Balkan state vs Balkan nation

Balkan state and Balkan nation both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
Balkan state	Yes	No	No	No
Balkan nation	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, Balkan state and Balkan nation are synonyms defined as:

Balkan state and Balkan nation: any one of the countries on the Balkan Peninsula

Other synonyms of Balkan state include Balkan country.

Balkan state (noun)	Balkan nation (noun)
any one of the countries on the Balkan Peninsula	any one of the countries on the Balkan Peninsula