![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/70236299_gac_gac_15453_large.jpg\")
Countries in the Balkans often share borders with one another, and historical border disputes have influenced regional dynamics. Many Balkan nations were once part of the Ottoman Empire, which has left a significant historical and cultural impact. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s resulted in violent conflicts, with lasting implications for the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Balkans are home to various ethnic groups and religions, with Orthodox Christianity, Islam, and Catholicism being the major faiths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some Balkan nations aspire to join the European Union and NATO, which has implications for their political and economic development; while others have already become members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let’s compare them by several key attributes relating to their military, size, economy and quality of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We will look at the top 3 and bottom 3 in each case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Military power <\/strong>(Global Fire Power index – 2023) 0 = Super military power and higher the number= less military power<\/p>\n\n\n\n Top 3<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bottom 3<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Population<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Top 3<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bottom 3<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Landmass<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Top 3<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bottom 3<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Education<\/strong> (UN education index – measures the expected years of schooling and mean years of schooling of the population – 0 = no Education at all and 1 = maximum Education)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Top 3<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bottom 3<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Democracy Index <\/strong>(The Economists Intelligence Unit – 2022, 10 = super democratic and 0 = dictatorship)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Top 3<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bottom 3<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n GDP<\/strong> (size of economy)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Top 3<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bottom 3<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n GDP per capita <\/strong>(size of economy relative to population)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Top 3<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bottom<\/em> 3<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n GDP per capita at Purchasing Power Parity – IMF <\/strong>(how much can people buy with money in a country)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Top 3 (2023)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bottom<\/em> 3 (2023)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Exports of goods and services (in millions of $, 2022)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Top 3<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bottom 3<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Percentage of Population Living in Poverty – Poverty Rate, World Bank<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Top 3 (with lowest poverty of population)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bottom 3 (with highest poverty of population)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Peacefulness<\/strong> (Global Peace Index 2023, 1 – 5 scale, 1 being a super peaceful utopia and 5 being a warzone)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Top 3<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bottom 3<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Happiness <\/strong>(Happiness Index, 2023, 10 being maximum happiness and 0 being totally depressed)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Top 3<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bottom 3<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Suicide Rate <\/strong>(suicides per 100,000, WHO, 2019)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Top 3 (has the least suicide)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bottom 3 (has the most suicide)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Homicide rate <\/strong>(murders per 100,000, UN)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Top 3 (with least murders)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bottom 3 (with most murders)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Healthcare Index <\/strong>(100 being amazing quality & universal healthcare and 0 being 0 healthcare, 2023)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Top 3<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bottom 3<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Life expectancy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Top 3<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bottom 3<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n CONCLUSION:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Turkey has the most economic and military power as a whole, due primarily to it\u2019s size.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Balkans is a southeastern European region that includes countries located on the Balkan Peninsula, with diverse landscapes and climates: Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey Countries in the Balkans often share borders with one another, and historical border disputes have influenced regional dynamics. Many Balkan nations […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":785899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[231,2939],"tags":[9745],"class_list":["post-823258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-balkans","category-cultureart","tag-balkans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=823258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823258\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/785899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=823258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=823258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=823258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/balkans.jpg\")
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