Coordinates	35°0′41.69″N135°46′5.47″N
native name
conventional long name	Republic of Serbia
common name	Serbia
demonym	Serbian
image coat	Coat of arms of Serbia (since 2011).svg
map caption	Location of Serbia (green) – ''Kosovo'' (light green) on the European continent (dark grey)
national anthem	''Боже правде / God of justice''File:Serbian National Anthem instrumental.ogg
official languages	Serbian
capital	Belgrade
largest city	capital
government type	Parliamentary republic
leader title1	President
leader title2	Prime Minister
leader name1	Boris Tadić
leader name2	Mirko Cvetković
area rank	112th
area magnitude	1 E10
area km2	88 361
area sq mi	34 116
percent water	0.13(including Kosovo)
population estimate	9,496,000(including Kosovo)
population estimate year	2007
population estimate	7,276,195(excluding Kosovo)
population estimate year	2011
population density km2	107,46
population density sq mi	297
population density rank	94th
hdi year	2010
hdi	0.735
hdi rank	60th
hdi category	high
gdp ppp year	2011
gdp ppp	$83.41 billion
gdp ppp rank	75th
gdp ppp per capita	$11,255 (excluding Kosovo)
gdp ppp per capita rank	74th
gdp nominal year	2011
gdp nominal	45.6 billion
gdp nominal rank	80th
gdp nominal per capita	$6,178 (excluding Kosovo)
gdp nominal per capita rank	79th
gini	26
gini year	2008
gini category	low
sovereignty type	Formation
established event1	First State
established event2	Kingdom
established event3	Empire
established event4	Recognized as suzerain principality
established event5	De jure independence
established event6	Independent Republic
established date1	768
established date2	1217
established date3	1346
established date4	1817
established date5	1878
established date6	2006
currency	Serbian dinar
currency code	RSD
country code	RS
time zone	CET
utc offset	+1
time zone dst	CEST
utc offset dst	+2
ethnic groups	82.9% Serbs, 3.9% Hungarians, 1.8% Bosniaks, 1.4% Roma, 10.0% others(excluding Kosovo)
ethnic groups year	2002
drives on	right
cctld	.rs
calling code	381
iso 3166-1 alpha2	RS
iso 3166-1 alpha3	SRB
iso 3166-1 num	688
alt sport code	SRB
vehicle code	SRB
footnotes	1 See also regional minority languages recognized by the ECRML }}

Serbia (), officially the Republic of Serbia (}}), 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; 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.

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. 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, 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 an EU membership applicant and a self-declared neutral country.

History

Early history

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).

The Paleo-Balkan peoples, such as the Thracians, Dacians, Illyrians were autochthonous inhabitants of Serbia prior to the Roman conquest in the 1st century BC 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. The Celtic tribe of Scordisci settled in the 3rd century BC and built many fortifications and cities in Serbia, such as Singidunum, now known as Belgrade.

The Romans conquered parts of Serbia in 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. Despite its small size, the contemporary Serbia extends fully or partially over several Roman provinces such as Moesia, Pannonia, Praevalitana, Dalmatia, Dacia and Macedonia. The northern Serbian city of Sirmium was one of the capitals of the Roman Empire during the Tetrarchy. Seventeen Roman Emperors were born in present-day Serbia, second only to what is present-day Italy.

The most famous Roman Emperor born in Serbia was Constantine the Great who empowered Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. The northern Serbian city of Sirmium (''Sremska Mitrovica'') was among the top 4 cities of the late Roman Empire, serving as its capital during the Tetrarchy. Contemporary Serbia comprises the classical regions of Moesia, Pannonia, parts of Dalmatia, Dacia and Macedonia. Around the 6th century, Slavs appeared on the Byzantine borders in great numbers. The chief towns of Serbian Upper Moesia (and wider) in the principate were: Singidunum, Viminacium, Remesiana, Naissus and especially, Sirmium.

Middle Age

The beginning of the Serbian state began with the settling of the White Serbs in the Balkans led by the Unknown Archont, who was asked to defend the Byzantine frontiers from invading Avars. Emperor Heraclius granted the Serbs a permanent dominion in the ''Sclavinias'' of Western Balkans upon completing this task. By the 750s the great-grandson of the Unknown Archont, Višeslav I managed to unite several territories, which led to the founding of Raška, which lay between the crisis-struck Byzantine and the growing Frankish Empire.

At first heavily dependent on the Byzantine Empire as its vassal, Raška gained independence by the expulsion of the Byzantine troops and the major defeat of the Bulgarians around 850 AD during the rule of Vlastimir of Serbia, the founder of the first Serbian dynasty, the House of Vlastimirović. The Christianization of the Serbs was complete in 867–869 when Byzantine Emperor Basil I sent priests after Knez Mutimir had acknowledged Byzantine suzerainty. At about the same time, the remaining, mostly western Serbs were subjugated to the Frankish Empire. The First dynasty died out in 960 AD; the wars of succession for the Serb throne led to Serbian incorporation into the Byzantine Empire in 971. Around 1040 AD, an uprising in the medieval state of Duklja overthrew Byzantine rule. Duklja then assumed dominion over Serb lands during the 11th and 12th centuries. In 1077 AD, Duklja became the first Serbian kingdom following the establishment of the Catholic Bishopric of Bar. From the late 12th century onwards, Raška rose to become the dominant Serbian state. Over the 13th and 14th centuries, it ruled over the other Serb lands. During this time, Serbia began to expand eastward and southward into Kosovo and northern Macedonia and northward for the first time.

The Serbian Empire was established in 1346 by Tsar Stefan Dušan, during which time the country reached its territorial, spiritual and cultural peak, becoming the most powerful state in the Balkans. Dušan's Code, a universal system of laws, was enacted. The reign of his son Tsar Stefan Uroš V saw the Serbian Empire fragment into a confederation of principalities. 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. 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. Conversion to Islam soon became evident, especially in the southwest- Raška, Kosovo and Bosnia. To the south, the Republic of Venice expanded, gradually taking over the coastal areas.

Ottoman and Austrian rule

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. 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. 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. 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, 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.

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. 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, 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. 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. 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. 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.

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. 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. By 1849, the region was transformed into the Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar.

Balkan Wars and World War I

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. 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. 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.

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. 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. 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. 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.

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

Syrmia region was the first among former Habsburg lands to declare union with Serbia on 24 November 1918.

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.

World War II and civil war

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, 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, 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. 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. 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. reports that more than Serbs were killed overall, whereas official Yugoslav sources used to estimate more than 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. 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. 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.

Second 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. 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.

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. 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". 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. 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, 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. 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.

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.

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, 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, 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.

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.

Political transition

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, compelling Milošević to concede defeat. The fall of Milošević ended Serbia'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 Serbia would seek to join the European Union. In October 2005, the EU opened negotiations with Serbia for the Stabilization and Association Agreement.

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. Nationalist and EU-oriented political forces in Serbia have remained sharply divided on the political course of Serbia in regards to its relations with the European Union.

From 2003 to 2006, Serbia was part of the "State Union of Serbia and Montenegro." This union was the successor to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. 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.

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.

Geography

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. 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.

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. 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

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.

Wetlands

{| class="wikitable" style="width:50%;" |- !Name !Designated !Municipality !Area (km²) |- |Gornje Podunavlje||2007||Vojvodina||align=right|224,8 |- |Labudovo okno||2006||Bela Crkva||align=right|37,33 |- |Ludaš Lake||1977||Subotica||align=right|5,93 |- |Obedska bara||1977||Pećinci||align=right|175,01 |- |Peštersko polje||2006||Sjenica||align=right|34,55 |- |Slano Kopovo||2004||Vojvodina||align=right|9,76 |- |Stari Begej – Carska Bara||1996||Zrenjanin||align=right|17,67 |- |Vlasina Lake||2007||Surdulica||align=right|32,09 |}

Climate

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, 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. 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. The average annual air temperature for the period 1961–90 for the area with an altitude of up to is . The areas with an altitude of have an average annual temperature of around , and over of altitude around . The lowest recorded temperature in Serbia was on 13 January 1985, Karajukića Bunari in Pešter, and the highest was , 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. 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

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. 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.

!	! River	! Km in Serbia	! Total length(km)	! Number of countries
1	Danube	588	2783	9
2	Great Morava	493	493	1
3		250	272	2
4	Drina	220	346	3
5	Sava	206	945	4
6		202	202	1
7		168	966	4
8	Nišava	151	218	2
9		118	359	2
10		75	244	2

Politics

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, 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, 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, Serbia does not recognise the move.

Administrative divisions

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.

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; 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.

Demographics

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). 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, 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. 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 the population).

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.

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.

{{bar box | width=300px | title=Ethnic groups in Serbia (excluding Kosovo) in 2002 | titlebar=#ddd | bars= }}

Largest cities

Religion

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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: 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.

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. 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.

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.

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. 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.

Economy

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. 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 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 of 14% and a unfavourable trade deficit. The country expects some major economic impulses and high growth rates in the next years. 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.

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. 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

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, 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.

Transport

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, 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 (by 1882 route to Belgrade and Niš was completed). Serbian Railways handles the entire railway links in Serbia.

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.

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, 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. 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

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.

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. The South Stream gas pipeline project will be the largest since the 19th century railway construction through Serbia.

Tourism

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. 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, 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

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, 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).

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, 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.

Culture

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, 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.

The Byzantine Empire's influence on Serbia was profound, through the introduction of Greek Orthodoxy from the 7th century onwards to today, 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.

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, 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, 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.

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.

Art

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, 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. The most famous Serbian medieval fresco is the "Mironosnice na grobu" (or the "white angel") from the Mileševa monastery.

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. 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, 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: Milan Konjović, Marko Čelebonović, Petar Lubarda, Vladimir Veličković and Mića Popović.

Literature

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, 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, 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, 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.

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

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. 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.

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. 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. 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

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, 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.

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.

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. 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.

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. 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. 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. 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.

Theatre and cinema

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. 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.

Cuisine

Serbian cuisine is varied, the turbulent historical events influenced the food and people, and each region has its own peculiarities and differences. It is strongly influenced by the Byzantine-Greek, Mediterranean, Oriental and Austro-Hungarian styles. Many of the traditional Serbian foods like ćevapčići, soup, pljeskavica, gibanica, are enjoyed even today.

Sports

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. 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". 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. The 2009/2010 season champion was FK Partizan, followed by Red Star Belgrade in the second place, and FK Vojvodina in the third.

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. 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.

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; 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 sanction.

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. 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. 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.

See also

Outline of Serbia

International rankings of Serbia

References

External links

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Coordinates	35°0′41.69″N135°46′5.47″N
name	Željko JoksimovićЖељко Јоксимовић
background	solo_singer
birth date	April 20, 1972
birth place	Belgrade, SR Serbia, Yugoslavia present day Serbia
origin	Valjevo
genre	Pop,Rock
occupation	Singer, Composer, Musician
label	Minacord/City Records
website	www.zeljkojoksimovic.com
notable instruments	}}

Željko Joksimović or often credited Zeljko Joksimovic (Serbian: Жељко Јоксимовић, pronounced ; born 20 April 1972 in Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia) is a popular Serbian singer, songwriter and producer. He is also well known in Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia, Croatia, Slovenia, Greece, Germany, Austria and other European countries. He represented Serbia and Montenegro in the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Lane moje", placing 2nd behind Ukrainian singer Ruslana.

