Republic of Serbia Република Србија Republika Srbija
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: Боже правде / Bože pravde God of Justice
Location of Serbia (green) – Kosovo (light green) on the European continent (dark grey)
Capital (and largest city)		Belgrade 44°48′N 20°28′E / 44.8°N 20.467°E / 44.8; 20.467
Official language(s)		Serbian1
Ethnic groups (2002)		82.9% Serbs, 3.9% Hungarians, 1.8% Bosniaks, 1.4% Roma, 10.0% others[1] (excluding Kosovo)
Demonym		Serbian
Government		Parliamentary republic
-	President	Tomislav Nikolić
-	Prime Minister	Mirko Cvetković
Legislature		National Assembly
Formation
-	First state	768
-	Kingdom	1217
-	Empire	1346
-	Suzerain monarchy	1817
-	De-jure independence	1878
-	Independent republic	2006
Area
-	Total	88,361 km2 (113th) 34,116 sq mi
-	Water (%)	0.13 (including Kosovo)
Population
-	2011 estimate	7,120,666 (excluding Kosovo)[2] (100th)
-	2002 census	7,498,001 (excluding Kosovo)[2]
-	Density	91,9/km2 (112th) 238/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2011 estimate
-	Total	$78.869 billion[3] (76th)
-	Per capita	$10,642 (excluding Kosovo)[3] (79th)
GDP (nominal)		2011 estimate
-	Total	$45.064 billion[3] (79th)
-	Per capita	$6,080 (excluding Kosovo)[3] (81st)
Gini (2008)		26 (low)
HDI (2011)		0.766[4] (high) (59th)
Currency		Serbian dinar (RSD)
Time zone		CET (UTC+1)
-	Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Drives on the		Right
ISO 3166 code		RS
Internet TLD		.rs, .срб
Calling code		381
1 See also regional minority languages recognized by the ECRML

Serbia ⁱ/ˈsɜrbiə/, officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: Република Србија / Republika Srbija, pronounced [rɛpǔblika sř̩bija]), 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. Serbia covers an area of 88,361 km² and has a population of just over 7.1 million, while the capital and largest city is Belgrade.

The arrival of the Serbs to the Balkans in the 7th century, established several states, eventually forming 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.^[5] 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 the National Assembly of Serbia declared independence and the legal succession to the former State Union. 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, OSCE, PfP, BSEC and CEFTA. It is also an official candidate for membership in the European Union^[6] and a neutral country.^[7]

Etymology[link]

The name "Serbia" was first mentioned as Greek: Σέρβια, meaning "land of the Serbs". There are many theories regarding the origin of the name of the Serbs. The most likely is that it is derived from the Old Slavic root *serb-, meaning "same".^[8] Another proposed etymology is that of the Indo-European root *ser- "to watch over, protect", akin to Latin servare "to keep, guard, protect, preserve, observe".^[9]

History[link]

Early history[link]

Lady of Vinča, ~5000 BC

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.^[10][11] Lepenski Vir and Vinča-Belo Brdo are two important sites of these cultures, located at the banks of the Danube. Around 1000 BC, the Paleo-Balkan peoples known as Thracians, Dacians, Illyrians developed in the Balkans. Ancient 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.^[12] The Celtic tribe of Scordisci settled throughout Serbia in the 3rd century BC and built several fortifications, including Singidunum, present-day Belgrade, and Naissos, present-day Niš. Scordisci formed their own tribal state in this area and capital of that state was Singidunum (Belgrade). The Romans conquered parts of Serbia in the 2nd century BC; in 167 BC when conquering the west, establishing the province of Illyricum, and the rest of central part of present-day 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, contemporary Serbia extends fully or partially over several Roman provinces such as Moesia, Pannonia, Praevalitana, Dalmatia, Dacia and Macedonia. The chief towns of Serbian Upper Moesia (and wider) in the principate were: Singidunum, Viminacium, Remesiana, Naissus and especially, Sirmium which served as a Roman capital during the Tetrarchy.^[13] Seventeen Roman Emperors were born in Serbia, second only to Italy.^[14] The most famous of these was Constantine the Great, the first Christian Emperor, who issued religious tolerance throughout the Empire. When the Roman Empire was divided in 395, the region remained under the East, Byzantine Empire. After the 520s, Slavs appeared in the Byzantine Empire in great numbers.^[15]

Middle Ages[link]

