Serbia

Republic of Serbia
*Република Србија*
*Republika Srbija*
Republic of Serbia Република Србија; Republika Srbija
	Flag Coat of arms
	Anthem: Bože pravde; God of Justice
	Location of Serbia (orange) in Europe (white) – [Legend] Location of Serbia (orange) in Europe (white) – [Legend]
Capital and largest city	Belgrade
Official languages	Serbian
Recognised regional languages	Hungarian, Slovak, Romanian, Croatian, ; Rusyn 1
Government	Parliamentary republic
• President	Boris Tadić 3
• Prime Minister	Vojislav Koštunica
Establishment
• First state	7th century
• Serbian Kingdom	1217
• Serbian Empire	1345
• Independence lost 4	1459
• First Serbian Uprising (Statehood)	February 15, 1804
• De facto independence	25 March 1867
• De jure	13 July 1878
• Unification	25 November 1918
• Republic of Serbia	June 5, 2006
Area
• Total	77,474 km2 (29,913 sq mi) (113th)
• Water (%)	0.13
Population
• 2008 estimate	8,150,000 (80th)
• 2002 census	7,498,0005
• Density	115/km2 (297.8/sq mi) (94th)
GDP (PPP)	2007 estimate
• Total	$64.1 billion (World Bank) (66th)
• Per capita	$8 264 (81st)
Gini (2007)	.24; low
Currency	Serbian dinar6 (RSD)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Calling code	381
ISO 3166 code	RS
Internet TLD	.rs (.yu)7
	1 All spoken in Vojvodina.. ; ³ Second term in office; 4 To the Ottoman Empire and Kingdom of Hungary; 5 Does not include the figures for Kosovo ; 6 The Euro is used in Kosovo alongside the Dinar. ; 7 .rs became active in September 2007. Suffix .yu; will exist until September 2009.

The Republic of Serbia ([Република Србија / Republika Srbija] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help), listen^ⓘ), 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 to the north; Romania and Bulgaria to the east; Albania; Republic of Macedonia to the south; Montenegro, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to the west. The capital is Belgrade.

For centuries shaped at cultural boundaries between East and West, a powerful medieval Kingdom, later Serbian Empire, has been born, taking up much 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 its secession from Austria-Hungary, 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. In 2008, the autonomous province of Kosovo declared independence from Serbia, but Serbia's government does not recognize Kosovo's independence.

Geography

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 Noial 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, alongside the Wallachian Plain in the east. 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 Pančevo. 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).

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. Midžor 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 Šar Mountain 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.^[1]

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.^[2]

Vojvodina possesses typical continental climate, with air masses 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 because of the mountains which encircle that plateau.^[3]

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.^[4]

National parks

File:KOPAONIKMONTSERBIA.jpg

Ski centre of Kopaonik

Serbia has 5 national parks:

Fruška Gora (250 km²)
Kopaonik (120 km²)
Tara (220 km²)
Đerdap (640 km²)
Šar-planina (390 km²) - in Kosovo and Metohija

History

Serbia's strategic location between two continents has subjected it to invasions by many peoples. Belgrade is believed to have been leveled to the ground by 30 different armies in recorded history. Contemporary Serbia comprises the classical regions of Moesia, Pannonia, parts of Dalmatia, Dacia and Macedonia. Under nominal Serbian rule since the 7th century (having been allowed to settle in Byzantium by its emperor Heraclius after their victory over the Avars),^[5] through early history various parts of the territory of modern Serbia have been claimed or ruled by: the Roman Empire (conquered the indigenous Celts and Illyrians); the Western- and the Eastern Roman Empires (challenged by the incursions of the Huns, the Ostrogoths, the Gepidae, the Sarmatians, the Avars, the Serbs, the Frankish Kingdom, the Great Moravia, the Bulgarians). No less than 17 Roman Emperors were born in Serbia.^[6]

Medieval Serb kingdoms and the Empire

Serbs formed their first unified state under the Vlastimirovic dynasty by 812, at times disrupted by the wars with the aforementioned states. By the beginning of the 14th century Serbs lived in four distinctly independent kingdoms- Dioclea, Rascia, Bosnia and Syrmia.^[7]^[8]^[9]

At first heavily dependent on the Byzantine Empire as its tributary, in time the most powerful of the Serb states -Raška (Rascia) achieved full independence, overtaking the Kingdom of Duklja, which had previously dominated the Serbian lands between 11-12th centuries. The centre of the Serb world (Raska, Duklja, Travunia, Zahumlje, Pagania and Bosnia) moved northwards, further from the Adriatic coast. Although fully converted already by 865 AD,^[10]^[11] this relocation to the north and east also meant the shift towards the Eastern Orthodox rather than Catholic faith (initially predominant in the south following the East-West Schism).