Career

Early beginnings

Željko Joksimović was born on 20 April 1972 in Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia, and grew up in the city of Valjevo. Željko’s first international success came at the age of 12, when he won the title of ''First Accordion of Europe'' at the prestigious music festival in Paris. He graduated from the Music University in Belgrade and launched his professional music career in 1997. In 1998 he won a contest at the Pjesma Mediterana festival with the song "Pesma Sirena", which led to opportunities to perform at more prestigious festivals in Belarus. The Serbian musician won the "Grand-Prix" award at two festivals in that country.

Željko is multi-lingual, being fluent in Greek, English, Russian, Polish and French as well as his native language of Serbian.

1999-2004: ''Amajlija'', ''Vreteno'' and ''111''

In 1999, Joksimović signed with City Records, a music label owned by a private Serbian television station RTV Pink. The young singer was promoted then as a folk and pop artist. His first studio album, titled ''Amajlija'', included "Pesma Sirena" along with seven other tracks. His first big success was with the single "Telo Vreteno", written by himself and Dragan Brajić - Braja. The song went to #1 on the Serbian pop music charts, and became very popular in other former Yugoslav countries.

In 2000 Joksimović released his second studio album ''Vreteno'' named after a song on the album. Other tracks on the album included "Rintam", "Gadura" and "Petak na subotu". Two music videos were produced for songs on this album.

''111'' was released in 2002, soaring to #1 on the pop charts of Serbia and other countries of the region.

In 2003, Joksimović wrote the song "Čija Si" for Macedonian music legend Toše Proeski which led him to win Beovizija - The Serbian festival for choosing a representative for the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest. However, Proeski did not go to the contest that year, instead representing his home country Macedonia with "Life".

2004: Eurovision Song Contest 2004

Serbia and Montenegro, sending an entrant for the first time to 2004 Eurovision Song Contest, decided on their representative through Evropesma 2004, a music festival and contest in Serbia and Montenegro. Joksimović won the contest with "Lane Moje", composed by Željko himself, along with lyricist Leontina Vukomanović.

In the semi-final, Joksimović placed first. However, in the final he placed second behind Ukrainian singer Ruslana, but did win "The Macel Bezencon Press award" (Best Composer Award). "Lane Moje" was the best selling single in Serbia and Montenegro and other parts of Europe for many months.

2004-2007: After Eurovison, ''IV'' and ''Platinum Collection''

After the success in the Contest, the same year, Željko Joksimović founded ''MINACORD PRODUCTION''. Since then, he works and composes in his own studio. In middle time he composed and released the single "Ledja o Ledja" which gained a large popularity over the countries where Željko usually performs. In 2005, he once again composed a song for Serbia and Montenegro's national pre-selection for Eurovision called Beovizija. Željko composed the ballad "Jutro" (Morning) which was performed by Jelena Tomašević. The song seemed well-placed to make it to the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 contest in Kiev, after it emerged as the highest-scoring qualifier from the Serbian pre-selection, but ultimately missed out to win. In October 2005, he composed and performed a duet with Austrian singer Tamee Harrison. The song was titled ''I Live my Life For You"'' which was a success throughout Europe. Around this time, Željko wrote his first film score. In cooperation with ''Cobra production'' he composed music for the movie ''Ivkova slava'' (Ivko's fame). The same year he released his fourth studio album ''"IV"'' or ''"Ima nešto u tom što me nećes"''. In this album he changed the music style that was typical about him. The songs in the album are pop ballads with some ethnic Serbian folk elements. The CD sold over 800,000 copies over former Yugoslavia. In 2006, he composed the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 song ''Lejla'' for Bosnia and Herzegovina, performed by Hari Mata Hari. The song finished in third place, making it Bosnia's best performance in the contest. He also won the prestigious Best Composer Award (COMPOSERAWARD 2006), assigned to Željko by all composers who participated in that festival. In 2007 he released his second greatest hits compilation called ''Platinum Collection''. The same year, in front of 18,000 people Joksimović made a concert where he sang all of his hits in the Belgrade Arena.

2008-2010: Eurovision hosting and ''Ljubavi''

In early 2008, Željko Joksimović composed a song that was performed by Jelena Tomašević in the Serbian national final for the Eurovision song selection, Beovizija 2008, called "Oro" . The song is a folk ballad with traditional folk Serbian elements. Because the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 has been won by Serbia, the contest that year came in the country. On 24 March 2008 it was announced by the 2008 Eurovision organisers RTS that together with Jovana Janković he would host the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade, giving him two roles in the contest. Tomašević's song finished on the 6th place over 25 countries in the whole contest.

After a year of a music pause he released his fifth studio album named ''Ljubavi'' (2009) by the production of Minacord and City Records. "Ljubavi" is the name from the pilot single from the album too. The single has a large success in Serbia and the neighboring countries. In early 2010 he released the second single from the album called "Žena Za Sva Vremena".

On June 12, 2010 he performed his biggest concert yet. It was held on the Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadium in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, which can seat 37,500, though attendance for concerts can be expanded to reach about 80,000, in front of over 40,000 persons.

Discography

Studio albums

1999 ''Amajlija'' [City Records]

2001 ''Vreteno'' [City Records]

2002 ''111'' [City Records]

2005 ''IV'' [City Records]

2009 ''Ljubavi'' [Minacord]

Live albums

2008 Željko Joksimović - ''Beogradska Arena Live [Minacord Records

Compilations

2003 ''The Best Of Željko Joksimović''

2007 ''Platinum Collection''

Singles

2004 Željko Joksimović - ''Leđa o leđa'' [City Records]

2004 Željko Joksimović - ''Lane moje'' CD+DVD [PGP RTS]

2004 Željko Joksimović - ''Lane moje/Goodbye'' (maxi-single) [Warner Music Group]

2005 Željko Joksimović & Tamee Harrison - ''I live my life for you'' [Warner Music]

2007 Željko Joksimović - ''Devojka '' [Minacord]

2007 Željko Joksimović - ''Nije do mene'' [Minacord]

2008 Željko Joksimović - ''Ono nase sto nekad bejase'' [Minacord]

Duets

2002 Haris Džinović - ''Šta će meni više od toga''

2005 Dino Merlin -

2005 Tamee Harrison - Live My Life For You''

Soundtracks

2005 "Ivkova slava", (Željko Joksimović, Jelena Tomašević & Nikola Kojo) [Minacord - City Records]

2009 Orao" [Minacord - City Records]

Other works

2003 Toše Proeski - Song ''Cija Si'' - Composer: Zeljko Joksimovic, Album: ''Den Za Nas/Dan Za Nas''

2005 Nava Medina - Song: ''Malah Shomer'' - Composer: Zeljko Joksimovic

2006 Hari Mata Hari - Song: ''Lejla'' - Composer: Zeljko Joksimovic, Album: ''Lejla'' [BiH]

2007 Tose Proeski - Song: ''Nesanica'' - Composer: Zeljko Joksimovic, Album: ''Igra Bez Granica''

2009 Halid Bešlić - Song: "Miljacka" - Composer: Zeljko Joksimovic, Album: ''Halid08 Bešlić''

2008 Jelena Tomasevic - Song: ''Oro'' - Composer: Zeljko Joksimovic, Album: ''Oro'' [PGP -RTS]

2008 Eleftheria Arvanitaki - Song: ''To Telos mas Des'' - Composer: Zeljko Joksimovic, Album: ''Mirame'' Universal Music

2008 Melina Aslanidou - Song: ''Poso'' - Composer: Zeljko Joksimovic, Album: ''Best of - Sto dromo'' Sony BMG

2008 Song: Nikola Tesla (Instrumental) - Composer: Zeljko Joksimovic feat. Jelena Tomasevic Album: balkan Routes vol.1:Nikola Tesla[Protasis]

References

External links

Željko Joksimović's Official website

Zeljko Joksimovic Official YouTube

Željko Joksimović's Official Myspace

Željko Joksimović's Official facebook

Radio Lane (Zeljko Joksimovic's radio station)

Serbia's Eurovision Song Contest Page

Zeljko Joksimovic's profile on Story Online

Željko Joksimović lyrics

See also

Evropesma

Serbia and Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest

Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest

List of Eurovision Song Contest presenters

Category:1972 births Category:Living people Category:Serbian composers Category:Pop folk singers Category:English-language singers Category:Eurovision Song Contest presenters Category:Serbian Eurovision Song Contest entrants Category:Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2004 Category:People from Valjevo Category:Serbian male singers Category:Serbian pop singers Category:Serbian singer-songwriters

ast:Željko Joksimović az:Jelko Yoksimoviç bs:Željko Joksimović bg:Желко Йоксимович de:Željko Joksimović el:Ζέλικο Γιοκσίμοβιτς es:Željko Joksimović fr:Željko Joksimović hr:Željko Joksimović it:Željko Joksimović he:ז'ליקו יוקסימוביץ' ka:ჟელკო იოკსიმოვიჩი lt:Željko Joksimovičius mk:Жељко Јоксимовиќ nl:Željko Joksimović ja:ジェリコ・ヨクシモヴィッチ no:Željko Joksimović pl:Željko Joksimović pt:Željko Joksimović ru:Йоксимович, Желько sq:Zhelko Joksimoviqi sr:Жељко Јоксимовић sh:Željko Joksimović fi:Željko Joksimović sv:Željko Joksimović tr:Željko Joksimović uk:Желько Йоксимович

Kosovo Serbs (, meaning "''people of Kosovo''", sing; m ''Kosovac'', f ''Kosovka'') are the second largest ethnic group in Kosovo. By the 12th century, the cultural, diplomatic and religious core of the Serbian Kingdom was located in Kosovo. This became essential to the Serbian Empire of the 14th century.

During the 20th century Serbian population constantly decreased. Their share in the overall population of the region is currently estimated at 7% by the CIA. Serbs today mostly populate the enclaves across Kosovo, North Kosovo being the largest one.

Large-scale emigration of ethnic Serbs, especially since 1999 onwards, makes them the only major ethnic group in Kosovo to have a negative natural growth rate with deaths exceeding births. BBC reports that fewer than 100,000, 5% Serbs remained in Kosovo following a post-war exodus of non-Albanians. The Serbian minority live in separate areas watched over by NATO peacekeepers. International diplomats have voiced concern over slow progress on their rights. Human Rights Watch pointed out discrimination against Serbs and Roma in Kosovo immediately after the War in Kosovo.

Population

According to the Statistical Office of Kosovo, in 2006 there were 111,300 ethnic Serbs in Kosovo, making up 5.3 per cent of the population, compared to 24.1 per cent in 1948. In modern times, the absolute number of Serbs was highest at the time of the 1971 census, when it stood at 228,264. Serbs constitute 98% of population in North Kosovo, whose comprise 11% of Kosovo's territory.

