The size of the Byzantine empire fluctuated greatly between 550 and 1360. At its peak in 550, the Byzantine empire encompassed much of the Mediterranean, including parts of modern-day Turkey, Greece, Italy, and North Africa. By the mid-7th century, the empire had lost much of its territory in the east to the Arab Caliphate, and by the mid-11th century, it had lost much of its territory in the Balkans to the Bulgarians and Serbs. By the mid-13th century, the empire had regained much of its former territory, but by 1360, it had lost much of its Anatolian and Balkan territories to the Ottoman Turks. By the end of the 14th century, the Byzantine empire was reduced to a small area around Constantinople.