The Serbian apogee in economy, law, military, and religion took place during the rule of the House of Nemanjić between 1166 and 1371; the Serbian Kingdom was proclaimed in 1217, joined later by the Kingdom of Syrmia, Banovina of Mačva and Bosnia; finally, the Serbian Empire of Stefan Dušan was formed in 1346. Under Dušan's rule, Serbia reached its territorial peak, becoming one of the larger states in Europe. The renowned Dušan's Code, a universal system of laws, was enforced.

Golubac fortress overlooking the Danube river

As a result of internal struggle between the rival noble families, and heavy losses inflicted by the Ottomans in the epic Battle of Kosovo, the Serbian Empire dissolved into many statelets by the beginning of the 15th century. Throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, constant struggles between various Serbian kingdoms on one side, and the Ottoman Empire on the other side, were taking place. The Serbian Despotate fell in 1459 following the siege of the "temporary" capital Smederevo, followed by Bosnia a few years later, and Herzegovina in 1482. Montenegro was overtaken by 1499. Belgrade was the last major Balkan city to endure Ottoman onslaughts, as it joined the Catholic Kingdom of Hungary. Serbs, Hungars and European crusaders heavily defeated the Turkish in Siege of Belgrade of 1456. Several Serbian despots ruled in parts of Vojvodina as vassals of the Hungarian kings with the title of Hungarian barons. After repelling Ottoman attacks for over 70 years, Belgrade finally fell in 1521, alongside the greater part of the Kingdom of Hungary. Islam was in a period of expansion, especially in the southwest (Raška, Kosovo and Bosnia).

Ottoman/Austrian rule

Early modern period saw the loss of Serbia's independence to the Kingdom of Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, interrupted shortly by the revolutionary state of the Emperor Jovan Nenad in the 16th century. Modern Times witnessed the rise of the Habsburg Monarchy (known as the Austrian Empire, later Austria-Hungary), which fought many wars against the Ottoman Turks for supremacy over Serbia. Three Austrian invasions and numerous rebellions (such as the Banat Uprising) constantly challenged the Ottoman rule. Vojvodina endured a century long Ottoman occupation before ceded to Habsburg Empire in the 17th-18th centuries by the decision of the Treaty of Karlowitz (Sremski Karlovci). As the Great Serb Migrations have depopulated most of Kosovo and Serbia proper, the Serbs seeking refuge in more prosperous (and Christian) North and West were granted imperial rights by the Austrian crown (such as Statuta Wallachorum in 1630). Holy Roman Emperor Leopold formally granted the Serbs the right to their autonomous crownland. It speeded up the migrations of Serbs into Austria, as the Ottoman rule in the South grew ever more brutal.

Serbian revolution and independence

File:Zastava 1ustanak.jpg

Flag of revolutionary Serbia

The quest for independence of Serbia began during the Serbian national revolutions (1804-1815), and it lasted for several decades. During the First Serbian Uprising led by Karađorđe Petrović, Serbia was independent for almost a decade before the Ottoman army could reoccupy the country. Shortly after this, the Second Serbian Uprising began; led by Miloš Obrenović, it ended in 1815 with a compromise between the Serbian revolutionary army and the Ottoman authorities. Famous German historian Leopold von Ranke called these uprisings "the Serbian revolution".^[12] They were the easternmost bourgeois revolutions in the 19th-century world.^[13] Likewise, Principality of Serbia abolished feudalism- second in Europe after France.^[14]

Franz Joseph I of Austria, the Grand Duke of Vojvodina

The Convention of Ackerman (1828), the Treaty of Adrianople (1829) and finally, The Hatisherif of 1830, recognised the suzerainty of Serbia with Miloš Obrenović I as its hereditary Prince.^[15] The struggle for liberty, modern society and a nation-state in Serbia was crowned by the first constitution in the Balkans on 15 February 1835 (replaced by a more conservative Constitution in 1838). In two following decades (temporarily ruled by the Karadjordjevic dynasty) the Principality actively supported the neigbouring Habsburg Serbs in the 1848 revolutions. Interior minister Ilija Garašanin published The Draft (of the South Slavic unification), which became the stand point of Serbian foreign policy from mid- 19th century onwards.

