Novi Beograd Нови Београд
—  Municipality  —
Flag Coat of arms
Location within the City of Belgrade
Location within Serbia
Country	Serbia
City	Belgrade
Status	Municipality
Settlements	1
Government
• Type	Municipality of Belgrade
• Mun. president	Nenad Milenković (DS)
Area
• Total	40.74 km2 (15.73 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	212,104
• Density	5,200/km2 (13,000/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	11070
Area code(s)	+381 11
Car plates	BG
Website	NoviBeograd.rs

Novi Beograd or New Belgrade (Serbian Cyrillic: Нови Београд, pronounced [nôʋiː beǒɡrad]) is the most populous municipality that constitutes the City of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is a planned city, built in 1947 on the left bank of the Sava river which was previously an uninhabited area, opposite of the old Belgrade. In recent years it has become the new financial centre of Belgrade and its fastest developing area, with many businesses moving to the new part of the city, due to more modern infrastructure and larger available space. With population of 212,104 people,^[1] it is the most populous municipality of Belgrade.

Geography[link]

Novi Beograd is located on the left bank of the Sava river, in the easternmost part of the Srem region. Administratively, its northeastern section touches the right bank of the Danube, right before the Sava's confluence. It is generally located west of the 'Old' Belgrade to which it is connected by six bridges (Gazela, Branko's bridge, Old Sava bridge, old, New Railway Bridge and Ada Bridge). European route E75, with five grade separations, including a new double-looped one at the Belgrade Arena, goes right through the middle of the settlement.

The municipality of Novi Beograd covers an area of 40.74 square kilometres (15.73 sq mi). The main physical characteristic of Novi Beograd is its flatness, which poses a high contrast to the old Belgrade which is altogether built on 32 hills. Except for its western section, Bežanija, Novi Beograd is built on terrain that was essentially a swamp when construction of the new city began in 1948. For years, kilometers-long conveyor belts were transporting sand from the Danube's island of Malo Ratno Ostrvo, almost completely destroying the island in the process, from which only a small, narrow strip of wooded land remains today. Thus, it is romantically said that Novi Beograd is actually built on an island.^{[citation needed]}

Other geographic features are the peninsula of Mala Ciganlija and the island of Ada Međica, both on the Sava and the bay of Zimovnik (winter shelter), engulfed by Mala Ciganlija, with the facilities of the Beograd shipyard. The loess slope of Bežanijska Kosa is located in the western part of the municipality, while in the southern, the Galovica river-canal flows into the Sava.

Though it has no forests in the real sense, of all urban municipalities of Belgrade, Novi Beograd has the largest green areas, with a total of 3.47 square kilometres (1.34 sq mi), or 8.5 % of the territory.^[2] The majority of it is made by the large Novi Beograd-Ušće park. The latest addition to Belgrade parks, Park Republika Srpska from 2008, is also located in the municipality.

Economy[link]

Corner of Block 25

As all of the communist governments considered heavy industry to be the drawing force of the entire economy, it for decades dominated Novi Beograd's economy too: Motors and Tractors Industry - IMT, Metallic cast iron factory - FOM, Beograd (formerly Tito) shipyard, large heating plant in Savski Nasip, MINEL electro-construction company, etc. All of these complexes will be removed and develop in business and residential areas.

In 1990s with the collapse of gigantic state-owned companies, Novi Beograd's local economy bounced back by switching to commercial facilities, with dozens of shopping malls and entire commercial sections. These activities are further enhanced in the 2000s (decade). The 'Open Shopping Mall' or the Belgrade's flea market is also located in Novi Beograd.

Serbian Orthodox Church.

New Belgrade become main business district in Serbia. Many companies choose New Belgrade for their headquarters or regional centers such as Acer, Comtrade group, Imtel Computers, Microsoft, Ikea, Delta Holding, DHL, Jat, OMV, Siemens, Société Générale, Telekom Serbia, Telenor Serbia, Unilever, Vip mobile, Yugoimport SDPR, Ericsson, Colliers, CB Richard Ellis, Cisco, SAP AG, Hewlett-Packard, Huawei... The Belgrade Stock Exchange is also located in New Belgrade. Other notable structures built not too long afterwards include convention and congress hall Sava Center, Hotel Jugoslavija, Genex condominium, Genex Tower sports and concert venues Hala Sportova and Belgrade Arena, and 4 and 5-star hotels Continental Hotel Belgrade, Holiday Inn, Hyatt Regency, Tulip Inn,... Many structures are currently under construction like Ada Bridge, Airport City Belgrade, Vienna Insurance Group HQ, Elektroprivreda Srbije HQ., Intesa HQ, Raiffaissen Bank HQ, West 65 business-residential complex, etc.

Now over 1,2 million square meters is under construction in New Belgrade. Estimated value of construction in next two and half years will be over 1,5 billion Euros. Currently finished projects in New Belgrade are Delta City, Sava City, Univerzitetsko Selo and Ušće Tower.

Population[link]

Ušće Tower

There are no separate settlements within the municipality, as the entire area administratively belongs to the Belgrade City proper and is statistically classified as part of Belgrade (Beograd-deo). The area located around the municipal assembly building and the nearby roundabout is considered to be Novi Beograd's center.

As it was planned and constructed, Novi Beograd was divided into blocks. Currently, there are 72 blocks (with several sub-blocks, like 70-a, etc.). Old core of the village of Bežanija, Ada Međica, and Mala Ciganlija, as well as the area along the highway west of Bežanijska Kosa are not divided into blocks, while due to the administrative borders changes, some of the blocks (9, 9-a, 9-b, 11, 11-c and 50) belong to the municipality of Zemun, extending north of Novi Beograd as one continuous built-up area.

Ever since the construction began in 1948, Novi Beograd experienced explosive population growth, but oddly, as the 2002 census showed, the population size actually decreased slightly during the 1990s. Regarding this it is hard to predict the future population changes in Novi Beograd. With a population of 212,104 on December 31, 2011, and including Serbian refugees from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbian Province of Kosovo, the number of people is probably not exceeding 250,000, despite the figure of 400,000 inhabitants often circulating in the press over the last 20 years.

Population of Novi Beograd in various years:

• 1953 census - 11,339
• 1961 census - 33,347
• 1971 census - 92,500
• 1981 census - 173,541
• 1991 census - 218,633
• 2002 census - 217,773
• 2011 census - 212,104

Ethnic structure[link]

Belgrade Arena

According to the 2002 census, the major ethnic groups in the municipality were:

• Serbs = 192,486 (88.39%)
• Yugoslavs = 5,341 (2.45%)
• Croats = 2,520 (1.16%)
• Roma = 2,371 (1.09%)
• Macedonians = 1,683 (0.77%)
• others = 13,372 (6.14 %)

Neighbourhoods of Novi Beograd[link]

Map of Novi Beograd

Just like other municipalities of Serbia, Novi Beograd is further divided into local communities (Serbian: mesna zajednica). Apart from Bežanija and Staro Sajmište, no other neighbourhoods have historical or traditional names, as Novi Beograd did not exist as such. However, in the five decades of its existence, some of its parts gradually became known as distinct neighborhoods of their own.

List of the neighbourhoods of Novi Beograd:

Several more neighbourhoods are currently under construction: Airport City Belgrade, Delta City, Park Apartments, Sava City and Univerzitetsko Selo.

History[link]

Origins[link]

First historical mention of human settlement on the territory of today's New Belgrade goes back to Turkish occupation of Serbia. It is found in the 1713 book Kruševski pomenik that notes the existence of ethnic Serb village named Bežanija as early as 1512. It also mentions the village had 32 houses, a number that grew to 115 by the year 1810.

Throughout the 18th century, Bežanija's population was exclusively Serbian^{[citation needed]}. After the Ottomans were ousted, the new hosts - the Habsburg forces - encouraged settlement of Germans, Hungarians, and Croats.

Between two world wars of the 20th century, communities sprung up closer to Sava River in Staro Sajmište and Novo Naselje.

