![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/Serbia-on-the-Globe-300x300.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Continuously inhabited since the Paleolithic Age,<\/a> the territory of modern-day Serbia faced Slavic migrations in the 6th century, establishing several regional states in the early Middle Ages at times recognized as tributaries to the Byzantine<\/a>, Frankish<\/a> and Hungarian<\/a> kingdoms. The Serbian Kingdom<\/a> obtained recognition by the Holy See<\/a> and Constantinople<\/a> in 1217, reaching its territorial apex in 1346 as the relatively short-lived Serbian Empire<\/a>. By the mid-16th century, the Ottomans annexed the entirety of modern-day Serbia; their rule was at times interrupted<\/a> by the Habsburg Empire<\/a>, 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<\/a> established the nation-state as the region’s first constitutional monarchy, which subsequently expanded its territory. Following casualties in World War I<\/a>, and the subsequent unification of the former Habsburg crownland of Vojvodina<\/a> (and other lands) with Serbia, the country co-founded Yugoslavia<\/a> with other South Slavic nations, which would exist in various political formations until the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s<\/a>. During the breakup of Yugoslavia<\/a>, 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, the parliament of the province of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence, with mixed responses from the international community.<\/p>\n Serbia is a developing country, with an upper-middle income economy, ranks 64th in the Human Development Index. It is a unitary parliamentary constitutional republic, and is a member of the UN<\/a>, CoE<\/a>, OSCE<\/a>, PfP<\/a>, BSEC<\/a>, CEFTA<\/a>, AIIB<\/a>, and is acceding to the WTO<\/a>. Since 2014, the country has been negotiating its EU accession<\/a>, with the aim of joining the European Union by 2025. Serbia has been formally adhering to the policy of military neutrality. The country provides universal health care and free primary and secondary education to its citizens.<\/p>\n Archaeological evidence of Paleolithic settlements on the territory of present-day Serbia is scarce. A fragment of a human jaw was found in Si\u0107evo<\/a> (Mala Balanica) and is believed to be up to 525,000\u2013397,000 years old.<\/p>\n Approximately around 6,500 years BC, during the Neolithic<\/a>, the Star\u010devo<\/a>, and Vin\u010da<\/a> cultures existed in the region of modern-day Belgrade. They dominated much of Southeastern Europe (as well as parts of Central Europe and Asia Minor). Several important archaeological sites from this era, including Lepenski Vir and Vin\u010da-Belo Brdo, still exist near the banks of the Danube.<\/p>\n During the Iron Age, local tribes of Triballi, Dardani, and Autariatae were encountered by the Ancient Greeks during their cultural and political expansion into the region, from the 5th up to the 2nd century BC. The Celtic tribe of Scordisci<\/a> settled throughout the area in the 3rd century BC. It formed a tribal state, building several fortifications, including their capital at Singidunum<\/a> (present-day Belgrade) and Naissos (present-day Ni\u0161<\/a>).<\/p>\n The Romans conquered much of the territory in the 2nd century BC. In 167 BC the Roman province of Illyricum<\/a> was established; the remainder was conquered around 75 BC, forming the Roman province of Moesia Superior<\/a>; the modern-day Srem<\/a> region was conquered in 9 BC; and Ba\u010dka and Banat in 106 AD after the Dacian Wars<\/a>. As a result of this, contemporary Serbia extends fully or partially over several former Roman provinces, including Moesia<\/a>, Pannonia<\/a>, Praevalitana<\/a>, Dalmatia<\/a>, Dacia<\/a>, and Macedonia<\/a>.<\/p>\n Seventeen Roman Emperors were born in the area of modern-day Serbia, second only to contemporary Italy. The most famous of these was Constantine the Great<\/a>, the first Christian Emperor, who issued an edict ordering religious tolerance throughout the Empire<\/a>.<\/p>\n When the Roman Empire was divided in 395, most of Serbia remained under the Eastern Roman Empire<\/a>. At the same time, its northwestern parts were included in the Western Roman Empire<\/a>. By the 6th century, South Slavs<\/a> migrated into the European provinces of the Byzantine Empire in large numbers. They merged with the local Romanised population that was gradually assimilated.