Following the clashes between the Ottoman army and civilians in Belgrade in 1862 and pressured by the Great Powers, by 1867 the last Turkish soldiers left the Principality. By enacting a new constitution without consulting the Porte, Serbian diplomats confirmed the de facto independence of the country. In 1876, Montenegro and Serbia declared war against the Ottoman Empire, proclaiming their unification with Bosnia. Formal independence of the country was internationally recognized at the Congress of Berlin in 1878, which formally ended the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78; this treaty, however, prohibited Serbia from uniting with Principality of Montenegro, and placed Bosnia and Raška region under Austro-Hungarian occupation to prevent the unification from happening.^[16]

Rise of the Kingdom/Crownland of Vojvodina

From 1815 to 1903, Serbia was ruled by the House of Obrenović (except from 1842 to 1858, when it was led by Prince Aleksandar Karađorđević). In 1882, Serbia, ruled by King Milan, was proclaimed a Kingdom. In 1903, the House of Karađorđević (the descendants of the revolutionary leader Đorđe Petrović) assumed power. Serbia was the only country in the region that was allowed by the Great Powers to be ruled by their own domestic dynasties. During the Balkan Wars (1912-1913), the Kingdom of Serbia tripled its territory by acquiring Macedonia, Kosovo, and parts of Serbia proper.

As for Vojvodina, during the 1848 revolution in Austria, Serbs of Vojvodina 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 abolished in 1860, Habsburg emperors claimed the title Großwoiwode der Woiwodschaft Serbien until its unification with the Kingdom of Serbia in 1918.

World War I and the birth of the "First Yugoslavia"

File:Kralj Petar I Karadjordjevic.jpg

King Petar I Karađorđević leader of the Serbian Campaign (WWI)

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 Kingdom of Serbia. In defense of its ally Serbia the Russian Empire started to mobilize its troops , which resulted in the German Empire declaring war on Russia (in support of Austria-Hungary). The retaliation by Austria-Hungary against Serbia activated a series of military alliances that set off a chain reaction of war declarations across the continent in what would become World War I within a month period.

The Serbian Army won several major victories against Austria-Hungary at the beginning of World War I, such as the Battle of Cer and Battle of Kolubara - marking the first Allied victories against the Central Powers in WWI.^[17] Despite initial success eventually 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.^[18] Serbia (with its major campaign) was a member of the Entente which won World War I in November 1918. The country was militarilly classified as minor Entente power.^[19]

Casualties

8% of the total Entente victims were Serbian soldiers

Prior to the war Kingdom of Serbia had 4,5 million inhabitants.^[20] According to the New York Times, in 1915 alone 150,000 people are estimated to have died during the worst typhus epidemics in world's history; aided by the American Red Cross and 44 foreign governments, the disease was supressed by the end of the year.^[21] According to FirstWorldWar.com, the number of civilian deaths is estimated at 650,000, primarily due to the typhus outbreak and famine, but also direct clashes with the occupiers.^[22] Kingdom of Serbia ranked first among the Entente powers by the percentage of military deaths; 8% of the total Entente military deaths or 58% of the Serbian Army (420,000 strong) has perished during the conflict.^[23] The total number of casualties ranges between 700,000 and 800,000- over 20% of Serbia's prewar size, and over ¼ of its male population. L.A.Times and N.Y.Times placed the figure at over one million in their respective articles.^[24]^[25]

The extent of the Serbian demographic disaster can be illustrated by the statement of the Bulgarian Prime Minister Vasil Radoslavov: "Serbia ceased to exist" (New York Times, summer 1917).^[26] In July 1918 the US Secretary of State Robert Lansing urged the Americans of all religions to pray for Serbia in their respective churches. ^[27] ^[28]

Kingdom of Yugoslavia

Syrmia region was the first among former Habsburg lands to declare union with the Kingdom of Serbia on November 24 1918.
Banat, Bačka and Baranja- (Vojvodina)- joined the Kingdom on the next day.
- On November 26 1918, Kingdom of Montenegro declared its unification with the Kingdom of Serbia.
  - On 1 December 1918, the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs and the Kingdom of Serbia joined the unitary Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Kingdom of Yugoslavia). King Peter I of Serbia became King Peter I of Yugoslavia.