The first urbanization plans that talk about Belgrade's expansion to the Sava's left bank were drawn up in 1923, but a lack of either funds or the manpower needed to drain out the swampy terrain put them on hold indefinitely. In 1924 Petar Kokotović opened a kafana on Tošin Bunar with the prophetic name Novi Beograd. After 1945 Kokotović was president of the local community of Novo Naselje-Bežanija which later grew into the municipality of Novi Beograd.^[3] In 1924 an airport was built in Bežanija and in 1928 the Rogožerski factory was constructed. In 1934 plans were expanded to include the creation of a new urban tissue which connected Belgrade and Zemun, as Zemun was administratively annexed to the city of Belgrade in 1929, losing separate city status in 1934. A bridge was also built over the Sava river and a tram line connecting Belgrade and Zemun was established. Also, a Zemun airport was built.

In 1938, a complex of buildings in the community of Staro Sajmište went up. Spread over 15 thousand square meters it hosted fairs and exhibitions designed to show off the Kingdom of Yugoslavia's developing economy. Also this year, the municipality of Belgrade signed a contract with two Danish construction companies, Kampsax and Højgaard & Schultz, to build the new neighborhood. Engineer Branislav Nešić was entrusted with leading the project. He even continued doing it after 1941, which lead to his trial by the Communist authorities after 1945 as a collaborator.

Panorama of New Belgrade from Kalemegdan fortress

Sajmište concentration camp[link]

In 1941, German forces occupied much of the Kingdom. Nazi secret police, Gestapo, took over Sajmište. They encircled it with several rings of barbed wire turning it into what they referred to as "collection center" - a euphemism for a prison. It eventually became an extermination camp.

Until May 1942 Germans used Sajmište concentration camp to mostly kill off Jews from Belgrade and other parts of Serbia. From April 1942 onwards, prisoners were transported in from Jasenovac and Stara Gradiška concentration camps run by Croatian Nazi puppet regime - Ustaše. Partisans captured throughout Serbia were also sent to Sajmište. Detainees were also sent in from other parts of Yugoslavia, especially after major German offensives on briefly liberated territories. Liquidations of captured prisoners lasted as long as the camp existed.

Among others, prisoners included women, children and the elderly from Kozara region, entire Jewish families from Belgrade and other cities, Roma families, as well as entire populations of different Syrmian villages.

November 1946 report released by Yugoslav State Commission for Crimes of Occupiers and their Collaborators claims that close to 100,000 prisoners came through Sajmište's gates. It is estimated that around 48,000 people perished inside the camp.

On July 9, 1987, Belgrade City Assembly decided to make Staro Sajmište a cultural site, thereby protecting it from real-estate expansion development.

On April 21, 1995, a monument in remembrance of Sajmište victims was unveiled along Sava, one day ahead of the 50-year anniversary of Hitler admitting defeat on April 22, 1945.

Rapid development[link]

Palace of Serbia

It was on April 11, 1948, three years after World War II ended, that the ground was broken on a huge construction project, which would give birth to what is known today as New Belgrade.

Buildings sprung up one after another and by 1952, New Belgrade was officially a municipality. In 1955 the municipality of Bežanija was annexed to Novi Beograd. It was for years the biggest construction site in Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia and a huge source of pride for country's communist authorities that oversaw the project.

During first three years of construction alone, over 100 thousand workers and engineers from all over the freshly liberated country took part in the building process. Work brigades made up of villagers brought in from rural Serbia provided most of the manual labour. Even high school and university student volunteers took part. It was backbreaking labour that went on day and night. With no notable technological tools to speak of, mixing of concrete and spreading of sand were done by hand with horse carriages only used for extremely heavy lifting.

Mounted police in streets of New Belgrade

Before the actual construction started, the terrain was evenly covered with sand from the Sava and the Danube rivers in an effort to dry out the land and raise it above the reach of flooding and underground streams.

Among the first to go up was the SIV (Savezno izvršno veće) building, which housed the Federal Executive Council. The building has 75,000 square meters of usable space. Built during the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, it was also used during the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia before its dissolution. The building has been renamed Palace Serbia, and now houses some departments of the Serbian government.

First buildings for classic residential purposes were built as pavilions close to the area known as Tošin Bunar (Toša's Well). Studentski Grad (Student City) complex was also built around the same time to meet the residence needs of the growing University of Belgrade student body that came from other parts of Serbia.

Presidents of the municipality[link]

Presidents of the municipal assembly, since the creation of the municipality in 1952 were:

• 1952 - 195?: Mile Vukmirović
• 195? - 195?: Ilija Radenko
• 1957 - 1962: Ljubinko Pantelić
• 196? - 1965: Jova Marić
• 1965 - 1969: Pero Kovačević (born 1923)
• 1969 - April 11, 1979: Novica Blagojević (died 1979)
• 1979 - 1982: Milan Komnenić
• 1982 - 1986: Andreja Tejić
• 1986 - 1989: Toma Marković
• 1989 - October 12, 2000: Čedomir Ždrnja (born 1936)
• October 12, 2000 - July 11, 2008: Željko Ožegović (born 1962)
• July 11, 2008–present: Nenad Milenković (born 1972)

Culture and education[link]

For a settlement of such size, Novi Beograd has some strange cultural characteristics, influenced by the Yugoslav communists' ideas how a new and modern city should look like. If it can be understood why there were no churches built, a fact that a city of 250,000 has no theaters and only one museum (out of the residential area) is much less comprehensible, underlying the decades long Belgrader's feel of Novi Beograd being nothing more but a big dormitory.

Museum of Contemporary Art is located in Ušće which is also projected by the city government as the location of the future Belgrade Opera. The issue became highly controversial in the 2000s (decade) as the general feel of the population, ensemble of the opera and most prominent architects and artists is that it is a very bad location for the opera, while the city government stubbornly insists against the popular wishes.

For decades, the only church in the municipality was an old Church of Saint George in Bežanija. Construction of the new church in Bežanijska Kosa, the Church of Saint Basil of Ostrog, began in 1996, while the construction of the Church of Saint Demetrius of Salonica, which is considered the first church in Novi Beograd, began in 1998. Both are still not completed.

Schools[link]

Main building of the Megatrend University in New Belgrade

Education fared much better than culture, as there are numerous elementary and high schools, as well as University of Belgrade's residential campus - Studentski Grad.

List of schools in Novi Beograd:

• IX Gymnasium
• X Belgrade Gymnasium
• Faculty of Dramatic Arts
• Megatrend University
• Graphic Design Secondary School
• Polytechnical Academy
• Technical School
• Russian School

Night life[link]

Novi Beograd offers rich night life along the banks of Sava and Danube, right up to the point where the two rivers meet. What started mostly as raft-like social clubs for river fishermen in 1980s expanded into large floats offering food and drink with live turbo folk performances during the 1990s.

Today, it is unlikely that one would walk a 100 meter stretch along the rivers without encountering a float. Some of them grew into entire entertainment complexes rivaling clubs in Belgrade's downtown core. While most of the floats used to be synonymous with turbo folk in what was essentially a stereotypical kafana setting, a recent trend saw many turned into full fledged clubs on water with elaborate events involving world famous DJs spinning live music.

Criticism and public image[link]

New Belgrade's Blok 62

Not much attention was paid to detail and subtlety when New Belgrade was being built during late 1940s and early 1950s. The objective was clearly to put up as many buildings, as fast as possible, in order to accommodate a displaced and growing post World War II population that was in the middle of a baby boom.

This across-the-board brutalist architectural approach led to many apartment buildings and even entire residential blocks looking monumental in an awkward way. Although the problem has been alleviated to certain extent in recent decades by addition of some modern expansion (Hyatt and Intercontinental hotels, luxury Genex condos, Ušće Tower, Belgrade Arena, Delta City, etc.), many still complain about what they see as New Belgrade's "grayness" and "drabness". They often use the derisive term "spavaonica" ("dormitory") to underscore their view of New Belgrade as a place that does not inspire creative living nor encourage healthy human interaction, and is only good for overnight sleep at the end of the hard day's work.

This opinion has found its way into Serbian pop culture as well.

In an early 1980s track called 'Neću da živim u Bloku 65', popular Serbian band Riblja čorba sings about a depressed individual who hates the world because he's surrounded by the concrete of New Belgrade, while a more recent local cinematic trend sees New Belgrade presented somewhat clumsily as the Serbian version of New York ghettos like those found in Harlem, Brooklyn and The Bronx. The most obvious example of the latter would be 2002 movie 1 na 1, which portrays a bunch of Serbian teenagers who rap, shoot guns, play street basketball and seem to blame many of their woes on living in New Belgrade. Other films like Apsolutnih 100 and The Wounds also implicitly paint New Belgrade in the negative light but they have a more coherent point of view and place their stories within the context of the 1990s when war and international isolation truly did push some Serbs, including those inhabiting New Belgrade, to desperate acts.

