Serbia (), officially the
Republic of Serbia (), is a country located in both
Central and
Southeastern Europe. Its territory covers the southern part of the
Pannonian Plain and central part of the
Balkans. Serbia borders
Hungary to the north;
Romania and
Bulgaria to the east; the
Republic of Macedonia and
Albania[Albania borders Serbia through the disputed region of Kosovo ] to the south; and
Croatia,
Bosnia and Herzegovina and
Montenegro to the west.
Belgrade is the capital of Serbia and the largest city.
After
their settlement in the Balkans, Serbs formed a
medieval kingdom that evolved into a
Serbian Empire, which reached its peak in the 14th century. In the 16th century Serbian lands were
conquered by Ottomans. Serbia regained independence from the Ottoman Empire in a
19th century revolution and subsequently expanded its territory. Former Habsburg crownland of
Vojvodina joined Serbia in 1918. Following the end of
World War I, the country united with other South Slavic peoples into a
Yugoslav state which would exist in several formations up until 2006, when Serbia once again became independent.
In February 2008, the parliament of
Kosovo, Serbia's southern province with an ethnic
Albanian majority, declared independence. The
response from the international community has been mixed. Serbia regards Kosovo as its autonomous province
governed by the United Nations.
Serbia is a member of the
United Nations, the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and the
Council of Europe which it presided over in 2007. It is also a potential candidate for membership in the
European Union and a militarily
neutral country.
History
Prehistory & Early
thumb|left|[[Felix Romuliana, late Roman palace,
UNESCO]]
The
Vinča and
Starčevo cultures were early neolithic civilizations in Serbia between the 7th and the 3rd millennium BC. Many Archeological sites show a long history of culture in Serbia, such as the
Lepenski Vir.
The ancient (
Paleo-Balkan)
Illyrians,
Thracians,
Dacians and
Celts inhabited Serbia prior to the
Roman conquest in the 1st century BC. The Celts had built many fortifications, foundations of many modern cities in Serbia, such as
Kalemegdan (
Singidunum,
Belgrade).
Greeks expanded into the south of modern Serbia in the 4th century B.C., the northernmost point of the empire of
Alexander the Great being the town of
Kale-Krševica. Contemporary Serbia comprises (in total or in part)
classical provinces of
Moesia,
Pannonia,
Praevalitana,
Dalmatia,
Dacia and
Macedonia. The northern Serbian city of
Sirmium was one of the
capitals of the Roman Empire during the
Tetrarchy. No less than 17 Roman Emperors were born in what is now Serbia.
Medieval kingdoms and Serbian Empire
thumb|left||[[House of Nemanjić|The House of Nemanjić, fresco from
Visoki Dečani monastery,
UNESCO]]
The beginning of the Serbian state starts with the
White Serbs settling the
Balkans led by the
Unknown Archont, who was asked to defend the frontiers from invading
Avars. Emperor
Heraclius granted the Serbs a permanent dominion in the
Sclavinias of
Western Balkans upon completing their task.
At first heavily dependent on the
Byzantine Empire as its
vassal,
Raška gained independence by expulsion of the
Byzantine troops and heavy defeat of the
Bulgarian army. The last and full Christianization of Serbia took place in 867-869 when
Byzantine Emperor Basil I sent priests after
Knez Mutimir had acknowledged Byzantine suzerainty. At about the same time, the
western Serbs were subjugated to the
Frankish Empire. The
First dynasty died out in 960 A.D: the wars of succession for the Serb throne led to incorporation into the Byzantine Empire (971).
Around 1040 AD an uprising in the medieval state of
Duklja overthrew Byzantine rule. Duklja then assumed domination over the Serbian lands between the 11–12th centuries. In 1077 A.D.
Duklja became the first Serb Kingdom following the establishment of the Catholic
Bishopric of Bar.
From late 12th century onwards
Raska rose to become the paramount Serb state. Over the 13th and 14th century, it ruled over the other Serb lands. During this time, Serbia began to expand eastward and southward into
Kosovo and northern
Macedonia and northward for the first time.
thumb|left|Map of the Serbian EmpireThe Serbian Empire was proclaimed in 1346 under
Stefan Dušan. During Dušan's rule, Serbia reached its territorial peak, becoming one of the larger states in Europe.
Dušan's Code, a universal system of laws, was enforced.
Dušan was succeeded as emperor by his son
Uroš Nejaki (the Feeble). Rather young and too incompetent to maintain a strong grip on the empire created by his father, he watched the Serbian Empire fragment into a conglomeration of principalities. Stefan died childless in December 1371, after much of the Serbian nobility had been destroyed by the
Turks in the
Battle of Marica earlier that year.
