Serbia

¹ All spoken in Vojvodina.
² Spoken in Kosovo.
³ Raška, preceded by Kingdom of Duklja (1077)
⁴To the Ottoman Empire and Kingdom of Hungary
⁵The Proclamation (of independence, 1809)
⁶ excluding Kosovo
⁷ The Euro is used in Kosovo alongside the Dinar.
⁸ .rs became active in September 2007. Suffix .yu
will exist until September 2009.

Serbia (Serbian: Србија, Srbija), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: Република Србија, Republika Srbija, listen (help·info)), 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. Serbia is bordered by Hungary to the north; Romania and Bulgaria to the east; the Republic of Macedonia and Albania^[1] to the south; and Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro to the west. The capital is Belgrade.

For centuries, shaped at cultural boundaries between East and West, a powerful medieval kingdom – later renamed the Serbian Empire – occupied much of the Balkans. The Serbian Empire collapsed after wars with the Ottomans and Habsburgs beginning in the 16th century which captured its territories. The modern Serbia emerged in 1817 following the Serbian revolution. Within a century it reacquired Kosovo, Raška and Vardar Macedonia from the Ottoman Empire. Likewise, in 1918 the former autonomous Habsburg crownland of Vojvodina proclaimed its secession from Austria-Hungary to unite with Serbia, preceded by the Syrmia region.

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 that formed after the dissolution of Yugoslavia in 1990s.

In February 2008, the parliament of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia. Serbia's government, as well as the UN Security Council, have not recognized Kosovo's independence. The response from the international community has been mixed. Serbia is a member of the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and the Council of Europe, and is an associate member of the European Union.

See also: Controversy over Kosovo independence

1 Geography
- 1.1 Climate
- 1.2 National parks
2 History
3 Government and politics
- 3.1 Administrative subdivisions
4 Demographics
- 4.1 Religion
5 Economy
- 5.1 Infrastructure
6 Culture
- 6.1 Education
- 6.2 Holidays
7 Gallery
8 See also
9 References
10 External links

Geography

Main article: Geography of Serbia

Serbia is placed at the crossroads between Central, Southern and Eastern Europe, between the Balkan peninsula and the Pannonian plain. The country is intersected by several major navigable rivers: the Danube (2850km), Sava (945 km), Tisa (1358km), joined by the Timiş River (350 km) and Begej (254 km), 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). Two largest Serbian cities- Belgrade^[2] and Novi Sad- are major regional Danubian harbours.

Mountain ranges and major rivers of Serbia

The northern third of the country is located entirely within the Central European Pannonian plain. Easternmost tip of Serbia enters the Wallachian Plain. The northeastern border of the country is determined by the Carpathian Mountain range,^[3] which runs through the whole of Central Europe. The Southern 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.^[4]

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.^[5] 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.^[6]

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.^[7]

National parks

Serbia has 5 national parks:

Fruška Gora (250 km²)
Kopaonik (120 km²)
Tara (220 km²)
Đerdap (640 km²)
Šar Mountains (390 km²)

History

Main article: History of Serbia

Early 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),^[8] through early history various parts of the territory of modern Serbia have been colonized, claimed or ruled by: the Greeks and Romans (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 the land that is now Serbia.^[9]

Medieval Serb kingdoms and the Serbian Empire

The House of Nemanjić, fresco from Visoki Dečani monastery

Serbian knight armor, around 1440, Military Museum (Belgrade)

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.^[10]^[11]^[12]

The Coronation of the Emperor Stefan Dušan in Skoplje, 1346

Golubac fortress overlooking the Danube river

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,^[13]^[14] 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.

As a result of internal struggle between rival noble families, and heavy losses inflicted by the Ottomans in the epic Battle of Kosovo, the Serbian Empire had 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, took 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, Hungarians 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. Conversion to Islam was increased, especially in the southwest (Raška, Kosovo and Bosnia).

Ottoman and Austrian rule

See also: Great Serb Migrations, Ottoman Serbia, and Habsburg Serbia

Medieval fortress of Bač, Vojvodina

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). The Ottoman persecutions against Christians culminated with the abolition and plunder of the Patriarchate of Peć in 1766.^[15] As the Ottoman rule in the South grew ever more brutal, the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I formally granted the Serbs the right to their autonomous crownland, speeding up their migrations into Austria.

Serbian Revolution and independence (Principality of Serbia)

Karađorđe Petrović, leader of the First Serbian uprising in 1804

Flag of revolutionary Serbia

The quest for independence of Serbia began during the Serbian national revolution (1804-1817), 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 published his book "the Serbian revolution" (1829).^[16] They were the easternmost bourgeois revolutions in the 19th-century world.^[17] Likewise, Principality of Serbia abolished feudalism- second in Europe after France.^[18]

The Convention of Ackerman (1828), the Treaty of Adrianople (1829) and finally, the Hatt-i Sharif of 1830, recognised the suzerainty of Serbia with Miloš Obrenović I as its hereditary Prince.^[19]^[20] 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).

Miloš Obrenović I, leader of the Second Serbian uprising in 1815

In two following decades (temporarily ruled by the Karadjordjevic dynasty) the Principality actively supported the neighbouring Habsburg Serbs, especially during 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. 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 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.^[21]

Kingdom of Serbia/Crownland of Vojvodina

Two autonomous Serbias - Austrian and Ottoman Serbia, 1849

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 part of Macedonia,^[22] 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.