Join the new world

Republic of Serbia
Република Србија
Republika Srbija

Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: Боже правде / Bože pravde
God of Justice
MENU0:00


Location of Serbia (green) – Kosovo (light green)
on the European continent (dark grey)
Capital
(and largest city) Belgrade
44°48′N 20°28′E
Official language(s) Serbian1
Ethnic groups (2002) 82.9% Serbs,
3.9% Hungarians,
1.8% Bosniaks,
1.4% Roma,
10.0% others[1]
(excluding Kosovo)
Demonym Serbian, Serb
Government Parliamentary republic
- President Tomislav Nikolić
- Prime Minister Ivica Dačić
- Speaker of Parliament Nebojša Stefanović
Legislature National Assembly
Formation
- Principality 768
- Kingdom 1217
- Empire 1346
- Suzerain monarchy 1817
- Recognition 1878
- Unification 1918
- Independent republic 2006
Area
- Total 88,361 km2 (113th)
34,116 sq mi
- Water (😵 0.13
(including Kosovo)
Population
- 2011 estimate 7,120,666 (excluding Kosovo)[2] (100th)
- Density 91,9/km2 (112th)
238/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2012 estimate
- Total $79.654 billion[3] (76th)
- Per capita $10,528 (excluding Kosovo)[3] (82nd)
GDP (nominal) 2012 estimate
- Total $37.199 billion[3] (79th)
- Per capita $4,917 (excluding Kosovo)[3] (92nd)
Gini (200😎 26 (low)
HDI (2011) 0.766[4] (high) (59th)
Currency Serbian dinar2 (RSD)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Drives on the Right
ISO 3166 code RS
Internet TLD .rs, .срб
Calling code 381
1 See also regional minority languages recognized by the ECRML
2 Kosovo uses Euro. (Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Serbia and the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo. The latter declared independence on 17 February 2008, while Serbia claims it as part of its own sovereign territory. Its independence is recognised by 93 out of 193 UN member states.)
Serbia i/ˈsɜrbiə/, officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: Република Србија / Republika Srbija, pronounced [rɛpǔblika sř̩bija]), is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Pannonian Plain and the central part of the Balkans. Relative to its small size, history and culture, it is a very diverse country distinguished by a transitional character. Serbia is landlocked and borders Hungary to the north; Romania and Bulgaria to the east; Macedonia to the south; and Croatia, Bosnia, and Montenegro to the west; also, it borders Albania through the disputed region of Kosovo. The capital of Serbia, Belgrade, is among the largest cities in East-Central Europe.
Following their settlement in the Balkans, Serbs established several states in early Middle Ages. Serbian Kingdom obtained recognition by Rome and Constantinople in 1217, which was raised to Serbian Empire in 1346. By the 16th century, the entire territory of modern-day Serbia was annexed by the Ottoman Empire, at times interrupted by the Habsburgs. In the early 19th century the Serbian revolution established the nation-state as the region's first constitutional monarchy, which subsequently expanded its territory and pioneered the abolition of feudalism in the Balkans.[5] The former Habsburg crownland of Vojvodina united with the Kingdom of Serbia in 1918. Following World War I, Serbia formed Yugoslavia with other South Slavic peoples which existed in several forms up until 2006, when the country retrieved its independence. In February 2008 the parliament of UNMIK-administered Kosovo declared independence as the 'Republic of Kosovo', with mixed responses from international governments but exercises de facto independence apart from the Serb dominated north which is governed by parallel institutions funded by Serbia.
In 1166, Stefan Nemanja assumed the throne, marking the beginning of a prospering Serbia, henceforth under the rule of the Nemanjić dynasty.[22] Nemanja's son Rastko (posth. Saint Sava), gained autocephaly for the Serbian Church in 1217 and authored the oldest known constitution, and in the same year Stefan II was crowned King, establishing the Serbian Kingdom.[23] Mrnjavcevic, Lazarević and Branković dynasties ruled the Serbian lands in the 15th and 16th centuries. Constant struggles took place between various Serbian provinces and the Ottoman Empire. After the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453 and the Siege of Belgrade, the Serbian Despotate fell in 1459 following the siege of the provisional capital of Smederevo. The Smederevo Fortress is the largest medieval lowland type of fortresses in Europe. After repelling Ottoman attacks for over 70 years, Belgrade finally fell in 1521, opening the way for Ottoman expansion into Central Europe. Taking advantage of the Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347, Dušan doubled the size of his kingdom seizing territories to the south, southeast and east at the expense of Byzantium and conquered almost the entire territory of today's Greece, except the Peloponnese and the islands. After he conquered the city of Serres, he was crowned the Emperor of Serbs and Greeks in Skoplje by the Serbian Patriarch on 16 April 1346. His goal was to become the successor of the Byzantine Emperors. Before his sudden death, Dušan the Mighty tried to organize a Crusade with the Pope against the threatening Turks. He died in December 1355 at the age 47. The Imperial constitution, the Dušan's Code (Serbian: Dušanov zakonik)[24] was enacted in 1349 and added in 1354. The Code was based on Roman-Byzantine law. The legal transplanting is notable with the articles 171 and 172 of Dušan's Code, which regulated the juridical independence. They were taken from the Byzantine code Basilika (book VII, 1, 16–17). Dušan opened new trade routes and strengthened the state's economy. Serbia flourished, becoming one of the most developed countries and cultures in Europe. Medieval Serbia had a high political, economic, and cultural reputation in Europe.
In the 1389 Battle of Kosovo, Ottoman forces defeated a multinational coalition led by Serbian King Lazar Hrebeljanović.[25][26] Soon after, parts of Serbia accepted Turkish vassalage and Lazar's daughter was married to the Sultan to seal the peace. By 1455, Central Serbia was finally and fully conquered by the Ottoman Empire.[27] Vojvodina resisted Ottoman rule until well into the 16th century.
The Serbian Revolution for independence from the Ottoman Empire lasted eleven years, from 1804 until 1815. The revolution comprised two separate uprisings which gained autonomy from the Ottoman Empire and eventually full independence in 1835.[32][33]
During the First Serbian Uprising, led by Duke 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 Serbian revolutionaries and Ottoman authorities.[34] Likewise, Serbia was one of the first nations in the Balkans to abolish feudalism.[35] The Convention of Ackerman in 1826, the Treaty of Adrianople in 1829 and finally, the Hatt-i Sharif, recognized the suzerainty of Serbia. The first Serbian Constitution was adopted on 15 February 1835.[36][37]
Following the clashes between the Ottoman army and civilians in Belgrade in 1862, and under pressure from the Great Powers, by 1867 the last Turkish soldiers left the Principality. By enacting a new constitution without consulting the Porte, Serbian diplomats confirmed the de facto independence of the country. In 1876, 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 by placing it under Austro-Hungarian occupation.[38] From 1815 to 1903, the 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. The 1848 revolution in Austria lead to the establishment of the autonomous territory of Serbian Vojvodina. By 1849, the region was transformed into the Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar.