Serbia facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Republic of Serbia
Република Србија,
Republika Srbija (Serbian) |
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.svg) Show globe Show map of EuropeLocation of Serbia (green) and the claimed but uncontrolled territory of Kosovo (light green) in Europe (dark grey)
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| Capital and largest city
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Belgrade 44°48′N 20°28′E / 44.800°N 20.467°E |
| Official languages | Serbian |
| Ethnic groups
(2022; excluding Kosovo)
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| Religion
(2022; excluding Kosovo)
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| Demonym(s) | Serbian |
| Government | Unitary parliamentary republic |
| Aleksandar Vučić | |
| Vacant | |
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• President of the National Assembly
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Ana Brnabić |
| Legislature | National Assembly |
| Establishment history | |
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• Principality
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780 |
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• Kingdom
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1217 |
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• Empire
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1346 |
| 1459–1804 | |
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• Serbian Revolution
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1804–1835 |
| 1815 | |
| 13 July 1878 | |
| 18 March 1882 | |
| 1 December 1918 | |
| 27 April 1992 | |
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• Independence restored
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5 June 2006 |
| Area | |
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• Total
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88,499 km2 (34,170 sq mi) (111th) |
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• Excluding Kosovo
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77,612 km2 (29,966 sq mi) |
| Population | |
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• January 2024 estimate
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 6,605,168 (excluding Kosovo) (108th) |
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• 2022 census
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6,647,003 (excluding Kosovo) (107th) |
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• Density
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85/km2 (220.1/sq mi) (130th) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2024 estimate |
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• Total
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 $191.561 billion (78th) |
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• Per capita
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$29,038 (67th) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2024 estimate |
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• Total
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$82.550 billion (75th) |
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• Per capita
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$12,513 (80th) |
| Gini (2023) | ▼ 31.7 medium |
| HDI (2022) | 0.805 very high · 65th |
| Currency | Serbian dinar (RSD) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
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• Summer (DST)
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UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Calling code | +381 |
| ISO 3166 code | RS |
| Internet TLD |
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The Republic of Serbia (Serbian: Република Србија / Republika Srbija), or usually just Serbia (Serbian: Србија / Srbija), is a country in Central Europe. 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 are countries 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.
Contents
History
Continuously inhabited since the Paleolithic Age, the territory of modern-day Serbia faced Slavic migrations in the 6th century. Several regional states were founded in the early Middle Ages and were at times recognised as tributaries to the Byzantine, Frankish and Hungarian kingdoms. The Serbian Kingdom obtained recognition by the Holy See and Constantinople in 1217, reaching its territorial apex in 1346 as the Serbian Empire. By the mid-16th century, the Ottomans annexed the entirety of modern-day Serbia; their rule was at times interrupted by the Habsburg Empire, which began expanding towards Central Serbia from the end of the 17th century while maintaining a foothold in Vojvodina. In the early 19th century, the Serbian Revolution established the nation-state as the region's first constitutional monarchy, which subsequently expanded its territory. In 1918, in the aftermath of World War I, the Kingdom of Serbia united with the former Habsburg crownland of Vojvodina; later in the same year it joined with other South Slavic nations in the foundation of Yugoslavia, which existed in various political formations until the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s. During the breakup of Yugoslavia, Serbia formed a union with Montenegro, which was peacefully dissolved in 2006, restoring Serbia's independence as a sovereign state for the first time since 1918. In 2008, representatives of the Assembly of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence, with mixed responses from the international community while Serbia continues to claim it as part of its own sovereign territory.
