Serbia

Serbia, officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: Република Србија or Republika Srbija, pronounced), is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans. Serbia borders Hungary to the north(SONY Vaio VGN-NS38M Battery); Romania and Bulgaria to the east; the Republic of Macedonia to the south; and Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro to the west; additionally, it borders Albania through Kosovo, whose status as part of Serbia is disputed. The capital of Serbia, Belgrade, is among the largest cities in Southeast Europe(SONY Vaio VGN-NS31S Battery).

After the arrival of the Serbs to the Balkans in the 7th century, several medieval states were formed, which evolved into the Serbian Empire in the 14th century. By the 16th century, Serbia was conquered and occupied by the Ottoman Empire, at times interrupted by the Habsburgs(SONY Vaio VGN-NS31M Battery). In the early 19th century the Serbian revolution re-established the country as the region's first constitutional monarchy, which subsequently expanded its territory and pioneered the abolition of feudalism in the Balkans. The former Habsburg crownland of Vojvodina united with Serbia in 1918. Following World War I, Serbia formed Yugoslavia with other South Slavic peoples which existed in several forms up until 2006(SONY Vaio VGN-NS31Z Battery), when Serbia regained its independence. In February 2008 the parliament of UNMIK-governed Kosovo, Serbia's southern province, declared independence, with mixed responses from international governments.

Serbia is a member of the UN, Council of Europe, PfP, BSEC and CEFTA. It is also a potential candidate for EU membership and a self-declared neutral country(SONY Vaio VGN-NS21Z Battery).

Etymology

Main article: Name of the Serbs and Serbia

The name "Serbia" was first mentioned as Greek: Σέρβια, meaning "land of the Serbs". There are many theories regarding the origin of the name of the Serbs. The most likely is that it is derived from the Old Slavic root *serb-, meaning "same". Another proposed etymology is that of the Indo-European root *ser- "to watch over, protect", akin to Latin servare "to keep, guard, protect, preserve, observe"(SONY Vaio VGN-NS21M Battery).

History

Early history

Main articles: Prehistoric Serbia and Roman era Serbia

Lady of Vinča, ~5000 BC

The Neolithic Starčevo and Vinča cultures existed in or near Belgrade and dominated the Balkans (as well as parts of Central Europe and Asia Minor) 8,500 years ago. Some scholars believe that the prehistoric Vinča signs represent one of the earliest known forms of writing systems (dating to 6,000 – 4,000 BC) (SONY Vaio VGN-NS21S Battery).

Around 1000 BC, the Paleo-Balkan peoples known as Thracians, Dacians, Illyrians were developing in the Balkans. Ancient Greeks expanded into the south of modern Serbia in the 4th century BC, the north-westernmost point of Alexander the Great's empire being the town of Kale-Krševica.[16] The Celtic tribe of Scordisci settled throughout Serbia in the 3rd century BC and built many fortifications and cities in Serbia, such as Singidunum, modern Belgrade(SONY Vaio VGN-NS12S Battery).

Felix Romuliana (UNESCO)

Roman complex of palaces and temples,

built by Emperor Galerius (305–311)

The Romans conquered parts of Serbia in the 2nd century BC; in 167 BC when conquering the west, establishing the province of Illyricum, and the rest of Central Serbia in 75 BC, establishing the province of Moesia Superior. Srem was conquered in 9 BC and Bačka and Banat in 106 AD after the Dacian wars(SONY Vaio VGN-NS12M Battery). Despite its small size, contemporary Serbia extends fully or partially over several Roman provinces such as Moesia, Pannonia, Praevalitana, Dalmatia, Dacia and Macedonia. The chief towns of Serbian Upper Moesia (and wider) in the principate were: Singidunum, Viminacium, Remesiana, Naissus and especially, Sirmium which served as a Roman capital during the Tetrarchy. Seventeen Roman Emperors were born in Serbia(SONY Vaio VGN-NS11Z Battery), second only to Italy. The most famous of these was Constantine the Great, the first Christian Emperor, who issued religious intolerance throughout the Empire.

When the Roman Empire was divided in 395, the region remained under the East, Byzantine Empire. After the 520s, Slavs appeared in the Byzantine Empire in great numbers.

Middle Ages

Main article: Serbia in the Middle Ages

Church of St. Apostles Peter and Paul, UNESCO item and coronation site of early Serbian monarchs(SONY Vaio VGN-NS11M Battery).

Serbia in 1355 A.D.

The Serbs, as Slavs in the vicinity of the Byzantine Empire, lived in so-called Sklavinia ("Slav lands"), territories initially out of Byzantine control and independent. In the 8th century, the Vlastimirović Dynasty established the Serbian Principality. In 822, Serbia "stretched over the greater part of Dalmatia", and Christianity was adopted as state-religion in ca 870(SONY Vaio VGN-NS11L Battery). In the mid 10th century the state had emerged into a tribal confederation that stretched to the shores of the Adriatic Sea by the Neretva, the Sava, the Morava, and Skadar. The state disintegrated after the death of the last known Vlastimirid ruler – the Byzantines annexed the region and held it for a century, until 1040 when the Serbs under the Vojislavljević Dynasty (Vlastimirović branch) revolted in Duklja (Pomorje) (SONY Vaio VGN-NS11J Battery). In 1091, the Vukanović Dynasty (Vojislavljević branch) established the Serbian Grand Principality, based in Rascia (Zagorje). The two halves were reunited in 1142.

In 1166, Stefan Nemanja takes the throne, marking the beginning of a prospering Serbia, henceforth under the rule of the Nemanjić Dynasty (Vukanović branch). Nemanja's son Rastko (posth. Saint Sava), gained autocephaly for the Serbian Church in 1217 and authored the oldest known constitution, in the same year Stefan II was crowned King, establishing the Serbian Kingdom(SONY Vaio VGN-NS11E Battery).

The Serbian Empire was established in 1346 by Dušan the Mighty, during which time Serbia reached its territorial, spiritual and cultural peak, becoming one of the most powerful states in Europe and the most powerful in the Balkans. Dušan's Code, a universal system of laws and constitution, was enacted. The reign of his son Tsar Stefan Uroš V saw the Serbian Empire fragment into a confederation of principalities(SONY Vaio VGN-NS10L Battery). Tsar Uroš died childless in December 1371, after much of the Serbian nobility had been destroyed by the Turks in the Battle of Maritsa earlier that year. The royal 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(SONY Vaio VGN-NS10J Battery). After the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453 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, opening the way for Ottoman penetration into Central Europe. The Republic of Venice expanded into the coastal areas(SONY Vaio VGN-NS10E Battery).

