ABSTRACT
The Balkan area has been a region of diversity from the ethnic and religious point of view. Ethnic and religious diversity has been a modern phenomenon for some countries, as a result of recent immigration and the subsequent incorporation of these groups into the main population. Apart from ethnic diversity, religious diversity has been equally salient in the Balkans. All three monotheist religions have been present in the area for centuries. With respect to Judaism, Sephardic Jews were expelled from Spain and Portugal in the 1490s after Ferdinand and Isabella defeated the Muslim Moors and established Spain as a militantly Catholic country. The Ottoman Muslims regarded the Jews with favour as 'people of the book', and part of the monotheistic tradition that eventually led to the creation of Islam. Finally Islam has been present in the Balkans from the 13th century and the spread of the Ottoman Empire.
