The 'Republic of Serbia' (, ), is a
landlocked country in
Central and
Southeastern Europe, covering the southern part of the
Pannonian Plain and the central part of the
Balkan Peninsula. It is bordered by
Hungary on the north;
Romania and
Bulgaria on the east;
Albania and the
Republic of Macedonia on the south; and
Montenegro,
Croatia and
Bosnia and Herzegovina on the west. The capital is
Belgrade.
Once a powerful medieval
Kingdom and an
Empire (which at times ruled most of the
Balkans), the modern state of Serbia emerged in
1817 following the
Second Serbian Uprising. Later, it expanded its territory further south to include
Kosovo and Metohija and the regions of
Raška and
Vardar Macedonia (in
1912). Finally,
Vojvodina (formerly an autonomous Habsburg crownland named
Voivodship of Serbia and Tamiš Banat) proclaimed itself the autonomous region
Banat, Bačka and Baranja, and united with Serbia in
November 25,
1918, preceded by the
Syrmia region a day before. The current borders of the country were established following the end of
World War II, when Serbia became a federal unit within the
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Serbia became an independent state again in
2006, after
Montenegro left the
union which was formed after the
dissolution of Yugoslavia in 1990s.
Name
In 17th and early 20th century English works, the country was often referred to as ''Servia''.
[1][2] The usage was often resented by Serbs, who felt that the use of "Servia" linked the Serbs to the Latin ''servus'', a slave or servant.
[3] The British press stopped using the term by the 1930s, allegedly due to the efforts of ''Vojislav M. Petrović (Војислав М. Петровић'', publisher of the Serbian grammar in London.
[4] However, scholars today agree that Serbian name did not derive from word ''servus''.
The basic name,
Serboi, originates in the works of
Tacitus,
Plinius and
Ptolemy in the 1st and 2nd centuries, describing a people living north of the
Caucasus. Following the migration into
Central Europe,
White Serbs established a state called
Sorbia (
White Serbia) in the 5th century. Their arrival in the
Balkans is thought to have happened in 630, when Serbs settled among the other Slavic tribes that settled there a century earlier and mixed with them forming a medieval Serbian nation. Serbian kings were crowned as ''Kings of all Serbs'' rather than ''Kings of Serbia'', and were using the terms ''Serb lands'' rather than ''Serbia'' itself. This is due to the fact that the
Serbs mostly lived in several different tribal denominations such as
Duklja and
Travunija, rather than in one unified state; however, the first unified state was achieved under the
Vlastimirovic dynasty in the 9th century and has reemerged several times during
Serbian history.
Geography
Main articles: Geography of Serbia
Serbia is located in Europe, on the Balkan peninsula and in the
Pannonian Plain. It is placed at the crossroads between
Central,
Southern and
Eastern Europe. The
Danube river (2850 km) flows through the northern third of the country; it is 588 km long and forms the border with
Croatia and part of
Romania. The
Sava river forms the southern border of the
Vojvodina province, flows into the Danube in central
Belgrade, and bypasses the hills of the
Fruška Gora in the west. Sixty kilometers to the northeast of Belgrade, the
Tisa river flows into the Danube and ends its 1350 km long journey from
Ukraine, and the partially navigable
Timiş River (60 km/350 km) flows into the Danube near
Pancevo. The
Begej river (254 km) flows into Tisa near
Titel. All five rivers are navigable, connecting the country with ''Northern'' and ''Western Europe'' (through the
Rhine-Main-Danube Canal–
North Sea route), to ''Eastern Europe'' (via the Tisa–,
Timiş–,
Begej– and Danube–
Black sea routes) and to ''Southern Europe'' (via the Sava river).
Mountain ranges and major rivers of
Serbia
The eastern border of the country is determined by the
Carpathian Mountain range, which runs through the whole of
Central Europe. The
Carpathians meet the
Balkan Mountains, following the course of
Velika Morava, a 500 km long (partially navigable) river.
Midzor peak is the highest point in Eastern Serbia at 2156 m. In the southeast, the
Balkan Mountains meet the
Rhodope Mountains, connecting the country with
Greece. The
Sar Mountains of Kosovo form the border with
Albania, with one of the highest peaks in the region,
Djeravica (2656 m).