The Serbs, as Slavs in the vicinity of the Byzantine Empire, lived in so-called Sklavinia ("Slav lands"), territories initially out of Byzantine control and independent.^[16] In the 8^th century, the Vlastimirović dynasty established the Serbian Principality. In 822, Serbia "stretched over the greater part of Dalmatia",^[17] and Christianity was adopted as state-religion in ca 870.^[18] In the mid 10^th century the state had emerged into a tribal confederation that stretched to the shores of the Adriatic Sea by the Neretva, the Sava, the Morava, and Skadar.^[19] The state disintegrated after the death of the last known Vlastimirid ruler – the Byzantines annexed the region and held it for a century, until 1040 when the Serbs under the Vojislavljević dynasty revolted in Duklja (Pomorje).^[20] In 1091, the Vukanović dynasty established the Serbian Grand Principality, based in Rascia (Zagorje).^[20] The two halves were reunited in 1142.^[21]

In 1166, Stefan Nemanja assumed the throne, marking the beginning of a prospering Serbia, henceforth under the rule of the Nemanjić dynasty.^[22] Nemanja's son Rastko (posth. Saint Sava), gained autocephaly for the Serbian Church in 1217 and authored the oldest known constitution, and in the same year Stefan II was crowned King, establishing the Serbian Kingdom.^[23] The Serbian Empire was established in 1346 by Stephen Dušan the Mighty, during which time Serbia reached its territorial peak, becoming one of the most powerful states in Europe and the most powerful in the Balkans. Dušan's Code, a universal system of law, was enacted. The reign of his son Stephen Uroš V the Weak saw the Empire fragment into a confederation of principalities. Emperor Uroš died childless in December 1371, after much of the nobility had been destroyed by the Ottomans in the Battle of Maritsa earlier that year. The Mrnjavčević, Lazarević and Branković dynasties ruled the Serbian lands in the 15th and 16th centuries. Constant struggles took place between various Serbian provinces and the Ottoman Empire. After the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453 and the Siege of Belgrade, the Serbian Despotate fell in 1459 following the siege of the provisional capital of Smederevo. After repelling Ottoman attacks for over 70 years, Belgrade finally fell in 1521, opening the way for Ottoman expansion into Central Europe.

Ottoman and Austrian rule[link]

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 (1595), 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 southern Serbia,^{[citation needed]} the Serbs sought refuge across the Danube river in Vojvodina to the north and the Military Frontier in the west where they were granted rights by the Austrian crown under measures such as the Statuta Wallachorum of 1630.

However, modern Ottomanist and post-constructivist scholars have refuted such a claim of a massive migration^[24][25] The Ottoman persecutions of Christians culminated in the abolition and plunder of the Patriarchate of Peć in 1766.^[26] However, most post-constructivist scholars have argued that the Ottoman Empire was in fact 'liberal' towards its Christians subjects relative to other parts of Europe at the time, but also that the Ottoman sultan enjoyed widespread legitimacy from the Orthodox clergy. The Ottoman Empire facilitated for a shared sense of time among Orthodox Christians, defined the ecclesiastical calendar: time revolve around succession feast days in Orthodox calendar; Saint’s days, the marking of changing seasons, harvests, fairs and family events. This was linked to the Idea of legitimate Ottoman rule rule and a ‘shared vision of the world’ among Orthodox Balkans in the 18th century which brought political unity and created commonalities.^[27]

According to the nationalist reading of history, as Ottoman rule in the Sanjak of Smederevo grew ever more brutal, the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I formally granted the Serbs the right to their autonomous crownland following several petitions.^[28]

Revolution and independence[link]

Karađorđe Petrović and Miloš Obrenović, leaders of the Serbian Revolution

The quest for national emancipation was first undertaken during the Serbian national revolution, in 1804 until 1815. The national liberation war was followed by a period of formalization, negotiations and finally, the Constitutionalization, effectively ending the process in 1835.^[29] For the first time in Ottoman history, the entire Serbian Christian population had risen up against the Sultan.^[30] The entrenchment of French troops in 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.^[30]

During the First Serbian Uprising, led by Duke Karađorđe Petrović, Serbia was independent for almost a decade before the Ottoman army was able to reoccupy the country. Shortly after this, the Second Serbian Uprising began. Led by Miloš Obrenović, it ended in 1815 with a compromise between the Serbian revolutionaries and the Ottoman authorities. They were the easternmost bourgeois revolutions in the 19th-century world.^[31] Likewise, Serbia was one of the first nations in the Balkans to abolish feudalism.^[32] 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.^[33][34] 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 House of Karađorđević, the Principality of Serbia actively supported the neighboring Habsburg Serbs, especially during the 1848 revolutions. Interior minister Ilija Garašanin published The Draft which became the standpoint of Serbian foreign policy from the mid-19th century onwards.

