Serbia: Country in southeastern Europe

Republic of Serbia Република Србија (Serbian Cyrillic) Republika Srbija (Serbian Latin)
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem:  "Боже правде" / "Bože pravde" (English: "God of Justice")
Location of Serbia (green) and the de facto independent Kosovo (light green) in Europe (dark grey).
Capital and largest city	Belgrade 44°48′N 20°28′E / 44.800°N 20.467°E / 44.800; 20.467
Official languages	Serbian
Official minority languages	Montenegrin Croatian Bosnian Albanian Romani Hungarian
Ethnic groups (2011)	83.3% Serbs 3.5% Hungarians 2.1% Roma 2% Bosniaks 9% others (excluding Kosovo)
Demonym(s)	Serbian
Government	Unitary parliamentary constitutional republic
• President	Aleksandar Vučić
• Prime Minister	Ivica Dačić
Legislature	National Assembly
Formation
• Medieval principality	late 8th century
• Medieval kingdom/empire	1217/1346
• Ottoman conquesta	1459–1556
• Principality of Serbia	1815
• Internationally recognized	1878
• National unification	1912–1918
• Independent republic	5 June 2006
Area
• Including Kosovo	88,361 km2 (34,116 sq mi) (111th)
• Excluding Kosovo	77,474 km2 (29,913 sq mi)
Population
• 2017 estimate	7,040,272 (excluding Kosovo) (104th)
• Density	91.1/km2 (235.9/sq mi) (121th)
GDP (PPP)	2018 estimate
• Total	$112.475 billion (78th)
• Per capita	$16,063 (excluding Kosovo) (83rd)
GDP (nominal)	2018 estimate
• Total	$42.378 billion (86th)
• Per capita	$6,052 (excluding Kosovo) (88th)
Gini (2013)	29.6 low
HDI (2015)	0.776 high · 66th
Currency	Serbian dinar (RSD)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Driving side	right
Calling code	+381
ISO 3166 code	RS
Internet TLD	.rs .срб
From the fall of Smederevo until conquest of Belgrade, Mačva and Vojvodina

Serbia (Serbian: Република Србија / Republika Srbija), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: Србија / Srbija), is a country in Southeastern Europe, and a part of the Balkans. The capital city is Belgrade. To the north of Serbia is the country Hungary. To the east of Serbia are the countries Bulgaria and Romania. To the south of Serbia is the country North Macedonia and Kosovo. To the west of Serbia are the countries Montenegro (the country that was once united with Serbia), Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia.

Serbia is trying to join the European Union. According to the European Commission report in 2023 it is doing too little to settle its differences with Kosovo. Its foreign policy is too close to Russia. There is too much corruption and organised crime. Media independence is weak. Aleksandar Vulin, the head of the state security agency, has been sanctioned by the USA for his links to crime, Russia and “promoting ethno-nationalist narratives that fuel instability in Serbia and the region”.

An ancient civilization which inhabited Serbia is called the Vinča culture and used symbols that are called the Vinča script Some people think they are the first writing system. Serbia is also home to the earliest known copper smelting sites and the birth of the Copper Age when people left the Stone Age and went into regular use of metallurgy. The same culture contains the earliest evidence of tin alloy bronze which replaced the much weaker arsenic bronze.

Medieval history

White Serbs, an early Slavic tribe from Northern Europe, came to Northern Greece in the 6th century. By the 8th century they had created the Serbian Principality, a Serbian country, in the Balkans. The Serbs became Christian around the 10th century. For 200 years, the Nemanjić dynasty ruled. They made Serbia a kingdom, built new towns, monasteries, and forts, and made Serbia bigger. In 1371 the Nemanjic Dynasty died out. Serbia became unsafe and local leaders fought each other for control. In 1389 the Ottoman Empire invaded Serbia. They fought against Serbia, Bosnia, the Knights Hospitaller, and the forces of many other local leaders, and won. The Turks fought the Serbs for 70 years until in 1459 the Ottoman Turks conquered Serbia.

Ottoman period

Once the Ottomans conquered Serbia, they got rid of the Serbian upper class. Most Serbs worked as farmers on land owned by Turks. They had to pay high taxes to the Turks. Some Serbs were forced to become Muslims. But the Serbs had their own laws in the Ottoman Empire through the millet system. During the 19th century Serbia gradually became independent. During World War I Austria conquered Serbia but lost the bigger war. Serbia joined other Balkan countries to form Yugoslavia.

Serbia is found in the Balkan peninsula and the Pannonian Plain. The Danube passes through Serbia. The Šar Mountains of Kosovo form the border with Albania. Over 31% of Serbia is covered by forest. National parks take up 10% of the country's territory. Serbia has 5 national parks and 22 nature reserves.

Serbia is on the Vardar-Morava Flyway of bird migration, so many birds fly across Serbia when going to Africa and back. Golden Eagle, Nutcracker and Coal Tit live high in the mountains. Nightingale, Chaffinch and Greater Spotted Woodpecker live in the forests in the hills. Saker Falcon, Whinchat and Quail live in steppe and fields in the northern lowland part of Serbia which is called Vojvodina. Syrian Woodpecker, Common Redstart and Collared Dove live in the orchards and farmyards. Black Redstart, Kestrel and Common Swift live in the city center. The Hooded Crow lives everywhere.

The town of Kikinda is known for Long-eared Owls that form flocks in trees at the city squares. Tourists come from other countries to see them. In winter you can see Pygmy Cormorants in Belgrade, at the rivers Sava and Danube.

Serbia is classed as an upper-middle income economy.

The major processed vegetable crops in Serbia are potatoes, tomatoes and pepper. Serbia is one of the biggest world producers and exporters of raspberries. They are a leading exporter of frozen fruit.

There are five international airports in Serbia: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport, Niš Constantine the Great Airport, Morava International Airport, Vršac International Airport and Pristina International Airport.

89% of households in Serbia have fixed telephone lines. There are over 9.60 million cell-phones users. This is larger than the number of the total population of Serbia itself by 30%.

Serbia has a total of eight sites on the UNESCO World Heritage list: The Early Medieval capital Stari Ras and the 13th-century monastery Sopoćani, and the 12th-century monastery Studenica, and the endangered Medieval Monuments in Kosovo group, comprising the monasteries of Visoki Dečani, Our Lady of Ljeviš, Gračanica and Patriarchate of Peć (former seat of the Serbian Church, mausoleum of Serbian royalty) and finally the Roman estate of Gamzigrad–Felix Romuliana. There are two literary memorials on UNESCO's Memory of the World Programme: The 12th-century Miroslav Gospel, and scientist Nikola Tesla's valuable archive.

The most prominent museum in Serbia is the National Museum of Serbia. It was founded in 1844. It houses a collection of more than 400,000 exhibits, over 5,600 paintings and 8,400 drawings and prints, and includes many foreign masterpiece collections, including Miroslav Gospel.

The official language, Serbian, is written in both the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets.

Composer and musicologist Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac is said to be one of the most important founders of modern Serbian music.

In the 1990s and the 2000s, many pop music performers rose to fame. Željko Joksimović won second place at the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest. Marija Šerifović won the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest. Serbia was the host of the Eurovision Song Contest 2008.

Sports

The most popular sports in Serbia are football, basketball, volleyball, handball, water polo and tennis.

The three main football clubs in Serbia are Red Star and Partizan, both from the capital city of Belgrade, and Vojvodina from Novi Sad.

Novak Djokovic, a multiple Grand Slam-winning tennis player and current number one, is from Serbia. Other tennis players from Serbia include Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic.

• List of rivers of Serbia
• Serbia at the Olympics
• Serbia national football team