World War II and persecution of Serbs

Coup d'état and "Nedić's Serbia"

The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was in a precarious position in World War II. Fearing an invasion by Nazi Germany, Yugoslav Regent Prince Paul signed the Tripartite Pact with the Axis powers on 25 March 1941, triggering massive demonstrations in Belgrade. On March 27, Prince Paul was overthrown by a military coup d'état (with British support) and replaced with the 17-year-old King Peter II. General Dušan Simović became Peter's Prime Minister and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia withdrew its support for the Axis.

In responce to this Adolf Hitler launched an invasion of Yugoslavia on April 6. By 17 April, an unconditional surrender was signed in Belgrade. After the invasion, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was dissolved and Serbia was set up as a Nazi German-occupied puppet state. In 1941, Serbia included present-day Central Serbia and the Banat. This German client state was popularly known as "Nedić's Serbia" due to its head of state, Milan Nedić. While this state formally recognized King Peter II of Yugoslavia as its monarch, he insted headed the Yugoslav government in exile which was generally recognized by the Allies.

Not all of what is present-day Serbia was included as part of "Nedić's Serbia." Some of the contemporary Republic of Serbia was occupied by the Kingdom of Croatia, the Regency of Hungary, the Kingdom of Bulgaria, the Kingdom of Albania, and Fascist Italy. In addition to being occupied by the (Wehrmacht), from 1941 to 1945, Serbia was the scene of a civil war between Royalist Chetniks commanded by Draža Mihailović and Communist Partisans commanded by Josip Broz Tito. Against these forces were arrayed Nedić's relatively week units of the Serbian Volunteer Corps and Serbian State Guard.

File:IM000818.jpg

Memorial signs with Serbian claims of victim counts, situated on the Republika Srpska side of the Sava river

"Nedić's Serbia" was the home of several Nazi concentration camps, including: Banjica, Crveni krst, Sajmište, and Topovske Šupe. These camps were typically operated by the Germans with assistance from local collaborators.

Persecution of Serbs in wartime-Croatia

Camps were not just set up in Serbia, but were located throughout what had been the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Serbs, Jews, and Roma in the neighboring Independent State of Croatia (Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, or NDH, or Kingdom of Croatia) were subjected to large-scale persection and killings, particularly in the infamous Jasenovac concentration camp. United States Holocaust Encyclopedia^[29] and Jewish Virtual Library^[30] estimate that there were between 53,000 and 96,000 Serb victims in Jasenovac and between 330,000 and 390,000 killed in throughout this state. The Yad Vashem center reports that over 500,000 Serbs were killed in the entire NDH ^[31], with some 600,000 people of many nationalities and ethnicities murdered in one camp Jasenovac. ^[32] After the war, the official Yugoslav sources estimated over 700,000 victims, mostly Serbs.^{[clarification needed]}^{[citation needed]}

SFRJ, the "Second Yugoslavia"

In 1945, Serbia was established as one of the federal units of the "Second Yugoslavia," the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia (Socijalistička Federativna Republika Jugoslavija, or SFRJ). The SFRJ was led by Josip Broz Tito, a Croat, until his death in 1980. Lazar Koliševski, a Macedonian, became President briefly upon Tito's death and was followed by others who also held office briefly as the slowly SFRJ dissolved.

In 1989, the League of Communists of Serbia selected Slobodan Milošević to become the President of Serbia. 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 which installed politicians allied to Milošević. Milošević also aggravated the situation in post-Tito Yugoslavia by alleging that certain politicians in Yugoslavia were anti-Serb. His pressure to change the constitution to limit Kosovo's autonomy and endorsing a one-member-one-vote system in the Yugoslav League of Communists congress which would give a numerical majority to the Serbs deteriorated relations in the League of Communists which collapsed along republican lines. With Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina all working to secede from the SFRJ, and no official leadership of the SFRJ from 1991 to 1992, the President of Serbia was essentially the same as being the President of Yugoslavia.