Some of Serbia's greatest
Medieval arts were created during this period, most notably St. Sava's
Nomocanon.
thumb|right||Ruins of [[Smederevo, the last capital of
medieval Serbia]]
The Houses of
Mrnjavčević,
Lazarević and
Branković ruled the Serbian lands in the 15th and 16th centuries. Constant struggles took place between various Serbian kingdoms and the
Ottoman Empire. After the fall of
Constantinople to the Turks and the
Siege of Belgrade, the
Serbian Despotate fell in 1459 following the siege of the provisional capital of
Smederevo.
After repelling Ottoman attacks for over 70 years,
Belgrade finally fell in 1521. Forceful conversion to
Islam became imminent, especially in the southwest (
Raška, Kosovo and
Bosnia). To the south, the
Republic of Venice grew stronger in importance, gradually taking over the coastal areas.
Ottoman and Austrian rule
thumb|180px|left|The 18th century Dunđerski castle, in VojvodinaAfter the loss of independence to the
Kingdom of Hungary and the
Ottoman Empire, Serbia briefly regained sovereignty under
Emperor Jovan Nenad in the 16th century. Three Austrian invasions and numerous rebellions, such as the
Banat Uprising, constantly challenged Ottoman rule.
Vojvodina endured a century long Ottoman occupation before being ceded to the
Habsburg Empire in the 17th-18th centuries under the
Treaty of Karlowitz.
As the Great Serb Migrations depopulated most of
Kosovo and
Serbia proper, the Serbs sought refuge in the more prosperous
Vojvodina in the north and
Military Frontier in the West where they were granted imperial rights by the Austrian crown under measures such as the
Statuta Wallachorum of 1630. The Ottoman persecutions of Christians culminated in the abolition and plunder of the
Patriarchate of Peć in 1766. As Ottoman rule in the
Pashaluk of Belgrade grew ever more brutal, the
Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I formally granted the Serbs the right to their autonomous crown land.
Serbian Revolution and independence
thumb|upright|[[Karađorđe Petrović, leader of the
First Serbian uprising in 1804]]
The first modern independent Serbia was established in the course of the
Serbian national revolution (1804–1817), and it lasted for several decades. For the first time in
Ottoman history an entire
Christian population had risen up against the
Sultan.
[http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/g/glenny-balkans.html] The entrenchment of
French troops in the western Balkans, the incessant political crises in the
Ottoman Empire, the growing intensity of the
Austro-
Russian rivalry in the Balkans, the intermittent warfare which consumed the energies of
French and
Russian Empires and the outbreak of protracted hostilities between the
Porte and Russia are but a few of the major international developments which directly or indirectly influenced the course of the
Serbian revolt.
During the
First Serbian Uprising (first phase of the revolt) led by
Karađorđe Petrović, Serbia was independent for almost a decade before the
Ottoman army was able to 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. The famous German historian
Leopold von Ranke published his book "The Serbian revolution" (1829). They were the easternmost bourgeois revolutions in the 19th-century world. Likewise, the
Principality of Serbia was second in
Europe to abolish
feudalism- after France.
The Convention of Ackerman (1826), the Treaty of Adrianople (1829) and finally, the
Hatt-i Sharif of 1830, recognized the
suzerainty of
Serbia with
Miloš Obrenović I as its hereditary
Prince. The struggle for liberty, a more modern society and a
nation-state in Serbia won a victory under
first constitution in the Balkans on 15 February 1835. It was replaced by a more conservative Constitution in 1838.
thumb|upright||[[Miloš Obrenović I, leader of the
Second Serbian uprising in 1815]]
In the two following decades (temporarily ruled by the
Karadjordjevic dynasty) the
Principality actively supported the neighboring
Habsburg Serbs, especially during the
1848 revolutions. Interior minister
Ilija Garašanin published
The Draft (for South Slavic unification), which became the standpoint of Serbian foreign policy from the mid-19th century onwards. The government thus developed close ties with the
Illyrian movement in
Croatia-Slavonia (Austria-Hungary).
Following the clashes between the Ottoman army and civilians in Belgrade in 1862, and under pressure from 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 on the
Ottoman Empire, proclaiming their unification with
Bosnia. The 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 unification.
Kingdom of Serbia
From 1815 to 1903,
Kingdom of 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, (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 its own domestic dynasty. During the
Balkan Wars (1912–1913), the
Kingdom of Serbia tripled its territory by acquiring part of 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
Serbian Vojvodina. As of 1849, the region was transformed into a new Austrian crown land known as the
Serbian Voivodship and Tamiš Banat. Although abolished in 1860, Habsburg emperors claimed the title
Großwoiwode der Woiwodschaft Serbien until the end of the monarchy and the creation of Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918.
World War I
thumb|140px|left|Serbian soldiers crossing the river Kolubara during the Battle of Kolubara in World War I.
On 28 June 1914 the
assassination of
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria at
Sarajevo in
Bosnia-Herzegovina by
Gavrilo Princip (a Yugoslav unionist member of
Young Bosnia) and an
Austrian citizen, led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on
Kingdom of Serbia. In defense of its ally Serbia,
Russia started to mobilize its troops, which resulted in Austria-Hungary's ally
Germany declaring war on Russia. 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, leading to the outbreak of World War I within a month.
