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Serbia, officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: Република Србија or Republika Srbija, ), is a landlocked country in Central and Southeastern Europe, covering the central part of the Balkan Peninsula and the southern part of the Pannonian Plain. The capital is Belgrade. Serbia borders Hungary to the north; Romania and Bulgaria to the east; Albania and the Republic of Macedonia to the south; and Montenegro, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to the west. Serbs settled the region in the 6th through 7th century, converted to Eastern Orthodox Christianity in the 9th century, and formed an independent kingdom in the 13th century. The Medieval Serbian Empire rose from Byzantine and Bulgarian patronage to become a threat to the very existence of Constantinople itself. Under a string of accomplished leaders, from Stefan Nemanja, through the great Stefan Dusan, and culminating with the death of Prince Lazar at Kosovo in 1389, the medieval Serbs created a political entity which today still resonates strongly in the Serbian culture. Placed under Ottoman occupation in the 15th century following the collapse of the Serbian Empire, the uprisings against Turkish occupation between 1804-1815 reestablished Serbia as a state which obtained formal independence in 1878. Victorious in Balkan wars and World War I, for nearly a century Serbia was part of various South Slavic states, including the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes from 1918 to 1941 (renamed to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929), the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1992, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1992 to 2003, and the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro from 2003 to 2006. After Montenegro voted independence from the State Union, Serbia officially proclaimed its independence on June 5, 2006, as the successor state to the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.
Geography Serbia is located in the Balkans (a historically and geographically distinct region of southeastern Europe) and in the Pannonian Plain (a region of central Europe). It shares borders with Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, the Republic of Macedonia, and Romania. Serbia is landlocked, although the Danube River provides shipping access to inland Europe and the Black Sea. The Sava river flows into the Danube in Belgrade and it is also navigable along its entire length through the country (connecting Serbia with Slovenia), with Tisa River also open to all vessels, as it connects the country with Central and Eastern Europe. Serbia's terrain ranges from the 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. 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. Cities
National parks Serbia has five national parks: History Medieval Serbia
Ottoman Serbia Following the collapse of Serbian Empire in Battle of Kosovo, between 1459 and 1804, Serbia was under the Ottoman occupation, despite three Austrian invasions and numerous rebellions (such as the Banat Uprising). Islam was in a period of expansion during this time, especially in Raska, Kosovo and Bosnia. Many Serbs (and Croats) converted to Islam, which eventually led to the forming of the Bosniak nation. The Ottoman period was a defining one in the history of the country; Slavic, Byzantine, Arabic and Turkish cultures suffused. Many contemporary cultural traits can be traced back to Ottoman period. However the majority of the Serbs managed to keep their culture and religion through the long period of Ottoman rule. Modern Serbia
Between the wars After 1918, Serbia, along with Montenegro, was a founding member of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. During World War II, Serbia was a German-occupied puppet state that included present-day Central Serbia and Banat, popularly called Nedić's Serbia. However, parts of the present-day territory of Serbia were occupied by Croatian, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Albanian, and Italian armies. The occupying powers committed numerous crimes against the civilian population, especially against Serbs and Jews. Post WWII In 1945, Serbia was established as one of the federal units of the second Yugoslavia, the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia, led by Josip Broz Tito until his death in 1980. After the collapse of the second Yugoslavia in 1992 until the year 2003, Serbia, together with Montenegro, was part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Despite civil wars in neighbouring Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, while helping Serbs in Croatia and Bosnia try to remain a part of Yugoslavia, Serbia remained peaceful until 1998, when clashes with the terrorist K.L.A. started in Kosovo. Between 1998 and 1999, continued clashes in Kosovo between Serbian and Yugoslav security forces and the K.L.A. prompted a NATO aerial bombardment which lasted for 78 days. The attacks were stopped when Yugoslav president Slobodan Milošević agreed to remove all security forces, including the military and the police, and have them replaced by a body of international police, in return for which Kosovo would formally remain within the Yugoslav Federation (See: Kosovo War). 