Ottoman and Austrian rule

See also: Ottoman Serbia and Habsburg Serbia

Siege of Belgrade of 1456, unknown author, XIXth century

After the loss of independence to the Kingdom of Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, Serbia briefly regained sovereignty under Jovan Nenad in the 16th century. Three Austrian invasions and numerous rebellions, such as the Banat Uprising, constantly challenged Ottoman rule(SONY Vaio VGN-NS38M/W Battery). 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 Central Serbia, the Serbs sought refuge across the Danube river in Vojvodina to the north and Military Frontier in the West where they were granted rights by the Austrian crown under measures such as the Statuta Wallachorum of 1630(SONY Vaio VGN-NS38M/P Battery). 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 crownland following several petitions.

Revolution and independence

The quest for national emancipation was first undertaken during the Serbian national revolution, in 1804 until 1815(SONY Vaio VGN-NS31Z/W Battery). The liberation war was followed by a period of formalization, negotiations and finally, the Constitutionalization, effectively ending the process in 1835. For the first time in Ottoman history the entire Serbian Christian population had risen up against the Sultan. The entrenchment of French troops in the western Balkans, the incessant political crises in the Ottoman Empire(SONY Vaio VGN-NS31Z/S Battery), 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(SONY Vaio VGN-NS31Z/P Battery).

Karađorđe Petrović, leader of the First Serbian Uprising.

During the First Serbian Uprising, or the first phase of the revolt, led by the Great 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(SONY Vaio VGN-NS31S/S Battery). German historian Leopold von Ranke published his book "The Serbian revolution" in 1829. They were the easternmost bourgeois revolutions in the 19th-century world. Likewise, Serbia was second nation in Europe, after France, to abolish feudalism.

The Convention of Ackerman in 1826(SONY Vaio VGN-NS31M/W Battery), the Treaty of Adrianople in 1829 and finally, the Hatt-i Sharif, 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(SONY Vaio VGN-NS31M/P Battery). In the two following decades, temporarily ruled by the Karadjordjevic dynasty, the Principality of Serbia 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(SONY Vaio VGN-NS21Z/S Battery). The government thus developed close ties with the Illyrian movement in Croatia-Slavonia region that was a part of the 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(SONY Vaio VGN-NS21S/W Battery). In 1876, Serbia declared war on the Ottoman Empire, proclaiming its 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; this treaty, however, prohibited Serbia from uniting with Bosnia and Raška by placing them under Austro-Hungarian occupation(SONY Vaio VGN-NS21S/S Battery).

From 1815 to 1903, Principality 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 became a kingdom, ruled by King Milan. In 1903, following May Overthrow, the House of Karađorđević, descendants of the revolutionary leader Karađorđe Petrović assumed power(SONY Vaio VGN-NS21M/W Battery). Serbia was the only country in the region that was allowed by the Great Powers to be ruled by its own domestic dynasty. During the Balkan Wars lasting from 1912 to 1913, the Kingdom of Serbia tripled its territory by reacquiring parts of Macedonia, Kosovo, and parts of Central Serbia. The 1848 revolution in Austria lead to the establishment of the autonomous region of Serbian Vojvodina(SONY Vaio VGN-NS21M/P Battery). By 1849, the region was transformed into the Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar.

Balkan Wars and World War I

Main article: Serbian Campaign (World War I)

Fighting on Ada Ciganlija

The phrase Balkan Wars refers to the conflicts that took place in Southeast Europe between 1912 and 1913. The First Balkan War broke out when the member states of the Balkan League attacked and divided Ottoman territories in the Balkans in a seven-month campaign, resulting in the Treaty of London. For the Kingdom of Serbia, this victory enabled territorial expansion into Raška and Kosovo(SONY Vaio VGN-NS12S/S Battery). The Second Balkan War soon ensued when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its gains, turned against its former allies, Serbia and Greece. Their armies repulsed the Bulgarian offensive and counter-attacked, penetrating into Bulgaria, while Romania and the Ottomans used the favourable time to intervene against Bulgaria to win territorial gains(SONY Vaio VGN-NS12M/W Battery). In the resulting Treaty of Bucharest, Bulgaria lost most of the territories gained in the First Balkan War, with Serbia annexing Vardar Macedonia. Serbia enlarged its territory by 80% and its population by 50% within just two years; it also suffered high casualties on the eve of World War I, with around 20,000 dead.

Serbian army during its retreat across Albania; more than 1,000,000 Serbs died during World War I(SONY Vaio VGN-NS12M/S Battery).

On 28 June 1914 the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian Nationalist and member of the Young Bosnia organization, led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on 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(SONY Vaio VGN-NS11Z/S Battery). 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.

Serbia won the first major battles of World War I, including the Battle of Cer and Battle of Kolubara – marking the first Allied victories against the Central Powers in World War I(SONY Vaio VGN-NS11ZR/S Battery). 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 the Macedonian front during World War I to lead a final breakthrough through enemy lines on 15 September 1918, liberating Serbia and defeating the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Bulgaria(SONY Vaio VGN-NS11S/S Battery). Serbia, with its campaign, was a major Balkan Entente Power which contributed significantly to the Allied victory in the Balkans in November 1918, especially by helping France force Bulgaria's capitulation. The country was militarily classified as a minor Entente power. Serbia was also among the main contributors to the capitulation of Austria-Hungary in Central Europe(SONY Vaio VGN-NS11SR/S Battery).

Serbia's casualties accounted for 8% of the total Entente military deaths; 58% (243,600) soldiers of the Serbian army perished in the war. The total number of casualties is placed around 1,000,000, more than 25% of Serbia's prewar size, and a majority (57%) of its overall male population.

First Yugoslavia

Main article: Kingdom of Yugoslavia

Syrmia region was the first among former Habsburg lands to declare union with Serbia on 24 November 1918(SONY Vaio VGN-NS11M/S Battery).

Banat, Bačka and Baranja – together called Vojvodina – joined Serbia the next day.

On 26 November 1918, the Podgorica Assembly deposed the House of Petrovic-Njegos of the Kingdom of Montenegro, opting for the House of Karađorđević (the ruling dynasty of the Kingdom of Serbia), unifying the two states.

Bosnia declares its unification with Serbia.

On 1 December 1918, the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs and the Kingdom of Serbia joined together and formed the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, under the reign of King Peter I(SONY Vaio VGN-NS11MR/S Battery).

World War II and civil war

Main article: Yugoslav Front

See also: Serbia under German occupation

King Alexander I was assassinated by the IMRO militant Vlado Chernozemski in 1934.