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 World War I. Despite initial success it was eventually overpowered by the joint forces of the
German Empire, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria in 1915. Most of its army and some people went into exile to Greece and
Corfu where they recovered, 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 defeating
Austro-Hungarian Empire and Bulgaria. Serbia (with its major
campaign) was a major
Balkan Entente Power which contributed significantly to the Allied victory in the Balkans in November 1918, especially by enforcing Bulgaria's
capitulation with the aid of France. The country was militarilly classified as a
minor Entente power.
Serbia was also among the main contributors to the
capitulation of Austria-Hungary in Central Europe.
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
World War II and civil war in Serbia
Invasion of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was in a precarious position in World War II. Fearing an invasion by Germany, the Yugoslav Regent,
Prince Paul, signed the
Tripartite Pact with the
Axis powers on 25 March 1941, triggering demonstrations in Belgrade. On March 27, Prince Paul was overthrown by a military
coup d'état and replaced by
King Peter II. General
Dušan Simović became Peter's Prime Minister and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia withdrew its support for the Axis.
In response
Adolf Hitler launched the invasion of Yugoslavia on 6 April. By 17 April, unconditional surrender was signed in Belgrade. After the invasion, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was dissolved and, with Yugoslavia partitioned, Serbia became part of the
Military Administration of Serbia, under a joint German-Serb government led by
Milan Nedić.
Aside from 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 units of the
Serbian Volunteer Corps and the
Serbian State Guard. By the beginning of 1944, the partisans became the leading force in Bosnia, Montenegro, Slovenia and Herzegovina. In Serbia however, especially in rural areas, the population remained loyal to
Draza Mihajlovic.
The joint
Soviet and Bulgarian occupation in 1944 swung in favour of the partisans, who were then established as the ruling elite, with the
Karadjordjevic dynasty banned from returning to Serbia. The Syrmia front was the last sequence of the civil war in Serbia.
Genocide of Serbs by the Ustaše regime in WWII Croatia
thumb|left|Memorial to [[Serb,
Jewish, and
Roma victims of the
genocide that took place at the
Jasenovac concentration camp in World War II in the
Independent State of Croatia. The events had a profound impact on Serbian society and relations between Croats and Serbs.]]
The ultranationalist and fascist
Ustaše sought to purge the Independent State of Croatia of Serbs,
Jews, and
Roma who were subjected to large-scale persecution and genocide, most notoriously at the Jasenovac concentration camp. The Jewish Virtual Library estimates that between and
Croatian Serbs were killed at Jasenovac and that between and were victims of the entire genocide campaign. The estimated number of Serbian children who died is between 35,000 and 50,000. The Yad Vashem center reports that over Serbs were killed overall in the NDH, with some people of many nationalities and ethnicities murdered in one camp Jasenovac. After the war, official Yugoslav sources estimated over victims, mostly Serbs. Misha Glenny suggests that the numbers of Serbs killed in the genocide was more than 400,000.
In April 2003 Croatian president
Stjepan Mesić apologized on behalf of Croatia to the victims of Jasenovac. In 2006, on the same occasion, he added that to every visitor to Jasenovac it must be clear that "
Holocaust, genocide and war crimes" took place there.
Serbia within Socialist Yugoslavia
thumb|right|Serbia within the [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Shown as internally divided into
Central Serbia,
Vojvodina, and
Kosovo.]]
After the war ended, the election law was passed, scheduling them for November 1945. According to that law, the voting right was granted to all citizens of Yugoslavia over 18 years of age, as well as all members of the People's Front and partisan units
regardless of their age.
[Richard J. Krampton, Balkans after World War II, pg 37/8] Voting right were denied to former royalist forces, pro-independist parties in Serbia and Croatia, (assumed) collaborators and Germans and Italians.
Opposition parties have been encouraged to dismantle and join the list of the People's Front. Strict censorship was enforced, as all members of the Election Committee belonged to the People's front. All opposition parties have reported abuse from Ozna, the secret police. Most parties were dismantled and incorporated onto the single list of the People's front, as they were inhibited to apply on their own, with the remainer of the opposition boycotting the elections. Single list, as a single candidate who participated in the elections, won decisively. By 1947, the People's Front was "cleansed" from their formerly individual leaders, and all opposition parties outside the list have been abolished.
At the same time, the supreme leadership formally accepted the programme of the Communist party as its own.