Geography

According to the 1991 census, Serbs formed a majority in five municipalities of Kosovo:

Leposavić

Novo Brdo

Štrpce

Zvečan

Zubin Potok

''For other places in Kosovo inhabited by Serbs, see: Kosovo Serb enclaves.''

History

Medieval

Slavs came to the territories of roughly modern-day Kosovo in the 6th-7th centuries, with the largest waves coming in the 630s. The Slavs were Christianized in several waves, between the 7th and 9th century, with the last wave taking place between 867 and 874. The northwestern part of Kosovo - Hvosno, became a part of the Byzantine-vassalaged Serb Principality of Rascia, with Destinikon as the Principality's capital.

In the late 9th century entire Kosovo was seized by the forces of the Czardom of the Bulgarians. Although Serbia restored control over Metohija throughout the 10th century, the rest of Kosovo was returned to the Byzantine Empire after the Bulgarian Empire crumbled in the late 10th century. In a renewed Slavic rebellion of Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria, entire Kosovo was controlled by the renewed Bulgarian Czardom from the late 10th century, until the Byzantine restoration of 1018. In 1040–1041 a massive Slavic rebellion against the Eastern Roman Empire arose that temporarily controlled Kosovo. After its break, the Byzantines restored control.

In 1072 the local Slavs under George Voiteh pushed a final attempt to restore Imperial Bulgarian power and invited the last heir of the House of Comitopuli - Duklja's prince Konstantin Bodin of the House of Vojislavljević, son of the Serbian King Mihailo Voislav. The Serbs decided to conquer the entire Byzantine theme of Bulgaria, so King Mihailo dispatched his son with 300 Serb fighters led by Duke Petrilo. Constantine Bodin was crowned in Prizren as Petar III, Czar of the Bulgarians by George Voiteh and Slavic Boyars. The Empire swept across Byzantine territories in months, until the significant losses on the south had forced Czar Petar to withdraw. In 1073 the Byzantine forces chased Constantine Bodin, defeated his army at Pauni and had him imprisoned.

The full Serbian takeover was carried out under a branch of the House of Voislav Grand Princes of Rascia. In 1093, Prince Vukan advanced all the way to Lipljan, burned it down and raided the neighbouring areas. The Byzantine Emperor himself came to Zvečan for negotiations. Zvečan served as the Byzantine line-of-defence against constant invasions from the neighbouring Serbs. A peace was concluded, but Vukan broke it and defeated the army of John Comnenus, the Emperor's nephew. His armies stormed Kosovo. Byzantine Emperor Alexius had to come to Ulpiana in 1094 and negotiated again. Peace was concluded and Vukan gave hostages to the Emperor, including his two nephews Uroš and Stefan Vukan. Prince Vukan renewed the warring in 1106, once again defeating John Comnenus' army, but Vukan's following death put a halt to a total conquest of Kosovo.

In 1166, a Serbian nobleman from Zeta, Stefan Nemanja, the founder of the House of Nemanja asserted to the Rascian Grand Princely throne and conquered most of Kosovo, in an uprising against the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnenus. He defeated the previous Grand Prince of Rascia Tihomir's army at Pantino, near Pauni. Tihomir, who was Stefan's brother, was drowned in the Sitnica river. Stefan was eventually defeated and had to return some of his conquests, and vouched to the Emperor that he would not raise his hand against him. In 1183, Stefan Nemanja embarked on a new offensive with the Hungarians after the death of Manuel I Comnenus in 1180, which marked the end of Byzantine domination of Kosovo.

Nemanja's son, Stefan II, recorded Nemanja's conquests, as Nemanja restored Kosovo from the Greeks, the border of the Serbian realm reaching the river of Lab. Grand Prince Stephen II finished the inclusion of the Kosovo territories in 1208, by which time he had conquered Prizren and Lipljan, and moved the border of his realm to the Šar mountain.

In 1217, the Serbian Kingdom achieved recognition. In 1219, an autocephalous Serbian Orthodox Church was created, with Hvosno, Prizren and Lipljan being the Orthodox Christian Episcopates on Kosovo. By the end of the 13th century, the centre of the Serbian Church was moved to Peć from Žiča.

King Stefan Dušan founded the vast Monastery of Saint Archaengel near Prizren in 1342–1352. The Kingdom was transformed into an Empire in 1345 and officially in 1346. Stefan Dušan received John VI Cantacuzenus in 1342 in his Castle in Pauni to discuss a joint War against the Byzantine Emperor. In 1346, the Serbian Archepiscopric at Peć was upgraded into a Patriarchate, but it was not recognized before 1370.

After the Empire fell into disarray prior to Dušan's death in 1355, feudal anarchy caught up with the country during the reign of Tsar Stefan Uroš V. Kosovo became a domain of the House of Mrnjavčević, but Prince Voislav Voinović expanded his demesne further onto Kosovo. The armies of King Vukašin Mrnjavčević from Pristina and his allies defeated Voislav's forces in 1369, putting a halt to his advances. After the Battle of Maritsa on 26 September 1371 in which the Mrnjavčević brothers lost their lives, Đurađ I Balšić of Zeta took Prizren and Peć in 1372. A part of Kosovo became the demesne of the House of Lazarević.

The Ottomans invaded the Serbian Realm and met the Christian coalition under Prince Lazar on 28 June 1389, near Pristina, at Gazi Mestan. The Serbian Army was assisted by various allies. The epic Battle of Kosovo followed, in which Prince Lazar himself lost his life. Prince Lazar amassed 70,000 men on the battlefield and the Ottomans had 140,000. Through the cunning of Miloš Obilić, Sultan Murad was murdered and the new Sultan Beyazid had, despite winning the battle, to retreat to consolidate his power. The Ottoman Sultan was buried with one of his sons at Gazi Mestan. Both Prince Lazar and Miloš Obilić were canonised by the Serbian Orthodox Church for their efforts in the battle. The local House of Branković came to prominence as the local lords of Kosovo, under Vuk Branković, with the temporary fall of the Serbian Despotate in 1439. Another great battle occurred between the Hungarian troops supported by the Albanian ruler George Kastrioti Skanderbeg on one side, and Ottoman troops supported by the Brankovićs in 1448. Skanderbeg's troops which were going to help John Hunyadi were stopped by the Branković's troops, who was more or less a Turkish Vassal. Hungarian King John Hunyadi lost the battle after a 2-day fight, but essentially stopped the Ottoman advance northwards. Kosovo then became vassalaged to the Ottoman Empire, until its direct incorporation as the Vilayet of Kosovo after the final fall of Serbia in 1459.

In 1455, new castles rose to prominence in Pristina and Vučitrn, centres of the Ottoman vassalaged House of Branković.

Ottoman rule

The Ottomans brought Islamisation with them, particularly in towns, and later also created the Viyalet of Kosovo as one of the Ottoman territorial entities. During the Islamisation many Churches and Holy Orthodox Christian places were razed to the ground or turned into Mosques. The big Monastery of Saint Archangels near Prizren was torn down at the end of the 16th century and the material used to build the Mosque of Sinan-pasha, an Islamized Serb, in Prizren. Although the Serbian Orthodox Church was officially abolished in 1532, an Islamized Serb from Bosnia, Grand Vizier Mehmed-pasha Sokolović influenced the restoration of the Patriarchate of Peć in 1557. Special privileges were provided, which helped the survival of Serbs and other Christians on Kosovo.

Kosovo was taken by the Austrian forces during the War of Holy League (1683–1698). In 1690, the Serbian Patriarch of Peć Arsenije III, who previously escaped a certain death, led 37,000 families from Kosovo, to evade Ottoman wrath since Kosovo had just been retaken by the Ottomans. The people that followed him were mostly Serbs, but there were numerous Orthodox Albanians and others too. 20,000 Serbs abandoned Prizren alone. Due to the oppression from the Ottomans, other migrations of Orthodox people from the Kosovo area continued throughout the 18th century. It is also noted that some Serbs adopted Islam and some even gradually fused with the predominantly Albanians and adopted their culture and even language. By the end of the 19th century, Albanians replaced the Serbs as the dominating nation of Kosovo.

In 1766 the Ottomans abolished the Patriarchate of Peć and the position of Christians on Kosovo was greatly reduced. All previous privileges were lost and the Christian population had to suffer the full weight of the Empire's extensive and losing wars, even to take the blame for the losses.

Serbian/Yugoslavian rule

The arising Principality of Serbia planned a restoration of its rule on Kosovo as the Ottoman might crumbled on the Balkan peninsular. The period witnessed a rise of Serbian nationalism, as the Serb elite refused to admit the Albanian national spirit and referred to the Albanians as ''Arnauts'', "Albanians of Serbian origin" or "Albanian-speaking Serbs". Serbia's plans for a post-Ottoman period included the return of Kosovo.

Albanians formed the nationalistic League of Prizren in Prizren in the 19th century. The Aim of the League of Prizren was to unite the four Albanian-inhabited Vilayets by merging the majority of Albanian inhabitants within the Ottoman Empire into one Albanian Vilayet. However at that time Serbs were opposing the Albanian nationalism along with Turks and other Slavs in Kosovo, which disabled the Albanian movements to establish Albanian rule over Kosovo.

In 1912 during the Balkan Wars, most of Kosovo was taken by the Kingdom of Serbia, while the region of Metohija was taken by the Kingdom of Montenegro. The Serbian authorities planned a recolonization of Kosovo. Numerous colonist Serb families moved into Kosovo on land earlier confiscated from them, restoring at some extent the demographic balance between Albanians and Serbs.

In the winter of 1915–1916 during World War I Kosovo saw a large exodus of Serbian army; tens of thousands of soldiers have died of starvation, extreme weather, as the Serbian army were approaching the Allies in Corfu and Thessaloniki. In 1918 the Serbian Army pushed the Central Powers out of Kosovo. Kosovo was unified as Montenegro subsequently joined the Kingdom of Serbia. The Monarchy was then transformed into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

The 1918–1929 period of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes witnessed a decrease in Serbian population in the region and a boost in Albanian figures. In the Kingdom, the former Ottoman province of Kosovo was split into four counties - three being a part of the entity of Serbia: Zvečan, Kosovo and southern Metohija; and one of Montenegro (itself now a ceremonial entity): northern Metohija. However, the new administration system since 26 April 1922 revised the plan and split Kosovo among three areas of the Kingdom: Kosovo, Rascia and Zeta.

In 1929, the Kingdom was transformed into the Kingdom of Yugoslavia with the ''Yugoslav'' nationality unifying all Kosovan Slavs. The territories of Kosovo were split among the Banate of Zeta, the Banate of Morava and the Banate of Vardar. The Kingdom lasted until the World War II Axis invasion of 1941.

Following the Axis invasion, the greatest part of Kosovo became a part of Italian-controlled Greater Albania, and smaller bits by the Tsardom of Bulgaria and Nazi German-occupied Kingdom of Serbia.

Prior to the surrender of Fascist Italy in 1943, the German forces took over direct control of the region. After numerous uprisings of Serbian Chetniks and Yugoslav Partisans, the latter being lea by Fadil Hoxha, Kosovo was liberated after 1944 with the help of the Albanian partisans of the Comintern, and most of it became a province of Serbia within the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia (other parts lay outside the province within Serbia whilst another part went to the newly formed Macedonian republic).