<\/p>\n White Serbs, an early Slavic tribe from White Serbia<\/a> eventually settled in an area between the Sava river and the Dinaric Alps. By the beginning of the 9th century, Serbia achieved a level of statehood. Christianization of Serbia was a gradual process, finalized by the middle of the 9th century. During the 11th and 12th century, Serbian state frequently fought with the neighboring Byzantine Empire. Between 1166 and 1371 Serbia was ruled by the Nemanji\u0107 dynasty<\/a> (whose legacy is especially cherished), under whom the state was elevated to a kingdom in 1217, and an empire in 1346, under Stefan Du\u0161an<\/a>.<\/p>\n Serbian Orthodox Church was organized as an autocephalous<\/a> archbishopric in 1219, through the effort of Sava<\/a>, the country’s patron saint, and in 1346 it was raised to the Patriarchate<\/a>. Monuments of the Nemanji\u0107 period survive in many monasteries (several being World Heritage sites) and fortifications.<\/p>\n During these centuries the Serbian state (and influence) expanded significantly. The northern part (modern Vojvodina), was ruled by the Kingdom of Hungary. The period after 1371, known as the Fall of the Serbian Empire<\/a> saw the once-powerful state fragmented into several principalities, culminating in the Battle of Kosovo<\/a> (1389) against the rising Ottoman Empire.<\/a><\/p>\n The Ottomans finally conquered the Serbian Despotate<\/a> in 1459. The Ottoman threat and eventual conquest saw massive migrations of Serbs to the west and north.<\/p>\n In all Serbian lands conquered by the Ottomans, the native nobility was eliminated and the peasantry was enserfed to Ottoman rulers, while much of the clergy fled or were confined to the isolated monasteries. Under the Ottoman system, Serbs, as well as Christians, were considered an inferior class of people and subjected to heavy taxes, and a portion of the Serbian population experienced Islamization. Many Serbs were recruited during the devshirme system, a form of slavery in the Ottoman Empire, in which boys from Balkan Christian families were forcibly converted to Islam and trained for infantry units of the Ottoman army known as the Janissaries. The Serbian Patriarchate of Pe\u0107 was extinguished in 1463, but reestablished in 1557, providing for limited continuation of Serbian cultural traditions within the Ottoman Empire, under the Millet system<\/a>.<\/p>\n After the loss of statehood to the Ottoman Empire, Serbian resistance continued in northern regions (modern Vojvodina), under titular despots (until 1537), and popular leaders like Jovan Nenad<\/a> (1526\u20131527). Continuing wars and various rebellions constantly challenged Ottoman rule. The area of modern Vojvodina endured a century-long Ottoman occupation before being ceded to the Habsburg Empire, partially by the Treaty of Karlovci<\/a> (1699), and fully by the Treaty of Po\u017earevac<\/a> (1718).<\/p>\n As the Great Serb Migrations<\/a> depopulated most of southern Serbia, the Serbs sought refuge across the Danube River in Vojvodina to the north and the Military Frontier<\/a> in the west, where they were granted rights by the Austrian crown under measures such as the Statuta Wallachorum of 1630. Much of central Serbia switched from Ottoman rule to Habsburg control (1686\u201391) during the Habsburg-Ottoman war (1683\u20131699). Following several petitions, Emperor Leopold I<\/a> formally granted Serbs who wished to settle in the northern regions the right to their autonomous crown land. The ecclesiastical center of the Serbs also moved northwards, to the Metropolitanate of Karlovci<\/a>, and the Serbian Patriarchate of Pe\u0107 was once-again abolished by the Ottomans in 1766.<\/p>\n In 1718\u201339, the Habsburg Monarchy occupied much of Central Serbia and established the Kingdom of Serbia<\/a> as crownland<\/a>. Those gains were lost by the Treaty of Belgrade<\/a> in 1739, when the Ottomans retook the region. Apart from territory of modern Vojvodina which remained under the Habsburg Empire, central regions of Serbia were occupied once again by the Habsburgs in 1788\u20131792.<\/p>\n The Serbian Revolution<\/a> for independence from the Ottoman Empire lasted eleven years, from 1804 until 1815. The revolution comprised two separate uprisings which gained autonomy from the Ottoman Empire (1830) that eventually evolved towards full independence (1878).<\/p>\n Following the clashes between the Ottoman army and Serbs in Belgrade in 1862, and under pressure from the Great Powers<\/a>, by 1867 the last Turkish soldiers left the Principality, making the country de facto independent. By enacting a new constitution in 1869, without consulting the Porte, Serbian diplomats confirmed the de facto independence of the country. In 1876, Serbia declared war on the Ottoman Empire, siding with the ongoing Christian uprisings in Bosnia-Herzegovina<\/a> and Bulgaria<\/a>.