On the basis of the elections, the constitutional assembly established by the Yugoslav Communist party proclaimed the abolition of the
Serbian-led monarchy of Yugoslavia – and the royal family was banned from returning to the country. A communist regime was established under a dictatorship led by Yugoslavia's Communist Party leader
Joseph Broz Tito. Tito, who was of
Croat-
Slovene descent personally sought inter-ethnic unity in the aftermath of the violent division of the country in World War II through a policy called
Brotherhood and Unity which sponsored cooperation between the peoples and promoted a united
Yugoslav identity over existing ethnic or religious identities, repressed nationalists of any nationality, and forced the different peoples to work with each other to solve their differences. This would become highly controversial in Serbia in the latter years of Tito's rule. Serbia was one of 6 federal units of the state, the
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (
Socijalistička Federativna Republika Jugoslavija, or SFRJ). Over time Serbia's influence began to wane as reforms demanded by the other republics demanded decentralization of power to allow them to have an equal say in the centralized system. This began with the creation of the autonomous provinces of
Kosovo and
Vojvodina which initially held modest powers. However, reforms in 1974 made drastic changes, giving the autonomous provinces nearly equal powers to the republics, in which the Serbian parliament held no control over the political affairs of the two provinces, and technically only held power over
Central Serbia. Many Serbs, including those in the Yugoslav Communist party, resented the powers held by the autonomous provinces. At the same time, a number of Kosovo ethnic Albanians in the 1980s began to demand that Kosovo be granted the right to be a republic within Yugoslavia, thus giving it the right to separate, a right which it did not have as an autonomous province. The ethnic tensions between Serbs and ethnic Albanians in Kosovo would eventually have a major influence in the collapse of the SFRY.
Dissolution of Yugoslavia and Yugoslav Wars
Slobodan Milošević rose to power in Serbia in 1989 in the
League of Communists of Serbia through a serious of coups against incumbent governing members. Milošević promised reduction of powers for the autonomous provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina. This ignited tensions with the communist leadership of the other republics that eventually resulted in the secession of
Slovenia,
Croatia,
Bosnia and Herzegovina and the
Republic of Macedonia from Yugoslavia.
thumb|left|A skyscraper building in Belgrade on fire after being bombed by NATO aircraft during the Kosovo War.
Multiparty democracy was introduced in Serbia in 1990, officially dismantling the former one-party communist system. Critics of the Milošević government claimed that the Serbian government continued to be authoritarian despite constitutional changes as Milošević maintained strong personal influence over Serbia's state media. Milošević issued
media blackouts of independent media stations' coverage of protests against his government and restricted freedom of speech through reforms to the Serbian Penal Code which issued criminal sentences on anyone who "ridiculed" the government and its leaders, resulting in many people being arrested who opposed Milošević and his government.
The period of political turmoil and conflict marked a rise in ethnic tensions and between Serbs and other ethnicities of the former Communist Yugoslavia as territorial claims of the different ethnic factions often crossed into each others' claimed territories Serbs who had criticized the nationalist atmosphere, the Serbian government, or the Serb political entities in Bosnia and Croatia were reported to be harassed, threatened, or killed by nationalist Serbs. Serbs in Serbia feared that the nationalist and separatist government of Croatia was led by
Ustase sympathizers who would oppress Serbs living in Croatia. This view of the Croatian government was promoted by Milošević, who also accused the separatist government of
Bosnia and Herzegovina of being led by
Islamic fundamentalists. The governments of Croatia and Bosnia in turn accused the Serbian government of attempting to create a
Greater Serbia. These views led to a heightening of
xenophobia between the peoples during the wars.
In 1992, the governments of Serbia and
Montenegro agreed to the creation of a new Yugoslav federation called the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia which abandoned the predecessor SFRY's official endorsement of communism, and instead endorsed democracy.
In response to accusations that the Yugoslav government was financially and militarily supporting the Serb military forces in Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia,
sanctions were imposed by the
United Nations, during the 1990s, which led to political isolation, economic decline and hardship, and serious
hyperinflation of currency in Yugoslavia.
Milošević represented the
Bosnian Serbs at the
Dayton peace agreement in 1995, signing the agreement which ended the
Bosnian War that internally partitioned Bosnia & Herzegovina largely along ethnic lines into a
Serb republic and a
Bosniak-Croat federation.
When the ruling
Socialist Party of Serbia refused to accept municipal election results in 1997 which resulted in defeat in municipal municipalties, Serbians engaged in large protests against the Serbian government, government forces held back the protesters.
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, which was known as the
Kosovo War.
Political transition
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. Milošević was sent to the
International Criminal Court on accusations of sponsoring war crimes and crimes against humanity during the wars in Croatia, Bosnia, and Kosovo which he was held on trial to until his death in 2006. With the fall of Milošević, 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.
Serbia's political climate since the fall of Milošević remained tense. In 2003, the prime minister
Zoran Đinđić was
assassinated as result of a plot originating from circles of organized crime and former security forces. Nationalist and EU-oriented political forces in Serbia have remained sharply divided on the political course of Serbia in regards to its relations with the European Union and the West. However, the tensions between those political poles gradually eased since, as the issues of Kosovo independence, economical crisis and aspiration towards
accession to the European Union forced the parties to find more common ground.
From 2003 to 2006, Serbia has been 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.
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." 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.
In April 2008 Serbia was invited to join the
intensified dialogue programme with
NATO despite the diplomatic rift with the Alliance over
Kosovo.