International cooperation[link]

Novi Beograd is twinned with following cities and municipalities^[4]:

• Belfort, Franche-Comté, France
• Karpoš, Republic of Macedonia
• Xanthi, Greece
• Prague 7, Czech Republic
• Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Metlika, Slovenia

See also[link]

• Belgrade
• List of cities in Serbia
• Subdivisions of Belgrade
• List of Belgrade neighborhoods and suburbs

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Mala Prosvetina Enciklopedija, Third edition (1986), Vol.I; Prosveta; ISBN 86-07-00001-2
• Jovan Đ. Marković (1990): Enciklopedijski geografski leksikon Jugoslavije; Svjetlost-Sarajevo; ISBN 86-01-02651-6
• Slobodan Ristanović (2008) : 60 godina Novog Beograda;

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Official website of Novi Beograd
• Blokovi - Novi Beograd

v t e Municipalities of Belgrade Municipalities Barajevo Čukarica Grocka Lazarevac Mladenovac Novi Beograd Obrenovac Palilula Rakovica Savski Venac Sopot Stari Grad Surčin Voždovac Vračar Zemun Zvezdara

v t e Belgrade Municipalities Barajevo Čukarica Grocka Lazarevac Mladenovac Novi Beograd Obrenovac Palilula Rakovica Savski Venac Sopot Stari Grad Surčin Voždovac Vračar Zemun Zvezdara Landmarks Avala Tower Republic Square Pobednik Prince Michael Street Kalemegdan Nikola Pašić Square House of Flowers Gates of Belgrade Slavija Square Students Square Monument to the Unknown Hero Beograđanka Topčider Belgrade Synagogue Bajrakli Mosque Novo groblje Palaces and castles Royal Compound White Palace Royal Palace Old Palace Countess Ljubica's Residence Prince Miloš's Residence Despot Stefan Tower Captain Miša's Mansion Churches St. Sava St. Michael's Cathedral St. Mark's Church Fenek monastery Zemun monastery St. Basil of Ostrog Culture National Theatre in Belgrade Sava Centar Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra Belgrade Drama Theatre Yugoslav Drama Theatre Madlenianum Opera and Theatre Atelje 212 Boško Buha Theatre Belgrade Book Fair National Library of Serbia Museums Belgrade City Museum Ethnographic Museum Museum of Vuk and Dositej Museum of African Art Museum of Ivo Andrić Museum of Applied Arts Museum of Contemporary Art Military Museum Museum of Theatrical Arts of Serbia Museum of Aviation in Belgrade Museum of Natural History Museum of Yugoslav History National Museum of Serbia Nikola Tesla Museum Railway Museum Education Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts University of Belgrade University of Arts in Belgrade Megatrend University Singidunum University Union University Ilija M. Kolarac Endowment Sport centers Belgrade Arena Pionir Hall Hala sportova Red Star Stadium Partizan Stadium Tašmajdan Sports Centre Zemun Stadium Omladinski Stadion Stadion Kralj Petar I Obilić Stadium Hala Pinki Transport Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport Belgrade bypass Beovoz Belgrade Metro Belgrade tram system People List of people from Belgrade

v t e Municipalities and cities of Serbia v t e Municipalities of Belgrade Municipalities Barajevo Čukarica Grocka Lazarevac Mladenovac Novi Beograd Obrenovac Palilula Rakovica Savski Venac Sopot Stari Grad Surčin Voždovac Vračar Zemun Zvezdara v t e Municipalities and cities of Vojvodina Novi Sad (Novi Sad • Petrovaradin) • Pančevo • Sombor • Sremska Mitrovica • Subotica • Zrenjanin Ada • Alibunar • Apatin • Bač • Bačka Palanka • Bačka Topola • Bački Petrovac • Bečej • Bela Crkva • Beočin • Čoka • Inđija • Irig • Kanjiža • Kikinda • Kovačica • Kovin • Kula • Mali Iđoš • Nova Crnja • Novi Bečej • Novi Kneževac • Odžaci • Opovo • Pećinci • Plandište • Ruma • Sečanj • Senta • Šid • Srbobran • Sremski Karlovci • Stara Pazova • Temerin • Titel • Vrbas • Vršac • Žabalj • Žitište v t e Municipalities and cities of Šumadija and Western Serbia Čačak • Jagodina • Kragujevac (Aerodrom • Pivara • Stanovo • Stari Grad • Stragari) • Kraljevo • Kruševac • Loznica • Novi Pazar • Šabac • Užice • Valjevo Aleksandrovac • Aranđelovac • Arilje • Bajina Bašta • Batočina • Bogatić • Brus • Čajetina • Ćićevac • Ćuprija • Despotovac • Gornji Milanovac • Ivanjica • Knić • Koceljeva • Kosjerić • Krupanj • Lajkovac • Lapovo • Lučani • Ljig • Ljubovija • Mali Zvornik • Mionica • Nova Varoš • Osečina • Paraćin • Požega • Priboj • Prijepolje • Rača • Raška • Rekovac • Sjenica • Svilajnac • Topola • Trstenik • Tutin • Ub • Varvarin • Vladimirci • Vrnjačka Banja v t e Municipalities and cities of Southern and Eastern Serbia Leskovac • Niš (Crveni Krst • Medijana • Niška Banja • Palilula • Pantelej) • Požarevac (Požarevac • Kostolac) • Smederevo • Vranje (Vranje • Vranjska Banja) • Zaječar Aleksinac • Babušnica • Bela Palanka • Blace • Bojnik • Boljevac • Bor • Bosilegrad • Bujanovac • Crna Trava • Dimitrovgrad • Doljevac • Gadžin Han • Golubac • Kladovo • Knjaževac • Kučevo • Kuršumlija • Lebane • Majdanpek • Malo Crniće • Medveđa • Merošina • Negotin • Petrovac • Pirot • Preševo • Prokuplje • Ražanj • Smederevska Palanka • Sokobanja • Surdulica • Svrljig • Trgovište • Velika Plana • Veliko Gradište • Vladičin Han • Vlasotince • Žabari • Žagubica • Žitorađa v t e Municipalities of Kosovo Dečani Dragaš Đakovica Đeneral Janković Glogovac Gnjilane Gračanica Istok Junik Kačanik Klina Klokot-Vrbovac Kosovo Polje Kosovska Kamenica Kosovska Mitrovica Leposavić Lipljan Mališevo Mamuša Novo Brdo Obilić Orahovac Parteš Peć Podujevo Pristina Prizren Ranilug Štimlje Srbica Štrpce Suva Reka Uroševac Vitina Vučitrn Zubin Potok Zvečan Planned Municipality: North Kosovska Mitrovica

Coordinates: 44°48′N 20°25′E / 44.8°N 20.417°E / 44.8; 20.417

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Belgrade Београд
—  City  —
Pobednik monument in Kalemegdan, overlooking the skyline of New Belgrade
Flag Coat of arms
Location within Europe and Serbia
Coordinates: 44°49′14″N 20°27′44″E / 44.82056°N 20.46222°E / 44.82056; 20.46222Coordinates: 44°49′14″N 20°27′44″E / 44.82056°N 20.46222°E / 44.82056; 20.46222
Country	Serbia
District	City of Belgrade
Municipalities	17
Establishment	before 279 BC (Singidunum)[1]
Government
• Mayor	Dragan Đilas (DS)
• Ruling parties	DS/G17+/SPS-PUPS/LDP
Area[2]
• City	359.96 km2 (138.98 sq mi)
• Urban	869 km2 (336 sq mi)
• Metro	3,222.68 km2 (1,244.28 sq mi)
Elevation[3]	117 m (384 ft)
Population (2011)[4]
• City	1,154,589
• Density	3,207.5/km2 (8,307/sq mi)
• Metro	1,639,121
• Metro density	508.6/km2 (1,317/sq mi)
Demonym	Belgrader
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	11000
Area code(s)	(+381) 11
Car plates	BG
Website	www.beograd.rs

Belgrade ( /ˈbɛlɡreɪd/; Serbian: Београд; [beǒɡrad] ( listen); names in other languages) is the capital and largest city of Serbia. The city is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans.^[5] Its name in English translates to White city. The city proper has a population of over 1.1 million, while its metropolitan area has over 1.6 million people, making it one of the largest cities in Southeast Europe.^[6]

One of the largest prehistoric cultures of Europe, the Vinča culture, evolved around the area Belgrade in the 6th millennium BC. In antiquity, Thraco-Dacians inhabited the region, and after 279 BC Celts conquered the city, naming it Singidūn.^[7] It was conquered by the Romans during the reign of Augustus, and awarded city rights in the mid 2nd century.^[8] It was settled by the Slavs in the 520s, and changed hands several times before it became the capital of King Stephen Dragutin (1282–1316). In 1521 Belgrade was conquered by the Ottoman Empire and became the seat of a the Sanjak of Smederevo.^[9] It frequently passed from Ottoman to Habsburg rule, which saw the destruction of most of the city during the Austro-Ottoman wars. Belgrade was again named the capital of Serbia in 1841. The north of Belgrade remained a Habsburg outpost until 1918, when it was merged into the capital city. As a strategic location, the city was battled over in 115 wars and razed to the ground 44 times.^[10] Belgrade was the capital of Yugoslavia (in various forms of governments) from its creation in 1918, to its final dissolution in 2006.