In 1941, in spite of domestically unpopular attempts by the government of Yugoslavia to appease the Axis powers, Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and other Axis states invaded Yugoslavia. After the invasion, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was dissolved and Serbia was put under a German Military administration(SONY Vaio VGN-NS11L/S Battery), under a joint German-Serb government with Milan Nedić as Head of the "Government of National Salvation". 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. After one year of occupation(SONY Vaio VGN-NS11J/S Battery), around 16,000 Serbian Jews were murdered in Axis-occupied Serbia, or around 90% of its pre-war Jewish population. Banjica concentration camp was established by the German Military Administration in Serbia. Primary victims were Serbian Jews, Roma, and Serb political prisoners. Other camps in Serbia included the Crveni Krst concentration camp in Niš and the Dulag 183 in Šabac(SONY Vaio VGN-NS11E/S Battery). Sajmište was one of the first concentration camps for Jews in Europe. Staro Sajmište was the largest concentration camp in Axis-occupied Serbia.

Relations between Serbs and Croats in Yugoslavia severely deteriorated during World War II as a result of the creation of the Axis puppet state of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) that comprised most of present-day Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and parts of present-day Serbia(SONY Vaio VGN-NS11ER/S Battery). The NDH committed large scale persecution and genocide of Serbs, Jews, and Roma. The estimate of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum indicates that between 330,000 and 390,000 ethnic Serb residents of Croatia, Bosnia and parts of Serbia (primarily the Syrmia region) were murdered during the Ustaše genocide campaign; same figures are supported by the Jewish Virtual Library(SONY Vaio VGN-NS115N/S Battery). reports that more than 500,000 Serbs were killed overall, whereas official Yugoslav sources used to estimate more than 700,000 victims, mostly Serbs. The Jasenovac memorial so far lists 75,159 names killed at the this concentration camp alone, out of around 100,000 estimated victims (75% of whom were of Serbian origin). In April 2003 Croatian president Stjepan Mesić apologized on behalf of Croatia to the victims of Jasenovac(SONY Vaio VGN-NS110E/W Battery). 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. Out of roughly 1,000,000 casualties in all of Yugoslavia up until 1944, around 250,000 were citizens of Serbia of different ethnicities, according to Zundhauzen. The overall number of Serb casualties in Yugoslavia was around 530,000, out of whom up to 400,000 in the Independent State of Croatia(SONY Vaio VGN-NS110E/S Battery). By late 1944, the Belgrade Offensive swung in favour of the partisans in the civil war; the partisans subsequently gained control of Yugoslavia. The Syrmia front was the last sequence of the internal war in Serbia following the Belgrade Offensive. Around 70,000 people in Serbia alone perished during the communist takeover, (including 10,000 Belgraders) whereas Ministry of Justice figures puts lower estimate around 80,000, of whom 60,000 were of Serbian origin(SONY Vaio VGN-NS110E/L Battery).

Second Yugoslavia

See also: Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Socialist Republic of Serbia, and Breakup of Yugoslavia

The communist takeover by the Yugoslav Partisans resulted in abolition of the monarchy and a subsequent orchestrated constitutional referendum. A single-party state was soon established in Yugoslavia by the League of Communists of Yugoslavia. All opposition was repressed and people deemed to be promoting opposition to the government or promoting separatism were given harsh prison sentences or executed for sedition(SONY Vaio VGN-NS10L/S Battery). Serbia became a constituent republic within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) known as the Socialist Republic of Serbia and had a republic-branch of the federal Communist party, the League of Communists of Serbia. The republic consisted of the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo, Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Central Serbia and the state capital, Belgrade(SONY Vaio VGN-NS10J/S Battery).

Serbia's most powerful and influential politician was Aleksandar Ranković, a high-ranking official in the federal communist party and one of the "big four" Yugoslav leaders, alongside Josip Broz Tito, Edvard Kardelj, and Milovan Đilas. Ranković served as head of the UDBA internal security organization and served as vice-president of Yugoslavia from 1963 to 1966(SONY Vaio VGN-NS10E/S Battery). In 1950, Ranković as minister of interior reported that since 1945 the Yugoslav communist regime had arrested five million people.

For years Ranković served as Tito's right-hand man and supported Tito's decision to break Yugoslavia away from domination by Soviet Union by having the UDBA obstruct the USSR's efforts to infiltrate state institutions and communist party. These actions resulted in the Cominform accusing the Yugoslav government of being dominated by a "Tito-Ranković clique" that they accused of being a "fascist regime"(Sony VAIO VGN-SR94VS battery). He supported a centralized Yugoslavia and opposed efforts that promoted decentralization that he deemed to be against the interests of Serb unity. Ranković sought to secure the position of the Serbs in Kosovo and gave them dominance in Kosovo's nomenklatura. Ranković's power and agenda waned in the 1960s with the rise to power of reformers who sought decentralization and to preserve the right of national self-determination of the peoples of Yugoslavia(Sony VAIO VGN-SR94HS battery). In response to his opposition to decentralization, the Yugoslav government removed Ranković from office in 1966 on various claims, including that he was spying on Tito. Ranković's dismissal was highly unpopular amongst Serbs.

Pro-decentralization reformers in Yugoslavia, especially from Slovenia and Croatia succeeded in the late 1960s in attaining substantial decentralization of powers, creating substantial autonomy in Kosovo and Vojvodina(Sony VAIO VGN-SR74FB battery), and recognizing a Yugoslav Muslim nationality. As a result of these reforms, there was a massive overhaul of Kosovo's nomenklatura and police, that shifted from being Serb-dominated to ethnic Albanian-dominated through firing Serbs in large scale. Further concessions were made to the ethnic Albanians of Kosovo in response to unrest, including the creation of the University of Pristina as an Albanian language institution(Sony VAIO VGN-SR74FB/S battery). These changes created widespread fear amongst Serbs that they were being made second-class citizens in Yugoslavia by these changes. These changes was harshly criticized by Serbian communist official Dobrica Ćosić, who at the time claimed that they were contrary to Yugoslavia's commitment to Marxism through conceding to nationalism, especially Albanian nationalism(Sony VAIO VGN-SR73JB battery).

In 1989 Slobodan Milošević rose to power in Serbia in the League of Communists of Serbia. 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 Macedonia from Yugoslavia(Sony VAIO VGN-SR73JB/S battery).

Multiparty democracy was introduced in Serbia in 1990, officially dismantling the single-party system. Critics of Milošević claimed that the government continued to be authoritarian despite constitutional changes as Milošević maintained strong political influence over the 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(Sony VAIO VGN-SR72B/S battery), resulting in many people being arrested who opposed Milošević and his government.