Geography
thumb|upright|Mountain ranges and major rivers of Serbia.Serbia is at the crossroads between
Central-,
Southern- and
Eastern Europe, between the
Balkan peninsula and the
Pannonian Plain.
The province of Vojvodina, occupying the northern third of the country, is located entirely within the Central European Pannonian Plain. The easternmost tip of Serbia extends into the
Wallachian Plain. The northeastern border of the country is determined by the
Carpathian Mountain range, which run through the whole of Central Europe. The
Southern Carpathians meet the
Balkan Mountains, following the course of the
Velika Morava, a 500 km long (partially navigable) river. The
Midžor peak is the highest point in eastern Serbia at 2156 m. In the southeast, the Balkan Mountains meet the
Rhodope Mountains.
The
Šar 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 opposite shore in
Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Although landlocked, there are around 2000 km of navigable rivers and canals, the largest of which are: the
Danube,
Sava,
Tisa, joined by the
Timiş River and
Begej, all of which connect Serbia 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 two largest Serbian cities –
Belgrade and
Novi Sad, as well as
Smederevo – are major regional
Danubian harbours.
Over a quarter of Serbia (27%) is covered by forest. In 2010, as projected, the
national parks will take up 10% of the country's entire territory.
Climate
thumb|left|Babicka mountThe 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 exposure to the winds account for climate differences.
Vojvodina possesses typical continental climate, with air masses from northern and western Europe which shape its climatic profile. South and South-west Serbia is subject to Mediterranean influences. However, the
Dinaric Alps and other mountain ranges contribute to the cooling down of most of the warm air masses. Winters are quite harsh in
Sandžak because of the mountains which encircle the plateau.
thumb|upright|[[Đerdap national park in
Danube Iron Gate]]
The average annual air temperature for the period 1961–90 for the area with an altitude of up to 300 m is 10.9
°C. The areas with an altitude of 300 m to 500 m have an average annual temperature of around 10.0 °C, and over 1000 m of altitude around 6.0 °C.
The lowest recorded temperature in Serbia was –39.5 °C (-39 °F, January 13 1985,
Karajukića Bunari in
Pešter), and the highest was 44.9 °C (113 °F, July 24 2007,
Smederevska Palanka).
In the summer of 2007, temperatures were as high as 46 °C in Serbia (July 23, 114.8 °F).
National parks
Serbia has 5
national parks:
Environment
Serbian environmental protection is monitored by the Republic of Serbia Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), a part of the Ministry for Science and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Serbia.
The NATO bombings of 1999 caused lasting damage to the environment of Serbia, with several thousand tons of toxic chemical stored in factories that were targeted being released into the soil, atmosphere and water basins affecting humans and the local wildlife.
Recycling is still a fledgeling activity in Serbia, with only 15% of its waste being turned back for re-use, while the Ministry for Science and Environmental Protection is moving towards improving the situation.
The Serbian Energy Efficiency Agency (SEEA) was founded in May 2002. A national non-profit organization, it develops and proposes programmes and
measures, co-ordinates and stimulates activities intended to achieve rational use and saving of
energy, as well as the increase in efficiency of energy use in all sectors of consumption.
The country is looking towards making wider use of renewable energy, a 20 megawatt wind farm is being developed in Belo Blato as part of a 300 megawatt development plan.
Government
thumb|right|National Assembly of SerbiaOn 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.
Serbia held a two-day
referendum on 28 October and 29 October 2006, that ratified a new constitution to replace the Milošević-era constitution.
The current
President of Serbia is
Boris Tadić, leader of the center-left
Democratic Party (DS). He was reelected with 50.5% of the vote in the second round of the
Serbian presidential election held on 4 February 2008.
Serbia held parliamentary elections on 21 May 2008. The coalition
For a European Serbia led by DS claimed victory, but significantly short of an absolute majority. Following the negotiations with the leftist coalition centered around
Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) and parties of national minorities (those of Hungarians, Bosniaks and Albanians) an agreement was reached to make-up a new government, headed by
Mirko Cvetković.
Present-day Serbian politics are fractious and extremely divided between nationalist and liberal European Union advocating parties. Issues include proposals to restore the Serbian monarchy whose family members have stated that they are interested in forming a
constitutional monarchy in Serbia. However, none of the larger parties actively support restoration.
Administrative subdivisions
thumb|right|Districts and subdivisions of Serbia with its recognized http://www.unmikonline.org/press/reports/N9917289.pdf/" class="wiki">UN borders
[http://www.unmikonline.org/press/reports/N9917289.pdf]Serbia is divided into 24
districts (excluding Kosovo) plus the
City of Belgrade. The districts and the City of Belgrade are further divided into
municipalities. Serbia has 2 autonomous provinces:
Vojvodina with (7 districts, 46 municipalities) and
Kosovo and Metohija. Kosovo has declared independence, which Belgrade opposes, and is presently under the administration of
EULEX (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. 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.
