Serbia stretches across two geographic and cultural regions of Europe: Central Europe and Southeast Europe. This boundary splits Serbia roughly in a ratio of 1:2 alongside the Danube and Sava rivers. The northern parts of the country are Central-European lowlands while the southern and central parts are mostly mountainous. There are more than 15 mountain peaks rising to over 2,000 metres above sea level. The navigable rivers are the Danube, Sava and Tisa. A moderate continental climate predominates, with a more Mediterranean climate in the south.

The variety of scenery and cultural and historical monuments, curative spas, hunting grounds and fishing areas give the basis for Serbia's tourism. International roads and railway lines link Western/Central Europe with Greece, Turkey, the Near East, Asia and Africa. The main air transport routes between West and East and North and South cross the country, too.

The Serbian lands were the crossroads of various civilizations in the past, with different spiritual, architectural, artistic and cultural influences. Serbian culture and its historical heritage is diverse because of mixture of various influences. Numerous prehistoric and classical monuments represent some unique examples of the changing times (Vinca culture, Starcevo culture, Lepenski Vir, etc.) Serbia is a land of natural, historic, cultural and ethnic contrasts. The northern lowlands (the province of Vojvodina) form the Central European part of the country. The Fruška Gora hills are the only mountains in that part of Central Europe. Central Serbia is characterised by fields, hedges, orchards and meadows. Southern Serbia has bigger mountain ranges with wide river valleys and hollows. The altitude of some of the mountains is over 2,500 m, the highest peak being in Kosovo province--Djeravica, 2,656 m above sea level. However, Kosovo's status is disputed; the government of Serbia refuses to recognise the territory's independence.

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. 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.