The personality of the Balkans owes much to its violent history, strong ditactors and to its mountainous characteristics. The term Balkans comes from the German geographer Johann Zeune who in the 19 century gave this name to the mountainous regions of modern Bulgaria, FYR of Macedonia, Albania and Greece.
After the Second World War, the Soviet Union and communism played a very important role in the Balkans which can yet be seen and felt on the daily life basis.
The region's principal religions are Eastern Orthodox, Catholic Christianity and Islam.
My presence in one of the trips to South Kosovo and Northern Macedonia in the Šar Planina region was stunned by bomb explosions, war tanks, guerrilla fighting and road hijacks in Skopje, Tetovo and Bujanovac.