Dinaric Alps of Serbia follow the flow of the
Drina river (at 350 km navigable for smaller vessels only) overlooking the Dinaric peaks on the other side of the shore in
Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Over one quarter of Serbia's overall landmass (27%) is covered by forest
[5].
Climate
The Serbian
climate varies between a continental climate in the north, with cold winters, and hot, humid summers with well distributed rainfall patterns, and a more Adriatic climate in the south with hot, dry summers and autumns and relatively cold winters with heavy inland snowfall. Differences in elevation, proximity to the
Adriatic sea and large river basins, as well as the exposure to the winds account for climate differences.
[6] Vojvodina possesses typical continental climate, with airmasses from
Northern and
Western Europe which shape its climatic profile. South and Southwest Serbia is subject to Mediterranean influences, however the
Dinaric Alps and other mountain ranges contribute cooling down the biggest part of warm air masses. Winters are quite harsh in
Sandžak due to the mountains which encircle that plateau.
[7]
Average annual air temperature for the period
1961–
90 for the area with the altitude of up to 300 m amounts to 10.9
°C. The areas with the altitudes of 300 to 500 m have average annual temperature of around 10.0 °C, and over 1000 m of altitude around 6.0 °C.
[8]
Cities
Main articles: List of cities in Serbia
Major cities (over 100,000 inhabitants on municipal level) — 2002 census data.
| 'Largest Serbian cities and municipalities' |
| City | Population | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban | Municipality |
|---|---|
| Belgrade | 1,273,651 | 1,576,124 |
| Novi Sad | 215,659 | 299,294 |
| Niš | 194,790 | 250,518 |
| Kragujevac | 145,980 | 211,580 |
| Leskovac | 78,030 | 156,252 |
| Subotica | 99,471 | 147,758 |
| Zrenjanin | 79,545 | 131,509 |
| Kruševac | 75,256 | 131,368 |
| Pančevo | 77,087 | 127,162 |
| Šabac | 55,240 | 122,893 |
| Kraljevo | 57,411 | 121,707 |
| Čačak | 73,217 | 117,012 |
| Smederevo | 77,808 | 109,867 |
| Sombor | 51,471 | 97,263 |
| Valjevo | 61,035 | 96,761 |
★ The following cities in
Kosovo and Metohija, according to
World Gazetteer estimates, surpass the 100,000 mark:
Priština,
Prizren,
Djakovica,
Peć and
Kosovska Mitrovica.
National parks
Serbia has five
national parks:
★
Fruška Gora (250 km²)
★
Kopaonik (120 km²)
★
Tara (220 km²)
★
Đerdap (
Iron Gate) (640 km²)
★
Šar-planina (390 km²)
History
Main articles: History of Serbia
Upon arrival to
Balkans in the 7th century,
Serbs formed their first unified state under the
Vlastimirovic dynasty by
812. The state would achieve full independence, evolving into the
Serbian Kingdom and the
Serbian Empire under the rule of the prominent
House of Nemanjic.
Serbia reached an apogee in economy, law, military, and religion during the rule of the
House of Nemanjic, especially during
Emperor Dusan. As a result of internal struggle between the rival noble families, it succumbed fully to the
Ottoman Empire in the 16th century. The first Serbia was formed in 1217, and modern Serbia reemerged in the 19th century, when it became an independent principality and then a kingdom. In the 20th century, Serbia was a backbone of various
South Slavic states, including the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes from 1918 to 1941 (renamed the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929), the
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1992, the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1992 to 2003, and the State Union of
Serbia and Montenegro from 2003 to 2006.
[9][10][11] After
Montenegro voted for independence from the State Union, Serbia officially proclaimed its independence on
June 7,
2006, as the
successor state to the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.
Early history
Serbs settled the region by 630 AD, having been invited by the
Byzantine emperor Heraclius. They were fully converted to
Christianity by 865 AD.
[12][13] The roots of the Serbian state date back to the
7th century and the
House of Vlastimirović. A Serbian kingdom (centered around
Duklja) was established in the
11th century. It lasted until the end of the
12th century.