Human rights
In its 2009 progress report, the
Council of Europe recognized improvements in human and minority rights in Serbia, while pointing out that some issues needed further improvement.
Amnesty International, commended Serbia for extraditing Hague fugitives and trying war crimes suspects. It concluded in a 424-page report published in 2009 that it was aware of some continued abuse of ethnic Albanian prisoners as well as police behaviour violating the rights of journalists and the Roma population in Serbia. The report also noted that conflict between local political parties and Muslim groups continues to erupt into violence in Serbia's southern
Sandzak region and poses a threat to stability.
There have been some reports of forced evictions of the
Roma community in Serbia in April 2009. Amnesty International notes that "Around 250 Romani people, some of them internally displaced Roma from Kosovo, including small children and the elderly and infirm were evicted from a temporary settlement".
Military
The
Armed Forces of Serbia are subordinated to the
Ministry of Defense. The Armed Forces are divided into the
Land Command,
Air and Defense Command and
Training Command. As a landlocked country, Serbia does not have a navy but operates a
Serbian River Flotilla as an independent service. Constitutionally, the commander of Armed Forces is the incumbent
President of Serbia.
The wars and crisis of the 1990s have significantly hampered the Army, which has since suffered lack of financing, personnel reduction from 150,000, to 30,000
and low enrollment rates. Serbian
military expenditures dropped from around 5% of GDP in the late 1990s
to a mere 2.1% in 2009. Thorough reforms and full professionalization (whose completion is scheduled for the end of 2010
[) are underway, but the lack of funds has slowed the process. Conscription is still mandatory and regular service takes 6 months, but a high number of recruits take the opportunity to put forth conscientious objection and serve 9 months in civil service.]
Serbia participates in the Partnership for Peace program, but does not aspire to full NATO membership, due to significant public objections, largely stemming from the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.Demographics
thumb|right|Ethnic map of Serbia according to the 2002 Census- Serbia (Census 2002, excluding Kosovo): 7,498,001
Serbs form the largest ethnic group, with significant minorities consisting of Hungarians, Bosniaks, Albanians, Roma, Croats, Czechs and Slovaks, Macedonians, Bulgarians, Romanians, Germans, and Chinese. According to the UN assessments, 450,000 to 500,000 Roma live in Serbia. The German minority in Vojvodina was more numerous in the past (336,430 in 1900, or 23.5% of the population). The northern province of Vojvodina is ethnically and religiously diverse.
According to the last official census
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) Serbia has the largest refugee population in Europe.
On the other hand, it is estimated that 500,000 people have left Serbia during the '90s alone. Significant amount of these people were college graduates. Serbia has the fourth oldest overall population on the planet, mostly due to heavy migration and low level of fertility, which is expected to continue in long terms. In addition, Serbia has among the highest negative growth population rates in the world, ranking 227th out of 233 countries overall. Cities:Religion
thumb|upright||Saint Mark Church in Belgrade
For centuries straddling the religious boundary between Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism, joined up later by Islam, Serbia remains one of the most diverse countries on the continent. Centuries on, different regions of Serbia remain heavily cosmopolitan: Vojvodina province is 25% Catholic or Protestant, while Central Serbia and Belgrade regions are over 90% Orthodox Christian. Kosovo consists of a 90% Albanian Muslim majority.
Among the Eastern Orthodox churches, the Serbian Orthodox Church is the westernmost. According to the 2002 Census,
Catholicism is mostly present in Vojvodina (mainly in its northern part), where almost 20% of the regional population (minority 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 in northern Serbia.
thumb|left|[[Sopoćani Monastery, UNESCO-protected]]
thumb|Temple of Saint Sava
Protestantism accounts for about 1.5% of the country's population. Islam has a strong historic following in the southern regions of Serbia – Raska and several municipalities in the south-east. Bosniaks are the largest Muslim community in Serbia 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 escaping families and individuals 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 emigrating from Europe.Economy
upright|thumb|National Bank of Serbia
With a GDP PPP for 2008 estimated at $79.662 billion[ ($10,792 per capita PPP), the Republic of Serbia is an upper-middle income economy by the World Bank. 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 $6,781 (April 2009).][ The GDP growth rate showed increase by 6.3% (2005), 5.8% (2006), reaching 7.5% in 2007 and 8.7% in 2008 as the fastest growing economy in the region.]
At the beginning of economic transition in 1989, the politics of the Yugoslav government handprints gets favorable economic outlook. Also, the economic sanctions of 1992 to 1995, as well as the industry damage suffered during the Kosovo War devastating economic climate within Serbia. The loss of former Yugoslav and Comecon markets had devastating effects on the exporters.
After the people ousted the former Federal Yugoslav President Milošević in October 2000, the country experienced faster economic growth, and has been preparing for membership in the European Union, its most important trading partner.