Belgrade has a special administrative status within Serbia.^[11] Its metropolitan territory is divided into 17 municipalities, each with its own local council.^[12] It covers 3.6% of Serbia's territory, and 22.5% of the country's population lives in the city.^[13]

Geography[link]

Satellite image of Belgrade

Belgrade lies 116.75 metres (383.0 ft) above sea level and is located at the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers. The historical core of Belgrade, Kalemegdan, lies on the right banks of both rivers. Since the 19th century, the city has been expanding to the south and east; after World War II, Novi Beograd (New Belgrade) was built on the left bank of the Sava river, connecting Belgrade with Zemun. Smaller, chiefly residential communities across the Danube, like Krnjača and Borča, also merged with the city. The city has an urban area of 360 square kilometres (140 sq mi), while together with its metropolitan area it covers 3,223 km² (1,244 sq mi). Throughout history, Belgrade has been a crossroads between the West and the Orient.^[14]

On the right bank of the Sava, central Belgrade has a hilly terrain, while the highest point of Belgrade proper is Torlak hill at 303 m (994 ft). The mountains of Avala (511 m (1,677 ft)) and Kosmaj (628 m (2,060 ft)) lie south of the city.^[15] Across the Sava and Danube, the land is mostly flat, consisting of alluvial plains and loessial plateaus.

Climate[link]

Belgrade lies on the transition zone of humid subtropical (Cfa) and humid continental (Dfa) climate zones,^[16] with four seasons and uniformly spread precipitation. Monthly averages range from 0.4 °C (32.7 °F) in January to 21.8 °C (71.2 °F) in July, with an annual mean of 12.2 °C (54.0 °F). There are, on average, 31 days a year when the temperature is above 30 °C, and 95 days when the temperature is above 25 °C. Belgrade receives about 680 millimetres (27 in) of precipitation a year, with late spring being wettest. The average annual number of sunny hours is 2,025. The highest officially recorded temperature in Belgrade was +43.1 °C (110 °F) on 24 July 2007,^[17] while on the other end, the lowest temperature was −26.2 °C (−15 °F) on 10 January 1893.^[18]

History[link]

History of Belgrade
This article is part of a series
Ancient times
Singidunum
State of the Scordisci
Middle Ages
Kingdom of Syrmia
Serbian Despotate
Banate of Belgrade
Siege of Belgrade (1456)
Modern times
Pashaluk of Belgrade
Siege of Belgrade (1688)
Siege of Belgrade (1717)
Kingdom of Serbia (1718–1739)
Capture of Belgrade (1739)
Treaty of Belgrade
Principality of Serbia
Kingdom of Serbia
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
(Belgrade Oblast)
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
(Belgrade City Administration)
Serbia (1941-1944)
Bombing of Belgrade in World War II
Belgrade Offensive
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Serbia and Montenegro
Serbia
v t e

Ancient city[link]

Lady of Vinča (5500 BC)

The Neolithic Starčevo- and Vinča cultures prospered in the Belgrade area and dominated the Balkans (as well as parts of Central Europe and Asia Minor) about 7,000 years ago.^{[7][21][22][23]}

The Paleo-Balkan tribes of Thracians and Dacians were the masters of this area prior to the Roman conquest.^[24] Belgrade was inhabited by a Thraco-Dacian tribe Singi,^[7] while after the Celtic invasion in 279 BC, the Scordisci took the city, naming it "Singidūn" (dun, fortress).^[7] In 34-33BC the Roman army led by Silanus reached Belgrade. It became the romanized Singidunum in the 1st century AD, and by the mid-2nd century, the city was proclaimed a municipium by the Roman authorities, evolving into a full fledged colonia (highest city class) by the end of the century.^[8] Apart from the first Christian Emperor of Rome who was born on the territory in modern Serbia in Naissus – Constantine I known as Constantine the Great^[25] – another early Roman Emperor was born in Singidunum: Flavius Iovianus (Jovian), the restorer of Christianity.^[26] Jovian reestablished Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire, ending the brief revival of traditional Roman religions under his predecessor Julian the Apostate. In 395 AD, the site passed to the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire.^[23] Across the Sava from Singidunum was the Celtic city of Taurunum (Zemun); the two were connected with a bridge throughout Roman and Byzantine times.^[27]

Middle Ages[link]

The 1456 Siege of Belgrade, as depicted by Turkish miniaturist Mohammed Bey in 1584

Despot Stefan Tower

Kalemegdan

In 442, the area was ravaged by Attila the Hun.^[28] In 471, it was taken by Theodoric the Great, who continued into Greece.^[29] As the Ostrogoths left for Italy, the Gepids took over the city. In 539 it was retaken by the Byzantines.^[30] In 577, some 100,000 Slavs poured into Thrace and Illyricum, pillaging cities and settling down.^[31] The Avars and Bulgarians under Bayan I had by 582 conquered the whole region.^[32] According to Byzantine chronicle De Administrando Imperio, the White Serbs had during the rule of Heraclius (610–641) contacted the strategos of Belgrade, asking for lands; they received provinces in the west, towards the Adriatic, which they would rule as foederati.^[33] When the Avars were finally destroyed in the 9th century by the Frankish Kingdom, it fell back to Byzantine rule, while Taurunum became part of the Frankish realm (renamed Malevilla).^[34] At the same time (around 878), the first record of the name Beligrad appeared, during the rule of Tsar Boris I-Michael at the First Bulgarian Empire. For about four centuries, the city remained a battleground between the Byzantine Empire, the Kingdom of Hungary and the First Bulgarian Empire.^[35] Basil II (976–1025) installed a garrison in Belgrade.^[36] The city hosted the armies of the First and the Second Crusade;^[37] while passing through during the Third Crusade, Frederick Barbarossa and his 190,000 crusaders saw Belgrade in ruins.^[38]

Stephen Dragutin (r. 1276–1282), received Belgrade from his father-in-law, Stephen V of Hungary in 1284; it served as the capital of the Kingdom of Syrmia, and Dragutin is regarded as the first Serbian king to rule over Belgrade.^[39]

Following the Battle of Maritsa in 1371 and the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, the Serbian Empire began to crumble as the Ottoman Empire conquered its southern territory.^[40][41] The north resisted through the Serbian Despotate, which had Belgrade as its capital. The city flourished under Stefan Lazarević, son of Serbian prince Lazar Hrebeljanović. Lazarević built a castle with a citadel and towers, of which only the Despot's tower and west wall remain. He also refortified the city's ancient walls, allowing the Despotate to resist the Ottomans for almost 70 years. During this time, Belgrade was a haven for many Balkan peoples fleeing Ottoman rule, and is thought to have had a population of 40, 000 to 50,000 people.^[39]

In 1427, Stefan's successor Đurađ Branković had to return Belgrade to the Hungarians, and Smederevo became the new capital. During his reign, the Ottomans captured most of the Serbian Despotate, unsuccessfully besieging Belgrade first in 1440^[37] and again in 1456.^[42] As it presented an obstacle to their further advance into Central Europe, over 100,000 Ottoman soldiers^[43] launched the 1456 Siege of Belgrade, in which the Christian army under Hungarian warlord John Hunyadi successfully defended the city from the Ottomans, wounding Sultan Mehmed II.^[44] This battle has been characterized as having "decided the fate of Christendom";^[45] the noon bell ordered by Pope Callixtus III commemorates the victory throughout the Christian world to this day.^[37][46]