Medieval
Serbs formed four distinct independent kingdoms by the 14th century —
Dioclea,
Rascia,
Syrmia and
Bosnia.
[14][15][16][17] Of those, the most viable was
Raška, formed in the 12th century by the Serbian
Grand Župan Stefan Nemanja. In
1220, under
Stefan the First Crowned, Serbia became a kingdom. In
1346,
Stefan Dušan established the
Serbian Empire.
House of Nemanjić ruled over Serbia from
1166 to
1371.
Under Dušan's rule, Serbia reached its
territorial peak, becoming one of the larger states in
Europe. In
1349 and
1354, Dušan also made and enforced
Dušan's Code, a universal system of laws. By nature a soldier and a conqueror, Dušan did not make any systematic effort to stabilize or administer his gains, and the Empire began to dissolve soon after his death.
The Empire had disintegrated by the historic
Battle of Kosovo in
1389. The northern Serbian territories (the
Serbian Despotate) were conquered in
1459 following the siege of the "temporary" capital
Smederevo.
Bosnia fell a few years after Smederevo, and
Herzegovina in
1482.
Belgrade was the last major Balkan city to endure Ottoman onslaughts, as it joined Catholic
Kingdom of Hungary, following heavy Turkish defeat in
Siege of Belgrade of
1456. It held out for another 70 years, succumbing to the Ottomans in
1521, alongside the greater part of the Kingdom of Hungary that was soon conquered. Another shortlasting incarnation of the Serbian state was the one of
Emperor Jovan Nenad in the 16th-century
Vojvodina, however it also collapsed and its territory was conquered by the
Ottoman Empire, before finally passing to the
Habsburg Empire, under which it would remain for about two centuries.
Ottoman/Austrian rule
Following the collapse of
Serbian Empire before historic
Battle of Kosovo, most of Serbia was under
Ottoman occupation between
1459 and
1804, despite three
Austrian invasions and numerous rebellions (such as the
Banat Uprising).
Islam was in a period of expansion during this time, especially in
Raška, Kosovo and
Bosnia. The Ottoman period was a defining one in the history of the country; Slavic, Byzantine, Arabic and Turkish cultures suffused. Many contemporary cultural traits can be traced back to Ottoman period. However the majority of the Serbs managed to keep their culture and religion through the long period of Ottoman rule. The northern third of the modern country,
Vojvodina, endured a century long Ottoman occupation before passing to
Habsburg Empire in the end of the 17th century and beginning of the 18th century, only to proclaim secession from
Austria-Hungary in 1918.
Principality of Serbia/Crownland of Vojvodina
The
First Serbian Uprising of
1804–
13, led by
Đorđe Petrović (also known as ''Karađorđe'' or "Black George"), and the
Second Serbian Uprising of
1815 resulted in autonomy and self-governance of the new
Principality of Serbia (previously
Pashaluk of Belgrade) from the
Porte. As it was semi-independent from the Ottoman Empire, it is considered to be the precursor of the formation of
modern Serbia. After the Ottomans were definitely expelled in 1867, Serbia de facto secured its sovereignty, which was formally recognised internationally at the
Congress of Berlin in 1878.
[18]
From
1815 to
1903, the Serbian state was ruled by the
House of Obrenović, except from
1842 to
1858, when Serbia was ruled by Prince
Aleksandar Karađorđević. In 1903, the House of Obrenović was replaced by the
House of Karađorđević, who were descendants of Đorđe Petrović.
Austrian and Ottoman Serbia in 1849
In 1848, Serbs in the northern part of present-day Serbia, which was ruled by the
Austrian Empire, established an autonomous region known as the
Serbian Vojvodina. As of 1849, the region was transformed into a new Austrian crownland known as the
Vojvodina of Serbia and Tamiš Banat. Although the crownland was abolished in 1860, the Serbs from the Vojvodina region gained another opportunity to achieve their political demands in 1918.
Independent Kingdom
The struggle for liberty, modern society and a
nation-state in Serbia lasted almost three decades and was completed with the adoption of the constitution on
15 February 1835. In 1876,
Montenegro, Serbia, and
Bosnia declared war against the Ottoman Empire and proclaimed their unification. However, the
1878 Treaty of Berlin, which was signed at the
Congress of Berlin by the
Great Powers, granted complete independence only to Serbia and Montenegro, leaving Bosnia and
Sanjak of Novi Pazar to
Austria-Hungary, who blocked their unification until the
Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913 and
World War I.