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(Sony VAIO VGN-SR72B/P battery), and instead endorsed democracy. In response to accusations that the Yugoslav government was financially and militarily supporting the Serb military forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, sanctions were imposed by the UN, during the 1990s, which led to political isolation, economic decline and hyperinflation of the Yugoslav dinar. The country permanently recovered from the inflation problem in 1996(Sony VAIO VGN-SR70B battery).

When the ruling Socialist Party of Serbia refused to accept municipal election results in 1997, which resulted in its defeat in the municipalities, Serbians engaged in large protests against the government. Between 1998–99, peace was broken when the worsened situation in Kosovo with continued clashes between Yugoslav security forces and the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). The confrontations led to the Kosovo War(Sony VAIO VGN-SR70B/S battery).

Political transition

See also: Republic of Serbia (1990–2006)

The National Assembly of Serbia.

In September 2000, opposition parties accused Milošević of electoral fraud. A campaign of civil resistance followed, led by the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS), a broad coalition of anti-Milošević parties. This culminated on 5 October when half a million people from all over the country congregated in Belgrade(Sony VAIO VGN-SR59VG battery), compelling Milošević to concede defeat. The fall of Milošević ended Yugoslavia's international isolation. Milošević was sent to the ICTY on accusations of sponsoring war crimes during the breakup of Yugoslavia, where he was held on trial to until his death in 2006. The DOS announced that FR Yugoslavia would seek to join the European Union. In 2003, FR Yugoslavia In October 2005(Sony VAIO VGN-SR59VG/H battery), the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was renamed Serbia and Montenegro and the EU opened negotiations with the country for the Stabilization and Association Agreement. 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(Sony VAIO VGN-SR55TF/B battery).

Serbia's political climate has 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 officials. Pro- and anti-EU political forces in Serbia have remained sharply divided on the political course of Serbia in regards to its relations with the European Union(Sony VAIO VGN-SR51MF battery).

On 5 June 2006, the National Assembly of Serbia declared Serbia to be the legal successor to the former state union. In April 2008 Serbia was invited to join the intensified dialogue programme with NATO despite the diplomatic rift with the alliance over Kosovo. Serbia officially applied for EU membership on 22 December 2009(Sony VAIO VGN-SR51MF/W battery).

Geography

Main article: Geography of Serbia

Mountain ranges and plains of Serbia.

Kopaonik national park, during winter.

Located at the crossroads between Central and Southern Europe Serbia is found in the Balkan peninsula and the Pannonian Plain. Including Kosovo, it lies between latitudes 41° and 47° N, and longitudes 18° and 23° E.

The Danube passes through Serbia with 21% of its overall length, joined by its biggest tributaries, the Sava and Tisza rivers(Sony VAIO VGN-SR51B battery). The province of Vojvodina covers the northern third of the country, and is entirely located within the Central European Pannonian Plain. Dinaric Alps, gradually rising towards south, cover most of western and central Serbia. The easternmost tip of Serbia extends into the Wallachian Plain. The eastern border of the country intersects with the Carpathian Mountain range, which run through the whole of Central Europe(Sony VAIO VGN-SR51B/S battery).

The Southern Carpathians meet the Balkan Mountains, following the course of the Great Morava, a 500 km long 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, Đeravica, reaching 2656 meters at its peak(Sony VAIO VGN-SR51B/P battery). Dinaric Alps of Serbia follow the flow of the Drina river, overlooking the Dinaric peaks on the opposite shore in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

National parks

See also: List of protected natural resources in Serbia

Over 31% of Serbia is covered by forest. National parks take up 10% of the country's territory. Serbia has 5 national parks and 22 nature reserves.

Climate

Main article: Climate of Serbia

Serbian Spruce trees.

Most of Serbia's surface belongs to the humid subtropical climate (Köppen classification Cfa). Serbia's climate varies between a moderate 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(Sony VAIO VGN-SR49VN/H battery), dry summers and autumns and relatively cold winters with heavy inland snowfall in the mountains. 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(Sony VAIO VGN-SR49D battery). 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.

Mediterranean micro-regions exist throughout southern Serbia, in Zlatibor and the Pčinja District around valley and river Pčinja(Sony VAIO VGN-SR49D/Q battery). The average annual air temperature for the period 1961–90 for the area with an altitude of up to 300 m (984 ft) is 10.9 °C (51.6 °F). The areas with an altitude of 300 to 500 m (984 to 1,640 ft) have an average annual temperature of around 10.0 °C (50.0 °F), and over 1,000 m (3,281 ft) of altitude around 6.0 °C (42.8 °F). The lowest recorded temperature in Serbia was −39.5 °C (−39.1 °F) on 13 January 1985(Sony VAIO VGN-SR49D/J battery), Karajukića Bunari in Pešter, and the highest was 44.9 °C or 112.8 °F, on 24 July 2007, recorded in Smederevska Palanka.

Environment

Serbia's environment is monitored by the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning and protected by the Serbian Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA). The NATO bombings of 1999 caused lasting damage to the environment of Serbia, with several thousand tons of toxic chemicals stored in targeted factories being released into the soil, atmosphere and water basins affecting humans and the local wildlife(Sony VAIO VGN-SR48J battery).

Recycling is still a fledgeling activity in Serbia, with only 15% of its waste being turned back for re-use, steps are being taken on improving the situation.

Rivers and lakes

Main articles: List of rivers in Serbia and List of lakes in Serbia

Spanning over 588 kilometers across Serbia, the Danube river is the largest source of fresh water. Other main rivers are Sava, Morava, Tisza, Drina and Ibar. Almost all of Serbia's rivers drain to the Black Sea, by way of the Danube river(Sony VAIO VGN-SR48J/J battery). One notable exception is the Pčinja which flows into the Aegean. The largest natural lake is Belo Jezero, located in Vojvodina, covering 25 square kilometers. The largest artificial reservoir, Iron Gate (Đerdap), covers an area of 163 square kilometers on the Serbian side, and it has a total area of 253 square kilometers. The largest waterfall, Jelovarnik, located in Kopaonik, is 71 meters high(Sony VAIO VGN-SR48J/B battery).

Politics

Main article: Politics of Serbia

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou and Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic.

Serbia formally regained its independence in 2006, after 88 years in various federations, the parliament announced a constitutional referendum that would replace the former Yugoslav-era constitution and created the new framework for the country by ratifying a new constitution. Serving his second term as President(Sony VAIO VGN-SR46TD/B battery), Boris Tadić is the leader of the center-left Democratic Party. His second reelection was won with a narrow 50.5% majority in the second round of the presidential election held on 4 February 2008.