Turkish conquest and Austrian invasions[link]

Austrian conquest of Belgrade: 1717 by Eugene of Savoy, during the Austro-Turkish War of 1716-18

Seven decades after the initial siege, on 28 August 1521, the fort was finally captured by Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent and his 250,000 soldiers; subsequently, most of the city was razed to the ground and its entire Christian population was deported to Istanbul,^[37] to an area that has since become known as the Belgrade forest.^[47] Belgrade was made the seat of the district (Sanjak), becoming the second largest Ottoman town in Europe at over 100,000 people, surpassed only by Constantinople.^[43] Turkish rule also introduced Ottoman architecture, including numerous mosques, increasing the city's Oriental influences.^[48] In 1594, a major Serb rebellion was crushed by the Turks. Later, Grand vizier Sinan Pasha ordered the relics of Saint Sava to be publicly torched on the Vračar plateau; in the 20th century, the Temple of Saint Sava was built to commemorate this event.^[49]

Occupied by the Habsburgs three times (1688–1690, 1717–1739, 1789–1791), headed by the Holy Roman Princes Maximilian of Bavaria and Eugene of Savoy,^[50] and field marshal Baron Ernst Gideon von Laudon respectively, Belgrade was quickly recaptured and substantially razed each time by the Ottomans.^[48] During this period, the city was affected by the two Great Serbian Migrations, in which hundreds of thousands of Serbs, led by their patriarchs, retreated together with the Austrians into the Habsburg Empire, settling in today's Vojvodina and Slavonia.^[51]

Capital of Serbia[link]

During the First Serbian Uprising, the Serbian revolutionaries held the city from 8 January 1807 until 1813, when it was retaken by the Ottomans.^[52] After the Second Serbian Uprising in 1815, Serbia reached semi-independence, which was formally recognized by the Porte in 1830.^[53] In 1841, Prince Mihailo Obrenović moved the capital from Kragujevac to Belgrade.^[54][55]

Statue of Prince Mihailo III on Republic Square, mid 19th century.

In May 1868, Prince Mihailo was assassinated with his cousin Anka Konstantinović while riding in a carriage through the park of his country residence.^[56]

With the Principality's full independence in 1878, and its transformation into the Kingdom of Serbia in 1882, Belgrade once again became a key city in the Balkans, and developed rapidly.^[52][57] Nevertheless, conditions in Serbia as a whole remained those of an overwhelmingly agrarian country, even with the opening of a railway to Niš, Serbia's second city, and in 1900 the capital had only 70,000 inhabitants^[58] (at the time Serbia numbered 1,5 million). Yet by 1905 the population had grown to more than 80,000, and by the outbreak of World War I in 1914, it had surpassed the 100,000 citizens, not counting Zemun which then belonged to Austria-Hungary.^[59]

The first-ever projection of motion pictures in the Balkans and Central Europe was held in Belgrade, in June 1896 by Andre Carr, a representative of the Lumière brothers. He shot the first motion pictures of Belgrade in the next year; however, they have not been preserved.^[60]

World War I and the Interbellum[link]

Knez Mihailova street at the end of the 19th century

The First World War began on July 29, 1914 when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Most of the subsequent Balkan offensives occurred near Belgrade. Austro-Hungarian monitors shelled Belgrade on 29 July 1914, and it was taken by the Austro-Hungarian Army under General Oskar Potiorek on 30 November. On 15 December, it was re-taken by Serbian troops under Marshal Radomir Putnik. After a prolonged battle which destroyed much of the city, between 6 and 9 October 1915, Belgrade fell to German and Austro-Hungarian troops commanded by Field Marshal August von Mackensen on 9 October 1915. The city was liberated by Serbian and French troops on 5 November 1918, under the command of Marshal Louis Franchet d'Espérey of France and Crown Prince Alexander of Serbia. Since Belgrade was decimated as the front-line city, Subotica overtook the title of the largest city in the Kingdom for a while;^[63] still, Belgrade grew rapidly, regaining its position by the early 1920s.

After the war, Belgrade became the capital of the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929. The Kingdom was split into banovinas, and Belgrade, together with Zemun and Pančevo, formed a separate administrative unit.^[64]

During this period, the city experienced faster growth and significant modernisation. Belgrade's population grew to 239,000 by 1931 (incorporating the town of Zemun, formerly in Austria-Hungary), and 320,000 by 1940. The population growth rate between 1921 and 1948 averaged 4.08% a year.^[65] In 1927, Belgrade's first airport opened, and in 1929, its first radio station began broadcasting. The Pančevo Bridge, which crosses the Danube, was opened in 1935,^[66] while "King Alexander Bridge" over Sava was opened in 1934. The last Grand Prix motor racing race before the outbreak of World War II took place around the Belgrade Fortress and was followed by 75,000 spectators.^[67] The winner was Tazio Nuvolari.

World War II[link]

Damage caused by the Nazi bombing.

On 25 March 1941, the government of regent Crown Prince Paul signed the Tripartite Pact, joining the Axis powers in an effort to stay out of the Second World War. This was immediately followed by mass protests in Belgrade and a military coup d'état led by Air Force commander General Dušan Simović, who proclaimed King Peter II to be of age to rule the realm. Consequently, the city was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe on 6 April 1941, when up to 24,000 people were killed.^[68][69] Yugoslavia was then invaded by German, Italian, Hungarian, and Bulgarian forces, and suburbs as far east as Zemun, in the Belgrade metropolitan area, were incorporated into a Nazi state, the Independent State of Croatia. Belgrade became the seat of the Nedić regime, headed by General Milan Nedić.

During the summer and fall of 1941, in reprisal for guerrilla attacks, Germans carried out several massacres on Belgrade citizens; in particular, members of the Jewish community were subject to mass shootings at the order of General Franz Böhme, the German Military Governor of Serbia. Böhme rigorously enforced the rule that for every German killed, 100 Serbs or Jews would be shot.^[70] The resistance movement in Belgrade was led by Major Žarko Todorović from 1941 to his arrest in 1943.^[71]

Just like Rotterdam, which was devastated twice, by both German and Allied bombing, Belgrade was bombed once more during World War II, this time by the Allies on 16 April 1944, killing about 1,100 people. This bombing fell on the Orthodox Christian Easter.^[72] Most of the city remained under German occupation until 20 October 1944, when it was liberated by the Red Army and the Communist Yugoslav Partisans. On 29 November 1945, Marshal Josip Broz Tito proclaimed the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia in Belgrade (later to be renamed to Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on 7 April 1963). ^[73] Higher estimates from the former secret police place the victim count of political persecutions in Belgrade at 10,000.^[74]

Communist Yugoslavia[link]

During the post-war period, Belgrade grew rapidly as the capital of the renewed Yugoslavia, developing as a major industrial centre.^[57] In 1958, Belgrade's first television station began broadcasting. In 1961, the conference of Non-Aligned Countries was held in Belgrade under Tito's chairmanship. In 1968, major student protests against Tito led to several street clashes between students and the police.

FEST is annual film festival held in Belgrade, Serbia since 1971. The festival is usually held in the first quarter of the year. It was the only film festival in socialist countries that attracted big Hollywood stars such as Jack Nicholson, Kirk Douglas, Robert De Niro and directors like Miloš Forman, Francis Ford Coppola, Gina Lollobrigida etc.

Post-communism[link]

Ušće Tower on fire caused by NATO bombing, 1999

On 9 March 1991, massive demonstrations led by Vuk Drašković were held in the city against Slobodan Milošević.^[75] According to various media outlets, there were between 100,000 and 150,000 people on the streets.^[76] Two people were killed, 203 injured and 108 arrested during the protests, and later that day tanks were deployed onto the streets to restore order.^[77] Further protests were held in Belgrade from November 1996 to February 1997 against the same government after alleged electoral fraud at local elections.^[78] These protests brought Zoran Đinđić to power, the first mayor of Belgrade since World War II who did not belong to the League of Communists of Yugoslavia or its later offshoot, the Socialist Party of Serbia.^[79]

NATO bombing (during the Kosovo War in 1999) caused substantial damage to the city. Among the sites bombed were the buildings of several ministries, the RTS building, which killed 16 technicians, several hospitals, the Hotel Jugoslavija, the Central Committee building, the Avala Tower, and the Chinese embassy.^[80]

After the 2000 presidential elections, Belgrade was the site of major public protests, with over half a million people on the streets. These demonstrations resulted in the ousting of president Milošević.^[81][82]

Administration[link]

The Old Palace, seat of City Assembly

Belgrade is a separate territorial unit in Serbia, with its own autonomous city authority.^[11] The current mayor is Dragan Đilas of the Democratic Party. The first mayor to be democratically elected after World War II was Zoran Đinđić, in 1996.