Geography
A landlocked country situated at the crossroads between Central and Southeastern Europe, Serbia is located in the Balkan peninsula and the Pannonian Plain. Serbia lies between latitudes 41° and 47° N, and longitudes 18° and 23° E. The country covers a total of 88,499 km2 (34,170 sq mi); with Kosovo excluded, the total area is 77,474 km2 (29,913 sq mi). Its total border length amounts to 2,027 km (1,260 mi): Albania 115 km (71 mi), Bosnia and Herzegovina 302 km (188 mi), Bulgaria 318 km (198 mi), Croatia 241 km (150 mi), Hungary 151 km (94 mi), North Macedonia 221 km (137 mi), Montenegro 203 km (126 mi) and Romania 476 km (296 mi). All of Kosovo's border with Albania (115 km (71 mi)), North Macedonia (159 km (99 mi)) and Montenegro (79 km (49 mi)) are under control of the Kosovo border police. Serbia treats the 352 km (219 mi) border with Kosovo as an "administrative line"; it is under shared control of Kosovo border police and Serbian police forces. The Pannonian Plain covers the northern third of the country (Vojvodina and Mačva) while the easternmost tip of Serbia extends into the Wallachian Plain. The terrain of the central part of the country consists chiefly of hills traversed by rivers. Mountains dominate the southern third of Serbia. Dinaric Alps stretch in the west and the southwest, following the flow of the rivers Drina and Ibar. The Carpathian Mountains and Balkan Mountains stretch in a north–south direction in eastern Serbia.
Ancient mountains in the southeast corner of the country belong to the Rilo-Rhodope Mountain system. Elevation ranges from the Midžor peak of the Balkan Mountains at 2,169 metres (7,116 feet) (the highest peak in Serbia, excluding Kosovo) to the lowest point of just 17 metres (56 feet) near the Danube river at Prahovo. The largest lake is Đerdap Lake (163 square kilometres (63 sq mi)) and the longest river passing through Serbia is the Danube (587.35 kilometres (364.96 mi)).
Climate
The climate of Serbia is under the influences of the landmass of Eurasia and the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. With mean January temperatures around 0 °C (32 °F), and mean July temperatures of 22 °C (72 °F), it can be classified as a warm-humid continental or humid subtropical climate. In the north, the climate is more continental, with cold winters, and hot, humid summers along 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. Southern Serbia is subject to Mediterranean influences. 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. One of the climatic features of Serbia is Košava, a cold and very squally southeastern wind which starts in the Carpathian Mountains and follows the Danube northwest through the Iron Gate where it gains a jet effect and continues to Belgrade and can spread as far south as Niš.
The average annual air temperature for the period 1961–1990 for the area with an elevation of up to 300 m (984 ft) is 10.9 °C (51.6 °F). The areas with an elevation 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 elevation around 6.0 °C (42.8 °F). 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 (112.8 °F), on 24 July 2007, recorded in Smederevska Palanka.
Serbia is one of few European countries with very high risk of natural hazards (earthquakes, storms, floods, droughts). It is estimated that potential floods, particularly in areas of Central Serbia, threaten over 500 larger settlements and an area of 16,000 square kilometres. The most disastrous were the floods in May 2014, when 57 people died and a damage of over 1.5 billion euros was inflicted.
Politics
Serbia is a parliamentary republic, with the government divided into legislative, executive, and judiciary branches. The current constitution was adopted in 2006 in the aftermath of the Montenegro independence referendum. The Constitutional Court rules on matters regarding the Constitution.
The President of the Republic (Predsednik Republike) is the head of state, is elected by popular vote to a five-year term and is limited by the Constitution to a maximum of two terms. In addition to being the commander in chief of the armed forces, the president has the procedural duty of appointing the prime minister with the consent of the parliament, and has some influence on foreign policy.
The Government (Vlada) is composed of the prime minister and cabinet ministers. The Government is responsible for proposing legislation and a budget, executing the laws, and guiding the foreign and internal policies.
The National Assembly (Narodna skupština) is a unicameral legislative body. The National Assembly has the power to enact laws, approve the budget, schedule presidential elections, select and dismiss the Prime Minister and other ministers, declare war, and ratify international treaties and agreements. It is composed of 250 proportionally elected members who serve four-year terms. In 2021, Serbia was the 5th country in Europe by the number of women holding high-ranking public functions.
Administrative divisions
Serbia is a unitary state composed of municipalities/cities, districts, and two autonomous provinces. In Serbia, excluding Kosovo, there are 145 municipalities (opštine) and 29 cities (gradovi), which form the basic units of local self-government. Apart from municipalities/cities, there are 24 districts (okruzi, 10 most populated listed below), with the City of Belgrade constituting an additional district. Except for Belgrade, which has an elected local government, districts are regional centres of state authority, but have no powers of their own; they present purely administrative divisions.