SRJ, the "Third Yugoslavia" and the Kosovo War

By 1992, Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina had all declared independence from Yugoslavia, resulting in the collapse of the SFRJ and the outbreak of war. In response, Serbia and Montenegro formed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Savezna Republika Jugoslavija, or SRJ). The Serbian government initially supported the Serbs of Croatia and the Bosnian Serbs in the Yugoslav wars fought from 1991 to 1995. As a result, sanctions were imposed by the United Nations, which led to political isolation and economic decline of the SRJ.^[33]

In 1995, the Dayton Agreement was signed in Paris, France. This agreement ended the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the war in Croatia. For the time being, the SRJ was officially at peace.

Between 1998 and 1999, Serbia's official peace was broken when the situation in Kosovo worsened with continued clashes in Kosovo between the Serbian and Yugoslavian security forces on one side and the ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) on the other. What became known as the Kosovo War prompted "Operation Allied Force." This operation included aerial bombardment of Serbia by forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The bombings lasted for 78 days. The bombings were ended following negotiations on the border between the Republic of Macedonia and the SRJ. The negotiations were held between NATO spokesperson Mike Jackson and SRJ officials speaking on behalf of Milošević. It was agreed that Milošević would order the withdrawal of all SRJ security forces, including the military and the police, and agree to have them replaced by a body of international police. The agreement upheld Yugoslavian (later Serbian) sovereignty over Kosovo but replaced Serbian government of the province with a UN administration, the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). NATO also agreed to end its demand to station NATO troops across the whole of the SRJ. This had been one of its demands at the Rambouillet negotiations prior to the bombing campaign.^[34]

Democracy/State Union

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 (Demokratska opozicija Srbije, or DOS). The DOS was a broad coalition of anti-Milošević parties. On 5 October, 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 (EU). In October 2005, the EU opened negotiations with Serbia for a Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA), a preliminary step towards joining the EU.

From 2003 to 2006, Serbia became part of the "State Union of Serbia and Montenegro." This union was the successor to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SRJ).

On 21 May 2006, Montenegro held a referendum to determine whether or not to end its union with Serbia. The next day, state-certified results showed 55.4% of voters in favor of independence. This was just above the 55% required by the referendum.^[35]

Republic of Serbia

On 5 June 2006, following the referendum in Montenegro, the National Assembly of Serbia declared the "Republic of Serbia" to be the legal successor to the "State Union of Serbia and Montenegro." ^[36] Serbia and Montenegro became separate nations. However, the possibility of a dual citizenship for the Serbs of Montenegro is a matter of the ongoing negotiations between the two governments.

From 1918 to 2006 Serbia was a major component of the 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.^[37]^[38]

Government and politics

File:DomNarodneskupstine.jpg

National Assembly 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.^[39] 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.^[40] This led to Nikolić's resignation two days later on 13 May 2007. Nikolic is replaced by Oliver Dulić.

Administrative subdivisions

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 has declared self-independence but is still 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); Kosovo self-declared its independence on 17 February 2008, which Belgrade opposes.

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.^[41] 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

File:Serbiaetno03.png

Ethnic map of Serbia according to the 2002 Census

Population statistics of Serbia (Estimate May 2005)

Serbia (total): 9,396,411
- Central Serbia: 5,479,686
- Vojvodina: 2,116,725
- Kosovo:est. 1,800,000

Serbia (excluding Kosovo) in 2002

Serbs			82.86%
Hungarians			3.91%
Bosniaks			1.82%
Roma			1.44%
Yugoslavs			1.08%
Other			9.79%

Serbia is populated mostly by Serbs. Significant minorities include Albanians (who are a majority in the province of Kosovo), Hungarians, Bosniaks, Roma, Croats, Czechs and Slovaks, Montenegrins, Macedonians, Bulgarians, Romanians, etc. The two provinces, Vojvodina and Kosovo, are ethnically and religiously diverse.