The recovery of the economy still faces many problems, among which unemployment (14%) high export/import trade deficit and considerable national debt are most prominent. The country expects some major economic impulses and high growth rates in the next years. Given its recent high economic growth rates, which averaged 6.6% in the last three years, foreign analysts have sometimes labeled Serbia as the “Balkan Tiger”.
thumb|left||Novi Beograd business building
Apart from its free-trade agreement with the EU as its associate member, Serbia is the only European country outside the former Soviet Union to have free trade agreements with the Russian Federation and, more recently, Belarus. Apart from its favorable economic agreements with both the East and West, such steps could be soon undertaken with Turkey and Iran.[http://www.balkans.com/open-news.php?uniquenumber=35690051] By doing this Serbia hopes to set up an export-oriented economy.
Blue-chip corporations investing in Serbia include: US Steel, Philip Morris, Microsoft, FIAT, Coca-Cola, Lafarge, Siemens, Carlsberg and others.
In the energy, Russian giants Lukoil and Gazprom have invested heavily.
The banking sector has attracted investments from Banca Intesa (Italy), Credit Agricole and Societe Generale (France), HVB Bank (Germany), Erste Bank (Austria), Eurobank EFG and Piraeus Bank (Greece), and others. U.S. based Citibank, opened a representative office in Belgrade in December 2006.
In the trade sector, biggest foreign investors are France's Intermarche, German Metro Cash & Carry, Greek Veropoulos, and Slovenian Mercator.
Serbia grows about one-third of the world's raspberries and is the leading frozen fruit exporter.Communications
thumb|upright|Light blue represent recognition of Serbian as minority language, dark blue official language.
89% of households in Serbia have fixed telephone lines, and the number of cell-phone users surpasses the number of population of Serbia itself by 30%, accounting to 9,60 million users (7,39 million citizens). (Telekom Srbija–5,65 million, Telenor has 3,1 million users and Vip mobile has the rest). 46.8% of households have computers, 36.7% use the internet, and 42% have cable TV, which puts the country ahead of certain member states of the EU.Transport
thumb|left||Belgrade Metro
Serbia owns one of the world's oldest airline carriers, Jat Airways, founded in 1927. There are 3 international airports in Serbia: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport, Niš Constantine the Great Airport and Vršac international airport as well as one in Kosovo, Pristina International Airport .
Historians have labeled the entire Serbia, and especially the valley of the Morava, 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 neighbors to buy railroads- in 1858 the first train arrived to Vrsac, then Austria-Hungary (by 1882 route to Belgrade and Niš was completed). Serbian Railways handles the entire railway links in Serbia.
thumb|right|Terminal 2, Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport
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.
The Danube River, central Europe's connection to the Black Sea, flows through Serbia. Through Danube-Rhine-Mein canal the North Sea is also accessible. Tisza river offers a connection with Eastern Europe while the Sava river connects her to western former Yugoslav republics near the Adriatic Sea.Tourism
thumb|left|[[Studenica monastery, UNESCO - protected]]
Serbia’s government, businesses, and citizen’s concentrate their tourism 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, Christian pilgrimage across the country and the cruises along the Danube, Sava or Tisza. There are several popular festivals held in Serbia, 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. 2,2 million tourists visited Serbia in 2007, a 15% increase compared to 2006.Culture
thumb|upright|180px|The [[White Angel in Mileševa monastery, 1230s, Latin period of Byzantine art]]
For centuries straddling the boundaries between East and West, Serbia had been divided among: 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 well as Venice in the south. The result of these overlapping influences are distinct characters and sharp contrasts between various Serbian regions, its north being more tied to Western Europe and south leaning towards the Balkans and the Mediterranean Sea.
thumb|left||[[Miroslav Gospels, one of the oldest surviving documents written in Serbian Church Slavonic, 1186, UNESCOs Memory of the World Programme]]
Despite these confronting influences Serbian identity is quite solid, being described as the "most westernized of the Eastern Orthodox peoples, both socially and culturally" by the Encyclopedia of World History (2001).
The Byzantine Empire's influence on Serbia was profound, through introduction of Greek Orthodoxy from 7th century onwards (today- Serbian Orthodox Church). Different influences were also present- chiefly the Ottoman, Hungarian, Austrian and also Venetian (coastal Serbs). Serbs use both the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets. 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).
The most prominent museum in Serbia is the National Museum, founded in 1844 ; it houses a collection of more than 400,000 exhibits,(over 5600 paintings and 8400 drawings and prints) including many foreign masterpiece collections and the famous Miroslavljevo Jevanđelje.Currently museum is under reconstruction.
The museum is situated in Belgrade.
Serbian theatre and cinema
thumb|140px|right|Emir Kusturica
Serbia has a well-established theatrical tradition with many theaters. The Serbian National Theatre was established in 1861 with its building dating from 1868. The company started performing opera from the end of the 19th century and the permanent opera was established in 1947. It established a ballet company.