The Constitution of Serbia recognizes two autonomous provinces, Vojvodina in the north, and the disputed territory of Kosovo and Metohija in the south, while the remaining area of Central Serbia has never had its own regional authority. Following the Kosovo War, UN peacekeepers entered Kosovo and Metohija, as per UNSC Resolution 1244. The government of Serbia does not recognise Kosovo's February 2008 declaration of independence, considering it illegal and illegitimate.
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Demographics
As of the 2022 census, Serbia (excluding Kosovo) has a total population of 6,647,003 and the overall population density is medium as it stands at 85.8 inhabitants per square kilometre. The census was not conducted in Kosovo which held its own census that numbered their total population at 1,739,825.
During the 1990s, Serbia had the largest refugee population in Europe.
Serbs with 5,360,239 are the largest ethnic group in Serbia, representing 81% of the total population (excluding Kosovo). Serbia is one of the European countries with the highest number of registered national minorities, while the province of Vojvodina is recognizable for its multi-ethnic and multi-cultural identity. Despite a decline in recent years, with a population of 184,442, Hungarians remain the largest ethnic minority in Serbia, concentrated predominantly in northern Vojvodina and representing 2.8% of the country's population (10.5% in Vojvodina). Romani population stands at 131,936 according to the 2022 census but unofficial estimates place their actual number between 400,000 and 500,000. Bosniaks with 153,801 and Muslims by nationality with 13,011 are concentrated in Raška (Sandžak), in the southwest. Other minority groups include Albanians, Croats and Bunjevci, Slovaks, Yugoslavs, Montenegrins, Romanians and Vlachs, Macedonians and Bulgarians. Chinese, estimated at 15,000, are the only significant non-European immigrant minority.
According to World Happiness Report 2024, Serbia is on 37th rank amount 140 countries.
The majority of the population, or 59.4%, reside in urban areas and some 16.1% in Belgrade alone. Belgrade is the only city with more than a million inhabitants and there are four more with over 100,000 inhabitants.
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Largest cities or towns in Serbia
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| Rank | Name | Pop. |
| 1 | Belgrade | 1,197,714 |
| 2 | Novi Sad | 306,702 |
| 3 | Niš | 260,237 |
| 4 | Kragujevac | 146,315 |
| 5 | Subotica | 94,228 |
| 6 | Pančevo | 86,408 |
| 7 | Novi Pazar | 71,462 |
| 8 | Čačak | 69,598 |
| 9 | Kruševac | 68,119 |
| 10 | Zrenjanin | 67,129 |
Language
The official language is Serbian, native to 88% of the population. Serbian is the only European language with active digraphia, using both Cyrillic and Latin alphabets. Serbian Cyrillic is designated in the Constitution as the "official script". A survey from 2014 showed that 47% of Serbians favour the Latin alphabet, 36% favour the Cyrillic one and 17% have no preference.
Economy
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%.
Culture
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.
Cuisine
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Serbian cuisine is largely heterogeneous in a way characteristic of the Balkans and, especially, the former Yugoslavia. It features foods characteristic of lands formerly under Turkish suzerainty as well as cuisine originating from other parts of Central Europe (especially Austria and Hungary). Food is very important in Serbian social life, particularly during religious holidays such as Christmas, Easter and feast days i.e. slava.
Staples of the Serbian diet include bread, meat, fruits, vegetables, and dairy products. Bread plays an important role in Serbian cuisine and can be found in religious rituals. A traditional Serbian welcome is to offer bread and salt to guests. Meat is widely consumed, as is fish. The southern Serbian city of Leskovac is host to Roštiljijada, considered the biggest barbecue festival in the Balkans.
Other Serbian specialties include ćevapčići (grilled and seasoned caseless sausages made from minced meat), pljeskavica (grilled spiced meat patty made from a mixture of pork, beef and lamb), gibanica (cheese pie), burek (baked pastry made from a thin flaky dough that is stuffed with meat, cheese or vegetables), sarma (stuffed cabbage), punjena paprika (stuffed pepper), moussaka (casserole made from minced meat, eggs, and potatoes), Karađorđeva šnicla (veal or pork schnitzel that is stuffed with kajmak), đuveč (meat and vegetable stew), pasulj (bean soup), podvarak (roast meat with sauerkraut), ajvar (roasted red pepper spread), kajmak (dairy product similar to clotted cream), čvarci (variant of pork rinds), proja (cornbread) and kačamak (corn-flour porridge).