Following the clashes between the Ottoman army and civilians in Belgrade in 1862, and under pressure from the Great Powers, by 1867 the last Turkish soldiers left the Principality. By enacting a new constitution without consulting the Porte, Serbian diplomats confirmed the de facto independence of the country. In 1876, Serbia declared war on the Ottoman Empire, proclaiming its unification with Bosnia. The formal independence of the country was internationally recognized at the Congress of Berlin in 1878, which formally ended the Russo-Turkish War; this treaty, however, prohibited Serbia from uniting with Bosnia by placing it under Austro-Hungarian occupation.^[35] 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. The 1848 revolution in Austria lead to the establishment of the autonomous territory of Serbian Vojvodina. By 1849, the region was transformed into the Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar.

Balkan Wars and World War I[link]

The Balkan Wars took place 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;^[36] it also suffered high casualties on the eve of World War I, with around 20,000 dead.^[37]

Retreat across Albania; more than 1,000,000 Serbs died during World War I.

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.^[38] 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.^[39]

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.^[40] 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 to lead a final breakthrough through enemy lines on 15 September 1918, liberating Serbia and defeating the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Bulgaria.^[41] Serbia, with its campaign, was a major Balkan Entente Power^[42] which contributed significantly to the Allied victory in the Balkans in November 1918, especially by helping France force Bulgaria's capitulation.^[43] Serbia was classified as a minor Entente power.^[44] 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.^[45] The total number of casualties is placed around 1,000,000,^[46] more than 25% of Serbia's prewar size,^[39] and a majority (57%) of its overall male population.^[47][48][49]

First Yugoslavia[link]

Universal Newsreel's film about the assassination of King Alexander I committed by the IMRO militant Vlado Chernozemski in 1934.

At the end of World War I, the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed. On 29 October 1918, Syrmia became a part of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. On 25 November 1918, the Assembly of Vojvodina proclaimed the unification of Vojvodina (Banat, Bačka and Baranja) with the Kingdom of Serbia. One day before this, on 24 November, the Assembly of Syrmia also proclaimed the unification of Syrmia with Serbia. On 1 December 1918, Vojvodina officially became part of the Kingdom. On 26 November 1918, the Podgorica Assembly deposed the House of Petrović-Njegoš of the Kingdom of Montenegro, opting for the House of Karađorđević, unifying the two states. Also, Bosnia declares its unification with Serbia.

On December 1, 1918, Serbian Prince Regent Alexander of Serbia proclaimed the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. Alexander’s father, Peter I of Serbia, became king of the new state. In November 1920, with the major boundary disputes resolved, a constituent assembly was finally elected and convened and the assembly adopted a constitution in June 1921. The new kingdom was to be a highly centralized and unitary state ruled by a Serb king and predominantly Serb government. Alexander became king after Petar died in August 1921.

Serb centralists and Croat federalists clashed in the parliament, and most governments were fragile and short-lived. Nikola Pašić, leader of the Serb Radical Party and prime minister of Serbia before and during World War I, headed or dominated most governments until his death. In 1921 and 1922 Yugoslavia became a member of the Little Entente. In June 1928, a Montenegrin Radical Party deputy opened fire on the floor of the parliament. He shot and killed two Croat deputies and fatally wounded Stjepan Radić. This action completed the breach between Croats and Serbs.

King Alexander changed the name of the country to Kingdom of Yugoslavia and changed the internal divisions from the 33 oblasts to nine new banovinas. The effect of Alexander's dictatorship was to further alienate the non-Serbs from the idea of unity.^[50] The king was assassinated in Marseille during an official visit to France in 1934 by an experienced marksman from IMRO with the cooperation of the Ustaše. Alexander was succeeded by his eleven-year-old son Peter II and a regency council headed by his cousin, Prince Paul.

Prime Minister Milan Stojadinović showed growing sympathy for fascist forms of government and was dissmied by Prince Paul. The regent then encouraged the new prime minister, Dragiša Cvetković, to negotiate a solution to the Croatian problem with Vladko Macek. In August 1939 the Cvetković–Maček Agreement established an autonomous Banate of Croatia. In effect, Yugoslavia became a federation with two units: Croatia and the rest. Serb hopes of achieving similar status were put on hold by the outbreak of World War II.

World War II and Second Yugoslavia[link]

Marshal Josip Broz Tito reviewing the 1st Partisan Proletarian Brigade.

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.^{[citation needed]}

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. Many concentration camps were established acrros the country. Banjica concentration camp was the biggest and one of the first^{[citation needed]} concentration camps for Jews in Europe. Primary victims were Serbian Jews, Roma, and Serb political prisoners.^[51]

Chetnik leader Draža Mihailović confers with his men.