The Province of Kosovo was formed in 1946 as an autonomous region to protect its regional Albanian majority within the People's Republic of Serbia as a member of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia under the leadership of the former Partisan leader, Josip Broz Tito, but with no factual autonomy. After Yugoslavia's name changed to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Serbia's to the Socialist Republic of Serbia in 1953, the Autonomous Region of Kosovo gained some autonomy in the 1960s. In the 1974 constitution, the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo's government received higher powers, including the highest governmental titles - President and Premier and a seat in the Federal Presidency which made it a ''de facto'' Socialist Republic within the Federation, but remaining as a Socialist Autonomous Region within the Socialist Republic of Serbia. Serbian (called Serbo-Croatian at the time) and Albanian were defined official on the Provincial level marking the two largest linguistic Kosovan groups: Serbs and Albanians. In the 1970s, an Albanian nationalist movement pursued full recognition of the Province of Kosovo as another Republic within the federation, while the most extreme elements aimed for full-scale independence. Tito's regime dealt with the situation swiftly, but only gave it a temporary solution. The ethnic balance of Kosovo witnessed unproportional increase as the number of Albanians rose dramatically due to higher birth rates. Serbs barely increased and dropped in the full share of the total population down to 10% due to higher demographic raise of the Albanian population.

In 1981, Albanian students organized protests seeking that Kosovo become a Republic within Yugoslavia. Those protests were harshly contained by the centralist Yugoslav government. In 1986, the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU) was working on a document, which later would be known as the SANU Memorandum. An unfinished edition was filtered to the press. In the essay, SANU explained the Serbian peoples history as victims of a 500 year and more genocide from Kosovo, and therefore called for the revival of Serb nationalism. During this time, Slobodan Milošević's rise to power started in the League of the Socialists of Serbia. Milošević used the discontent reflected in the SANU memorandum for his political goals.

One of the events that contributed to Milošević's rise of power was the ''Gazimestan Speech'', delivered in front of 1,000,000 Serbs at the central celebration marking the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo, held at Gazimestan on 28 June 1989. In the speech, Milošević criticised the "dramatic national divisions" and called Yugoslavia "a multinational community which can survive only under the conditions of full equality for all nations that live in it".

Soon afterwards, as approved by the Assembly in 1990, the autonomy of Kosovo was revoked back to the old status (1971), before the communist hostile overtaking of Kosovo in 1974. The proclamation of an autonomous Kosovo by Tito and his communists was in fact a part of Tito's hope to continue the communist Yugoslavia. He had said "Strong Serbia, Weak Yugoslavia - Weak Serbia, Strong Yugoslavia" Milošević, however, did not remove Kosovo's seat from the Federal Presidency. After Slovenia's secession from Yugoslavia in 1991, Milošević used the seat to attain dominance over the Federal government, outvoting his opponents.

After the Dayton Agreement of 1995, the Kosovo Liberation Army started terror against the Serbian civilians and Yugoslav army and police, bombing police stations and government buildings, killing Yugoslav police and innocent people of all nationalities, even Albanians who were not on their side. This triggered a Yugoslav interior ministry counter strike, aiming at crippling terrorist KLA-members, but since this was a terror organization it was hard to establish civilians from terrorists. Partly because of the support they had in the community and partly because they deliberately wanted civilians to die since this would trigger an international reaction. Albanians started a Lobby in the USA congress, which led the world to think that there was genocide in Kosovo. The numbers that US, UK, NATO and UN officials operated with were around 100,000 Albanians killed. This triggered a 78-day NATO campaign in 1999. During the conflict, many Serbs and Roma in Kosovo were killed and many more fled Kosovo. When UN-authorities took over administrative power in Kosovo in accordance with UN-Resolution 1244, they later found out that the maximum number of killed in the conflict before NATO bombing was 12,000 people, these were from all of Kosovo's ethnic groups.

With the arrival of NATO, a large number of Serbs fled the region, estimated at 100,000 by the UNHCR. Around 120,000 remain in Kosovo and oppose any rule by Albanians. During the unrest in Kosovo, 35 churches and monasteries were destroyed or seriously damaged. In total, 156 Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries have been destroyed since June 1999. Many of the churches and monasteries dated back to the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries.

Unilateral Declaration of Independence

The interim Kosovo government declared unilaterally independence from Serbia on Sunday, February 17, 2008 . Serbia refuses to recognise this declaration of independence. The independence has been recognised by UN countries, and one non-UN country the Republic of China (Taiwan). The remaining Serbs from North Kosovo want to remain in the Republic of Serbia, but Serbian majority towns are now rare in the Albanian-dominated semi-recognised Republic of Kosovo.

Some officials in the Serbian & international government proposed partitioning of de facto Serbian ruled North Kosovo, taking away a little over 1/8, 13.75% (one eighth, 1500 km² with Strpce) of the territory and fully integrating it with Serbia.

Attacks on the border posts of Kosovo raised fears of a separation of Northern Kosovo and subsequent merger with Serbia. Russian diplomat Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko, who took part in the negotiations on the status of Kosovo, said such partition was inevitable:

}}

The USA's Under Secretary for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns, in response to the suggestion that Kosovo be partitioned, said "We absolutely oppose the partition of Kosovo," and that the "great majority of countries around the world are not going to stand for that." In response to the seizure of railways in Northern Kosovo and formation of Serbian offices to serve as part of a parallel government, Kosovo's Prime Minister stated that they would "not tolerate any parallel institution on Kosovo's territory" and would assert their authority over all of Kosovo. The UN's Special Representative in Kosovo said the "international community has made it very clear that no partition of Kosovo will be acceptable."

Ivan Eland a Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute suggested such "a partition within a partition" would prevent a "Serbia-Kosovo War" and provides the "best chance" of Kosovo having a long-term stable relationship with Serbia. Chairman of the Serb Municipalities of Kosovo Alliance Marko Jakšić dismissed the talk of partition and said the action of Serbs in Kosovo is to protest the Kosovo declaration. Oliver Ivanović a Kosovo Serb leader, said he was against Kosovo's partition because "most Serbs live south of the Ibar and their position would become unsustainable".

A Reuters analysis suggeted that Kosovo may be divided along ethnic lines similar to Bosnia-Herzegovina. James Lyon of the International Crisis Group thinktank was quoted as saying "The Republika Srpska (Bosnian Serb Republic) style is acceptable for Serbia, but within the confines that it (Kosovo) is still part of Serbia." Pieter Feith, the European Union's special representative in Kosovo, and the International Civilian Representative for Kosovo said no plans are under discussion to carve out a canton or grant any other autonomy to Serbs living in the north of Kosovo. He told the Pristina, Kosovo, daily Koha Ditore, "It is quite clear that the privileged relations between the Serbs here (in Kosovo) and Belgrade are in the spheres of education, health care, and religious objects," adding that "the government in Pristina has to be respected."

On 22 March 2008 Serbia's Minister for Kosovo, Slobodan Samardzic said he had submitted a proposal to the United Nations Mission which would create "the functional separation of Serbs and Albanians" within Kosovo. Serbia's Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said implementing such a proposal was necessary to avoid violent conflict. Yevgeny Primakov, Chairman of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and former prime minister under Boris Yeltsin, said “the best solution now would be if the Serbs (could) move from the southern parts... to the north, which is closer to Serbia, and to then join Serbia."

Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica declared in an interview with a local television station in Jagodina that a "functional separation" of Kosovo was inevitable. A Kosovo Serb ally of Kostunica, Marko Jaksic, said Kosovo Serbs would form their own assembly following local elections considering the plan for the "functional division" of Kosovo. He argued that the Kosovo Assembly was dominated by "Albanian puppets" who would not work in the interest of the Serb minority. The mayor of Mitrovica condemned the formation of a parallel municipal assembly in North Mitrovica by Serbs on June 6, 2008 following the election, saying the institution was illegal as well as the elections. Serbian parties also agreed to form a parliament for Kosovo Serbs including 45 delegates, 43 from the local assemblies and two seats reserved for Romani and Muslims. Slobodan Samardžić announced that the Kosovo Serb assembly would be formed on June 28. He said the body would be representative not executive. Pieter Feith said it would be "regrettable if another set of parallel institutions" were formed in Kosovo and added "the state of Kosovo must rule in its entire territory". On June 23, 2008 NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said "any form of partition is not an option" in Kosovo.

Samardzic said in an interview that the UN had accepted a Serb proposal on Kosovo which included a partnership with UNMIK that would effectively give it rights to run vital services. Areas identified as key were police, customs, justice, control of the Serbia-Kosovo border, transport and telecoms, and protection of Serbia's cultural heritage. He said it was included in a package on reconfiguring UNMIK. According to some reports the UN will give way to EULEX in Albanian areas, but retain control over police in Serb-inhabited areas and set up local and district courts serving minority Serbs. On June 12 UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, in a report to the U.N. Security Council, said he plans to give more authority to the EU over police, courts and other official duties in Kosovo with EULEX under the UN umbrella. Argon Bajrami, editor in chief of the Kosovo daily Koha Ditore, said the proposal would legal the "so-called 'soft partition'" saying, "We will see the U.N. taking care of Serbs, and the EU of Albanians."

Mayor of Mitrovica, Bajram Rexhepi, who is also a former prime minister of Kosovo claimed Serbian interior ministry forces were operating in North Kosovo. The mayor urged security authorities to insure no parallel structures exist in Kosovo. He added that though provocation is being avoided their restraint is limited.

Serbian President Boris Tadic on 30 September 2008 said he would consider partitioning Kosovo if all other options were exhausted. Former Foreign Minister for Serbia and Montenegro, Goran Svilanović, applauded the suggestion saying "Finally this is a realistic approach coming from Serbia. Finally, after several years, there is a room to discuss." After his comments aroused controversy in the media Tadic reiterated that he was suggesting this as a possibility only if all other options were exhausted. Kosovo's parliamentary speaker, Jakup Krasniqi, condemned any suggestion of paritioning saying, "All of those who aim to divide Kosovo, I want to say, it will end in nothing. Serbs lost their right to Kosovo with the unjust war against the Albanian majority."

Recent attacks on Serbs in Kosovo

Since Kosovo's declaration of independence tensions have increased. Albanian politicians and the ICO are eager to integrate North Kosovo, into the Republic of Kosovo. In January 2010, they coined the "Plan for North Kosovo". These attempts fueled tensions amongst Serbs and Albanians across Kosovo.

Two journalists working for a local Serbian newspaper and radio were detained. An Orthodox cemetery in Laplje Selo was vandalised. The grave of Zivka Jovanovic in Gnjilane was desecrated by Albanians. The OSCE has condemned the desecration. Ljubiša Šćepanović was attacked near Žač, Istok by three Albanian men. The perpetrators were arrested. The Serbian Orthodox Church in the village of Perkovac, near Zubin Potok was vandalised. Dragan Denić was found dead near the village of Srbovac. Bojan Pesic was attacked near Paralovo by two Albanian men. Six Serbian houses were looted in Gojbulja. The Christian Orthodox cemetery in Rabovce near Liljan was badly vandalised. KFOR condemned this attack. Ivica Zivic was abducted, beaten and his car was stolen by four Albanian men near Gracanica. Following three days of prostests by Albanians who oppose the return of Serbs civilians back into their village, threw stones at the tents of the Serbian returnees near the village Žač in Metohija. On 24 January 2011, Branislav Milovanovic, a Serbian returnee, was beaten in front of his house in Central Kosovo in the village Opraske.