Serbians claim their country as the birthplace of rakia (rakija), a highly alcoholic drink primarily distilled from fruit. Rakia in various forms is found throughout the Balkans, notably in Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Hungary and Turkey. Slivovitz (šljivovica), a plum brandy, is a type of rakia which is considered the national drink of Serbia. In 2021, Serbia's sljivovica was added to the United Nations Intangible Cultural Heritage List as a "cherished tradition to be preserved by humanity".
Serbian wines are produced in 22 different geographical regions, with white wine dominating the total amount. Besides rakia and wine, beer is a very popular alcoholic beverage in the country. Pale lagers are currently and have been the traditional beer choice for Serbians. The most popular domestic brands of beer are Jelen, followed by Lav.
As in the rest of the former Yugoslavia, coffee drinking is an important cultural and social practice and Serbian coffee (a local variant of Turkish coffee) is the most commonly consumed non-alcoholic beverage.
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.
Related pages
Images for kids
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Remnants of the Felix Romuliana Imperial Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site; as many as 18 Roman emperors were born in modern-day Serbia
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The Serbian Empire, a medieval state that emerged from the Kingdom of Serbia. It was established in 1346 by Dušan the Mighty
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The Battle of Kosovo (1389) is particularly important to Serbian history, tradition and national identity.
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The Great Migrations of the Serbs, led by Patriarch Arsenije III Čarnojević
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Great Serbian Retreat in 1915 led by Peter I of Serbia. As the part of Entente Powers during WW I, Serbia lost about 850,000 people, a quarter of its pre-war population.
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Great Assembly of Serbs, Bunjevci, and other Slavs proclaimed the unification of Vojvodina region with the Kingdom of Serbia in Novi Sad in 1918
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Mothers with children in the Croatian Ustaše Stara Gradiška concentration camp, a camp for Serbs and Jews in the Independent State of Croatia during WWII.
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The principle of non-alignment was the core of Yugoslav and later Serbian diplomacy. The First Non-Aligned Movement Summit Conference took place in Belgrade in September 1961
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Protest in Belgrade on 7 July 2020
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Topographic map of Serbia including Kosovo
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The Iron Gates, Đerdap National Park.
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Picea omorika is a species of coniferous tree endemic to the Tara mountain in western Serbia.
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Uvac Gorge, one of the last remaining habitats of the griffon vulture in Europe.
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The Church of Saint Sava in Belgrade is one of the largest Orthodox churches in the world.
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Map of Serbian language - official (dark blue) or recognized as minority language (light blue).
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Building of the Military Medical Academy in Belgrade
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NIS headquarters in Novi Sad
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Serbia is among the world's largest producer of plums as of 2018; plum is considered the national fruit of Serbia.
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The Fiat 500L is manufactured in the FCA plant in Kragujevac.
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Đerdap 1 Hydroelectric Power Station, the largest dam on the Danube river and one of the largest hydro power stations in Europe
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Serbian motorway network: In service Under construction Planned
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Air Serbia's airplane taking off from Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport
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The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, founded in 1841
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The National Museum of Serbia.
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Mileševa monastery's White Angel fresco (1235) was in the first Europe-to-America satellite broadcast.
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Performance artist Marina Abramović
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Miroslav's Gospel (1186) is a 362-page illuminated manuscript on parchment listed in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.
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Ivo Andrić, Yugoslav writer and the 1961 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, in his home in Belgrade
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Filip Višnjić sings to the gusle by Sreten Stojanović
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Exit Festival in Novi Sad, proclaimed as the Best Major European festival at the EU Festival Awards
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Serbia won the Eurovision Song Contest 2007.
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A Serbian Christmas meal with roast pork, Russian salad and red wine.
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Gibanica, a Serbian pastry usually made with cottage cheese and eggs.
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Tennis player Novak Djokovic, who has won 21 Grand Slam men's singles titles, including a record nine Australian Open titles.
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Nikola Jokić, Two-time NBA MVP and four-time NBA All-Star. Serbia is one of the countries with the largest number of NBA players and with the greatest success in FIBA international competitions.
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Serbia men's national water polo team held Olympic Games, World Championship, European Championship, World Cup and World League titles simultaneously in period from 2014 to 2016.
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See also
In Spanish: Serbia para niños