Serbian casualties in
WWI almost rivalled those of
Italy, ten times its size
On
28 June 1914 the
assassination of
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria at
Sarajevo in
Austria-Hungary by
Gavrilo Princip, a South Slav unionist, Austrian citizen and member of
Young Bosnia, led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia. The
Russian Empire started to mobilize its troops in defence of its ally Serbia, which resulted in the
German Empire declaring war on Russia in support of its ally Austria-Hungary. However, as German military planners
wished to avoid a war on two fronts against both Russia and
France, they attacked France first. This eventually culminated in all the major
European Powers being drawn into the war. The Serbian Army won several major victories against Austria-Hungary at the beginning of
World War I, but it was overpowered by the joint forces of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria in 1915. Most of its army and some people went to exile to
Greece and
Corfu where it healed, regrouped and returned to
Macedonian front (World War I) to lead a final breakthrough through enemy lines on
15 September 1918, freeing Serbia again and ending the World War I on
11 November.
[19] In World War I, Serbia had 1,264,000 casualties — 28% of its total population, and 58% of its male population.
[20]
Yugoslavia and the breakup
After 1918, Serbia, along with
Montenegro, was a founding member of the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later known as the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia. During
World War II, Serbia was a German-occupied puppet state that included present-day Central Serbia and Banat, popularly called
Nedić's Serbia. However, parts of the present-day territory of Serbia were occupied by Croatian, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Albanian, and Italian armies. During that period,
Serbs,
Jews and
Roma were subjected to a large-scale genocide, particularly in the infamous
Jasenovac concentration camp, for not complying with the
Nazi and
Ustaše racial policies
[21][22]. Between 300,000 and 700,000 people, predominately of Serbian origin, have perished during the genocide. Around 32,000
Jews added to the victim count.
[23] [24]
In 1945, Serbia was established as one of the federal units of the
second Yugoslavia, the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia, led by
Josip Broz Tito until his death in 1980. In 1989, the
League of Communists of Serbia selected
Slobodan Milošević to become the republic's President. Milošević was controversial in Yugoslavia because he opposed Kosovo's autonomy and that his rise to power through the
Anti-bureaucratic revolution was done through mass protests which pushed out the leadership of the autonomous provinces and also the republic of Montenegro. He also aggravated the situation in post-Tito Yugoslavia by alleging that certain politicians in Yugoslavia were anti-Serb. Milošević's nationalist stand on Kosovo and desire to strengthen Serbia's position in Yugoslavia. The republics of Yugoslavia including Serbia all adopted multi-party systems in 1990. Milosevic and the Communist establishment were elected under the
Socialist Party of Serbia. In the other republics, except for Montenegro, secessionist governments were elected.
By 1992, Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, and Bosnia & Herzegovina had all declared independence from Yugoslavia, resulting in the collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic and the outbreak of war. Serbia, together with Montenegro, formed the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1992. Serbian government supported Croatian and Bosnian Serbs in the
Yugoslav wars from 1991 to 1995. As a result,
sanctions were imposed by the UN, which led to political isolation and economic decline.
[25]
Serbia's official peace was broken between 1998 and 1999, when the situation in Kosovo worsened with continued clashes in Kosovo between the Serbian and Yugoslav security forces and the ethnic Albanian
Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). The Serbian actions in Kosovo prompted a
NATO aerial bombardment which lasted for 78 days. The attacks were ended following a negotiation on the
Republic of Macedonia-
FR Yugoslav border between NATO spokesperson
Mike Jackson and officials on behalf of Milošević, in which Milošević would withdraw all security forces, including the military and the police, and have them replaced by a body of international police. The agreement upheld Yugoslav (later Serbian) sovereignty over Kosovo but replaced Serbian government of the province with a UN administration (See:
Kosovo War and
UNMIK). NATO also surrendered its bid to station NATO troops across the whole Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which had been one of its demands at the Rambouillet negotiations prior to the bombing campaign.