Culture

List of Serbian Orthodox monasteries in Kosovo:

Banjska monastery

Devič monastery

Gračanica monastery

Patriarchate of Peć

Visoki Dečani monastery

Albanization

The term ''Arnauti'' or ''Arnautaši'' was coined by ethnographers for "''Albanized Serbs''"; Serbs who had converted to Islam and went through a process of Albanisation.

In Orahovac

At the end of the 19th century, writer Branislav Nušić recorded that the Serb ''poturice'' (converts to Islam) of Orahovac began speaking Albanian and marrying Albanian women.

When Dr Jovan Hadži Vasiljević (l. 1866-1948) visited Orahovac in World War I, he could not distinguish Orthodox from Islamicized and Albanized Serbs. They spoke Serbian, wore the same costumes, but claimed Serbian, Albanian or Turk ethnicity. The Albanian ''starosedeoci'' (old urban families) were Slavophone; they did not speak Albanian but a Slavic dialect (naš govor, ''Our language'') at home.

In the 1921 census the majority of Muslim Albanians of Orahovac were registered under the category "Serbs and Croats".

Mark Krasniqi, the Kosovo Albanian ethnographer, recalled in 1957: "During my own research, some of them told me that their tongue is similar to Macedonian rather than Serbian (it is clear that they want to dissociate themselves from everything Serbian). It is likely they are the last remnants of what is now known in Serbian sources as ''Arnautaši'', Islamicised and half-way Albanianised Slavs."

Prominent individuals

Vuk Branković, a medieval ruler of Kosovo.

Nikola Lazetić, footballer

Dejan Stojanović (born 1959), Serbian-American poet, writer, essayist, philosopher, businessman, and former journalist

See also

1998–present persecution of Serbs and other non-Albanians in Kosovo

Dominant minority

History of Serbs

Kosovo

Kosovo Serb enclaves

Serbs

Serbs of Bosnia

Serbs of Croatia

Notes and references

Notes:

References:

External links

Kosovo Roma Oral History Project Contains detailed information on the post-1999 status of Serbs, Roma and other Kosovo minorities

Filling the Vacuum: Ensuring Protection and Legal Remedies for Minorities in Kosovo by Minority Rights Group International (May 2009)

Groups working with all demographics in Kosovo

Category:Kosovo Category:Ethnic groups in Kosovo * Category:History of Kosovo Category:Ethnic minorities Category:Serbian people Category:History of the Serbs

pt:Sérvios do Kosovo ro:Sârbii din Kosovo sq:Serbët në Kosovë sr:Срби на Косову и Метохији

Coordinates	35°0′41.69″N135°46′5.47″N
Name	Novak DjokovicНовак ЂоковићNovak Đoković
Nickname	''Nole''''The Djoker''
Country	(2003–2006) (2006–present)
Residence	Monte Carlo, Monaco
Birth date	May 22, 1987
Birth place	Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia (now Serbia)
Height
Weight
Turnedpro	2003
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Careerprizemoney	$35,182,760 4th All-time leader in earnings
Singlesrecord	401–111 (78.32%)
Singlestitles	29
Highestsinglesranking	No. 1 (4 July 2011)
Currentsinglesranking	No. 1 (16 January 2012)
Australianopenresult	W (2008, 2011, 2012)
Frenchopenresult	SF (2007, 2008, 2011)
Wimbledonresult	W (2011)
Usopenresult	W (2011)
Othertournaments	Yes
Masterscupresult	W (2008)
Olympicsresult	20px Bronze Medal (2008)
Doublesrecord	31–43 (41.89%)
Doublestitles	1
Grandslamsdoublesresults	yes
Australianopendoublesresult	1R (2006, 2007, 2012)
Frenchopendoublesresult	1R (2006)
Wimbledondoublesresult	2R (2006)
Usopendoublesresult	1R (2006)
Highestdoublesranking	No. 114 (30 November 2009)
Currentdoublesranking	No. 238 (16 January 2012)
Updated	13:38, 27 January 2012 (UTC) }}

}} Novak Djokovic (; ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked World No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) since 4 July 2011. He has won five Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008, 2011 and 2012 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open. By winning three Majors in 2011, Djokovic became the sixth male player in the open era to win three Majors in a calendar year. He is the first male player representing Serbia to win a Major singles title and the youngest player in the open era to have reached the semifinals of all four Grand Slam events, separately and consecutively. Amongst other titles, he won the Tennis Masters Cup in 2008 and was also on the team which won the 2010 Davis Cup.

Early and personal life

Djokovic was born 22 May 1987, in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, to father Srđan (Срђан) and mother Dijana (Дијана). His two younger brothers, Marko and Đorđe (Ђорђе), are also tennis players with professional aspirations. Residing in Monte Carlo, Monaco, Djokovic has been coached since 2006 by a former Slovak tennis player, Marián Vajda. Similar to fellow pro Roger Federer, Djokovic is a self-described fan of languages, speaking four himself: his native Serbian, English, German, and Italian. Since the end of 2005, Djokovic has been dating Jelena Ristić.

He started playing tennis at the age of four. In the summer 1993, the six-year-old was spotted by Yugoslav tennis legend Jelena Genčić at Mount Kopaonik where Djokovic's parents ran a fast-food parlour. Upon seeing the dedicated and talented youngster in action, she stated: "This is the greatest talent I have seen since Monica Seles." Genčić worked with young Djokovic over the following six years before realizing that, due to his rapid development, going abroad in search of increased level of competition was the best option for his future. To that end, she contacted Nikola Pilić, and in September 1999, the 12-year-old moved to the Pilić tennis academy in Oberschleißheim, Germany, spending four years there. At age 14, he began his international career, winning European championships in singles, doubles, and team competition.

Djokovic is known for his often humorous off-court impersonations of his fellow players, many of whom are his friends. This became evident to the tennis world after his 2007 US Open quarterfinal win over Carlos Moyà, where he entertained the audience with impersonations of Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova. He also did an impression of John McEnroe after his final preliminary game at the 2009 US Open, before playing a brief game with McEnroe, much to the delight of the audience. It is because of this jovial personality that he earned the nickname "Djoker", a portmanteau of his surname and the word ''joker''. Novak Djokovic is a member of the "Champions for Peace" club, a group of famous elite athletes committed to serving peace in the world through sport, created by Peace and Sport, a Monaco-based international organization.

Djokovic is a Serbian Orthodox Christian. On 28 April 2011, Patriarch Irinej of Serbia awarded Djokovic the Order of St. Sava I class, the highest decoration of the Serbian Orthodox Church, because he demonstrated love for the church, and because he provided assistance to the Serbian people, churches and monasteries of the Serbian Orthodox Church of Kosovo and Metohija.

He is a keen fan of Serbian football club Red Star Belgrade, Italian Serie A side A.C. Milan and Portuguese club S.L. Benfica. Djokovic is good friends with fellow Serbian tennis player Ana Ivanović, whom he has known since the two were children growing up in Serbia.

Tennis career

Early career

As a member of the FR Yugoslavia national team, he reached the finals of the 2001 Junior Davis Cup for players under 14, in which he lost his match in singles.

At the beginning of his professional career, Djokovic mainly played in Futures and Challenger tournaments, winning three of each type from 2003 to 2005. His first tour-level tournament was Umag in 2004, where he lost to Filippo Volandri in the round of 32. He made his first Grand Slam tournament appearance by qualifying for the 2005 Australian Open, where he was defeated by Marat Safin in the first round.

2006

Djokovic briefly considered plans to move from Serbia to play for Britain. He reached the top 40 world ranking due to a quarterfinal appearance at the French Open, and reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon.

Three weeks after Wimbledon, he won his maiden ATP title at the Dutch Open in Amersfoort without losing a set, defeating Nicolás Massú in the final. Djokovic won his second career title at the Open de Moselle in Metz, and moved into the top 20 for the first time in his career.

2007

Djokovic began the year by defeating Australian Chris Guccione in the final of the ATP Adelaide, before losing in the fourth round of the Australian Open to eventual champion Roger Federer in straight sets. His performances at the Masters Series events in Indian Wells, California and Key Biscayne, Florida, where he was the runner-up and champion respectively, pushed him into the world's top 10. Djokovic lost the Indian Wells final to Rafael Nadal, but defeated Nadal in Key Biscayne in the quarterfinals before defeating Guillermo Cañas for the title in the finals.

Right after his first master series title, he went back home to contribute to his country's attempt to get into the World Group of the Davis Cup competition. Serbia faced off the Republic of Georgia, and Djokovic won a point by defeating Georgia's George Chanturia. This was a tournament where he prepared for the later clay court season. Djokovic played in the Masters Series Monte Carlo Open, where he was defeated by David Ferrer in the third round, and in the Estoril Open, where he defeated Richard Gasquet in the final. Djokovic then reached the quarterfinals of both the Internazionali d'Italia in Rome and the Masters Series Hamburg, but lost to Nadal and Carlos Moyà respectively. At the French Open, Djokovic reached his first Major semifinal, losing to eventual champion Nadal.

During Wimbledon, Djokovic won a five-hour quarterfinal against Marcos Baghdatis. In his semifinal match against Rafael Nadal, he was forced to retire with elbow problems in the 3rd set after winning the first and losing the 2nd set.

Djokovic went on to win the Masters Series Rogers Cup in Montreal. He defeated world no. 3 Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals, world no. 2 Rafael Nadal in the semifinals, and world no. 1 Federer in the final. This was the first time a player had defeated the top three ranked players in one tournament since Boris Becker in 1994. Djokovic was also only the second player, after Tomáš Berdych, to have defeated both Federer and Nadal since they became the top two players in the world. After this tournament, Björn Borg stated that Djokovic "is definitely a contender to win a Grand Slam (tournament)." However, the following week at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati, Ohio, Djokovic lost in the second round to Moyà in straight sets. Djokovic nevertheless reached the final of the US Open. Djokovic had five set points in the first set and two in the second set, but lost them all before losing the final to top-seeded Federer in straight sets. During the 2007 tournament, Djokovic emerged as a fan favorite with his on-court impressions of other players including Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, and Maria Sharapova.

Djokovic won his fifth title of the year at the BA-CA TennisTrophy in Vienna, defeating Stanislas Wawrinka in the final. His next tournament was the Mutua Madrileña Masters in Madrid, where he lost to David Nalbandian in the semifinals. Djokovic, assured of finishing the year as world no. 3, qualified for the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup, but did not advance beyond the round robin matches.

He received a golden badge award for the best athlete in Serbia, and the Olympic Committee of Serbia declared him the best athlete.

