin America, and Oceania.

ideally from your own experience as somebody who is part of the community I'm curious if there are significant differences in views and tolerance and how you find living there or why you decided to stay.

There has been an increase in the number of missing persons since the year 2000, with many cases seemingly occurring in June and July. An interesting claim is that around 90% of these people have never been found, despite extensive search efforts involving the police and other emergency services.

What do you think?

Hello, everyone
I’m planning a one-week vacation in Bosnia and Herzegovina in August. I plan to visit Sarajevo, Mostar, and Počitelj. Are there any other places with historical and natural attractions that I should visit?
Do you have any recommendations for restaurants, cafes, or other places?
Thank you in advance for your suggestions.

Moussaka doesn't taste good THERE I SAID IT FIGHT ME-

Edit:and i think pihtije tastes way better

In 2011 €1 was 140 Albanian Lek, now it’s 93.7 Albanian Lek. The euro hit historic lows this year.

In 2010 $1 was 110 Albanian Lek, now it’s 82 Albanian Lek.

In 2010 1 Romanian Lei was 31.2 Albanian Lek, now it’s 17.8 Albanian Lek.

In 2011 £1 was 162.9 Albanian Lek, now it’s 110.4 Albanian Lek.

Wow, I’ve been listening to Albanian music for about a week now, and I have to say… I’m obsessed.
I mean modern Albanian pop music, the current artists and music videos, not just older traditional songs. I don’t know how to explain it, but something about it really caught my attention.

Coming from the Caribbean, I feel like a lot of the music and videos I grew up seeing were becoming more and more focused on sexualization and certain beauty standards, and discovering Albanian music has honestly felt refreshing. There’s something about the vibe, the visuals, the energy, and the way the artists present themselves that feels different. It’s like it healed something in me that I didn’t even realize I was missing.

Now I’m genuinely curious about Albania. I really want to visit someday and experience the culture, the music, and the nightlife.
For those who live in Albania or have visited: what is the nightlife like? Are there places where someone who loves modern pop music would enjoy going out? I’d love to hear your recommendations!

Basically the title, so is this game popular in the balkans or no? I created a small discord friend group and we'd love to meet more players from different parts of europe hence why I’m posting here.