The City Assembly of Belgrade has 110 councilors who are elected on four-year terms. The current majority parties are the same as in the Parliament of Serbia (Democratic Party-G17 Plus and Socialist Party of Serbia-Party of United Pensioners of Serbia with the support of Liberal Democratic Party), and in similar proportions, with the Serbian Radical Party and the Democratic Party of Serbia-New Serbia in opposition.^[83]

As the capital city, Belgrade also hosts the National Assembly of Serbia, the Government of Serbia, and 64 foreign embassies.

Municipalities[link]

The city is divided into 17 municipalities.^[12] Previously, they were classified into 10 "urban" (lying completely or partially within borders of the city proper) and 7 "suburban" municipalities, whose centres are smaller towns.^[84] With the new 2010 City statute, they were all given equal status, with the proviso that suburban ones (except Surčin) have certain autonomus powers, chiefly related with construction, infrastructure and public utilities.^[12]

Most of the municipalities are situated on the southern side of the Danube and Sava rivers, in the Šumadija region. Three municipalities (Zemun, Novi Beograd, and Surčin) are on the northern bank of the Sava, in the Syrmia region, and the municipality of Palilula, spanning the Danube, is in both the Šumadija and Banat regions.

Map of municipalities in Belgrade

Panoramic view of New Belgrade across Sava river from Kalemegdan fortress

Demographics[link]

Apartment blocks in Novi Beograd

This section is outdated. Please update this section to reflect recent events or newly available information. Please see the talk page for more information. (November 2011)

Pobednik monument in Kalemegdan, overlooking the skyline of New Belgrade

According to official results from the 2011 Census, Belgrade has a population of 1,154,589 within the city centre and 1,639,121 in the entire City of Belgrade area. According to the 2002 census, the main population groups according to nationality in the city municipality of Belgrade are: Serbs (1,417,187), Yugoslavs (22,161), Montenegrins (21,190), Roma (19,191), Croats (10,381), Macedonians (8,372), and Muslims by nationality (4,617).^[85]

As of 2 August 2008, the city's Institute for Informatics and Statistics has registered 1,542,773 eligible voters, which confirms that Belgrade's population has risen dramatically since the 2002 Census, as the number of the registered voters has almost surpassed the entire population of the city six years before.^[86] Belgrade is home to many ethnicities from all over the former Yugoslavia. Many people came to the city as economic migrants from smaller towns and the countryside, while hundreds of thousands arrived as refugees from Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo, as a result of the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s.^[87] Between 10,000 and 20,000 ^[88] Chinese are estimated to live in Belgrade; they began immigrating in the mid-1990s. Block 70 in New Belgrade is known colloquially as the Chinese quarter.^[89][90] Many Middle Easterners, mainly from Syria, Iran, Jordan and Iraq, arrived in order to pursue their studies during the 1970s and 1980s, and have remained and started families in the city.^[91][92] Afghan and Iraqi Kurdish refugees are among some of the recent arrivals from the Middle East.^[93]

Although there are several historic religious communities in Belgrade, the religious makeup of the city is relatively homogenous. The Serbian Orthodox community is by far the largest, with 1,429,170 adherents. There are also 20,366 Muslims, 16,305 Roman Catholics, and 3,796 Protestants. There used to be a significant Jewish community, but following the Nazi occupation, and many Jews' subsequent emigration, their numbers have fallen from more than 10,000 to 2,200.^[94]

Economy[link]

National Bank of Serbia

Block 25 business buildings

Belgrade is the financial centre of Serbia, and is home to the country's National Bank. Many notable companies are based in Belgrade, including Jat Airways, Telekom Srbija, Telenor Serbia, Delta Holding, Elektroprivreda Srbije, Komercijalna banka, Ikarbus, regional centers for AXA,^[95] Société Générale, Asus,^[96] Intel,^[97] Motorola, Dell,^[98] Samsung, MTV Adria,^[99] Kraft Foods,^[100] Carlsberg,^[101] Microsoft, OMV, Unilever, Zepter, Japan Tobacco, P&G,^[102] and many others.^[103] Stocks are traded at the Belgrade Stock Exchange.

New Belgrade is the main business district in the city. The troubled political and economic transition during the 1990s left Belgrade, like the rest of the country, severely affected by an internationally imposed trade embargo. The hyperinflation of the Yugoslav dinar, the highest inflation ever recorded in the world,^[104][105] decimated the city's economy. Serbia overcame the problems of inflation in the mid 1990s, and Belgrade has been growing strongly ever since. As of 2009, over 40% of Serbia's GDP is generated by the city, which also has 31,4% of Serbia's employed population.^[106] In January 2012, the average monthly net salary in Belgrade was 65,868 RSD (€603, $795).^[107] According to the Eurostat methodology, and contrasting sharply to the Balkan region, 53% of the city's households own a computer.^[108][109] According to the same survey, 39.1% of Belgrade's households have an internet connection; these figures are above those of the regional capitals such as Sofia, Bucharest and Athens.^[108]

Culture[link]

The building of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, erected in 1922

A Slovenian orchestra playing in front of the statue of Prince Mihailo

Belgrade hosts many annual cultural events, including FEST (Belgrade Film Festival), BITEF (Belgrade Theatre Festival), BELEF (Belgrade Summer Festival), BEMUS (Belgrade Music Festival), Belgrade Book Fair, and the Belgrade Beer Fest.^[110] The Nobel prize winning author Ivo Andrić wrote his most famous work, The Bridge on the Drina, in Belgrade.^[111] Other prominent Belgrade authors include Branislav Nušić, Miloš Crnjanski, Borislav Pekić, Milorad Pavić and Meša Selimović.^{[112][113][114]} Internationally Belgrade prominent artist: Marina Abramović and Milovan Destil Marković. Most of Serbia's film industry is based in Belgrade; the 1995 Palme d'Or winning Underground, directed by Emir Kusturica, was produced in the city.

The city was one of the main centres of the Yugoslav New Wave in the 1980s: VIS Idoli, Ekatarina Velika, Šarlo Akrobata and Električni Orgazam were all from Belgrade. Other notable Belgrade rock acts include Riblja Čorba, Bajaga i Instruktori and Partibrejkers.^[115][116] Today, it is the centre of the Serbian hip hop scene, with acts such as Beogradski Sindikat, Škabo, Marčelo, and most of the Bassivity Music stable hailing from or living in the city.^[117][118] There are numerous theatres, the most prominent of which are National Theatre, Theatre on Terazije, Yugoslav Drama Theatre, Zvezdara Theatre, and Atelier 212. The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts is also based in Belgrade, as well as the National Library of Serbia. Other major libraries include the Belgrade City Library and the Belgrade University Library. Belgrade's two opera houses are: National Theatre and Madlenianum Opera House.

There are many foreign cultural institutions in Belgrade including the Spanish Instituto Cervantes, the German Goethe-Institut and the French Centre Culturel Français which are all located in the central pedestrian area of Knez Mihailova Street. Other cultural centres in Belgrade are American Corner, Austrian Cultural Forum, British Council, Chinese Confucius Institute, Canadian Cultural Center, Hellenic Foundation for Culture, Italian Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Culture Center of Islamic Republic of Iran, Azerbaijani Culture Center and Russian Center for Science and Culture.