2008

Djokovic started the year by playing the Hopman Cup with fellow Serbian world no. 3 Jelena Janković. While he won all his round-robin matches, the team lost 1–2 in the final to the second-seeded American team consisting of Serena Williams and Mardy Fish.

At the Australian Open, Djokovic reached his second consecutive Major final without dropping a set, including a victory over two-time defending champion Roger Federer in the semifinals. By reaching the semifinals, Djokovic became the youngest player to have reached the semifinals in all four Majors. In the final, Djokovic defeated unseeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four sets to earn Serbia's first Grand Slam singles title. This marked the first time since the 2005 Australian Open that a Grand Slam singles title was not won by Federer or Nadal.

Djokovic's next tournament was the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, where he lost in the semifinals to Andy Roddick.

At the Masters Series Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, Djokovic won his ninth career singles title, defeating American Mardy Fish in the three-set final.

Djokovic won his tenth career singles title and fourth Master Series singles crown at the Internazionali d'Italia in Rome. The following week at the Hamburg Masters, Djokovic lost to Nadal in the semifinals. At the French Open, Djokovic was the third-seeded player behind Federer and Nadal. Djokovic lost to Nadal in the semifinals in straight sets.

On grass, Djokovic once again played Nadal, this time in the Artois Championships final in Queen's Club, London, losing in two sets. At Wimbledon, Djokovic was the third seeded player; however, he lost in the second round to Marat Safin. This ended a streak of five consecutive Majors where he had reached at least the semifinals.

Djokovic then failed to defend his 2007 singles title at the Masters Series Rogers Cup in Toronto. He was eliminated in the quarterfinals by eighth-seeded Andy Murray. The following week at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati, Ohio, Djokovic advanced to the final, beating Nadal. In the final, he again lost to Murray in straight sets.

His next tournament was the Beijing Olympics, his first Olympics. He and Nenad Zimonjić, seeded second in men's doubles, were eliminated in the first round by the Czech pairing of Martin Damm and Pavel Vízner. Seeded third in singles, Djokovic lost in the semifinals to Nadal. Djokovic then defeated James Blake, the loser of the other semifinal, in the bronze medal match.

After the Olympics, Djokovic entered the US Open as the third seed. He defeated Roddick in the quarterfinals. To a smattering of boos in a post-match interview, Djokovic criticized Roddick for accusing him of making excessive use of the trainer during matches. His run at the US Open ended in the semifinals when he lost to Federer in four sets, in a rematch of the 2007 US Open final.

Djokovic played four tournaments after the US Open. In a rematch of the 2008 Australian Open final, he lost in the final of the Thailand Open to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets. In November, Djokovic was the second seed at the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai. In his first round-robin match, he defeated Argentine Juan Martín del Potro in straight sets. He then beat Nikolay Davydenko in three sets, before losing his final round robin match against Tsonga. Djokovic qualified for the semifinals, where he defeated Gilles Simon. In the final, Djokovic defeated Davydenko again to win his first Tennis Masters Cup title.

2009

Djokovic started the year at the Brisbane International in Brisbane, Australia, where he was upset by Ernests Gulbis in the first round. At the Medibank International in Sydney, he lost to Jarkko Nieminen in the semifinals.

As defending champion at the Australian Open, Djokovic retired from his quarterfinal match with former world no. 1 Andy Roddick.

After losing in the semifinals of the Open 13 tournament in Marseille to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Djokovic won the singles title at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, defeating David Ferrer to claim his twelfth career title. The following week, Djokovic was the defending champion at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, but lost to Roddick in the quarterfinals. At the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, another ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, Djokovic beat Federer in the semifinals, before losing to Andy Murray in the final. Djokovic reached the final of the next ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters on clay, losing to Rafael Nadal in the final. At the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, another ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, Djokovic was the defending champion, but again lost in the final.

Djokovic was the top seed at his hometown tournament, the Serbia Open in Belgrade. He defeated first-time finalist Łukasz Kubot to win his second title of the year. As third seed at the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open, Djokovic advanced to the semifinals without dropping a set. There, he faced Nadal and lost despite holding three match points. The match, at 4 hours and 3 minutes, was the longest three-set singles match on the ATP World Tour in the Open Era. At the French Open, he lost in the third round to German Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Djokovic began his grass court season at the Gerry Weber Open where, after the withdrawal of Federer, he competed as the top seed. He advanced to the final, where he lost to German Tommy Haas. Djokovic also lost to Haas in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon.

During the US Open Series, Djokovic made the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup in Montreal, before losing to Andy Roddick. At the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati, Djokovic defeated world no. 3 Rafael Nadal in the semifinals. He lost in the final to world no. 1 Roger Federer.

At the 2009 US Open, Djokovic made the semifinals, having dropped only two sets, defeating Ivan Ljubičić, 15th seed Radek Štěpánek and 10th seed Fernando Verdasco. He then lost to Roger Federer.

At the China Open in Beijing, he defeated Victor Hănescu, Viktor Troicki, Fernando Verdasco, and Robin Söderling en route to the final, where he defeated Marin Čilić in straight sets to win his third title of the year. At the inaugural Shanghai ATP Masters 1000, Djokovic lost in the semifinals to Nikolay Davydenko.

At the Davidoff Swiss Indoors in Basel, Djokovic defeated Jan Hernych to make it to the quarterfinals. He then recovered from a deficit to defeat Stanislas Wawrinka in the quarterfinals. He won the semifinals against Radek Štěpánek. In the final, he defeated home favourite and three-time defending champion Roger Federer to win his fourth title of the year.

At the last Masters 1000 event of the year at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris, Djokovic won his first Masters 1000 title of the year. He defeated Rafael Nadal in the semifinals. In the final, Djokovic prevailed over Gaël Monfils.

Coming into the year-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London as the defending champion, Djokovic defeated Nikolay Davydenko in his first round-robin match. In his second match, he lost to Robin Söderling. Despite victory over Rafael Nadal in his third round-robin match, Djokovic failed to make the semifinals.

Djokovic ended the year as the world no. 3 for the third consecutive year. Djokovic played 97 matches throughout the year, the most of any player on the ATP World Tour, with a 78–19 win-loss record. In addition to leading the ATP World Tour in match wins, he reached a career best 10 finals, winning 5 titles.

2010

Djokovic started his year by playing in the Kooyong Classic, an exhibition event. In his first match, he defeated Tommy Haas, but lost to Fernando Verdasco in his second.

At the Australian Open, Djokovic was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in five sets. Despite the loss, Djokovic attained a career-high ranking of world no. 2.

He reached the semifinals of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, losing to Mikhail Youzhny. At the Dubai Tennis Championships in the U.A.E., Djokovic reached the final, defeating Mikhail Youzhny to win his first title of the year.

He then took part in Serbia's Davis Cup tie against the USA on clay in Belgrade. He helped Serbia reach their first quarterfinal in the Davis Cup 3–2 victory, defeating Sam Querrey and John Isner.

At the Indian Wells Masters, he lost in the fourth round to Ivan Ljubičić. At the Miami Masters, he lost in his opening match to Olivier Rochus. Djokovic then announced that he had ceased working with Todd Martin as his coach.

In his first clay-court tournament of the year at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, top-seeded Djokovic reached the semifinals with wins over Stanislas Wawrinka and David Nalbandian. There, he lost to Fernando Verdasco. Djokovic again lost to Verdasco at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, this time in the quarterfinals.

As the defending champion at his hometown event, the Serbia Open in Belgrade, he withdrew in the quarterfinals while trailing Filip Krajinović.

Djokovic entered the 2010 French Open seeded third. He defeated Evgeny Korolev, Kei Nishikori, Victor Hănescu, and Robby Ginepri en route to the quarterfinals, where he lost to Jürgen Melzer in five sets.

Djokovic entered the 2010 Wimbledon Championships as third seed, defeating Olivier Rochus, Taylor Dent, Albert Montañés, Lleyton Hewitt, and Yen-Hsun Lu en route to the semifinals, which he lost to Tomáš Berdych in straight sets.

Djokovic then competed at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, where he lost to Roger Federer in the semifinals. Djokovic also competed in doubles with Rafael Nadal in a one-time, high-profile partnership. That hadn't happened since 1976, when Jimmy Connors and Arthur Ashe as world no.1 and no.2 paired together as a doubles team. They lost in the first round to Canadians Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil. Djokovic lost in the quarterfinals of the 2010 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati to Andy Roddick. As the third seed at the US Open, Djokovic came very close to losing in his opening round against Viktor Troicki in extreme heat. He then defeated Philipp Petzschner, James Blake and Mardy Fish, and number 17 seed Gaël Monfils, all in straight sets to reach the US Open semifinals for the fourth consecutive year. In the semifinals, Djokovic defeated Roger Federer in five sets. It was Djokovic's first victory over Federer at the US Open in four attempts, and his first victory over Federer in a Major since the 2008 Australian Open. Djokovic lost to Nadal in the final, a match that saw Nadal complete his career Grand Slam.

After helping Serbia defeat the Czech Republic 3–2 to make it to the Davis Cup final, Djokovic competed at the China Open as the top seed and defending champion. He won the title for the second successive year, after defeating Maoxin Gong, Mardy Fish (walkover), Gilles Simon, and John Isner en route to the final. Djokovic then defeated David Ferrer in the final.

At the Shanghai Masters, Djokovic made a semifinal appearance, losing to Roger Federer.

Djokovic played his final tournament of the year at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London. Djokovic was placed in Group A along with Rafael Nadal, Tomáš Berdych, and Andy Roddick. Djokovic won his first round-robin match against Berdych. He next lost to Nadal. He defeated Roddick in his final round-robin match and advanced to the semifinals. He lost to Roger Federer in two sets.

Djokovic went on to win his two singles rubbers in Serbia's Davis Cup finals victory over France. This started a long unbeaten run that went on into 2011. Djokovic finished the year ranked world no. 3, his fourth successive finish at this position.

He was awarded the title "Serbian Sportsman of the year" by the Olympic Committee of Serbia and "Serbian Athlete of the year" by DSL Sport.

2011

Djokovic won ten tournaments in 2011, including Grand Slam tournament victories at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. Djokovic also captured a record-breaking five ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles, and set a new record for the most prize money won in a single season on the ATP World Tour (12.0 million dollars). His level dropped at season's end beginning with a back injury and ended with a poor showing at the ATP World Tour Finals. Djokovic finished the season with a 70–6 record and No. 1 in the world. Pete Sampras declared Djokovic's season as the best he has ever seen in his lifetime, calling it "one of the best achievements in all of sports." Boris Becker called Djokovic's season "one of the very best years in tennis of all time," adding that it "may not be the best statistically, but he’s beaten Federer, he’s beaten Nadal, he’s beaten everybody that came around to challenge him in the biggest tournaments in the world." Rafael Nadal, who lost to Djokovic in six finals on three different surfaces, described Djokovic's performances as "probably the highest level of tennis that I ever saw." Djokovic was named 2011 ITF World Champion.

2012

Djokovic began his season winning at the 2012 Australian Open. He won his first rounds against Paolo Lorenzi, Santiago Giraldo, Nicolas Mahut and Lleyton Hewitt. In the Quarter finals he defeated David Ferrer in three sets. In the semi final, Djokovic beat Andy Murray in five sets after 4 hours and 50 minutes. In the final, Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal in five sets. At 5 hours and 53 minutes, the match was the longest final in Open Era Grand Slam history.

