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Located at the crossroads between Central[14][19][20] and Southern Europe, Serbia is found in the Balkan peninsula and the Pannonian Plain. Serbia lies between latitudes 41° and 47° N, and longitudes 18° and 23° E. The country covers a total of 88,361 km2 (including Kosovo), which places it at 113th place in the world; with Kosovo excluded, the total area is 77,474 km2,[3] which would make it 117th. Its total border length amounts to 2,027 km (Albania 115 km, Bosnia and Herzegovina 302 km, Bulgaria 318 km, Croatia 241 km, Hungary 151 km, Macedonia 221 km, Montenegro 203 km and Romania 476 km).[3] All of Kosovo's border with Albania (115 km), Macedonia (159 km) and Montenegro (79 km)[21] are under control of the Kosovo border police.[22] Serbia treats the 352 km long border between Kosovo and rest of Serbia as an "administrative line"; it is under shared control of Kosovo border police and Serbian police forces, and there are 11 crossing points.[23]

The Pannonian Plain covers the northern third of the country (Vojvodina and Mačva[24]) while the easternmost tip of Serbia extends into the Wallachian Plain. The terrain of central part of the country, with the region of Šumadija at its heart, consists chiefly of hills traversed by the rivers. Mountains dominate the southern third of Serbia. Dinaric Alps stretch in the west and the southwest following the flow of the rivers Drina and Ibar. Carpathian Mountains and Balkan Mountains stretch in north–south direction in the eastern Serbia.[25]

Ancient mountains in the southeast corner of the country belong to Rilo-Rhodope Mountain system. Elevation ranges from the Midžor peak of the Balkan Mountains at 2,169 metres (7,116 feet) (highest peak in Serbia, excluding Kosovo) to the lowest point of just 17 metres (56 feet) near the Danube river at Prahovo.[26] The largest lake is the Đerdap Lake (163 square kilometres or 63 square miles) and the longest river passing through Serbia the Danube (587.35 kilometres or 364.96 miles).

Climate

The climate of Serbia is under the influences of the landmass of Eurasia and Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. With mean January temperatures around 0 °C (32 °F), and mean July temperatures of 22 °C (72 °F), it can be classified into warm-humid continental or humid subtropical climate.[27] In the north, the climate is more continental, with cold winters, and hot, humid summers along with well distributed rainfall patterns. In the south, summers and autumns are drier, and winters are relatively cold, 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 variations.[28] Southern Serbia is subject to Mediterranean influences.[29] However, the Dinaric Alps and other mountain ranges contribute to the cooling of most of the warm air masses. Winters are quite harsh in the Pešter plateau, because of the mountains which encircle it.[30] One of the climatic features of Serbia is Košava, a cold and very squally southeastern wind which starts in the Carpathian Mountains and follows the Danube northwest through the Iron Gate where it gains a jet effect and continues to Belgrade and can spread as far south as Niš.[31]

The average annual air temperature for the period 1961–1990 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).[32] The lowest recorded temperature in Serbia was −39.5 °C (−39.1 °F) on 13 January 1985, Karajukića Bunari in Pešter, and the highest was 44.9 °C or 112.8 °F, on 24 July 2007, recorded in Smederevska Palanka.[33]

Serbia is one of few European countries with very high risk exposure to the natural hazards (earthquakes, storms, floods, droughts).[34] It is estimated that potential floods, particularly in areas of Central Serbia, threaten over 500 larger settlements and an area of 16,000 square kilometers.[35] The most disastrous were the floods in May 2014, when 57 people died and a damage of over a 1.5 billion euro was incited.[36]

Environment

With 29.1% of its territory covered by forest, Serbia is considered to be a middle-forested country, compared on a global scale to world forest coverage at 30%, and European average of 35%. The total forest area in Serbia is 2,252,000 hа (1,194,000 hа or 53% are state-owned, and 1,058,387 hа or 47% are privately owned) or 0.3 ha per inhabitant.[39] The most common trees are oak, beech, pines and firs.


The griffon vulture in Special Nature Reserve Uvac.
Serbia is a country of rich ecosystem and species diversity – covering only 1.9% of the whole European territory Serbia is home to 39% of European vascular flora, 51% of European fish fauna, 40% of European reptile and amphibian fauna, 74% of European bird fauna, 67% European mammal fauna.[40] Its abundance of mountains and rivers make it an ideal environment for a variety of animals, many of which are protected including wolves, lynx, bears, foxes and stags.

Mountain of Tara in western Serbia is one of the last regions in Europe where bears can still live in absolute freedom.[41] Serbia is also home to about 380 species of bird. In Carska Bara, there are over 300 bird species on just a few square kilometers.[42] Uvac Gorge is considered one of the last habitats of the griffon vulture in Europe.[43]

There are 377 protected areas of Serbia, encompassing 4,947 square kilometers or 6.4% of the country. The "Spatial plan of the Republic of Serbia" states that the total protected area should be increased to 12% by 2021.[40] Those protected areas include 5 national parks (Đerdap, Tara, Kopaonik, Fruška Gora and Šar Mountain), 15 nature parks, 15 "landscapes of outstanding features", 61 nature reserves, and 281 natural monuments.[38] Trake za trčanje

Air pollution is a significant problem in Bor area, due to work of large copper mining and smelting complex, and Pančevo where oil and petrochemical industry is based.[44] Some cities suffer from water supply problems, due to mismanagement and low investments in the past, as well as water pollution (like the pollution of the Ibar River from the Trepča zinc-lead combinate, affecting the city of Kraljevo, or the presence of natural arsenic in underground waters in Zrenjanin).

Poor waste management has been identified as one of the most important environmental problems in Serbia and the recycling is a fledgling activity, with only 15% of its waste being turned back for reuse.[45] The 1999 NATO bombing caused serious damage to the environment, with several thousand tons of toxic chemicals stored in targeted factories and refineries released into the soil and water basins.



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