Following the victory of Serbia's representative Marija Šerifović at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, Belgrade hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in 2008.^[119]

Museums[link]

National Museum of Serbia

Railway Museum

The most prominent museum in Belgrade is the National Museum, founded in 1844 and currently closed for reconstruction. The Museum houses a collection of more than 400,000 exhibits, (over 5600 paintings and 8400 drawings and prints) including many foreign masters like Hieronymus Bosch, Juan de Flandes, Titian, Tintoretto, Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, Cezanne, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Renoir, Monet, Picasso, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Mondrian etc, and also the famous Miroslav's Gospel.^[120] The Ethnographic Museum, established in 1901, contains more than 150,000 items showcasing the rural and urban culture of the Balkans, particularly the countries of former Yugoslavia.^[121] The Museum of Contemporary Art has a collection of around 35,000 works including Andy Warhol, Joan Miró, Ivan Meštrović and others since 1900.^[122] The Military Museum houses a wide range of more than 25,000 military exhibits dating as far back as to the Roman period, as well as parts of a F-117 stealth aircraft shot down by the Serbian army.^[123][124] The Museum of Aviation in Belgrade has more than 200 aircrafts, of which about 50 are on display, and a few of which are the only surviving examples of their type, such as the Fiat G.50. This museum also displays parts of shot down US and NATO aircraft, such as the F117 and F16^[125] The Nikola Tesla Museum, founded in 1952, preserves the personal items of Nikola Tesla, the inventor after whom the Tesla unit was named. It holds around 160,000 original documents and around 5,700 other items.^[126] The last of the major Belgrade museums is the Museum of Vuk and Dositej, which showcases the lives, work and legacy of Vuk Stefanović Karadžić and Dositej Obradović, the 19th century reformer of the Serbian literary language and the first Serbian Minister of Education, respectively.^[127] Belgrade also houses the Museum of African Art, founded in 1977, which has the large collection of art from West Africa.^[128]

With around 95,000 copies of national and international films, the Yugoslav Film Archive is the largest in the region and amongst the 10 largest archives in the world.^[129] The institution also operates the Museum of Yugoslav Film Archive, with movie theatre and exhibition hall. The archive's long-standing storage problems were finally solved in 2007, when a new modern depository was opened.^[130]

The Belgrade Museum will move into a new building in Nemanjina Street, downtown. The Museum has interesting exhibits such as the Belgrade Gospel (1503), full plate armour from the Battle of Kosovo, and various paintings and graphics. In 2011 construction will start on a new Museum of Science and Technology.

Architecture[link]

Beograđanka

Belgrade has wildly varying architecture, from the centre of Zemun, typical of a Central European town,^[131] to the more modern architecture and spacious layout of New Belgrade. The oldest architecture is found in Kalemegdan park. Outside of Kalemegdan, the oldest buildings date only from the 18th century, due to its geographic position and frequent wars and destructions.^[132] The oldest public structure in Belgrade is a nondescript Turkish türbe, while the oldest house is a modest clay house on Dorćol, from late 18th century.^[133] Western influence began in the 19th century, when the city completely transformed from an oriental town to the contemporary architecture of the time, with influences from neoclassicism, romanticism and academic art. Serbian architects took over the development from the foreign builders in the late 19th century, producing the National Theatre, Old Palace, Cathedral Church and later, in the early 20th century, the National Assembly and National Museum, influenced by art nouveau.^[132] Elements of Neo-Byzantine architecture are present in buildings such as Vuk's Foundation, old Post Office in Kosovska street, and sacral architecture, such as St. Mark's Church (based on the Gračanica monastery), and the Temple of Saint Sava.^[132]

During the period of Communist rule, much housing was built quickly and cheaply to house the huge influx of people from the countryside following World War II, sometimes resulting in the brutalist architecture of the blokovi (blocks) of New Belgrade; a socrealism trend briefly ruled, resulting in buildings like the Trade Union Hall.^[132] However, in the mid-1950s, the modernist trends took over, and still dominate the Belgrade architecture.^[132]

Temple of Saint Sava at night

Tourism[link]

The historic areas and buildings of Belgrade are among the city's premier attractions. They include Skadarlija, the National Museum and adjacent National Theatre, Zemun, Nikola Pašić Square, Terazije, Students' Square, the Kalemegdan Fortress, Knez Mihailova Street, the Parliament, the Church of Saint Sava, and the Old Palace. On top of this, there are many parks, monuments, museums, cafés, restaurants and shops on both sides of the river. The hilltop Avala Monument and Avala Tower offer views over the city. Josip Broz Tito's mausoleum, called Kuća Cveća (The House of Flowers), and the nearby Topčider and Košutnjak parks are also popular, especially among visitors from the former Yugoslavia.

Beli Dvor or 'White Palace', house of royal family Karađorđević, is open for visitors. The palace has many valuable artworks, including Biagio d'Antonio, Albrecht Altdorfer, Piero di Cosimo, Palma Vecchio, Rembrandt, Nicolas Poussin, Simon Vouet, Charles Le Brun, Sebastian Bourdon, Eugene Delacroix and others.^[134]

Kalemegdan park

Ada Ciganlija is a former island on the Sava river, and Belgrade's biggest sports and recreational complex. Today it is connected with the right bank of the Sava via two causeways, creating an artificial lake. It is the most popular destination for Belgraders during the city's hot summers. There are 7 kilometres of long beaches and sports facilities for various sports including golf, football, basketball, volleyball, rugby union, baseball, and tennis.^[135] During summer there are between 200,000 and 300,000 bathers daily. Clubs work 24 hours a day, organising live music and overnight beach parties.

Extreme sports are available, such as bungee jumping, water skiing and paintballing.^[135] There are numerous tracks on the island, where it is possible to ride a bike, go for a walk or go jogging.^[135] Apart from Ada, Belgrade has total of 16 islands^[136] on the rivers, many still unused. Among them, the Great War Island at the confluence of Sava, stands out as an oasis of unshattered wildlife (especially birds).^[137] These areas, along with nearby Small War Island, are protected by the city's government as a nature preserve.^[138]

Nightlife[link]

Belgrade has a reputation for offering a vibrant nightlife, and many clubs that are open until dawn can be found throughout the city. The most recognizable nightlife features of Belgrade are the barges (splavovi) spread along the banks of the Sava and Danube Rivers.^{[139][140][141]}

Belgrade nightlife on riverclubs.

Many weekend visitors—particularly from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia—prefer Belgrade nightlife to that of their own capitals, due to a perceived friendly atmosphere, great clubs and bars, cheap drinks, the lack of language difficulties, and the lack of restrictive night life regulation.^[142][143]

Famous alternative clubs include Akademija and the famed KST (Klub Studenata Tehnike) located in the basement of the University of Belgrade Faculty of Electrical Engineering.^{[144][145][146]} One of the most famous sites for alternative cultural happenings in the city is the SKC (Student Cultural Centre), located right across from Belgrade's highrise landmark, the Beograđanka. Concerts featuring famous local and foreign bands are often held at the centre. SKC is also the site of various art exhibitions, as well as public debates and discussions.^[147]

Skadarlija, the city's old bohemian neighbourhood

A more traditional Serbian nightlife experience, accompanied by traditional music known as Starogradska (roughly translated as Old Town Music), typical of northern Serbia's urban environments, is most prominent in Skadarlija, the city's old bohemian neighbourhood where the poets and artists of Belgrade gathered in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Skadar Street (the centre of Skadarlija) and the surrounding neighbourhood are lined with some of Belgrade's best and oldest traditional restaurants (called kafanas in Serbian), which date back to that period.^[148] At one end of the neighbourhood stands Belgrade's oldest beer brewery, founded in the first half of the 19th century.^[149] One of the city's oldest kafanas is the Znak pitanja.^[150]

The Times reported that Europe's best nightlife can be found in buzzing Belgrade.^[151] In the Lonely Planet "1000 Ultimate Experiences" guide of 2009, Belgrade was placed at the 1st spot among the top 10 party cities in the world.^[152]

Sport[link]

Tennis player Novak Djoković

There are around a thousand sports facilities in Belgrade, many of which are capable of serving all levels of sporting events.^[153] Belgrade has hosted several relatively major sporting events recently, including Eurobasket 2005, the 2005 European Volleyball Championship, the 2006 European Water Polo Championship, and the European Youth Olympic Festival 2007. Belgrade was the host city of the 2009 Summer Universiade chosen over the cities of Monterrey and Poznań.^[154]

The city launched two unsuccessful candidate bids to organise the Summer Olympic: for the 1992 Summer Olympics Belgrade was eliminated in the third round of International Olympic Committee voting, with the games going to Barcelona. The 1996 Summer Olympics ultimately went to Atlanta.^[155]

the Belgrade Arena

The city is home to Serbia's two biggest and most successful football clubs, Red Star Belgrade and Partizan Belgrade. Red Star won the 1991 UEFA Champions League (European Cup). The two major stadiums in Belgrade are the Marakana (Red Star Stadium) and the Partizan Stadium.^[156] The rivalry between Red Star and Partizan is one of the fiercest in world football^[157] and has become known as the Eternal Derby.

