I remember pausing during a bus journey through the Balkans, traveling from Belgrade to Sarajevo, when I caught sight of the remains of a bathhouse by the roadside. The driver said something in Bosnian, but words scattered throughout—"bazaar," "mansion," "neighbor"—sounded familiar to me. I experienced the same feeling years later in the old bazaars of Cairo, and again in the mountain villages of Beirut—different languages, different cuisines, but a shared administrative and architectural vein. After visiting more than forty-five countries, I have noticed one thing: although the Ottoman Empire's borders have long faded into history, its traces still live on in the kitchens, architecture, and everyday languages of dozens of countries spread across three continents. In this article, I will attempt to answer the question "which countries today were once Ottoman territory" with verifiable information rather than speculation, while also correcting some frequently repeated false claims about "Ottoman lands."
In Which Year Did the Ottoman Empire Reach Its Greatest Extent?
There is no single "correct" date for this answer, as the empire experienced waves of expansion over centuries. By the time of Suleiman the Magnificent's death in 1566, the empire had already reached enormous proportions; however, territorial loss did not begin immediately. Expansion continued into the 17th century: in 1669, the conquest of Crete was completed, and in 1672, Podolia (part of present-day Ukraine) was added to Ottoman territories. Most historians agree that the Ottoman Empire reached its greatest geographic extent in 1683, the year of the Second Siege of Vienna—ironically, the failure of this siege marked the actual beginning of decline. At that time, Ottoman territories stretched across approximately 5.2 million square kilometers, encompassing dozens of today's nations.
The Balkans: Europe's Longest Ottoman Legacy
Ottoman presence in Europe began in the 14th century and lasted over 500 years in some regions. Present-day Greece (almost entirely under Ottoman control from after the conquest of Istanbul in 1453 until gaining independence in 1830), Bulgaria (under direct Ottoman administration from 1396 to 1878), Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Albania were all Ottoman provinces for extended periods. Central Hungary was also under direct Ottoman administration as the Budin Province from 1541 to 1699—the Rudas Bathhouse in Budapest still dates from that era. Romania's history is somewhat different: the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia were never directly annexed; they remained autonomous principalities paying taxes to the empire and dependent on Ottoman foreign policy. It is important not to overlook this nuance, as saying "Romania was entirely Ottoman territory" would be misleading.
The Middle East: The Legacy of Selim I
The majority of Ottoman expansion in the Middle East came during the reign of Selim I, through the Egyptian campaign of 1516-1517. Present-day Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan were added to the Ottoman Empire through this campaign and remained under Ottoman administration until the end of World War I—approximately 400 years. Iraq was also incorporated into the empire during this period, particularly when Baghdad was conquered by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1534. Israeli and Palestinian territories became part of the Damascus Province from 1517 onward. Not all of present-day Saudi Arabia, but the Hejaz region—the coastline containing Mecca and Medina—was under indirect Ottoman sovereignty through the Sharif of Mecca; although this control was sometimes loose, it lasted from 1517 until the Arab Revolt in 1916. Yemen was also directly an Ottoman province in the 16th century and again from the late 19th century until World War I.
North Africa: A Band of Autonomous Provinces
Ottoman sovereignty in North Africa differed in character from that in the Middle East. Egypt was directly conquered in 1517 and remained under the Ottoman umbrella—first under local Mamluk-derived administration, then under the dynasty of Muhammad Ali Pasha of Kavala (effectively autonomous from 1805 onward)—until 1914. Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya were established as Ottoman provinces in the 16th century, but in reality were semi-autonomous regions governed by local institutions, beys, and rulers who showed only nominal loyalty to Istanbul. Here, a correction must be made: Morocco (the Moroccan Kingdom), contrary to popular perception, was never Ottoman territory—it remained an independent sultanate, and Ottoman claims over Morocco were always limited and never realized. This distinction is important to avoid falling into the mistaken generalization that "all of North Africa was Ottoman."
The Caucasus: A Shifting Border
In the Caucasus, Ottoman sovereignty changed hands frequently as a result of centuries-long conflicts with Safavid Persia. The western portion of present-day Georgia (particularly Adjara and its surroundings) and parts of Armenia were incorporated into Ottoman provinces (such as the Çıldır Province) at different periods. However, the borders in this region were not as stable as those in the Balkans or Middle East; they expanded during periods like 1578-1590 and 1723-1730, then retreated under Safavid or Russian pressure. Azerbaijani territories similarly experienced brief periods of Ottoman control, but this was never a permanent annexation. To the north of the Black Sea, present-day Ukraine's coastal region (the Azov/Yedisan region) and the Crimean Khanate's territories long held a vassal status tied to the Ottoman Empire; although the Crimean Khanate was never directly annexed, it remained under Ottoman political patronage from 1475 until 1783.
A Frequently Confused Point: Cyprus and the "Almost" Conquered
To construct this list correctly, we must clarify both territories frequently omitted and those incorrectly included. Cyprus was added to Ottoman territories through its conquest in 1571 and remained under Ottoman administration for over 300 years, until it was leased to Britain in 1878 and formally annexed in 1914—making it one of the list's most obvious yet sometimes overlooked members. By contrast, Malta was never Ottoman territory: the great siege of 1565 was repelled by the Knights of Malta, and the island remained independent. As mentioned above, Morocco falls into the same category—it was never actually annexed at any time. Clarifying these distinctions prevents falling into the exaggerated and false generalization that "the Ottoman Empire controlled all of the Mediterranean and North Africa."
So What Remained?
Today, more than thirty independent states exist on territories once within the Ottoman Empire's greatest extent: seven in the Balkans, six in the Middle East, four in North Africa, and several more in the Caucasus and Black Sea regions. The empire itself formally ended with the abolition of the sultanate in 1922 and was succeeded by the Turkish Republic founded in 1923—meaning that only one nation is the direct political heir to this vast geography, while the rest gained independence at different times (some in the 1830s, some after World War I, some in the mid-20th century).
This is something that still amazes me in every former Ottoman territory I have visited: the Grand Bazaar in Sarajevo, the old bazaars of Aleppo (in their pre-war state), Ottoman mosques in Cairo, and historic bathhouses in Budapest are thousands of kilometers apart, yet all carry traces of the same administrative and cultural fabric. But when telling this shared history, it is equally important not to exaggerate—each border change has its own history, each land its own unique story of annexation and loss. On your next Balkan or Middle Eastern journey, I recommend asking yourself where a coffee cup, a word, or an architectural detail came from—often the answer traces back to the same place, Istanbul; but sometimes, as in the cases of Morocco or Malta, it does not lead there at all.