Yvonne Voorhees, Age 16, Of Manti, Utah, for her question:

What are the balkans?

The name balkan was borrowed from the turkish word for mountain, and the balkan countries sprawl around the balkan mountains in southeastern europe. The entire countries of Greece, Bulgaria and Albania lie within the balkans. The European portion of Turkey and most of Yugoslavia also are balkan countries.

This rugged region covers an area a little larger than twice the state of utah. Its mountains and valleys form a peninsula, surrounded on three sides by water. Its northeastern border looks out upon the black sea. Its southeastern and southwestern shores face arms of the Mediterranean. The ragged, island dotted shores of Greece at the southern tip of the balkan peninsula dip their toes in the Mediterranean's warm, blue waters.