Bitef, Belgrade International Theatre Festival, is one of the oldest theatre festivals in the world. New Theatre Tendencies is the constant subtitle of the Festival. Founded in 1967, Bitef has continually followed and supported the latest theater trends. It has become one of five most important and biggest European festivals. It has become one of the most significant culture institutions of Serbia.
Cinema prospered after World War II. The most notable postwar director was Dušan Makavejev who was internationally recognised for Love Affair: Or the Case of the Missing Switchboard Operator in 1969 focussing on Yugoslav politics. Makavejev's Montenegro was made in Sweden in 1981. Zoran Radmilović was one of the most notable actors of the postwar period.
Serbian cinema continued to make progress despite the turmoil in the 1990s. Emir Kusturica won a Golden Palm for Best Feature Film at the Cannes Film Festival for Underground in 1995. In 1998, Kusturica won a Silver Lion for directing Black Cat, White Cat.
As at 2001, there were 167 cinemas in Serbia (excluding Kosovo and Metohija) and over 4 million Serbs went to the cinema in that year. In 2005, San zimske noći (A Midwinter Night's Dream ) directed by Goran Paskaljević caused controversy over its criticism of Serbia's role in the Yugoslav wars in the 1990s.Education
thumb|left|Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Education in Serbia is regulated by the Ministry of Education. Education starts in either pre-schools or elementary schools. Children enroll in elementary schools () at the age of seven, and remain there for eight years.
The roots of the Serbian education system date back to the 11th and 12th centuries when the first Catholic colleges were founded in Vojvodina (Titel, Bač). Medieval Serbian education, however, was mostly conducted through the Serbian Orthodox monasteries (Sopocani, Studenica, Patriarchate of Pec) starting from the rise of Raska in 12th century, when Serbs overwhelmingly embraced Orthodoxy rather than Catholicism.
The first university in Serbia was founded in revolutionary Belgrade in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School, the precursor of the contemporary University of Belgrade. For example, the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law is today one of regional leaders in legal education. 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 was the oldest Slavic Teacher's college in Southern Europe.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). The following holidays are observed state-wide:
Also, members of other religions have the right not to work on days of their holidays.Sport
thumb|upright|Stadion Crvena Zvezda, the largest football stadium in Serbia
The Sport in Serbia revolves mostly around team sports: football, basketball, water polo, volleyball, handball, and, more recently, tennis. The two main football clubs in Serbia are Red Star Belgrade and FK Partizan, both from capital Belgrade. Red Star is the only Serbian and former Yugoslav club that has won a UEFA competition, winning the 1991 European Cup in Bari, Italy. The same year in Tokyo, Japan, the club won the Intercontinental Cup. Partizan is the first club from Serbia to take part in the UEFA Champions League group stages subsequent to the breakup of the Former Yugoslavia. The matches between two rival clubs are known as "Eternal Derby" ().
thumb|left|Belgrade Arena, one of the largest sport venues in Europe
Serbia was host of EuroBasket 2005. FIBA considers Serbia national basketball team the direct descendant of the famous Yugoslavia national basketball team. KK Partizan was the European champion in 1992 with curiosity of winning the title, although playing all but one of the games (crucial quarter-final game vs. Knorr) on foreign grounds; FIBA decided not to allow teams from Former Yugoslavia play their home games at their home venues, because of open hostilities in the region. KK Partizan was not allowed to defend the title in the 1992–1993 season, because of UN sanction. Players from Serbia made deep footprint in history of basketball, having success both in the top leagues of Europe and in the NBA. Serbia is one of the traditional powerhouses of world basketball, winning various FIBA World Championships, multiple Eurobaskets and Olympic medals (albeit as FR Yugoslavia).
thumb|right|Novak Djokovic, one of the top 5 tennis players in the world
Serbian capital Belgrade hosted the 2006 Men's European Water Polo Championship. The Serbia national water polo team was previously known as the Yugoslavia national water polo team. After becoming independent, Serbia have won 2006 European championship, finished as runner-up in 2008 and won bronze medal at 2008 Summer Olympics held in Beijing. VK Partizan won 6 titles of European champion and it is the second best European team in history of water polo.
Serbia and Italy were host nations at 2005 Men's European Volleyball Championship. The Serbia men's national volleyball team is the direct descendant of Yugoslavia men's national volleyball team. After becoming independent, Serbia won bronze medal at 2007 Men's European Volleyball Championship held in Moscow.
Serbian tennis players Novak Đoković, Ana Ivanović, Jelena Janković, Nenad Zimonjić and Janko Tipsarević are very successful and led to a popularisation of tennis in Serbia.
Milorad Čavić and Nađa Higl in swimming, Olivera Jevtić, Dragutin Topić in athletics, Aleksandar Karakašević in table tennis, Jasna Šekarić in shooting are also very popular athletes in Serbia.Cuisine
Serbian cuisine is varied, the turbulent historical events influenced the food and people, and each region has its own peculiarities and differences. It is strongly influenced by the Byzantine-Greek, Mediterranean, Oriental and Austro-Hungarian styles. International rankings
See also
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