Davis Cup

In 2006, Djokovic got the decisive win on 9 April, against Great Britain by defeating Greg Rusedski in four sets in the fourth match, giving his team an unsurmountable 3–1 lead in their best-of-five series, thus keeping Serbia and Montenegro in the Group One Euro/African Zone of Davis Cup. Following this match-up, a lot of media buzz appeared about Djokovic's camp negotiating with the Lawn Tennis Association about changing his international loyalty by joining British tennis ranks. Nineteen-year-old Djokovic, who was no.63 on the ATP list at the time, mostly dismissed the story at first by saying that the talks were not serious, describing them as "the British being very kind to us after the Davis Cup". However, more than three years later, in October 2009, Djokovic confirmed that the talks between his family and the LTA throughout April and May 2006, were indeed serious:

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By winning all three of his matches, Djokovic played a key role in the 2007 play-off win over Australia, promoting the Serbia Davis Cup team to World Group in 2008. In Serbia's tie against Russia in early 2008, in Moscow, Djokovic was sidelined due to influenza and was forced to miss his first singles match. He returned to win his doubles match, teaming with Nenad Zimonjić, before being forced to retire during his singles match with Nikolay Davydenko. Djokovic also had a big role in promoting Serbia to the 2009 World Group. On 6–8 March 2010, he played the key role in bringing Serbia to World Group quarterfinals for the first time in its independent history, winning both singles matches in the home tie against United States (against Sam Querrey and John Isner). Later, Serbia progressed to the Davis Cup final, following the victories over Croatia (4–1) and Czech Republic (3–2). Serbia came from 1–2 down to defeat France in the final tie 3–2 in Belgrade to win the nation's first Davis Cup Championship. In the final, Djokovic scored two singles points for Serbia, defeating Gilles Simon and Gaël Monfils. He was the backbone of the Serbian squad, going 7–0 in singles rubbers to lead the nation to the title, although the honour of winning the deciding rubber in the final went to compatriot Viktor Troicki.

In the semi finals of the 2011 Davis Cup Djokovic played a crucial rubber match for Serbia against Juan Martin Del Potro playing for Argentina, which he lost 6–7, 0–3 having to retire due to a back injury sustained during the US Open tournament, which secured Argentina's place in the final defeating Serbia 3–2. This marked Djokovic's third loss of his 2011 season, and his second retirement.

Rivalries

Djokovic–Nadal rivalry

Djokovic and Nadal have met 30 times (the sixth-most head-to-head meetings in the Open Era) with Nadal having a 16–14 advantage. Nadal leads on grass 2–1 and clay 9–2, but Djokovic leads on hard courts 11–5. This rivalry is listed as the third greatest rivalry in the last decade by ATPworldtour.com and is considered by many to be the emerging rivalry. Djokovic is the only player to have at least ten match wins against Nadal and the only person to defeat Nadal seven times consecutively. The two share the record for the longest Australian Open and Grand Slam final match ever played (5 hours and 53 minutes) which was the 2012 Australian Open final, as well as the record for the longest match played in a best of three sets (4 hours and 3 minutes) which was the 2009 Mutua Madrid Open semi-final. In the 2011 Wimbledon final, Djokovic won in four sets, which was his first victory over Nadal in a Major. By doing so, he became the only person other than Federer to defeat Nadal in a Grand Slam tournament final. This rivalry is part of the "Trivalry" (a term coined by American sportscaster Mary Carillo), which includes the rivalries among the top three in tennis (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic). Djokovic also defeated Nadal in the 2011 US Open Final to capture his third major title of the year and fourth overall. By beating Nadal, Djokovic became the second player to defeat Nadal in more than one Grand Slam final (the other being Federer), and the only player to beat Nadal in a Slam final on a surface other than grass. In 2012, Djokovic defeated Nadal in the Australian Open final which made Nadal the first player to lose in three consecutive Grand Slam finals.

Djokovic-Federer rivalry

Djokovic and Federer have met 24 times, with Federer leading 14–10. Federer leads on all surfaces, although they have never met on grass. Djokovic is the only player other than Nadal who has defeated Federer in consecutive grand slam tournament matches. Federer ended Djokovic's 41-match winning start to the 2011 season at the 2011 French Open semi-finals which many consider to be a classic match. Djokovic played Federer in his first Major final at the 2007 US Open and lost in three sets. Djokovic has the second-most wins against Federer (after Nadal). The two have met five years in a row at the US Open with their last two meetings (in 2010 and 2011) being five-set matches in which Djokovic saved match points before going on to win.

Djokovic-Murray rivalry

Djokovic and Murray have met 11 times with Djokovic leading 7–4. Djokovic leads 2–0 on clay, and also 5–4 on hard courts. The two went to training camp together, and Murray won the first match they ever played as teenagers. The pair have met four times in finals, with Murray leading 3–1, however, their most important final was the 2011 Australian Open final, in which Djokovic won in straight sets. The other three finals were all ATP Masters 1000 finals, Murray won them all in straight sets, with the most recent being in Cincinnati 2011.

Playing style and equipment

Djokovic is an all-court player with emphasis on aggressive baseline play. His groundstrokes from both wings are consistent, deep, and penetrating. His backhand is widely regarded as the best in today's game. His best weapon is his backhand down the line, with great pace and precision. He is also known as one of the greatest movers on the court with superior agility, court coverage and defensive ability. After great technical difficulties during the 2009 season, his serve is one of his major weapons again, winning him many free points; his first serve is typically hit flat, while he prefers to slice and kick his second serves wide. Occasionally, Djokovic employs a well-disguised backhand underspin drop shot and sliced backhand. His drop shots still tend to be a drawback when hit under pressure and without proper preparation.

Djokovic commented on the modern style of play, including his own, in interview with Jim Courier after his semifinal win against Andy Murray in the 2012 Australian Open tournament:

Entering the pro circuit, Djokovic used Wilson rackets, continuing so until the end of 2008. At that time, he switched to Head rackets, using a custom paint job of the Head YouTek Speed Pro racquet. Starting with 2011 Australian Open, he began using Head's YouTek IG Speed MP 18/20. Djokovic uses a hybrid of Head Natural Gut in the mains and Luxilon Alu Power in the crosses.

After his 2011 victory in Montreal, tennis coach Nick Bollettieri stated that Djokovic is the most "complete" player of all time. He has the backhand, forehand, serve, second serve, movement, mentality, and can play equally well on any surface. In assessing his 2011 season, Jimmy Connors said that Djokovic gives his opponents problems by playing "a little bit old-school, taking the ball earlier, catching the ball on the rise, (and) driving the ball flat." Connors adds that a lot of the topspin that Djokovic's opponents drive at him comes right into his zone, thus his ability to turn defense into offense well.

Coaching and personal team

From fall 2005 until June 2006, Djokovic was coached by Riccardo Piatti who divided his time between the 18-year-old and Ivan Ljubičić. Player and coach reportedly parted ways over the latter's refusal to work full time with Djokovic.

Since June 2006, Djokovic has been coached by Slovakian former professional tennis player Marián Vajda. They met for the first time during that year's French Open, after which Vajda got hired to be the 19-year-old's coach. On occasion Djokovic employed additional coaches on part-time basis: in 2007, during the spring hardcourt season, he worked with Australian doubles ace Mark Woodforde with specific emphasis on volleys and net play while from August 2009 until April 2010 American Todd Martin joined the coaching team, a period marked by his ill-fated attempt to change Djokovic's serve motion.

In July 2010, before the Davis Cup clash away at Croatia, Djokovic made another addition to his team – nutritionist Igor Četojević who additionally focuses on Chinese medicine and does acupuncture. He discovered the tennis player suffers from Celiac Disease and cannot eat gluten, purging it from his diet. It appeared to have worked as Djokovic began feeling stronger, quicker, and much more fit. After Djokovic's Wimbledon win in July 2011, Četojević left the team.

Sponsorships and business ventures

Djokovic endorses Serbian telecommunications company Telekom Srbija and German nutritional supplement brand FitLine.

Since turning professional in 2003, Djokovic wore Adidas clothing and footwear. At the end of 2009, Djokovic signed a 10-year deal with the Italian clothing company Sergio Tacchini after Adidas refused to extend his clothing contract (choosing instead to sign Andy Murray). Since Sergio Tacchini doesn't make shoes, he continued with Adidas as his choice of footwear. From 2011, Djokovic began to wear custom Red and Blue Adidas Barricade 6.0's shoes, referring to the colours of the Serbian national flag.

Djokovic did television commercial spots and print ads for supermarket chain Idea, the Serbian arm of Croatian supermarket retailer Konzum.

In August 2011, Djokovic became the brand ambassador of Swiss watch manufacturer Audemars Piguet. Less than a month later, Djokovic signed a sponsorship deal with German car company Mercedes-Benz.

The business end of Djokovic's career was initially handled by Israeli managers Amit Naor and Allon Khakshouri. In June 2008, he signed with CAA Sports.

Investments

In 2005, as Djokovic moved up the tennis rankings, his family founded a legal entity in Serbia named Family Sport. Registered as a limited liability company, its initial focus was the restaurant business. The company's day-to-day operations are mostly handled by Novak's father Srdjan and uncle Goran expanded its activities into real estate, sports/entertainment event organization, and sports apparel distribution.

The company opened theme cafés named Novak Café, as well as Novak Café & Restaurant in the Belgrade's municipality of Novi Beograd.

In February 2008, the company reached an agreement with local authorities in the city of Kragujevac about jointly entering into a real estate development deal that was to include 4 hectares of city-owned land at Veliki Park being developed into a tennis center with 14 courts. But by 2010 the company pulled out of these plans.

In March 2008, Family Sport won a municipal authority-organized tender in Novi Beograd by submitting an €11 million bid for the 3.8 hectares of land located in Ivan Ribar neighbourhood; with the ambitious plan to build a big tennis center there. As of fall 2011, construction is yet to commence.

In 2009, the company managed to buy an ATP tournament known as the Dutch Open and bring it to Serbia where it became – Serbia Open. With the help of Belgrade city authorities, the tournament's inaugural edition was held during May 2009 at the city-owned 'Milan Gale Muškatirović' courts, located at an attractive spot in Dorćol neighbourhood.

On Monday, 4 July 2011, one day after Djokovic won Wimbledon, Family Sport organized the homecoming reception in front of the National Assembly building with more than 80,000 people gathering to greet him.

Grand Slam tournaments

Grand Slam tournament performance timeline

''To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through the 2012 Australian Open.''