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 (DOS), a broad coalition of anti-Milošević parties. The fall of Milošević led to end of the international isolation Serbia suffered during the Milošević years. Serbia's new democratic leaders announced that Serbia would seek to join the European Union and NATO. In October 2005, the EU opened negotiations with Serbia for a Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA), a preliminary step towards joining the EU. From 2003 to 2006, Serbia was part of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, into which the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia had been transformed. On May 21, 2006, Montenegro held a referendum to determine whether or not to end the union with Serbia. The next day, state-certified results showed 55.5% of voters in favor of independence, which was just above the 55% required by the referendum. On June 3, the Parliament of Montenegro declared Montenegro independent of the State Union and on June 5, the National Assembly of Serbia declared Serbia the successor to the State Union. Government & politics On 4 February 2003 the parliament of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia agreed to a weaker form of cooperation between Serbia and Montenegro within a commonwealth called Serbia and Montenegro. The union ceased to exist following Montenegrin and Serbian declarations of independence in June 2006. After the ousting of Slobodan Milošević on 5 October 2000, the country was governed by the Democratic Opposition of Serbia. Tensions gradually increased within the coalition until the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) left the government, leaving the Democratic Party (DS) in overall control. Nevertheless, in March 2004 the DSS gathered enough support to form the new Government of Serbia, together with G17 Plus and coalition SPO-NS, and the support of the Socialist Party of Serbia, who do not take part in the government, but in exchange for the support hold minor government and justice positions and influence policies. The Prime Minister of Serbia is Vojislav Koštunica, leader of the Democratic Party of Serbia. The current President of Serbia is Boris Tadić, leader of the Democratic Party (DS). He was elected with 53% of the vote in the second round of the Serbian presidential election held on 27 June 2004, following several unsuccessful elections since 2002. Serbia held a two-day referendum on October 28-29, 2006, that ratified a new constitution replacing the Milošević-era constitution with a majority victory. As a result Serbia can hold new national elections as soon as December 2006. Administrative subdivisions Serbia is divided into 29 districts plus the City of Belgrade. The districts are further divided into municipalities. Serbia has two autonomous provinces: Kosovo (called Kosovo i Metohija, often abbreviated to Kosmet in Serbian) in the south (5 districts, 30 municipalities), which is presently under the administration of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo, and Vojvodina in the north (7 districts, 46 municipalities). 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. Negotiations are currently underway to determine the final status of Kosovo. The Contact Group has set a target of completing the status process by the end of 2006. It is widely expected that the talks will result in Kosovo receiving some form of conditional independence (i.e. independence subject to transitional international supervision).* Demographics
Economy GDP and growth: Culture Serbia is one of Europe's most culturally diverse countries. The borders between large empires ran through the territory of today's Serbia for long periods in history: between the Eastern and Western halves of the Roman Empire; between Royal Hungary and Byzantium; and between the Ottoman Empire and the Austrian Empire (later Austria Hungary). As a result, while the north is culturally Central European, the south is rather more Oriental. Of course, both regions have influenced each other, and so the distinction between north and south is artificial to some extent. The Byzantine Empire's influence on Serbia was perhaps the greatest. Serbs are Orthodox Christians, not Roman Catholics, with their own national church - the Serbian Orthodox Church. They use both the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets, as a result of both Eastern and Western influences. The monasteries of Serbia, built largely in the Middle Ages, are one of the most valuable and visible traces of medieval Serbia's association with the Byzantium and the Orthodox World, but also with the Romanic (Western) Europe that Serbia had close ties with back in middle ages. Education Education in Serbia is regulated by the Serbian Ministry of Education and Sports. Education starts in either pre-schools or elementary schools. Children enroll in elementary schools (Serbian: Osnovna škola) at age of 7 and it lasts for eight years. Tourism Tourism in Serbia is mostly based in mountains and villages. The most famous mountain resorts are Zlatibor, Kopaonik, and the Tara. There also are a lot of spas in Serbia, one the biggest of which is the Vrnjačka Banja. There is also significant tourism in Belgrade and Novi Sad (the capital of the Vojvodina province), as well to the Exit Festival and the Guča trumpet festival. Serbian holidays See also Communications Transportation Serbia, in particular the valley of the Morava, is often described as "the crossroads between East and West", which is one of the primary reasons for its turbulent history. The Morava valley route, which avoids mountainous regions, is by far the easiest way of travelling overland from continental Europe to Greece and Asia Minor. 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. The Danube River, central Europe's connection to the Black Sea, flows through Serbia. There are three international airports in Serbia: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport, Niš Constantine the Great Airport, and Priština International Airport (last one is located in the Serbian province of Kosovo). Three regional airports are being reconstruct at the moment, and by the end of 2006, the number of international airports in Serbia will increase. The national carrier is Jat Airways and the railway system is operated by Beovoz in Belgrade and by Serbian Railways on the national level. Miscellaneous Gallery Image:Kalemegdan.jpg.png| Image:Zdf.jpg| Image:Nis-at-night.jpg| Monument to the liberators Image:Kragujevac- Muzej 21 oktobar.jpg|Museum of Genocide in Kragujevac Image:Theatre in subotica.jpg| Image:HPIM0229.JPG| Image:Citadel_Petrovaradin.jpg| Image:Golubac.JPG| Image:Ne_Udhetim_132.jpg| Image:Resavska pecina.JPG| Image:Pejzaz9.jpg| Image:Delihom.jpg| Image:TabulaTraiana.jpg| Image:Bacs1.jpg| Image:Djurdjevi stupovi 016.jpg| See also Government links (In alphabetical order of the domain name.) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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