Serbia

Introduction & Quick Facts
Land
- Relief
- Drainage
- Soils
- Climate
- Plant and animal life
People
- Ethnic groups
- Languages
- Religion
- Settlement patterns
  - Urban settlement
  - Rural settlement
- Demographic trends
Economy
- Agriculture and forestry
- Resources and power
  - Natural resources
  - Energy
- Manufacturing
- Finance
- Trade
- Tourism
- Labor and taxation
- Transportation and telecommunications
  - Transportation
  - Telecommunications
Government and society
- Constitutional framework
- Government
- Local government
- Political process
- Security
- Health and welfare
- Housing
- Education
Cultural life
- Daily life and social customs
- The arts
- Cultural institutions
- Sports and recreation
- Media and publishing
History
- The coming of the Serbs
- Medieval Serbia
  - The early Slav states
  - The Golden Age
  - Conquest by the Ottoman Turks
- Life in the Ottoman period
  - The disintegration of Ottoman rule
  - The nascent Serbian state
- Modern Serbia
  - The passing of the old order
  - Consolidation of the state
  - The scramble for the Balkans
  - The “Ten Years’ War”
  - The outbreak of World War I
  - The Corfu Declaration
  - Serbia in the Yugoslav kingdom
  - From parliamentary division to royal dictatorship
  - Economic recovery and the Great Depression
  - Serbia in World War II
  - The socialist federation
  - The “Yugoslav road to socialism”
  - Conflict in Kosovo
  - Economic growth and vulnerability
  - The rise of Slobodan Milošević
  - The disintegration of the federation
  - The “third Yugoslavia”
  - The Kosovo conflict
  - The federation of Serbia and Montenegro
  - Independent Serbia

References & Edit History Facts & Stats

Images

Political map of Serbia showing its national boundaries, major cities including Belgrade, Novi Sad, Nis, and Kragujevac, and neighboring countries such as Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia. An inset locator map highlights Serbia's position within Europe.

Sava River; Belgrade

Map of southeastern Europe highlighting Serbia and its capital, Belgrade, at the center. The map shows Serbia's neighboring countries: Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Kosovo, with surrounding bodies of water including the Mediterranean Sea.

Three side-by-side historical maps show the changing borders of Yugoslavia in 1919, 1946, and 1992. The 1919 map labels the region as the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. The 1946 map shows Yugoslavia with internal republics like Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, and Kosovo. The 1992 map depicts the breakup of Yugoslavia, with independent countries including Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, and the remaining Yugoslavia consisting of Serbi

Map of Serbia highlighting major physical features, including rivers such as the Danube, Sava, and Drina, mountain ranges like the Zlatibor and Kopaonik Mountains, and national parks including Fruska Gora, Tara, ?erdap, and Kopaonik. Neighboring countries-Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia-are labeled. An inset locator map shows Serbia's position within Europe.

Šumadija, Serbia

Serbia: Ethnic composition

Serbia: Religious affiliation

At a Glance

default image

Serbia: Media

country, Europe

Images

Serbia

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Political map of Serbia showing its national boundaries, major cities including Belgrade, Novi Sad, Nis, and Kragujevac, and neighboring countries such as Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia. An inset locator map highlights Serbia's position within Europe.

Serbia

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Sava River; Belgrade

Sava River; Belgrade

Boats along the Sava River, near the confluence with the Danube River, Belgrade,...

© ycko—iStock/Getty Images

Map of southeastern Europe highlighting Serbia and its capital, Belgrade, at the center. The map shows Serbia's neighboring countries: Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Kosovo, with surrounding bodies of water including the Mediterranean Sea.