[26]
In September 2000, opposition parties claimed that Milošević committed fraud in routine federal elections. Street protests and rallies throughout Serbia eventually forced Milošević to concede and hand over power to the recently formed Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS), a broad coalition of anti-Milošević parties.
The fall of Milošević led to end of the international isolation Serbia suffered during the Milošević years. Serbia's new leaders announced that Serbia would seek to join the
European Union. In October 2005, the EU opened negotiations with Serbia for a
Stabilization and Association Agreement (
SAA), a preliminary step towards joining the
EU.Negotiations were continued after short break.
Serbia and Montenegro
From 2003 to 2006, Serbia was part of the
State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, into which the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia had been transformed. On
21 May 2006 Montenegro held a
referendum to determine whether or not to end the union with Serbia. The next day, state-certified results showed 55.5% of voters in favor of independence, which was just above the 55% required by the referendum.
[27]
Republic of Serbia
On
5 June 2006 National Assembly of Serbia declared Serbia the legal successor to the State Union, following the decision of the people of
Montenegro expressed at the independence referendum.
[28]
Government and politics
Main articles: Politics of Serbia
On
4 February 2003 the
parliament of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia agreed to a weaker form of cooperation between Serbia and Montenegro within a
confederal state called Serbia and Montenegro. The Union ceased to exist following Montenegrin and Serbian declarations of independence in June 2006.
After the ousting of
Slobodan Milošević on
5 October 2000, the country was governed by the
Democratic Opposition of Serbia. Tensions gradually increased within the coalition until the
Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) left the government, leaving the
Democratic Party (DS) in overall control. Nevertheless, in March
2004 the DSS gathered enough support to form the new
Government of Serbia, together with
G17 Plus and coalition
SPO–
NS, and the support of the
Socialist Party of Serbia, who do not take part in the government, but in exchange for the support hold minor government and justice positions and influence policies. The
Prime Minister of Serbia is
Vojislav Koštunica, leader of the
Democratic Party of Serbia.
The current
President of Serbia is
Boris Tadić, leader of the
Democratic Party (DS). He was elected with 53% of the vote in the second round of the
Serbian presidential election held on
27 June 2004, following several unsuccessful elections since
2002.
Serbia held a two-day
referendum on
October 28 and
October 29,
2006, that ratified a new constitution to replace the Milošević-era constitution.
Serbia held Parliamentary elections on
21 January 2007. The
Serbian Radical Party claimed victory, but no party has won an absolute majority.
On 8 May 2007,
Tomislav Nikolić was elected Speaker of the Serbian Parliament, which sparked a great deal of speculation about Serbia's political future, particularly from the
European Union, the
United States and international media.
[29] Following last-minute negotiations on the part of the DS and DSS political parties, an agreement was reached on the make-up of the country's new government on 11 May 2007 between DS, DSS and G17 Plus.
[30] This led to Nikolić's resignation two days later on 13 May 2007.
[31]
Administrative subdivisions
Main articles: Subdivisions of Serbia
Serbia is divided into 29
districts plus the
City of Belgrade. The districts and the city of Belgrade are further divided into
municipalities. Serbia has two autonomous provinces:
Kosovo and Metohija in the south (5 districts, 30 municipalities), and
Vojvodina in the north (7 districts, 46 municipalities). Kosovo is presently under the administration of the
United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo; international negotiations began in
2006 to determine its final status (''See
Kosovo status process'').
The part of Serbia that is neither in Kosovo nor in Vojvodina is called
Central Serbia. Central Serbia is not an administrative division, unlike the two autonomous provinces, and it has no regional government of its own. In
English this region is often called "
Serbia proper" to denote "the part of the Republic of Serbia not including the provinces of Vojvodina and Kosovo", as the
Library of Congress puts it.
[32] This usage was also employed in
Serbo-Croatian during the Yugoslav era (in the form of "uža Srbija", literally: "narrow Serbia"). Its use in English is purely geographical, without any particular political meaning being implied.