Axis puppet state of the Independent State of Croatia committed large scale persecution and genocide of Serbs, Jews, and Roma.^[52] 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 were murdered during the Ustaše genocide campaign;^[53] same figures are supported by the Jewish Virtual Library.^[54][55] reports that more than 500,000 Serbs were killed overall, whereas official Yugoslav sources used to estimate more than 700,000 victims, mostly Serbs. The Jasenovac memorial so far lists 82,085 names killed at the this concentration camp alone,^[56] out of around 100,000 estimated victims (75% of whom were of Serbian origin).^[57]

Out of roughly 1,000,000 casualties in all of Yugoslavia up until 1944,^[58][59] around 250,000 were citizens of Serbia of different ethnicities, according to Zundhauzen.^[60] 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.^[61] The Republic of Užice was a short-lived liberated Yugoslav territory established by the Partisans and the first liberated territory in World War II Europe, organized as a military mini-state that existed in the autumn of 1941 in the west of occupied Serbia. By late 1944, the Belgrade Offensive swung in favour of the partisans in the civil war; the partisans subsequently gained control of Yugoslavia.^[62] The Syrmia front was the last sequence of the internal war in Serbia following the Belgrade Offensive. Between 70,000–80,000 people were killed in Serbia during the communist takeover.^{[63][64][65][66]}

The communist takeover by the Yugoslav Partisans resulted in abolition of the monarchy and a subsequent orchestrated constitutional referendum.^[67] 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 SFRY known as the Socialist Republic of Serbia and had a republic-branch of the federal Communist party, the League of Communists of Serbia.

Serbia's most powerful and influential politician in Tito-era Yugoslavia was Aleksandar Ranković, one of the "big four" Yugoslav leaders, alongside Josip Broz Tito, Edvard Kardelj, and Milovan Đilas.^[68] In 1950, Ranković as minister of interior reported that since 1945 the Yugoslav communist regime had arrested five million people.^[69] Ranković was later removed from the office because of the disagreements regarding Kosovo’s nomenklatura and the interests of Serb unity.^[68] Ranković's dismissal was highly unpopular amongst Serbs.^[70]

Pro-decentralization reformers in Yugoslavia succeeded in the late 1960s in attaining substantial decentralization of powers, creating substantial autonomy in Kosovo and Vojvodina, and recognizing a Yugoslav Muslim nationality.^[70] 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.^[70] 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.^[70] These changes created widespread fear amongst Serbs of being treated as second-class citizens.^[71]

Breakup of Yugoslavia and political transition[link]

In 1989 Slobodan Milošević rose to power in Serbia. Milošević promised reduction of powers for the autonomous provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina, where his allies subsequently overtook the power, in a movement called "Anti-bureaucratic revolution".^[72] This ignited tensions with the communist leadership of the other republics, and awoke nationalism across the country, that eventually resulted in the Breakup of Yugoslavia, with Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia leaving one after another.^[73] In 1992, the governments of Serbia and Montenegro agreed to the creation of a new federation, called the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which abandoned the predecessor SFRY's official endorsement of communism, and instead endorsed democracy.

Territories that were controlled and inhabited by Serbs during the Yugoslav Wars, after Operation Corridor.

Fueled by ethnic tensions, the Yugoslav Wars broke out in Serbia's neighborhood, with the most severe conflicts taking place in Croatia and Bosnia, where the Serb population opposed their countries' newly proclaimed independence. Serbia and Montenegro remained nominally uninvolved, with the Yugoslav Army formally withdrawing in the early stages of the war. However, Yugoslavia did provide significant logistic, military and financial support to the Serb forces of Croatia and Bosnia who inherited most of the Army's resources. In response to that support, the UN imposed sanctions against the Federal Republic Yugoslavia in May 1992,^[74] which led to the country's political isolation, economic decline and the hyperinflation of the Yugoslav dinar. The country managed to permanently recover from the inflation problem in 1996.

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.^[75][76] 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.^[77]

When the ruling SPS refused to accept its defeat in municipal elections in 1996, Serbians engaged in large protests against the government. Between 1998 and 1999, peace was broken again, when the situation in Kosovo worsened with continued clashes between Yugoslav security forces and the KLA. The confrontations led to the Kosovo War.^{[citation needed]}

In September 2000, opposition parties accused Milošević of electoral fraud. A campaign of civil resistance followed, led by the Democratic Opposition of Serbia, 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.^[81] The fall of Milošević ended Yugoslavia's international isolation. Milošević was sent to the ICTY. The DOS announced that FR Yugoslavia would seek to join the European Union. In 2003, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was renamed Serbia and Montenegro and the EU opened negotiations with the country for the Stabilization and Association Agreement. 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, which was just above the 55% required by the referendum.