Serbia

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Three side-by-side historical maps show the changing borders of Yugoslavia in 1919, 1946, and 1992. The 1919 map labels the region as the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. The 1946 map shows Yugoslavia with internal republics like Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, and Kosovo. The 1992 map depicts the breakup of Yugoslavia, with independent countries including Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, and the remaining Yugoslavia consisting of Serbi

Yugoslavia, 1919–92

The historical boundaries of Yugoslavia from 1919 to 1992.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Map of Serbia highlighting major physical features, including rivers such as the Danube, Sava, and Drina, mountain ranges like the Zlatibor and Kopaonik Mountains, and national parks including Fruska Gora, Tara, ?erdap, and Kopaonik. Neighboring countries-Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia-are labeled. An inset locator map shows Serbia's position within Europe.

Serbia, map

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Šumadija, Serbia

Šumadija, Serbia

Cultivating corn in the wooded hills of the Šumadija region, west of Bor, Serbia....

Thomas M. Poulsen

Subotica, Vojvodina, Serbia

Subotica, Vojvodina, Serbia

Subotica town hall, Vojvodina, Serbia.

© Maravic/iStock.com

Kazan Gorge, Danube River, Serbia

Kazan Gorge, Danube River, Serbia

Kazan Gorge, a constriction in the Iron Gate gorge system, upstream of the Ðerdap...

Thomas M. Poulsen

The Cathedral of Saint Sava in Belgrade, Serbia, illuminated at night with its domes and arched windows brightly lit against a dark sky.

Cathedral of Saint Sava

The Cathedral of Saint Sava, Belgrade, Serbia, at night.

© paul prescott/Shutterstock.com

Illustration depicting the Battle of Kosovo, a battle between the army led by the Serbian Prince Lazar Hrebeljanovic, and the invading army of the Ottoman Empire under the command of Sultan Murad Hudavendigar.

Battle of Kosovo (1389)

Illustration depicting the Battle of Kosovo, a battle between the army led by the...

© Universal History Archive—Universal Images Group/Getty Images

Franz Ferdinand, archduke of Austria-Este, and his wife Sophie ride in an open carriage in Sarajevo, both dressed formally, with a man standing beside the carriage.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, duchess of Hohenberg

Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, duchess of Hohenberg, in...

© Henry Guttmann Collection—Hulton Royals Collection/Getty Images

Alexander I

Alexander I

Alexander, prince regent of Serbia, 1916. He later became Alexander I, king of the...

Photos.com/Jupiterimages

Peace agreement for Bosnia and Herzegovina

Peace agreement for Bosnia and Herzegovina

Leaders initial the Dayton Accords, which ended the war in Bosnia, on November 21,...

Staff Sgt. Brian Schlumbohm/U.S. Air Force

A Kosovar Albanian boy with muddy clothes sits on the ground eating bread and soup at a refugee camp, with other displaced people and mountains in the background.

Kosovo conflict

An ethnic Albanian boy eating a meal at a refugee camp in Kukës, Albania, in 1999....

© Northfoto/Shutterstock.com

Secretary-General Kofi Annan stands at the center of a large crowd of Albanian refugees and media at the Stenkovec I camp in Macedonia, with tents and mountains in the background.

Kosovo conflict

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan (center) surrounded by Albanian refugees as he speaks...

Evan Schneider/UN Photo

Tomislav Nikolic and Boris Tadic, both in suits, sit facing each other and shake hands at the Serbian presidency building in Belgrade.

Tadić, Boris; Nikolić, Tomislav

Boris Tadić (right) and Tomislav Nikolić after the latter won Serbia's presidential...

Andrej Isakovic—AFP/Getty Images

The flag of Serbia

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Serbia Concise map

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Audio

National anthem of Serbia

The instrumental version of the national anthem of Serbia.

Interactives

Serbia: Ethnic composition

Serbia: Ethnic composition

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Serbia: Religious affiliation

Serbia: Religious affiliation

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Serbia: Urban-rural

Serbia: Urban-rural

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Serbia: Age breakdown

Serbia: Age breakdown

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Serbia: Major import sources

Serbia: Major import sources

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Serbia: Major export destinations

Serbia: Major export destinations

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

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