Parliamentary elections were held in May 2008. The coalition For a European Serbia led by Boris Tadic, claimed victory, but was significantly short of an absolute majority. Following the negotiations with the leftist coalition centered around the Socialist Party of Serbia(Sony VAIO VGN-SR46MD/B battery), an agreement was reached to form a new government, headed by Mirko Cvetković. Present-day Serbian politics are fractiously divided on different issues, such as the European Union and the role of government.

Kosovo has been governed since 1999 by UNMIK, a UN mission. The Provisional Institutions of Self-Government, has an assembly and a president. Although the assembly has declared independence from Serbia(Sony VAIO VGN-SR45T/W battery), Serbia does not recognise the move.

Administrative divisions

Main article: Administrative divisions of Serbia

Serbia has two autonomous provinces: Vojvodina in the north and Kosovo and Metohija in the south. The area that lies between Vojvodina and Kosovo is called Central Serbia. Central Serbia is not an administrative division (unlike the provinces), and it has no regional authority of its own(Sony VAIO VGN-SR45T/P battery).

Serbia is divided into 150 municipalities and 24 cities, which are the basic units of local self-government. Of the 150 municipalities, 83 are located in Central Serbia, 39 in Vojvodina and 28 in Kosovo. Of the 24 cities, 17 are in Central Serbia, 6 are in Vojvodina and 1 in Kosovo. Municipalities and cities are gathered into districts, which are regional centers of state authority, but have no assemblies of their own(Sony VAIO VGN-SR45T/B battery); they present purely administrative divisions. Serbia is divided into 29 districts (17 in Central Serbia, 7 in Vojvodina and 5 in Kosovo), while the city of Belgrade presents a district of its own.

Foreign relations and military

Main articles: Foreign relations of Serbia and Serbian Armed Forces

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Serbia

2002 demographics map.

As of January 2011, Serbia (without Kosovo) had an estimated population of 7,276,195 (not including over 200,000 internally displaced persons from Kosovo, who will be counted as a permanent population in the next census, taking place in 2011) (Sony VAIO VGN-SR45H battery). The 2002 census was not conducted in Kosovo, which was under United Nations administration at the time. According to CIA estimates, Kosovo has around 1.8 million inhabitants, the majority of them Albanian with Kosovo Serbs coming in second.

Serbs are the largest ethnic group in Serbia, representing 83% of the total population, excluding Kosovo. With a population of 290,000, Hungarians are the second largest ethnic group in Serbia(Sony VAIO VGN-SR45H/P battery), representing 3.9% (and 14.3% of the population in Vojvodina). Other minority groups include Bosniaks, Roma, Albanians, Croats, Bulgarians, Montenegrins, Macedonians, Slovaks, Vlachs, Romanians, and Chinese.[106] According to UN estimates, around 500,000 Roma live in Serbia. The German minority in the northern province of Vojvodina was more numerous in the past (336,430 in 1900, or 23.5% of Vojvodina's population) (Sony VAIO VGN-SR45H/N battery).

Serbia has the largest refugee population in Europe. Refugees and internally displaced persons (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, mainly from Croatia, and to a lesser extent from Bosnia and Herzegovina and the IDPs from Kosovo, which are currently the most numerous at over 200,000(Sony VAIO VGN-SR45H/B battery).

Meanwhile, it is estimated that 300,000 people left Serbia during the 1990s alone, and around 20% of those had college or higher education. Serbia has a comparatively old overall population (among the 10 oldest in the world), mostly due to low birth rates. In addition, Serbia has among the most negative population growth rates in the world, ranking 225th out of 233 countries overall(Sony VAIO VGN-SR41M/W battery).

Religion

For centuries straddling the religious boundary between Orthodoxy and Catholicism, joined up later by Islam, Serbia remains one of the most diverse countries on the continent. While formation of the nation-state and turbulent history of 19th and 20th century has left its traces on the religious landscape of the country(Sony VAIO VGN-SR41M/S battery): Vojvodina is still 25% Catholic or Protestant, while Central Serbia and Belgrade regions are over 90% Orthodox Christian. Kosovo consists of an 89% Albanian Muslim majority.

Cathedral of Saint Sava, Belgrade, the world's largest Orthodox church

Among the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Serbian Orthodox Church is the largest in the country. According to the 2002 Census, 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(Sony VAIO VGN-SR41M/P battery). Other Orthodox Christian communities in Serbia include Romanians, Vlachs, Macedonians and Bulgarians. Together they comprise about 84% of the entire population.

Catholicism is mostly present in Vojvodina, especially its northern part, which is home to minority ethnic groups such as Hungarians, Slovaks, Croats, Bunjevci, and Czechs. There are an estimated 388,000 baptized Catholics in Serbia, roughly 6.2% of the population, mostly in northern Serbia(Sony VAIO VGN-SR3CW/B battery).

Protestantism accounts for about 1.1% of the country's population, chiefly among Reformist Hungarians and Slovaks in Vojvodina. Islam has a strong historic following in the southern regions of Serbia – southern Raška and Preševo Valley municipalities in the south-east. Bosniaks are the largest Muslim community in Serbia with 140,000 followers or 2% of the total population, followed by Albanians, whereas some Roma are Muslim(Sony VAIO VGN-SR39XN/S battery).

With the exile of Jews from Spain during the Inquisition era, thousands made their way through Europe to the Balkans. A good number settled in Serbia and became part of the general population. They were well-accepted by the Serbs and in the ensuing generations the majority assimilated or became secular(Sony VAIO VGN-SR39VN/S battery). Later on, the wars that ravaged the region resulted in a great part of the Serbian Jewish population emigrating from the region. Today, there are 1,185 Jews living in Serbia. The only functioning synanogue remains the Belgrade Synagogue. Famously, this synagogue was saved from destruction, at the hands of the Nazis, by the Serbs living in Nazi-occupied Serbia during World War II(Sony VAIO VGN-SR39D battery).

Economy

Main article: Economy of Serbia

Over one-third of the world's raspberries are grown in Serbia.

With a GDP (PPP) for 2011 estimated at $83.41 billion or $11,255 per capita (PPP), Serbia is an upper-middle income economy. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) 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 $6,178 in April 2011(Sony VAIO VGN-SR39D/Q battery). The GDP growth rate showed increase by 6.3% in 2005, 5.8% in 2006, reaching 7.5% in 2007 and 8.7% in 2008[120] as the fastest growing economy in the region. According to Eurostat data, Serbian (PPS) GDP per capita stood at 37% of the EU average in 2008.