The Belgrade Arena is used for various sporting events such as Basketball, Volleyball and Davis Cup, and in May 2008 it was the venue for the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. The Pionir Hall is the main venue of KK Partizan and KK Crvena zvezda in Basketball competitions^[158][159] while the Tašmajdan Sports Centre is used for swimming competitions and Water Polo matches.

In recent years, Belgrade has also given rise to several world class tennis players such as Ana Ivanović, Jelena Janković and Novak Đoković. Ivanović and Đoković are the first female and male Serbian players, respectively, to win Grand Slam singles titles. The Serbian national team won the 2010 Davis Cup, beating the French team in the finals played in the Belgrade Arena.^[160]

Fashion[link]

Since 1996,^[161] twice a year (autumn/winter and spring/summer seasons), fashion weeks are held citywide. Numerous Serbian and international designers and fashion brands have their shows on the fashion week. Belgrade Fashion Week is on the list of 40 most significant fashion weeks in the world.^[162]

Media[link]

Belgrade is the most important media hub in Serbia. The city is home to the main headquarters of the national broadcaster Radio Television Serbia – RTS, which is a public service broadcaster.^[163] The most popular commercial broadcaster is RTV Pink, a Serbian media multinational, known for its popular entertainment programs. The most popular commercial "alternative" broadcaster is B92, another media company, which has its own TV station, radio station, and music and book publishing arms, as well as the most popular website on the Serbian internet.^[164][165] Other TV stations broadcasting from Belgrade include Fox Televizija, Prva Srpska Televizija, Avala, Košava, and others which only cover the greater Belgrade municipal area, such as Studio B. Numerous specialised channels are also available: SOS channel (sport), Metropolis (music), Art TV (art), Cinemania (film), and Happy TV (children's programs).

High-circulation daily newspapers published in Belgrade include Politika, Blic, Večernje novosti, Press, Kurir and Danas. There are 2 sporting dailies, Sportski žurnal and Sport, and one economic daily, Privredni pregled. A new free distribution daily, 24 sata, was founded in the autumn of 2006. Also, Serbian editions of the world-famous magazines such as Playboy, Cosmopolitan, Elle, National Geographic, Men's Health, The Best Shop, Grazia and others have their headquarters based in the city.

Education[link]

School of Electrical Engineering, Architecture and Civil Engineering

Belgrade has two state universities and several private institutions of higher education. The University of Belgrade, founded in 1808 as the "Great School", is the oldest institution of higher learning in Serbia.^[166] Having developed with the city in the 19th century, quite a few University buildings are a constituent part of Belgrade’s architecture and cultural heritage. With enrollment of nearly 90,000 students, the University is one of the Europe's largest.^[167]

There are also 195 primary (elementary) schools and 85 secondary schools. Of the primary schools, there are 162 regular, 14 special, 15 art and 4 adult schools. The secondary school system has 51 vocational schools, 21 gymnasiums, 8 art schools and 5 special schools. The 230,000 pupils are managed by 22,000 employees in over 500 buildings, covering around 1,100,000 m².^[168]

Transportation[link]

Public transportation in Belgrade. Parts of the bypass, railway junction and bridges across Save and Danube are under construction or part of the general urban planning. The proposed Metro lines are based on the final Metro plan from 1982 from the Belgrade Metro planning group.

Belgrade has an extensive public transport system based on buses (118 urban lines and more than 300 suburban lines), trams (12 lines), and trolleybuses (8 lines).^[169] It is run by GSP Beograd and SP Lasta, in cooperation with private companies on various bus routes. The BusPlus ticketing system based on contactless smart cards began operating in February 2012. Belgrade also has a commuter rail network, Beovoz, now run by the city government. The main railway station connects Belgrade with other European capitals and many towns in Serbia. Travel by coach is also popular, and the capital is well-served with daily connections to every town in Serbia and to many other European destinations.

The newly-constructed Ada Bridge, completed in 2012.

The city is placed along the pan-European corridors X and VII.^[5] The motorway system provides for easy access to Novi Sad and Budapest, in the north; Niš to the south; and Zagreb, to the west. Situated at the confluence of two major rivers, the Danube and the Sava, Belgrade has 7 bridges—the two main ones are Branko's Bridge and the Gazela Bridge, both of which connect the core of the city to New Belgrade. With the city's expansion and a substantial increase in the number of vehicles, congestion has become a major problem; this is expected to be alleviated by the construction of a bypass connecting the E70 and E75 motorways.^[170] Further, an "inner magistral semi-ring" is planned, including a new Ada Bridge across the Sava river, which is expected to ease commuting within the city and unload the Gazela and Branko's bridge.^[171]

A Belgrade tram

The Port of Belgrade is on the Danube, and allows the city to receive goods by river.^[172] The city is also served by Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport (IATA: BEG), 12 kilometres west of the city centre, near Surčin. At its peak in 1986, almost 3 million passengers travelled through the airport, though that number dwindled to a trickle in the 1990s.^[173] Following renewed growth in 2000, the number of passengers reached approximately 2 million in 2004 and 2005,^[174] over 2,6 million passengers in 2008,^[175] reaching all-time peak in 2011 with over 3 million passengers.^[176]

Beovoz is the suburban/commuter railway network that provides mass-transit services in the city, similar to Paris's RER and Toronto's GO Transit. The main usage of today's system is to connect the suburbs with the city centre. Beovoz is operated by Serbian Railways.^[177] Belgrade suburban railway system connects suburbs and nearby cities to the west, north and south of the city. It began operation in 1992 and currently has 5 lines with 41 stations divided in two zones.^[178]

Belgrade was one of the last big European capitals, and cities with over a million people, to have no metro/subway or other rapid transit system. Construction has been started twice before but was postponed both times. The Belgrade Metro is considered to be the third most important project in the country, after work on roads and railways. The two projects of highest priority are the Belgrade bypass and Pan-European corridor X. However, the Belgrade Cityrail (S-Bahn) by was opened in 2010 as the first phase of the metro, and includes three underground stations that were built for an earlier abandoned metro project.

International cooperation and honours[link]

List of Belgrade's sister cities, and other forms of city cooperation and friendship:

Country	City	Year	Form
	Corfu	2010	Official sister cities[179][180][181][182][183]
	Coventry	1957
	Chicago	2005
	Lahore	2007
	Ljubljana	2010
	Skopje	2012
	Tel Aviv	1990
	Vienna	2003
Other forms of cooperation and city friendship:
	Athens	1966	Agreement on Friendship and Cooperation
	Banja Luka	2005	Agreement on Cooperation
	Prnjavor	2005	Agreement on Cooperation
	Beijing	1980	Agreement on Cooperation[184]
	Berlin	1978	Agreement on Friendship and Cooperation
	Düsseldorf	2004	Agreement on Cooperation
	Kiev	2002	Agreement on Cooperation
	Madrid	2001	Agreement on Cooperation
	Milan	2000	Memorandum of Agreement, City to City Programme
	Moscow	2002	Programme of Cooperation
	Rome	1971	Agreement on Friendship and Cooperation
	Shenzhen	2009	Agreement on Cooperation[185]
	Havana		Agreement on Friendship[186]

Some of the city's municipalities are also twinned to small cities or districts of other big cities, for details see their respective articles.

Belgrade has received various domestic and international honours, including the French Légion d'honneur (proclaimed 21 December 1920; Belgrade is one of four cities outside France, alongside Liège, Luxembourg and Volgograd, to receive this honour), the Czechoslovak War Cross (awarded 8 October 1925), the Yugoslavian Order of the Karađorđe's Star (awarded 18 May 1939) and the Yugoslavian Order of the People's Hero (proclaimed on 20 October 1974, the 30th anniversary of the overthrow of Nazi German occupation during World War II).^[187] All of these decorations were received for the war efforts during the World War I and World War II.^[188] In 2006, Financial Times' magazine Foreign Direct Investment awarded Belgrade the title of City of the Future of Southern Europe.^[189][190]

Panoramic view of Belgrade and the confluence of the Sava River and the Danube.

See also[link]

• List of people from Belgrade

References[link]

Bibliography[link]