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Baltics... or Balkans

For each statement, guess whether it applies to the Baltic countries, the Balkan countries or both.
Greece is counted as a Balkan nation for the purposes of this quiz
Quiz by ShadowB
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Last updated: October 4, 2024
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First submittedMarch 7, 2024
Times taken724
Average score60.0%
Rating4.50
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1. Has a higher population
Baltics ✓
Balkans ✓
The Baltics have around 6 million people; Balkans have well above 60 million
2. Consists mostly of Slavic countries
Baltics ✓
Balkans ✓
3. Has over a million people who speak an Uralic language
Baltics ✓
Balkans ✓
Both ✓
There are just about a million Hungarian speakers in Romania. The number of Estonian speakers barely scrapes the threshold as well.
4. Has hosted an Olympic event
Baltics ✓
Balkans ✓
Both ✓
1984 Winter Olympics were held in Sarajevo; The Sailing events for the 1980 Olympics were held in Estonia.
5. Has a higher GDP per capita
Baltics ✓
Balkans ✓
6. Has a mountain
Baltics ✓
Balkans ✓
Both ✓
Highest peak in the Baltics doesn't qualify as a mountain as it's less than 300 meters above the surrounding land.
7. Has held land in the Caribbean
Baltics ✓
Balkans ✓
Both ✓
Curonia (now Latvia) had a colony on the island of Tobago from 1654 to 1659.
8. Has a country that has legalised same-sex marriage
Baltics ✓
Balkans ✓
Both ✓
Both Estonia and Greece legalised it in 2024
9. Has a larger lake
Baltics ✓
Balkans ✓
10. Was controlled by a communist state at one point
Baltics ✓
Balkans ✓
Both ✓
11. Last place to be Christianized
Baltics ✓
Balkans ✓
Last crusades into Lithuania ended in the later half of the 14th century.
12. Borders the Adriatic sea
Baltics ✓
Balkans ✓
Both ✓
13. Had a country join NATO first
Baltics ✓
Balkans ✓
Greece joined NATO in 1952.
14. Has high-speed rail
Baltics ✓
Balkans ✓
Both ✓
There are a few kilometres of high-speed rail in Serbia
15. Known for fossilized tree resin
Baltics ✓
Balkans ✓
Both ✓
Amber was commonly gathered in the Baltics and sold to Western Europe
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9 Comments
ShadowB
+2
Level 61
Mar 7, 2024
Do note that I might be wrong about the Uralic language answer. According to my research efforts there are only about 910k people in Estonia who speak Estonian - it is my assumption that the number of Finnish speakers in the region balance out the missing bit (among the likely Estonian diaspora in Latvia and Lithuania).
Vivelageo
+1
Level 37
Sep 30, 2024
There definitely aren't 90 thousand Finnish speakers in the Baltic countries, and whether Romania is part of the Balkans or not is highly debatable, I personally wouldn't have included them
ShadowB
+1
Level 61
Oct 4, 2024
I did go ahead and do some additional research on the matter of Uralic languages in the Baltics. As it stands now there are 922k L1 speakers on Estonian in Estonia alone (according to Wikipedia at least). What complicates the issue is the diaspora of both Estonians and Finns. For now I decided to go ahead and remove the word "natively" from the quiz as there's no realistic way of gaining the exact number of speakers.

As for Romania not being Balkan - most common sources seem to agree with me. It certainly isn't completely on the Balkan peninsula, but it does seem to me that the labelling is more-so done based on some other criteria. As I'm not a geopolitical expert, I'll leave the decision of "what is and is not a Balkan country" to the people (Wikipedia and Britannica) that know better than I do.

Kingsfisher
+1
Level 65
Jul 25, 2024
Finally, someone pointed out the fact that sailing competitions were held in Tallin! They even have their own mascot, Vigri the Seal!
vermiciousknid
+1
Level 89
Jul 26, 2024
Good quiz! A few tricky ones in there.
tshalla
+2
Level 76
Jul 26, 2024
Last place Christianized? That's confusing, especially given Kosovo, Albania, Bosnia, and the Balkan parts of Turkey.
JWatson24
+4
Level 71
Jul 26, 2024
But those places were Christian before they were Muslim. They were among the first places to become Christian in Europe and remained so under the Byzantines, and it was really only when the Ottomans came through that they converted. The Balkans were Christian before Islam even existed.
mrputter
+1
Level 83
Jul 27, 2024
Ok, that's fair. My thinking was along the same lines as tshalla's, but your response makes sense to me. 👍
mrputter
+3
Level 83
Jul 27, 2024
It would be super helpful if there were something (perhaps in the description?) that explicitly delineated what is or is not counted as a Balkan country. It is, to be sure, mentioned that Greece is counted as such, but the northern border, and which areas up there count as "Balkan" is even more ambiguous than the inclusion of Greece.

It is perhaps the case that it wouldn't make any difference in practice (as the geographically-marginal northern areas wouldn't change any answers) but I did find myself spending quite a lot of time on each question trying to figure out what would count, and how - or if - that would affect the answers. And it would be nicer if I didn't have to spend that extra time.

Thanks! Otherwise, it's a great - and fun - quiz!

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