The economy has a high unemployment rate above 27% and a unfavourable trade deficit. The country expects some major economic impulses and high growth rates in the next years(Sony VAIO VGN-SR39D/J battery). 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".

Apart from its free-trade agreement with the EU as its associate member, Serbia is the only European country outside the former USSR to have free trade agreements with Russia and Belarus.

Serbia grows about one-third of the world's raspberries and is the leading frozen fruit exporter(Sony VAIO VGN-SR38 battery).

In July 2010, the credit rating agency Dun & Bradstreet rated Serbia's economy at DB4d, which remained the same since the last rating. There was expressed concern for the slower-than-expected recovery of the economy from the global financial crisis, along with the continuous high business risk due lowered credit capabilities, increasing company bankruptcy and generally poor economic prospects(Sony VAIO VGN-SR38/Q battery). The Agency also expressed concern for the high credit debt and large number of foreign banks in the financial sector, creating increased risk of instability.

Telecommunication

Main article: Telecommunications in Serbia

89% of households in Serbia have fixed telephone lines, and with over 9.60 million users the number of cell-phones surpasses the number of total population of Serbia itself by 30%. The largest cellphone provider is Telekom Srbija with 5.65 million subscribers(Sony VAIO VGN-SR38/P battery), followed by Telenor with 3.1 million users and Vip mobile with just over 1 million. 50.4% of households have computers, 39% use the internet, and 42% have cable TV, which puts the country ahead of certain member states of the EU. Serbia is ranked 59th in the world in terms of internet usage out of 216 states. 55.9% of the population uses the internet, placing Serbia ahead of all Balkan countries(Sony VAIO VGN-SR38/B battery).

Transport

Main article: Transport in Serbia

E75 highway.

There are 4 international airports in Serbia: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport, Niš Constantine the Great Airport, Vršac International Airport and Pristina International Airport.

The valley of the Morava, is sometimes considered "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(Sony VAIO VGN-SR37TN/B battery), is the easiest route of travel 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 Vršac, then Austria-Hungary[133] (by 1882 route to Belgrade and Niš was completed). Serbian Railways handles the entire railway links in Serbia(Sony VAIO VGN-SR35T/S battery).

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(Sony VAIO VGN-SR35T/P battery).

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 and North Sea route(Sony VAIO VGN-SR35T/B battery), 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. The Danube River, central Europe's connection to the Black Sea, flows through Serbia(Sony VAIO VGN-SR35M/B battery). Through Danube-Rhine-Main 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.

Energy

See also: Wind power in Serbia

Most of the energy is currently produced comes from coal or hydroelectric dams. Energy consumption is expected to exceed energy production by 2012 and Elektroprivreda Srbije, Serbia's largest energy producer, is expected to develop Đerdap III, a hydroelectric dam with approximately 2.4 gigawatts of power(Sony VAIO VGN-SR35G/S battery).

Naftna Industrija Srbije, Serbia's largest oil producer was acquired by Russian energy giant Gazprom Neft. The two companies, are planning to build the Serbian portion of the South Stream gas pipeline. The two companies are also building a 300 million cubic meter gas storage at Banatski Dvor, located approximately 60 kilometers northeast of Novi Sad(Sony VAIO VGN-SR35G/P battery). The South Stream gas pipeline project will be the largest since the 19th century railway construction through Serbia.

Tourism

Main article: Tourism in Serbia

Petrovaradin fortress, one of the most visited places in Serbia and a hosting place of Exit (festival).

Tourism in Serbia mainly focuses 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(Sony VAIO VGN-SR35G/B battery). 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 EXIT(Sony VAIO VGN-SR33H battery), proclaimed to be 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.

Education

Main article: Education in Serbia

The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts directs a number of scientific research projects(Sony VAIO VGN-SR33H/S battery).

Education in Serbia is regulated by the Ministry of Science and 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. After compulsory education students have the opportunity to either attend a high school for another four years, specialist school(Sony VAIO VGN-SR33H/P battery), for 2 to 4 years, or to enroll in vocational training, for 2 to 3 years. Following the completion of high school or a specialist school, students have the opportunity to attend university.

In Serbia, some of the largest universities are:

University of Belgrade

University of Kragujevac

University of Niš

University of Novi Sad

University of Pristina

University of Novi Pazar

The University of Belgrade is the oldest and currently the largest university in Serbia. Established in 1808, it has 31 faculties, and since its inception, has trained an estimated 330,000 graduates. Other universities with a significant number of faculty and alumni are those of Novi Sad (founded 1960), Kragujevac (founded 1976) and Niš (founded 1965) (Sony VAIO VGN-SR33H/B battery).

The roots of the Serbian education system date back to the 11th and 12th centuries when the first Catholic colleges were founded in Titel and Bač, in Vojvodina province. Medieval Serbian education, however, was mostly conducted through the Serbian Orthodox monasteries of Sopoćani, Studenica(Sony VAIO VGN-SR31M/S battery), and Patriarchate of Peć. Serbian Orthodox education starting from the rise of Raška in 12th century, when Serbs overwhelmingly embraced Orthodox Christianity. 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(Sony VAIO VGN-SR29XN/S battery).

Culture

Main articles: Serbian culture and Cultural Heritage of Serbia

White Angel, 1230 A.D.

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 and Austria-Hungary(Sony VAIO VGN-SR29VN/S battery), 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.

Nikola Tesla on a contemporary 100 Serbian dinar bill.

The Byzantine Empire's influence on Serbia was profound, through the introduction of Greek Orthodoxy from the 7th century onwards to today(Sony VAIO VGN-SR28/Q battery), the Serbian Orthodox Church has an overwhelming influence on the makeup of cultural objects in Serbia. Different influences were also present- chiefly the Ottoman, Hungarian, Austrian and also Venetian, also known as coastal Serbs. Serbs use both the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets(Sony VAIO VGN-SR28/J battery).

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(Sony VAIO VGN-SR28/B battery), 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 added to the Heritage list in 1979, Studenica Monastery added in 1986, the Medieval Serbian Monastic Complex in Kosovo, comprising: Dečani Monastery, Our Lady of Ljeviš, Gračanica and Patriarchate of Pec(Sony VAIO VGN-SR27TN/B battery), monestaties were added in 2004, and put on the endangered list in 2006, and Gamzigrad – Romuliana, Palace of Galerius, was 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 added in 2003(Sony VAIO VGN-SR26MN/B battery).

The most prominent museum in Serbia is the National Museum of Serbia, founded in 1844; it houses a collection of more than 400,000 exhibits, over 5,600 paintings and 8,400 drawings and prints, and includes many foreign masterpiece collections and the famous Miroslav Gospels. The museum is currently under reconstruction(Sony VAIO VGN-SR26GN/B battery).

