describe the areas that were included in the Byzantine Empire?

Question

what did the areas look like?

Answer 1

The Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used since the 19th century to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire of the Middle Ages, centered around its capital of Constantinople. In certain specific contexts, usually referring to the time before the fall of the Western Roman Empire, it is also often referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire. To its inhabitants, the Empire was simply the Roman Empire (Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων - Basileia tōn Rhōmaiōn) and its emperors continued the unbroken succession of Roman emperors. During much of its history it was known to many of its Western contemporaries as the Empire of the Greeks because of the dominance of Greek language and culture. In the Islamic world it was known primarily as روم‎ (Rūm).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Empire

the link has a pretty good map so check it out.

Answer 2

The Byzantine Empire was the Greek dominated Empire of the middle ages. At its peak the Byzantine Greeks were centered in the Greek east (the old Greek world) and controlled the Balkans, the Greek peninsula, Sicily, Italy, Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, North Africa and a small part of Spain.
As the Empire decline -through the centuries- the area of its control reduced in the Greek mainland and the Greek provinces of Asia minor.

Answer 3

Thats a big question.
Byzantines referred to themselves as "Romans", and that is also how the arabs called them.
Thye Byzantine (aka "western Roman") empire included (look at current map): Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, northern Sudan, Israel/Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, about half of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Turkey, the Crimea, Bulgaria, Roumania, Yugoslavia (Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Croatia), Greece, Albania, Hungary, southern part of Italy, Cyprus.
They fell because their politicians were so busy fighting between themselves that they did not notice the muslim invasion. And even after they noticed, they decided on negotiations. it took 500 years of negotiations to destroy Byzantium