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

On 5 June 2006, the National Assembly of Serbia declared Serbia to be the legal successor to the former state union.^[82] In April 2008 Serbia was invited to join the intensified dialogue programme with NATO despite the diplomatic rift with the alliance over Kosovo.^[83] Serbia officially applied for the European Union membership in December 2009 and became an official candidate in March 2012.^[6][84][85]

Geography[link]

Mountain ranges and plains of Serbia.

Kopaonik national park, during winter.

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 country has several notable topographical features: the Pannonian Plain (mainly Vojvodina) and river lowlands, the Balkan and Carpathian Mountains, the Dinaric Alps, along with hillside streching across central part of Serbia. The Danube passes through Serbia with 21% of its overall length, joined by its biggest tributaries, the Sava and Tisza rivers.^[86] 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,^[87] 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.

Climate[link]

Serbian Spruce trees.

On the macro-level, the climate of Serbia is under the influences of the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea and the landmass of Eurasia. With mean January temperatures around 0 °C (32 °F), and mean July temperatures around 22 °C (72 °F), it can be classified as transitional between oceanic (Köppen climate classification Cfb), humid subtropical (Cfa) and humid continental (Dfa).^[88] Rainfall patterns are well-distributed and average about 50 mm/month.

In the north, the climate is more continental, with cold winters, and hot, humid summers with well distributed rainfall patterns. In the south, summers and autumns are drier, and winters are relatively cold, with heavy inland snowfall in the mountains. Differences in elevation, proximity to the Adriatic Sea and large river basins, as well as exposure to the winds account for climate variations.^[89] South and South-west Serbia are subject to Mediterranean influences.^[90] However, the Dinaric Alps and other mountain ranges contribute to the cooling of most of the warm air masses. Winters are quite harsh in the Pešter plateau, because of the mountains which encircle it.^[91]

The average annual air temperature for the period 1961–90 for the area with an altitude of up to 300 m (984 ft) is 10.9 °C (51.6 °F). The areas with an altitude of 300 to 500 m (984 to 1,640 ft) have an average annual temperature of around 10.0 °C (50.0 °F), and over 1,000 m (3,281 ft) of altitude around 6.0 °C (42.8 °F).^[92] The lowest recorded temperature in Serbia was −39.5 °C (−39.1 °F) on 13 January 1985, Karajukića Bunari in Pešter, and the highest was 44.9 °C or 112.8 °F, on 24 July 2007, recorded in Smederevska Palanka.^[93]

Biodiversity and ecology[link]

This section requires expansion.

Over 31% of Serbia is covered by forest.^[94] National parks take up 10% of the country's territory.^[95] Serbia has 5 national parks and 22 nature reserves.

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 (see Environmental issues in Serbia).

Recycling is still a fledgeling activity in Serbia, with only 15% of its waste being turned back for re-use.^[96]

Hydrography[link]

Spanning over 588 kilometers across Serbia, the Danube river is the largest source of fresh water. Other main rivers are Sava, Morava, Tisa, 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, the Iron Gate (Đerdap), has a total area of 253 square kilometers divided by Romania and Serbia, with 163 square kilometers on the Serbian side. The largest waterfall, Jelovarnik, located in Kopaonik, is 71 meters high.

Great Morava, view from Lapovo.		Tara National park, view of Drina.

Politics[link]

The National Assembly of Serbia

Serbia is a parliamentary republic with a multi-party system. The unicameral National Assembly is composed of 250 proportionally elected members who serve four year terms. Executive authority is exercised by the prime minister and cabinet members. The president is the head of state, and is elected by popular vote. The post of president is largely a ceremonial role with no executive, legislative, or judicial authority.

The latest general election was held on 6 May 2012. The coalition dubbed Let's Get Serbia Moving led by the Serbian Progressive Party, claimed victory, but was significantly short of an absolute majority. Tomislav Nikolic of the Serbian Progressive Party is the president-elect having won the 2012 presidential election.^[97]

Since 1999, the territory of Kosovo has officially been administered by UNMIK as per UNSC Resolution 1244, of the United Nations. The Provisional Institutions of Self-Government, has an assembly and a president. Although the assembly has declared independence from Serbia, Serbia does not recognize the declaration and considers the act illegal and illegitimate.

Administrative divisions[link]