Art

Main article: Serbian art

The Fencing Lesson by Paja Jovanović

There are cultural traces in Serbia from prehistory. The most famous neolithic culture on the territory of Serbia is the culture of Lepenski Vir. There were many famous royal cities and palaces in Serbia at the time of Roman Empire and early Byzantine Empire, traces of which can still be found in Sirmium(Sony VAIO VGN-SR26/S battery), Gamzigrad and Justiniana Prima. Serbian medieval monuments, which survived until our days, are mostly Monasteriesand churches. Most of these monuments have walls painted with frescoes. The most original monument of Serbian medieval art is the Studenica (around 1190). This monastery was a model for later monasteries, like: Mileševa, Sopoćani and Visoki Dečani(Sony VAIO VGN-SR26/P battery). The most famous Serbian medieval fresco is the "Mironosnice na grobu" (or the "white angel") from the Mileševa monastery.

The National Museum of Serbia.

Icon-painting is also part of Serbian medieval cultural heritage. The influence of Byzantine art was increased after the fall of Constantinople into the hands of crusaders in 1204, when many artists went to Serbia. Their influence is seen in the building of the church Our Lady of Ljeviš and many other buildings, including Gračanica. The monastery Viski Dečani was built between 1330 and 1350(Sony VAIO VGN-SR26/B battery). Unlike other Serbian monasteries, this one was built in romantic style, under the authority of grand master Vita from Kotor. On the frescoes of this monastery there are 1.000 portrets depicting the most important episodes from the New Testament. Another style of architecture followed in Serbia is that of the end of the 14th century(Sony VAIO VGN-SR25T/S battery), near the river Morava (Moravic school). A characteristic of this style was the wealthy decoration of frontal church-walls. The frescoes in the monastery Manasija depict religious scenes in which people with Serbian medieval clothes are shown. During the time of Turkish occupation art virtually died. The most important Serbian painters of the 20th century were(Sony VAIO VGN-SR25T/P battery): Milan Konjović, Marko Čelebonović, Petar Lubarda, Vladimir Veličković and Mića Popović.

Literature

Main article: Serbian literature

Serbia's significant Miroslav Gospels document, one of the oldest surviving documents written in Serbian Church Slavonic, 1186.

The start of Serbian literacy relates to the activity of brothers Cyril and Methodius in the Balkans. There are monuments of Serbian literacy from the early 11th century and, written Glagolitic. Back in the 12th century, there are books written in Cyrillic. From this epoch is the oldest Serbian Cyrillic book editorial(Sony VAIO VGN-SR25S/B battery), Gospel Zahumian prince Miroslav, brother of Stefan Nemanja. The Miroslav Gospel is the oldest book of Serbian medieval history.

In the era of national revival, in the first half of 19th century Vuk Stefanović Karadžić translated the New Testament in Serbian and reformed the Serbian language and spelling. These were the foundations laid for the Serbian literature of recent times. The first half of the 19th century was dominated by Romanticism(Sony VAIO VGN-SR25M/B battery), with Branko Radičević, Petar II Petrović-Njegoš, Laza Kostić, Đura Jakšić and Jovan Jovanović Zmaj being the most notable representatives, while the second half of the century was marked by realist writers: Milovan Glišić, Laza Lazarević, Simo Matavulj, Stevan Sremac, Branislav Nušić, Radoje Domanović and Borisav Stanković. The 20th century has been given to the prose writers: Ivo Andrić(Sony VAIO VGN-SR25G/S battery), Isidora Sekulić, Miloš Crnjanski, Meša Selimović, Borislav Pekić, Dobrica Ćosić, Danilo Kiš, Aleksandar Tišma, Milorad Pavić, though there were valuable poetic achievements: Milan Rakić, Jovan Dučić, Desanka Maksimović, Miodrag Pavlović, Vladislav Petković Dis, Branko Miljković, Vasko Popa, and others(Sony VAIO VGN-SR25G/P battery).

In the last decade of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century, the most popular authors are: David Albahari, Milorad Pavić, Momo Kapor, Goran Petrović, Svetlana Velmar-Janković and Svetislav Basara.

Music

Main article: Music of Serbia

Serbia has long tradition in music. A kind of dance, named kolo is most favorite type of folklore, and it is different from region to region(Sony VAIO VGN-SR25G/B battery). The most popular are those from Užice and Morava region. Traditional Serbian music include various kinds of bagpipes, flutes, horns, trumpets, lutes, psalteries, drums and cymbals. Sung epic poetry has been an integral part of Serbian and Balkan music for centuries. In the highlands of Serbia these long poems are typically accompanied on a one-string fiddle called the gusle, and concern themselves with themes from history and mythology(Sony VAIO VGN-SR240N/B battery).

Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac.

Composer and musicologist Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac is considered one of the most important founders of modern Serbian music. Born in 1856, Mokranjac taught music, collected Serbian traditional songs and did the first scholarly research on Serbian music. He was also the director of the first Serbian School of Music and one of the founders of the Union of Singing Societies(Sony VAIO VGN-SR240J/B battery). His most famous works are the Song Wreaths. The Serbian composers Petar Konjović, Stevan Hristić and Miloje Milojević, all born in the 1880s, were the most eminent composers of their generation. They maintained the national expression and modernized the romanticism into the direction of impressionism. The best-known composers born around 1910 studied in Europe, mostly in Prague(Sony VAIO VGN-SR23H/B battery). Ljubica Marić, Stanojlo Rajicić, Milan Ristić took influence from Schoenberg, Hindemith and Haba, rejecting the "conservative" work of prior Serbian composers, seeing it as outdated and the wish for national expression was outside their interest. Other famous classical Serbian composers include Isidor Bajić, Stanislav Binički, and Josif Marinković(Sony VAIO VGN-SR220J/H battery)

The former Yugoslav rock scene, which Serbian rock scene was a part of during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, was well developed and covered in the media, which included numerous magazines, radio and TV shows. With the breakout of Yugoslav wars, former Yugoslav rock scene ceased to exist. During the 1990s popularity of rock music declined in Serbia(Sony VAIO VGN-SR220J/B battery), and although several major mainstream acts managed to sustain their popularity, an underground and independent music scene developed. The first decade of the 21st century saw the revival of the mainstream scene. The most notable Serbian rock acts include Bajaga i Instruktori, Disciplina Kičme, Đorđe Balašević, Ekatarina Velika, Električni Orgazam, Galija, Idoli, Korni Grupa, Partibrejkers, Pekinška Patka, Rambo Amadeus, Riblja Čorba, Smak, Šarlo Akrobata, YU grupa, Van Gogh, and others(Sony VAIO VGN-SR21M/S battery).

