Kalmar "Balkan" na iya samun ma'anoni daban-daban dangane da mahallin, amma yawanci tana nufin wani yanki a kudu maso gabashin Turai wanda ya hada da kasashe irin su Albania, Bosnia da Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Girka, Kosovo, Montenegro, Arewacin Macedonia. , Romania, Serbia, da Slovenia.Za a iya amfani da kalmar nan "Balkan" don kwatanta wani nau'i na ƙasa, wanda ke da tuddai masu kauri, kwazazzabai masu zurfi, da dazuzzuka masu yawa. A ma’ana ta alama, a wasu lokuta ana amfani da kalmar “Balkanization” don bayyana tsarin raba yanki ko kungiya zuwa ƴan ƙarami, galibi masu adawa, ƙungiyoyi ko ƙungiyoyi.A cikin mahallin tarihi, kalmar Balkan. ana kuma iya amfani da shi wajen yin nuni ga yankunan Balkan na Daular Ottoman ko kuma yakin Balkan na farkon karni na 20, wanda ya hada da yawancin kasashen yankin.