According to the last official census^[42] 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%)

According to the poll conducted on 1 January 2006 by the Yugoslav Survey Society Serbia had 7,395,600 inhabitants - a 1.5% decrease comparing to the 2002 Census.^[43]

The census was not conducted in Serbia's southern province of Kosovo, which is under administration by the United Nations. According to the EU estimates however, the overall population is estimated at 1,350,000 inhabitants, of whom 90% are Albanians, 8% Serbs and others 2%.There are also around 200,000 Serbian and other refugees,who are expelled from Kosovo. Refugees and IDPs in Serbia form between 7% and 7.5% of its population – about half a million refugees sought refuge in the country following the series of Yugoslav wars (from Croatia mainly, to an extent Bosnia and Herzegovina too and the IDPs from Kosovo, which are the most numerous at over 200,000) ^[44] Serbia has the largest refugee population in Europe.^[45]

Cities

File:BoroRamizi.jpg

Priština, The "BoroRamizi" building

File:Petrovaradinskatvrdjavamq3.jpg

Petrovaradin fortress and Novi Sad

Major cities (over 50,000 inhabitants in urban area) — 2002 census data (2005/2006 data for Novi Sad/Belgrade^[46]).

City	Population
City	Urban	Metropolitan
Belgrade	1,304,219	1,689,667
Novi Sad	255,071	333,895
Niš	236,722	252,131
Kragujevac	147,473	211,580
Subotica	99,471	147,758
Zrenjanin	79,545	131,509
Leskovac	78,030	156,252
Smederevo	77,808	109,867
Pančevo	77,087	127,162
Kruševac	75,256	131,368
Čačak	73,217	117,012
Užice	63,577	83,022
Valjevo	61,035	96,761
Kraljevo	57,411	121,707
Šabac	55,240	122,893
Vranje	55,052	87,288
Novi Pazar	54,604	85,249
Sombor	51,471	97,263

The following are major cities (over 50,000 inhabitants in urban area) in Kosovo and Metohija, according to World Gazetteer estimates: Priština (271,532), Prizren (171,464), Uroševac (101,353), Djakovica (100,311), Peć (97,250), Gnjilane (94,990), Kosovska Mitrovica (88,006), Podujevo (50,642).

- Following the decision of the National Assembly of Serbia to allow the formation of 23 cities in Serbia by passing the Territorial Organization Law, the list is further expanded. Save for the abovementioned cities which number over 100,000 in metro area, the towns like Sremska Mitrovica, Zaječar, Jagodina, Požarevac and Loznica have also gained city rights for special strategic (and historic) reasons.^[47]

Religion

Serbia (excluding Kosovo) in 2002
religion			percent
Eastern Orthodoxy			84.1%
Roman Catholicism			6.24%
Islam			4.82%
Protestantism			1.44%

For centuries straddling the religious boundary between Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism, joined up later by the penetration of Islam, Serbia remains one of the most diverse countries on the continent. Centuries on, different regions of Serbia remain heavily cosmopolitan: Kosovo province houses a 90% Muslim community, Vojvodina province is 25% Catholic or Protestant, while Central Serbia and Belgrade regions are over 90% Orthodox Christian.

File:STUDENICA MONASTERY.jpg

Studenica monastery

Among the Eastern Orthodox churches, the Church of Serbia is the westernmost. According to the 2002 Census ^[42], 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 baptized Catholics in Serbia, roughly 6,2% of the population, mostly bounded to the northern province.

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%) + (Muslims over 30 000), 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 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 Yugoslavia and Austria-Hungary.

Economy

With a GDP for 2007 estimated at $54.547 billion, which is $7,265 per capita Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), ($5,397 nominal), Republic of Serbia is considered an upper-middle income economy by the World Bank^[48]. Growth in 2007 is estimated at 7.5%. The GDP growth rate in 2006 was 5.8%.^[49] Growth in 2005 was 6.3%^[50] FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) in 2006 was $5.85 billion or €4.5 billion. FDI for 2007 reached $4.2 Billion, while real GDP per capita figures are estimated to have reached $5 600 (October 2007).^[51]

The Serbian economy is based mostly on services, industry and agriculture. In the late 1980s, at the beginning of the process of economic transition, its position compared to other communist countries was favorable. However, its economy was gravely impacted by the UN economic sanctions of 1992–95, as well as the sizable infrastructure and industry damage, suffered during the NATO air strikes in 1999. Its problems were only augmented by losing the ex-Yugoslavia and Comecon markets. Although, seeing a robust recovery the economy still faces many problems, among which high unemployment and the slow pace of structural reforms are most prominent.