{|class=wikitable style=text-align:center;font-size:98% |- !Tournament!!2003!!2004!!2005!!2006!!2007!!2008!!2009!!2010!!2011!!2012!!width=50|SR!!width=50|W–L!!width=50|Win % |- |colspan=14 align=left|'''Grand Slam Tournaments |- |bgcolor=#efefef text-align:left|Australian Open |A |A |bgcolor=#afeeee|1R |bgcolor=#afeeee|1R |bgcolor=#afeeee|4R |bgcolor=lime|'''W |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF |bgcolor=lime|'''W |bgcolor=lime|'''W |bgcolor=#efefef|3 / 8 |bgcolor=#efefef|32–5 |bgcolor=#efefef|86.49 |- |bgcolor=#efefef align=left|French Open |A |A |bgcolor=#afeeee|2R |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF |bgcolor=yellow|SF |bgcolor=yellow|SF |bgcolor=#afeeee|3R |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF |bgcolor=yellow|SF |bgcolor=| |bgcolor=#efefef|0 / 7 |bgcolor=#efefef|25–7 |bgcolor=#efefef|78.12 |- |bgcolor=#efefef align=left|Wimbledon |A |A |bgcolor=#afeeee|3R |bgcolor=#afeeee|4R |bgcolor=yellow|SF |bgcolor=#afeeee|2R |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF |bgcolor=yellow|SF |bgcolor=lime|'''W |bgcolor=| |bgcolor=#efefef|1 / 7 |bgcolor=#efefef|27–6 |bgcolor=#efefef|81.81 |- |bgcolor=#efefef align=left|US Open |A |A |bgcolor=#afeeee|3R |bgcolor=#afeeee|3R |bgcolor=thistle|F |bgcolor=yellow|SF |bgcolor=yellow|SF |bgcolor=thistle|F |bgcolor=lime|'''W |bgcolor=| |bgcolor=#efefef|1 / 7 |bgcolor=#efefef|33–6 |bgcolor=#efefef|84.62 |- !style=text-align:left|Win–Loss !0–0 !0–0 !5–4 !9–4 !19–4 !18–3 !15–4 !19–4 !25–1 !7–0 !5 / 29 !117–24 !82.98 |}

Grand Slam tournament finals

Singles: 7 (5 titles, 2 runner-ups)

{|class="sortable wikitable" |- !width=80|Outcome !width=50|Year !width=200|Championship !width=75|Surface !width=200|Opponent in the final !width=200|Score in the final |- style="background:#ccf;" |bgcolor=FFA07A|Runner-up||2007||US Open||Hard|| Roger Federer||6–7^(4–7), 6–7^(2–7), 4–6 |- style="background:#ffc;" |bgcolor=98FB98|Winner||2008||Australian Open||Hard|| Jo-Wilfried Tsonga||4–6, 6–4, 6–3, 7–6(7–2) |- style="background:#ccf;" |bgcolor=FFA07A|Runner-up||2010||US Open (2)||Hard|| Rafael Nadal||4–6, 7–5, 4–6, 2–6 |- style="background:#ffc;" |bgcolor=98FB98|Winner||2011||Australian Open (2)||Hard|| Andy Murray||6–4, 6–2, 6–3 |- style="background:#cfc;" | style="background:#98fb98;"|Winner||2011 || Wimbledon || Grass || Rafael Nadal || 6–4, 6–1, 1–6, 6–3 |- style="background:#ccf;" |bgcolor=98FB98|Winner||2011||US Open ||Hard|| Rafael Nadal||6–2, 6–4, 6–7^(3–7), 6–1 |- style="background:#ffc;" |bgcolor=98FB98|Winner||2012||Australian Open (3)||Hard|| Rafael Nadal||5–7, 6–4, 6–2, 6–7^(5–7), 7–5 |}

Career statistics

From the 2010 Davis Cup finals to the 2011 French Open, Djokovic had a 43-match win streak, placing him behind Guillermo Vilas (46 matches in 1977) and Ivan Lendl (44 matches in 1981/1982).

He won 41 straight matches from the start of 2011 until the French Open semi-finals, second only to John McEnroe's record (he started 42–0 in 1984).

Novak Djokovic is one of only four players (besides David Nalbandian, Andy Murray, and Rafael Nadal) to beat Roger Federer three times in one calendar year, and one of only two players (Juan Martin Del Potro being the other) to beat both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in a Grand Slam in consecutive matches. He is the only player who can claim to have beaten both Federer and Nadal in the same tournament on 4 different occasions (Montreal 2007, Indian Wells 2011, US Open 2011,). He is also the youngest player in the Open Era to defeat the top three players in succession and he achieved this when he defeated world number three Andy Roddick, world number two Nadal, and World number one Federer in the 2007 Rogers Cup. He is one of only two players to have defeated Federer at the semifinal stage or later on more than one occasion in Grand Slam tournaments, and also at consecutive tournaments (the other being Nadal).

His five Masters titles in 2011 are a season record.

Awards and honours

Order of Saint Sava

On 28 April 2011, in Belgrade, Patriarch Irinej of Serbia awarded Djokovic the Order of St. Sava I class, the highest decoration of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The order was given to him because he demonstrated love for the church, and because he provided assistance to the Serbian people, churches and monasteries of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo and Metohija.

List of awards

Best Male Tennis Player in Serbia and Montenegro: 2005

Best Male Tennis Player in Serbia: 20062011 Golden Badge of DSL Sport: 2007, 2010, 2011

ATP Most Improved Player of the Year: 2006, 2007

Best Sportsman by Olympic Committee of Serbia: 2007, 2010

ATP Player of the Year: 2011

ACE of the Year by GQ: 2011 Golden Bagel Award: 2011 ITF World Champion: 2011

BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year: 2011

Records

These records were attained in the Open Era of tennis and in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 series since 1990.

{|class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" !Tournament !width=75|Year !Record !width=100|Players matched |- |Australian Open – French Open – Wimbledon – US Open |2007–2008 |Youngest player to have reached the semi-finals of all four Majors (20 years, 250 days old)||'''Stands alone |- |Australian Open |2011–2012 |2 consecutive titles||Ken Rosewall Guillermo Vilas Johan Kriek Mats Wilander Stefan Edberg Ivan Lendl Jim Courier Andre Agassi Roger Federer |- |Australian Open |2012 |Longest Grand Slam final match ||Rafael Nadal |- |Australian Open – Indian Wells Masters – Miami Masters |2011 |Winner of the hard court treble (Australian Open, Indian Wells, Miami) ||Roger Federer Pete Sampras |- |ATP World Tour |2011 |Player to qualify earliest for the ATP World Tour Finals – 18 weeks, 6 days||'''Stands alone |- |ATP World Tour Masters 1000 |2011 |Most titles in a season – 5||'''Stands alone |- |ATP World Tour Masters 1000 |2011 |Most consecutive titles – 3||Rafael Nadal |- |ATP World Tour Masters 1000 |2011 |Longest winning streak – 31 ||'''Stands alone |- |ATP World Tour Masters 1000 |2011 |Most finals in a season – 6 ||Roger Federer |- |Madrid Masters |2009 |Longest best-of-three sets men's singles match ever played (4 hours, 3 minutes) ||Rafael Nadal |- |Canada Masters |2007 |Youngest player to defeat the top 3 players in succession||'''Stands alone |- |Miami Masters |2007 |Youngest male champion (19 years, 316 days old)||'''Stands alone |- |ATP World Tour |2007–2009 |Most consecutive weeks at world number 3 – 91||'''Stands alone |- |ATP World Tour |2011 |Longest winning streak in finals vs. a current World no.1 in any season (Rafael Nadal – 5) (also defeated Nadal at 2011 US Open and 2012 Australian Open, where rankings were by then reversed) ||'''Stands alone |- |ATP World Tour |2011 |Most prize money in one season ($12,619,803) ||'''Stands alone |- |ATP World Tour |2006–2010 |Most years ended at world number 3 (4) ||Jimmy Connors |- |ATP World Tour |2006–2010 |Most consecutive weeks at world number 3 (91) ||'''Stands alone |}

In popular culture

In 2009, and 2010, Djokovic won Oscar Of Popularity for the most popular male athlete in Serbia.

He was a special guest in the first semi-final of Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade. He threw a big tennis ball into the crowd, announcing the start of voting. Together with presenter of the show Željko Joksimović, Djokovic sang a song about Belgrade.

Djokovic is also featured in the music video for the song "Hello" by Martin Solveig and Dragonette. The video, filmed at Stade Roland Garros, shows Solveig facing off against Bob Sinclar, another DJ, in a tennis match. When the referee calls a crucial ball "Out", Djokovic enters the arena and convinces the referee otherwise.

In 2010, Serbian blues-rock band Zona B recorded the song "The Joker", dedicating it to Djokovic.

On 25 June 2011, its seventieth Congress in Chicago, all the members unanimously awarded Djokovic the Order of Serbian National Defense in America I class, the highest decoration of the SND. The order was given to him because of his merits in the international sport scene and his contributions to the reputation of Serbs and Serbia around the world.

Owing to his extroverted personality, fluency in several languages, and willingness to go along with comedic concepts, Djokovic became a fixture on entertainment-based TV talk shows around the globe immediately upon achieving a measure of prominence via results on the tennis court. After winning the Australian Open, his first major, in early 2008, Djokovic appeared on American late-night programme ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno''. Throughout spring 2009, during ATP Master Series tournaments in Madrid and Rome, respectively, the Serb was a guest on Pablo Motos' show ''El Hormiguero'' followed by an appearance on the ''Fiorello Show'' hosted by Italian comedian Rosario Fiorello. Djokovic's television appearances particularly intensified during his amazing run of form throughout 2011: after winning Wimbledon and reaching number one spot on the ATP list, he again appeared on Leno's ''Tonight Show'' as well as on Conan O'Brien's show on TBS. Djokovic's dramatic win at the US Open was followed by another television blitz including spots on ''Live with Regis and Kelly'', CBS' ''The Early Show'', NBC's ''Today'' as well as a walk-on appearance on ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon''. In mid-November 2011, he made a triumphant return to Rai 1's ''Fiorello Show''. In late November during the ATP World Tour Finals in London he was a guest on Sir David Frost's interview programme ''Frost Over the World'' on Al Jazeera English.

He was voted the 19th most influential man on AskMen.com's Top 49 Most Influential Men of 2011. On invitation from film producer Avi Lerner, Djokovic became part of the high-budget Hollywood movie production ''The Expendables 2'' in a cameo playing himself, which he shot on 29 November 2011 in a Sofia warehouse.

See also

Tennis performance timeline comparison (men)

ATP World Tour records

List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players

List of Grand Slam men's singles champions

List of non-Grand Slam tennis statistics and records

List of open era tennis records

ATP Awards

References

Further reading

External links

Official site

Novak Djokovic at Flickr

Novak Djokovic at Qwinki

Novak Djokovic at Tumblr

{{navboxes|title=Novak Djokovic in Grand Slam Tournaments |list1= }} {{navboxes|title=Novak Djokovic's Achievements |list1= }}

Category:1987 births Category:Australian Open (tennis) champions Category:Living people Category:Olympic bronze medalists for Serbia Category:Olympic medalists in tennis Category:Olympic tennis players of Serbia Category:People from Belgrade Category:People from Monte Carlo Category:Serbia and Montenegro male tennis players Category:Serbian expatriates in Monaco Category:Serbian male tennis players Category:Serbian Orthodox Christians Category:Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Category:Wimbledon champions Category:World No. 1 tennis players Category:Hopman Cup competitors

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