Serbia
The
Republic of Serbia is a
republic of south-eastern
Europe, which is united with
Montenegro in a loose commonwealth known as the Union of
Serbia and Montenegro.
The Kingdom of Serbia was established in the
11th century, and in the
13th century it eventually became the
Serbian Empire. After
1918, Serbia as a founder was a part of
Yugoslavia in its various forms. From
1992, following the independence of
Slovenia,
Croatia,
Bosnia-Herzegovina and the
Republic of Macedonia from the
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, until February
2003, Serbia and Montenegro made up the two-member
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Serbia is populated mostly by
Serbs. Significant
minorities in Serbia include
Albanians,
Hungarians,
Roma,
Croatians,
Slovaks,
Romanians.
The
President of Serbia is
Boris Tadic elected with 53% of a vote in the second round of
Serbian presidential election, 2004.
The current
Prime Minister of
Government of Serbia, as of March 2004, is the former Yugoslav president,
Vojislav Kostunica, who replaced
Slobodan Milosevic as Yugoslav president in October of
2000.
Serbian anthem is
Hej Sloveni. "Hej Sloveni" is the anthem of the commonwealth of Serbia and Montenegro also. Serbs would like to have "
Boze pravde" as their anthem and it is likely to change in the near future.
The Serbian coat of arms was devised in the aftermath of
World War II, replacing the country's
19th century coat of arms.
History
\nMain article: History of Serbia\n
\nSee also: History of Yugoslavia, History of Serbia and Montenegro
Serbia was formerly a principality (1817-1882), kingdom (1882-1918) and part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918-1945, until 1929 the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes) and part of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia until 1992 and forming of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Serbs entered their present territory early in the 7th century AD, settling in six distinct tribal delimitations\n*Rascia/Raška\n*Bosnia\n*Neretva/Pagania\n*Zachumlie/Zahumlje\n*Trebounia/Travunija\n*Zeta
Serbia gained its autonomy from the Ottoman Empire in two uprisings in 1804 and 1815, though Turkish troops continued to garrison the capital, Belgrade until 1867.
Internal politics revolved largely around the dynastic rivalry between the Obrenovic and Karadjordjevic families, descendants respectively of Miloš Obrenovic, and Karadjordje.
The assassination in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo (June 28, 1914) of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Habsburg throne, by a young Bosnian Serb, provoked an ultimatum from Vienna requiring Serbia to allow Austro-Hungarian investigation of the plot on Serbian soil. Despite Serbia's acceptance (July 25) of nearly all the demands, Austria-Hungary declared war on July 28. Russia's mobilisation in support of Serbia in turn brought a German ultimatum requiring her to stand down her forces, and war was declared among the great powers in the first week of August.
After World War I Serbia joined Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which changed the name to Kingdom of Yugoslavia. After World War II Serbia was part of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Since 1992 Serbia was part of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia together with Montenegro and since 2003, member state of union with Montenegro.
Geography
Serbia is located in the Balkans, a historical and geographical region of southeastern Europe. It shares borders with Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Romania. It is landlocked, although access to the Adriatic is available through Montenegro, and the Danube River provides shipping access to inland Europe and the Black Sea.
Serbia's terrain ranges from rich, fertile plains of the northern Vojvodina region, limestone ranges and basins in the east, and in the southeast ancient mountains and hills. The north is dominated by the Danube River. A tributary, the Morava River flows through the more mountainous southern regions.
The Serbian climate varies between a northern continental climate 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 snowfall inland.
Districts
District is called Okrug in Serbian. The Republic of Serbia is divided into 29 districts and the city of Belgrade:
- Bor\n#Braničevo\n#Jablanica\n#Kolubara\n#Mačva\n#Moravica\n#Nišava\n#Pčinja\n#Peć\n#Pirot\n#Podunavlje\n#Pomoravlje\n#Prizren\n#Raška\n#Rasina\n#Šumadija\n#Toplica\n#Zaječar\n#Zlatibor\n#North Bačka\n#South Bačka\n#West Bačka\n#North Banat\n#Central Banat\n#South Banat\n#Srem\n#Kosovo\n#Kosovo-Pomoravlje\n#Kosovska Mitrovica\n#Belgrade
\n
Administrative subdivisions
Serbia is made up of 108 counties. It has two autonomous provinces: Kosovo and Metohija in the south (with 30 counties), which is presently under the occupation of the
United Nations, and
Vojvodina in the north (with 54 counties).
The part of Serbia that is neither in Kosovo nor in Vojvodina is not an administrative division and is called central Serbia. 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; the ethnic and political core of the Serbian state," as the
Library of Congress puts it.
[1]. This usage was apparently also employed in
Serbo-Croatian during the Yugoslav era (in the form of "uža Srbija"). Its use in English is purely geographical without any particular political meaning being implied.
Politics
\nOn 4 February,
2003 parliament of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia agreed to a weaker form of cooperation between
Serbia and
Montenegro within a
commonwealth called
Serbia and Montenegro.
After the fall of
Slobodan Milosevic on
5 October 2000 the country was governed by the
Democratic Opposition of Serbia. When Milosevic was arrested, the
Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) abandoned the coalition government. Nevertheless, in
2004 the DSS gathered enough support to form the new
Government of Serbia, together with
G17 Plus and SPO-NS, and the support of the
Socialist Party of Serbia. The
Prime Minister of Serbia is
Vojislav Kostunica, leader of
Democratic Party of Serbia.
New
President of Serbia Boris Tadic, leader of the
Democratic Party (DS), was elected in the
Serbian presidential election, 2004 on
27 June 2004 after several unsuccessful attempts since
2002.
Laws concerning state-union are passed by
Parliament of Serbia and Montenegro, whereas all the bills and laws about Serbia are being accepted in the
National Assembly of Serbia.
Transportation
Serbia, and in particular the valley of Morava is often described as "the crossroad between the East and the West", which is one of primary reasons for its turbulent history. The valley is by far the easiest way of land travel from continental Europe to
Greece and
Asia Minor because it is not mountainous region.
European routes E65, E70, E75 and E80, as well as E662, E761, E762, E763, E771 and E851 are passing through the country. E70 western from Belgrade and most of E75 is modern highway or at least semihighway.
The
Danube River,
central Europe's connection to the
Black Sea, flows through Serbia.
There are three international airports in Serbia, in
Belgrade,
Prishtina and newly built airport in
Nis.
National airline carrier is
Jat Airways and railway system is operated by
Beovoz in
Belgrade and ZTP on national level.
See also
\n*List of cities in Serbia and Montenegro\n*
Geography of Serbia\n*History:\n**
History of Serbia\n**
History of Serbia and Montenegro\n** Serbian monarchs
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