Robert Mugabe

Serbia, officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: Република Србија or Republika Srbija), is a country in central and southeastern Europe, covering the central part of the Balkan Peninsula and the southern part of the Pannonian Plain. The capital is Belgrade. Serbia borders Hungary to the north; Romania and Bulgaria to the east; the Republic of Macedonia and Albania to the south; and Montenegro, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina to the west.

Serbia was part of various South Slavic states, including the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes from 1918 to 1941, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1992, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1992 to 2003, and the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro from 2003 to 2006. After Montenegro voted to leave the State Union, Serbia officially proclaimed its independence on June 5, 2006, as the successor state to the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.

More about Serbia ...

A World War I poster; two soldiers on the right wear Šajkačas

The Šajkača (Serbian Cyrillic: шајкача), the Serbian national hat, originated in the 18th century. It was originally worn by the Serbian river fleet in the service of the Habsburg Empire (known as the šajkaši) around the Danube and Sava Rivers. These men conducted small-scale raids against the Turks, thus allowing Serb refugees from the Ottoman Empire to safely flee to the Habsburg Empire. The refugees copied the design of the hat and spread it widely within the Serbian community.

The distinctive hat is recognisable by its top part that looks like the letter V or like the bottom of a boat (viewed from above), after which it got its name. It gained wide popularity in the early 20th century as it was the hat of the Serbian army in the First World War. It is still worn everyday by some villagers today, and it was worn among Bosnian Serb military commanders during the Bosnian War in the 1990s.

During the 1999 Kosovo War, the Belgrade branch of the American fast food chain McDonald's used the hat to promote itself (somewhat improbably) as an authentically Serbian entity, by distributing posters and lapel buttons showing the famous golden arches written in Cyrillic alphabet and surmounted by a šajkača.

• March 3: Former Bosnian president arrested in London
• March 3: Ex-Bosnian Serb leader: Alleged war crimes are myths
• December 22: Serbia to apply to join the EU
• November 19: Uruguay qualify to take last spot in 2010 FIFA World Cup
• October 26: Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžić boycotts genocide trial

...that Serbia regained independence in 2006?

...that famous writer John Ronald Reuel Tolkien tried to learn the Serbian language but failed?

...that actress and model Milla Jovovich has origins in the Serb tribe of Vasojevići?

...that Belgrade was under some form of attack every 37 years on average since AD 1?

...that Belgrade was battled over in 115 wars and razed to the ground 44 times

...that Serbia had the highest GDP growth rate in Europe in 2005 and 2006?

...that Serbia grows over a third of the world's raspberries and it is the largest exporter of frozen fruit in the world?

...that Serbian language is almost same as Croatian and Bosnian?

Geography •

Politics •

Culture •

Economy •

• National Tourism Organisation of Serbia
• Travel Manga - MangaTrip
• Tourism portal and reservation system for accommodation, flights, rent a car and transfer services in Serbia

Government

• Serbian Government
• National Assembly of Serbia
• The EU integration Office of Serbian Government
• People's Office of Serbian President
• National Bank of Serbia
• RTS - Serbian Broadcasting Corporation
• Republic of Serbia Statistical Office

Accommodation

• Serbia-Hotel.org - Bigest list of hotels, motels, hostels and apartments in Serbia

Other

• Serb Diaspora Youtube Channel
• Serbian Genealogical Society & White Eagle
• Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports regarding Serbia
• Foundation Rastko
• Serbian Unity Congress
• Serbian portal for used cars
• Prodavnica nezaboravnih putovanja
• Turisticki portal i rezervacioni sistem za smestaj, avio karte, rent a car i usluge transfera

Business

• Doing Business in Serbia

Energy

• Serbia Energy Business

• WikiProject Serbia
  • WikiProject Belgrade
• WikiProject Serbian Orthodox Church

Ana Ivanović

Ana Ivanović (Serbian Cyrillic: Ана Ивановић, born November 6, 1987, in Belgrade) is a Serbian professional tennis player. She is currently ranked World No. 2 and is the top ranked Serbian player, just in front of compatriot Jelena Janković. At the 2007 French Open, Ivanović reached her first Grand Slam singles final, losing to Justine Henin. She also reached the semifinals of Wimbledon and the Women's Tennis Association Tour Championships in 2007. At the 2008 Australian Open final, she was defeated by Maria Sharapova.

Ivanović is an offensive baseliner. Her game relies heavily on the power, depth and placement of her forehand strokes, producing lots of winners through penetrating, flat shots, with the occasional spice of topspin. Her net play is not used as often, but her volleys are generally well executed, as are her drop shots.

Ivanović picked up a racket at the age of 5 after watching Monica Seles, a fellow Serbian, at Roland Garros on television. She started her promising career at the age of 5, after memorizing the number of a local tennis clinic from an ad on TV. During her training she encountered the NATO bombings in 1999, where she would have to train in the morning to avoid them.

Politicians

Category:Serbian politicians

• Boris Tadić
• Vuk Drašković
• Tomislav Nikolić
• Čedomir Jovanović
• Mlađan Dinkić
• Ivica Dačić
• Nenad Čanak

Prime Ministers

• Zoran Đinđić
• Vojislav Koštunica
• Mirko Cvetković

Saints

Category:Serbian saints

• Saint Danilo II
• Saint Jovan Vladimir
• Saint Hieromartyr Lazar
• Saint Justin Popović
• Saint Nikolai Velimirović
• Saint Peter of Cetinje
• Saint Sava
• Saint Simeon
• Saint Stephen of Piperi
• Saint Vasilije

Scientists & Inventors

Category:Serbian scientists

• Nikola Tesla
• Milutin Milanković
• Mileva Marić
• Mihajlo Pupin
• Josif Pančić
• Jovan Cvijić
• Vuk Stefanović Karadžić
• Pavle Savić

Athletes

Category:Serbian sportspeople

• Dragan Džajić
• Dejan Stanković
• Nemanja Vidić
• Mateja Kežman
• Borislav Stanković
• Radivoj Korać
• Vlade Divac
• Aleksandar Đorđević
• Predrag Stojaković
• Dejan Bodiroga
• Novak Đoković
• Jelena Janković
• Ana Ivanović
• Milorad Čavić

Artists

• Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac
• List of Serbian musicians

Connected to Serbs or Serbia

• Madeleine Albright (saved by Serbs in Second World War, but was one of the main proponents of 1999 NATO war on Serbia)
• Josip Broz (ruled Serbia as part of Yugoslavia for 35 years)
• Albert Einstein (was married to Mileva Maric)
• Yosef Lapid (born in Serbia)
• Thomas Nagel (born in Serbia)
• Monica Seles (tennis player, played for Yugoslavia; an ethnic Hungarian born in Serbia, Vojvodina)
• Sir John Tavener (composed: The Epistile of Love and The Veil of the Temple on Serbian Medieval Poetry)
• Constantine the Great (born on territory of Serbia)

Largest cities of Serbia (2002 census)

Belgrade - 1,576,124

Pristina- 500,000+

Novi Sad - 299,294

Niš - 250,518

Kragujevac - 180,252

Leskovac - 156,252

Subotica - 148,401

Zrenjanin - 132,051

Kruševac - 131,368

Pančevo - 127,162

Sombor - 97,263

Population statistics of Serbia (Estimate May 2005)

• Serbia (total): 9,396,411
  • Vojvodina: 2,116,725
  • Central Serbia: 5,479,686
  • Kosovo: 1,800,000