Serbia grows about one-third of the world's raspberries and is the leading frozen fruit exporter.^[52]

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^[53]), 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" because of its recent high economic growth rates. 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

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, Frankish Kingdom 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 cultural 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: Dečani Monastery, Our Lady of Ljeviš, Gračanica and Patriarchate of Pec- (2004, put on the endangered list in 2006), and Gamzigrad - Romuliana, Palace of Galerius, added in 2007. Likewise, there are 2 literary memorials added on the UNESCO's list as a part of the Memory of the World Programme: Miroslav Gospels, handwriting from the 12th century (added in 2005), and Nikola Tesla's archive (2003).

Tourism

Felix Romuliana imperial palace, one of 8 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Serbia

Tourism in Serbia is mostly focused on the villages and mountains of the country. The most famous mountain resorts are Zlatibor, Kopaonik, and the Tara. There are also many spas in Serbia, one the biggest of which is Vrnjačka Banja. Other spas include Soko Banja and Niška Banja. There is a significant amount of tourism in the largest cities like Belgrade, Novi Sad and Niš, but also in the rural parts of Serbia like the volcanic wonder of Đavolja varoš^[54], Christian pilgrimage across the country^[55] and the cruises along the Danube, Sava or Tisza. Home to several popular festivals, such as the Exit Festival (proclaimed the best European festival by UK Festival Awards 2007 and Yourope, the European Association of the 40 largest festivals in Europe) and the Guča trumpet festival, in 2007, 2,2 million tourists have chosen Serbia as its destination, a 15% increase comparing to 2006.^[56]

Education

Education in Serbia is regulated by the Ministry of Education. Education starts in either pre-schools or elementary schools. Children enroll in elementary schools ([Osnovna škola / Основна школа] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)) at age of 7 and it lasts for eight years.

Roots to the Serbian education system date back to 11th and 12th centuries when first Catholic colleges were founded in Vojvodina (Titel, Bač). Medieval Serbian education however was mostly conducted through the Serbian Orthodox Monasteries (UNESCO protected Sopocani, Studenica, Patriarchate of Pec) starting from the rise of Raska in 12th century, when Serbs overwhelmingly embraced Orthodoxy rather than Catholicism.

First university in Serbia was founded in revolutionary 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; founded in the city of Sombor, then Habsburg Empire, it was known under the name Norma and is the oldest Slavic Teacher's college in Southern Europe.^[57]

Infrastructure

Communications

89% of households in Serbia have fixed telephone lines, and 90% of the population have cell phones, accounting to 8 million users (Telekom Srbija – 5 million, Telenor and Vip mobile sharing the rest). 49% of households have computers, 27% use the internet, and 42% have cable TV. ^[58]^[59]^[60]

Transportation

File:Jatserbio.jpg

Jat Airways, the national airline of 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. Modern Serbia was the first among its neigbours to acquire railroads- in 1869 the first train arrived to Subotica, then Austria-Hungary^[61] (by 1882 route to Belgrade and Nis was completed).

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 registered cars, 16,042 motorcycles, 9,626 buses, 116,440 trucks, 28,222 special transport vehicles, 126,816 tractors, and 101,465 trailers.^[62]

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 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.

Holidays

All holidays in Serbia are regulated by the Law of national and other holidays in Republic of Serbia (Zakon o državnim i drugim praznicima u Republici Srbiji). Holidays are modulate with historical and religious events.

Date	Name	Notes
January 1 / January 2	New Year
January 7	Orthodox Christmas
January 27	Savindan (Spirituality day)	working holiday
February 15	Statehood day	National Day of Serbia
April 25	Orthodox Good Friday	Date for 2008 only
April 26	Orthodox Good Saturday	Date for 2008 only
April 27	Orthodox Easter	Date for 2008 only
April 28	Orthodox Easter Monday	Date for 2008 only
May 1 / May 2	Labour Day
May 9	Victory Day	working holiday
June 28	Vidovdan (In memory for fallen in the Battle of Kosovo - 1389)	working holiday

Also all confessions have rights not to work on days of their holidays.

References

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