Serbia won the Eurovision Song Contest 2007.

Some of the most popular Serbian pop music performers are Zdravko Čolić, Željko Joksimović, Aleksandra Kovač, Aleksandra Radović, Ana Stanić, Jelena Tomašević, and others. Marija Šerifović won the first place at the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Molitva", and Serbia was the host of the 2008 contest(Sony VAIO VGN-SR19XN battery).

The so called "novokomponovana muzika" (newly composed music) can be seen as a result of the urbanization of folk music. In its early times, it had a professional approach to performance, used accordion and clarinet and typically included love songs or other simple lyrics. of the genre's best performers also play forms imported from even further abroad(Sony VAIO VGN-SR19VN battery). These include Šaban Šaulić, Toma Zdravković, Silvana Armenulic and. At a later stage, the popular performers such as Lepa Brena, Vesna Zmijanac and Dragana Mirković used more influences from pop music, oriental music, and other genres, which led to the emergence of turbo folk(Sony VAIO VGN-SR190F battery).

Turbo-folk (a term coined by rock musician Rambo Amadeus) music emerged during the breakup of Yugoslavia. Turbo-folk used Serbian folk music and "novokomponovana" as the basis, and added influences from rock, pop and electronic dance music. In the first decade of the 21st century turbo-folk featured even more pop music elements, and some of the performers were labeled as pop-folk(SONY Vaio VGN-SR11M Battery). Some of the best known turbo-folk performers include Seka Aleksić, Jelena Karleuša, Aca Lukas, Ceca Ražnatović, Dragana Mirković and others.

Brass bands, known as "trubači" (трубачи, trumpeters) are popular in Central and Southern Serbia where they originated. The music is traditional from the First Serbian Uprising. The trumpet was used as a military instrument to wake and gather soldiers and announce battles, the trumpet took on the role of entertainment during downtime, as soldiers used it to transpose popular folk songs(SONY Vaio VGN-SR12G/B Battery). When the war ended and the soldiers returned to the rural life, the music entered civilian life and eventually became a music style, accompanying births, baptisms, weddings, slavas, farewell parties for those joining military service, state and church festivals, harvesting, reaping, and funerals. In 1831 the first official military band was formed by Prince Miloš Obrenović(SONY Vaio VGN-SR12G/P Battery). Roma people have adopted the tradition and enhanced the music, and today most of the best performers are Roma.

The best known Serbian brass musicians are Goran Bregović, Fejat Sejdić, and Boban Marković and are also the biggest names in the world of modern brass band bandleaders. Guča trumpet festival is one of the most popular and biggest music festivals in Serbia, with over 300,000 visitors annually(SONY Vaio VGN-SR12G/S Battery).

Theatre and cinema

Main article: Cinema of Serbia

Internationally famous Serbian film director 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(Sony VAIO VGN-NW11Z/T battery). 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(Sony VAIO VGN-NW11S/T battery).

Cuisine

Main article: Serbian cuisine

Serbian cuisine is a heterogeneous cuisine, sharing characteristics of the Balkans (especially former Yugoslavia), the Mediterranean (especially Greek), Turkish, and Central European (especially Austrian and Hungarian) cuisines. Each region has its own peculiarities and variations. Among traditional Serbian foods are ćevapčići, pljeskavica, sarma, pasulj, burek, gibanica, ajvar. The national drink is Slivovitz (šljivovica) (Sony VAIO VGN-NW11Z/S battery).

Sports

Main article: Sport in Serbia

Sports in Serbia revolve mostly around team sports: football, basketball, volleyball, handball, water polo, and, most recently, tennis.

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(Sony VAIO VGN-NW11S/S battery).

Volleyball World League Finals, Belgrade Arena

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 Eastern European football club which played European Cup final (in 1966). The matches between two rival clubs are known as "Eternal derby"(Sony VAIO VGN-NW320F/B battery).

Serbia's national football team made their first appearance during the qualifying rounds for Euro 2008 although they did not qualify for Euro 2008. During the qualifying tournament for the World Cup 2010, Serbia won the first place in its group and consequently qualified directly for the 2010 World Cup Championship. Serbian SuperLiga, is the highest professional league in the country(Sony VAIO VGN-NW31JF battery). The 2009/2010 season champion was FK Partizan, followed by Red Star Belgrade in the second place, and FK Vojvodina in the third.

Novak Djokovic, the Number 1 tennis player in the world and a four-time Grand Slam champion.

Serbia is one of the traditional powerhouses of world basketball, winning various FIBA World Championships, multiple EuroBasket and Olympic medals (albeit as FR Yugoslavia). Serbia's national basketball team is considered the successor to the successful Yugoslavia national basketball team(Sony VAIO VGN-NW21ZF battery). Serbia has won FIBA world championships five times and won second place in the 2009 European championship. Players from Serbia made deep footprint in history of basketball, having success both in the top leagues of Europe and in the NBA. Many Serbians have played in the NBA such as Vlade Divac, Predrag Stojaković, Nenad Krstić, Darko Miličić, and Vladimir Radmanović(Sony VAIO VGN-NW31EF/W battery).

Basketball League of Serbia is the highest professional basketball in Serbia. For the eighth consecutive year, KK Partizan is currently the reigning champion of the league, followed by KK Crvena Zvezda. 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) away from home(Sony VAIO VGN-NW21MF/W battery); 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 their title in the 1992–1993 season, because of UN sanctions.

Serbian tennis players Novak Djokovic, Ana Ivanović, Jelena Janković, Nenad Zimonjić, Janko Tipsarević and Viktor Troicki are very successful and led to a popularisation of tennis in Serbia(Sony VAIO VGN-NW21MF battery). Novak Djokovic, in particular, is currently the World number 1 tennis player and was the founder of an ATP tennis tournament, Serbia Open. Other well-known players are Monika Seles and Jelena Dokić. The Serbia men national team won the 2010 Davis Cup

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(Sony VAIO VGN-NW21JF battery). Serbia won the bronze medal at the 2007 Men's European Volleyball Championship held in Moscow, Russia.

Serbia men's national water polo team is the reigning Water polo world champion winnig the 2009 World Championships in Rome, Italy. Serbia has won three European Championships (2001, 2003 and 2006), finished as runner-up in 2008, won two World Championships (2005 and 2009) and won bronze medal at 2008 Summer Olympics held in Beijing(Sony VAIO VGN-NW21EF/S battery).