The New Student's Reference Work/Balkan

Balkan (bȧl' kän ' ) (the ancient Hæmus), a mountain range that separates the waters of the lower Danube from those that flow into the Ægean Sea. The name is also given to the whole mountain system from the Adriatic to the Black Sea. The main chain has an average height of 4,000 or 5,000 feet, and rises in various parts to a height of 7,000 to 8,000 feet. Toward the east it is broken into a number of chains and ridges running parallel to each other. Scardus, the highest mountain, is 9,700 feet above the sea. Most of the rivers on the northern side flow into the Black Sea, while those on the south fall into the Mediterranean. There are many passes through the mountains, but most of them are very difficult to traverse. The mountains are mostly of granite-like rock.