Demographics
Main articles: Demographics of Serbia
;Population statistics of Serbia (Estimate May 2005):
★ Serbia (total): 9,396,411
★
★
Vojvodina: 2,116,725
★
★
Central Serbia: 5,479,686
★
★ Kosovo: 1,800,000
Serbia is populated mostly by
Serbs. Significant
minorities include
Albanians (who are a majority in the province of Kosovo),
Hungarians,
Bosniaks,
Roma,
Croats,
Slovaks,
Montenegrins,
Macedonians,
Bulgarians,
Romanians, etc. The two provinces, Vojvodina and Kosovo, are ethnically and religiously diverse.
According to the last official census
[33] data collected in 2002, ethnic composition of Serbia is:
★ Total: 7,498,001
★
★ Serbs: 6,212,844 (82.86%)
★
★ Hungarians: 293,172 (3.91%)
★
★ Bosniaks: 136,464 (1.82%)
★
★ Roma: 107,971 (1.44%)
★
★ Yugoslavs: 80,978 (1.08%)
★
★ Others (each less than 1%): 666,572 (8.89%)
The census was not conducted in Serbia's southern province of Kosovo, which is under administration by the United Nations. Its population is estimated to 2,100,000 inhabitants, of whom 90% are Albanians, 6.3% Serbs and others form 3.7% of its population.
Refugees and IDPs in Serbia form between 7% and 7.5% of its population. With over half a million refugees (from
Croatia mainly, to an extent
Bosnia and Herzegovina too and internally displaced personal from
Kosovo), Serbia takes the first place in Europe with the largest refugee crisis, as a result of the
Yugoslav wars.
Religion
Main articles: Religion in Serbia
According to the 2002 Census
[34], 82% of the population of Serbia (excluding
Kosovo) or 6,2 million people declared their nationality as
Serbian, who are overwhelmingly adherents of the
Serbian Orthodox Church. Other
Orthodox Christian communities in Serbia include
Montenegrins,
Romanians,
Macedonians,
Bulgarians,
Vlachs etc. Together they comprise about 84% of the entire population.
Catholicism is mostly present in
Vojvodina (mainly in its northern part), where almost 20% of the regional population (belonging to different ethnic groups such as the
Hungarians,
Slovaks,
Croats,
Bunjevci,
Czechs, etc) belong to this
Christian denomination. There are an estimated 433,000 baptised
Catholics in Serbia, roughly 6,2% of the population, mostly bounded to the northern province and
Belgrade area.
Protestantism accounts for about 1,5 % of the country's population.
Islam has a strong historic populous in the southern regions of Serbia -
Raska region, several municipalities in the south-east, and especially in the southern province of
Kosovo.
Bosniaks are the largest
Muslim community in Serbia (excluding Kosovo) at about 140,000 (2%), followed by
Albanians (1%),
Turks,
Arabs etc.
With the exile of
Jews from Spain during the infamous Inquisition era thousands of both individuals and families escaping that horror made their way through Europe to the Balkans. A goodly number settled in Serbia and became part of the general population. They were well accepted and during the ensuing generations the majority assimilated or became traditional or secular rather than remain orthodox Jews as had been the original immigrants. Later on the wars that ravaged the region resulted in a great part of the Serbian Jewish population either being killed or escaping to other regions for hopefully safer abodes in Yugoslavia and Austria-Hungary.
Economy
Main articles: Economy of Serbia
With a GDP for
2007 estimated at $54.310 billion, which is $7 234 per capita
Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), ($4 800 nominal),
Republic of Serbia is considered an upper-middle income economy by the
World Bank [35]. GDP growth rate in
2006 is 5.8%.
[36] Growth in 2005 was 6.3%
[37]
FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) in 2006 was
$5.85 billion or
€4.5 billion. FDI for 2007 is currently estimated at around
$2 Billion.
Serbia has an economy based mostly on various
services,
industry and
agriculture. In the late 1980s, at the beginning of the process of economic transition, its position was favorable, but it was gravely impacted by
UN economic sanctions 1992–
95, the damage to infrastructure and industry during the
NATO air strikes in
1999, as well as having problems from losing the markets of ex-
Yugoslavia and
Comecon. Main economic problems include high unemployment and an insufficient amount of economic reforms.
Serbia grows about one-third of the world's
raspberries and is the leading frozen fruit exporter.
[38]
After the ousting of former Federal Yugoslav President Milošević in October
2000, the country experienced faster economic growth (the amount of economic growth in
2006 was 6.3 percent
[39]), and has been preparing for membership in the
European Union, its most important trading partner. Serbia suffers from high export/import trade deficit and considerable national debt. The country expects some major economic impulses and high growth rates in the next years. Serbia has been occasionally called a "Balkan tiger" due to its recent high economic growth rates, a reference to the
East Asian Tigers.
Serbia has been very successful in economic reforms since the 2000 revolution, especially in the past three years in which growth has averaged 6 – 7 percent, and foreign direct investment is at record levels.
Culture
Main articles: Serbian culture
Serbia is one of
Europe's most culturally diverse countries. The borders between large empires ran through the territory of today's Serbia for long periods in history: between the
Eastern and
Western halves of the
Roman Empire; between
Kingdom of Hungary,
Bulgarian Empire and
Byzantium; and between the
Ottoman Empire and the
Austrian Empire (later
Austria-Hungary). As a result, while the north is culturally "
Central European", the south is rather more "
Oriental". Of course, both regions have influenced each other, and so the distinction between north and south is artificial to some extent.
The
Byzantine Empire's influence on Serbia was perhaps the greatest. Serbs are
Orthodox Christians with their own national church — the
Serbian Orthodox Church. They use both the
Cyrillic and
Latin alphabets, as a result of both Eastern and Western influences. The
monasteries of Serbia, built largely in the
Middle Ages, are one of the most valuable and visible traces of
medieval Serbia's association with the Byzantium and the Orthodox World, but also with the Romanic (Western) Europe that Serbia had close ties with back in Middle Ages. Most of Serbia's queens still remembered today in
Serbian history were of foreign origin, including
Hélène d'Anjou (a cousin of
Charles I of Sicily), Anna Dondolo (daughter of the
Doge of
Venice,
Enrico Dandolo), Catherine of Hungary, and Symonide of
Byzantium.
Serbia has eight sites marked on the
UNESCO World Heritage list:
Stari Ras and
Sopoćani monasteries (included in 1979),
Studenica Monastery (1986), the Medieval Serbian Monastic Complex in Kosovo, comprising:
Decani,
Our Lady of Ljevis,
Gracanica and
Patriarchate of Pec- (2004, put on the endangered list in 2006), and
Gamzigrad - Romuliana, Palace of Galerius, added in 2007.
Tourism
Main articles: Tourism in Serbia
Tourism in Serbia is mostly based in mountains and villages. The most famous mountain resorts are
Zlatibor,
Kopaonik, and the
Tara. There also are a lot of spas in Serbia, one the biggest of which is
Vrnjačka Banja but there are also other popular spas including
Soko Banja and
Niška Banja. There is significant tourism in
Belgrade,
Novi Sad and
Niš. There are also two very popular festival called the
Exit Festival and the
Guča trumpet festival. In 2006, there have been over 2 million tourists arrivals in Serbia.
Education
Main articles: Education in Serbia
Education in Serbia is regulated by the
Serbian Ministry of Education and Sports. Education starts in either pre-schools or elementary schools. Children enroll in elementary schools () at age of 7 and it lasts for eight years. First university in Serbia was founded in revolutionarry
Belgrade in 1808 as a "Great Academy", the precursor of the contemporary
University of Belgrade. The oldest college (faculty) within current borders of Serbia dates back to 1778, in the city of
Sombor, then
Habsburg Empire.
Music
Main articles: Music of Serbia
First time it entered the competition as a sovereign nation, Serbia won the
2007 Eurovision Song Contest in
Helsinki and will thus be the host to the
2008 Eurovision Song Contest. The winning song was "
Molitva" ("Prayer" in English) sung by
Marija Šerifović. Three years before (2004),
Željko Joksimović won the second place with his song "Lane moje", while representing the abolished union of
Serbia and Montenegro.
Serbian holidays
Infrastructure
Communications
Main articles: Communications in Serbia
89% of households in Serbia have static telephone lines, 49% have computers, 27% use the internet, 42% have cable TV and 90% of the population have cell phones.
[40],
[41],
[42].
Transportation
Main articles: Transportation in Serbia
Serbia, in particular the valley of the
Morava, is often described as "the crossroads between East and West", which is one of the primary reasons for its turbulent history. The Morava valley route, which avoids mountainous regions, is by far the easiest way of traveling overland from continental
Europe to
Greece and
Asia Minor.
European routes E65, E70, E75 and E80, as well as the E662, E761, E762, E763, E771, and E851 pass through the country. The E70 westwards from Belgrade and most of the E75 are modern highways of
motorway /
autobahn standard or close to that. As of 2005, Serbia has 1,481,498 registrated cars, 16,042 motocycles, 9,626 buses, 116,440 trucks, 28,222 special transport vehicles, 126,816 tractors, and 101,465 trailers.
[43]
The Danube River,
central Europe's connection to the
Black Sea, flows through Serbia.
There are four international airports in Serbia:
Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport,
Niš Constantine the Great Airport,
Vršac International Airport and
Priština International Airport (located in Kosovo, under Serbian sovereignty but under UN administration since 1999).
The national airline carrier is
Jat Airways and the railway system is operated by
Beovoz in
Belgrade and by
Serbian Railways on the national level.
See also
★
Military of Serbia
★
List of Serbs
★
List of computer systems from Serbia
★
Radio Television of Serbia
★
Serbian Campaign (World War I)
★
Serbian law
★
Timeline of Serbian history
★
Foreign relations of Serbia
★
Serbian passport
★
Kingdom of Serbia
References
★
★
1. 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica:Servia
2. Catholic Encyclopedia used the name "Servia"
3. East Central Europe as a Politically Correct Scapegoat: The Case of Bulgaria
4. The period of Croatia within ex-Yugoslavia
5. http://www.ptica.org/engl/birds/serbia.htm
6. Serbia, ''Encyclopedia Britannica'' Online
7. Radovanović, M and Dučić, V, 2002, Variability of Climate in Serbia in the Second Half of the 20th Century, EGS XXVII General Assembly, Nice, 21 April to 26 April 2002, abstract #2283, '27':2283–, provided by the Smithsonian / NASA Astrophysics Data System
8. Basic Climate Characteristics for the Territory of Serbia, Hydrometeorologic Service of Serbia
9. Second Balkan War 1913, Lahana.org
10. Outbreak and Opening of WW1, GermanNotes.com
11. Timeline: The Former Yugoslavia, InfoPlease.com
12. Serb Medieval State of Zeta, Serb Land of Montenegro website
13. The Arrival of Slavs, the Adoption of Christianity and the Serbian State of Stefan Nemanja, Illlustrated History of the Serbs
14. Fresco of King Mihailo, Serb Land of Montenegro website
15. Serbian Medieval History: Balkan Power (1168–1321), Serbian Unity Congress
16. [1]
17. Stefan Tvrtko I Kotromanić, Projekat Rastko-Boka
18. The First Serbian Uprising, website of the Royal Family of Serbia and Yugoslavia
19. Archive of Serbia
20. [2]
21. http://www.jasenovac.org/whatwasjasenovac.php
22. http://www.pww.org/article/articleprint/10551/
23. http://www.jasenovac.org/
24. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/Jasenovac.html
25. [3]
26. [4]
27. [5]
28. [6]
29. [7]
30. [8]
31. [9]
32. Glossary — Yugoslavia, Library of Congress
33. Statistical office of the Republic of Serbia
34. [10]
35. Upper-middle-income economies
36. Economic Trends in the Republic of Serbia 2006, Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia
37. Gross Domestic Product of the Republic of Serbia 1997–2005, Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia
38. Rebranding Serbia: A Hobby Shortly to Become a Full-Time Job?!
39. Domestic consumption drives growth in Eastern Europe
40. [11]
41. [12]
42. [13]
43. [14]
External links
Government links
(In alphabetical order of domain name.)
★
People's Office of Serbian President
★
National Bank of Serbia
★
National Assembly of Serbia
★
President of the Republic of Serbia
★
The EU integration Office of Serbian Government
★
National Tourism Organisation of Serbia
★
Serbian Government
★
Republic of Serbia Statistical Office
Other links
★
CIA World Factbook profile on Serbia
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