<\/p>\n The formal independence of the country was internationally recognized at the Congress of Berlin in 1878<\/a>, which ended the Russo-Turkish War<\/a>; this treaty, however, prohibited Serbia from uniting with other Serbian regions by placing Bosnia and Herzegovina under Austro-Hungarian occupation, alongside the occupation of the region of Ra\u0161ka<\/a>. From 1815 to 1903, the Principality of Serbia was ruled by the House of Obrenovi\u0107.<\/a><\/p>\n In the course of the First Balkan War<\/a> in 1912, the Balkan League<\/a> defeated the Ottoman Empire and captured its European territories, which enabled territorial expansion of the Kingdom of Serbia into regions of Ra\u0161ka, Kosovo, Metohija<\/a>, and Vardarian Macedonia<\/a>. The Second Balkan War<\/a> soon ensued when Bulgaria turned on its former allies, but was defeated, resulting in the Treaty of Bucharest<\/a>. In two years, Serbia enlarged its territory by 80% and its population by 50%, it also suffered high casualties on the eve of World War I, with more than 36,000 dead. Austria-Hungary became wary of the rising regional power on its borders and its potential to become an anchor for unification of Serbs and other South Slavs, and the relationship between the two countries became tense.<\/p>\n The assassination<\/a> of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria<\/a> on 28 June 1914 in Sarajevo<\/a> by Gavrilo Princip<\/a>, a member of the Young Bosnia organization<\/a>, led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia, on 28 July. Local war escalated when Germany declared war on Russia and invaded France and Belgium, thus drawing Great Britain into the conflict that became the First World War.<\/a> Serbia won the first major battles of World War I, including the Battle of Cer<\/a>, and the Battle of Kolubara<\/a>, marking the first Allied victories against the Central Powers in World War I.<\/p>\n Despite initial success, it was eventually overpowered by the Central Powers in 1915 and Austro-Hungarian occupation<\/a> of Serbia followed. Most of its army and some people retreated through Albania to Greece and Corfu<\/a>, suffering immense losses on the way.<\/p>\n Serbia was occupied by the Central Powers. After the Central Powers military situation on other fronts worsened, the remains of the Serb army returned east and led a final breakthrough through enemy lines on 15 September 1918, liberating Serbia and defeating Bulgaria and Austria-Hungary. Serbia, with its campaign<\/a>, was a major Balkan Entente Power which contributed significantly to the Allied victory in the Balkans in November 1918, especially by helping France force Bulgaria’s capitulation.<\/p>\n Serbia suffered the biggest casualty rate in World War I.<\/p>\n On 26 November 1918, the Podgorica Assembly<\/a> deposed the House of Petrovi\u0107-Njego\u0161<\/a> and united Montenegro with Serbia. On 1 December 1918, in Belgrade, Serbian Prince Regent Alexander Kara\u0111or\u0111evi\u0107<\/a> proclaimed the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes<\/a>, under King Peter I of Serbia.<\/a><\/p>\n King Peter was succeeded by his son, Alexander, in August 1921. Serb centralists and Croat autonomists clashed in the parliament, and most governments were fragile and short-lived. King Alexander established a dictatorship<\/a> in 1929 with the aim of establishing the Yugoslav ideology and single Yugoslav nation, changed the name of the country to Yugoslavia and changed the internal divisions from the 33 oblasts to nine new banovinas. The effect of Alexander’s dictatorship was to further alienate the non-Serbs living in Yugoslavia from the idea of unity.<\/p>\n Alexander was assassinated in Marseille, during an official visit in 1934 by Vlado Chernozemski<\/a>, member of the IMRO<\/a>. Alexander was succeeded by his eleven-year-old son Peter II<\/a> and a regency council was headed by his cousin, Prince Paul<\/a>.<\/p>\n In 1941, in spite of Yugoslav attempts to remain neutral in the war, the Axis powers invaded Yugoslavia. The territory of modern Serbia was divided between Hungary, Bulgaria, the Independent State of Croatia and Italy (Greater Albania and Montenegro), while the remaining part of the occupied Serbia was placed under the military administration of Nazi Germany, with Serbian puppet governments<\/a> led by Milan A\u0107imovi\u0107<\/a> and Milan Nedi\u0107<\/a> assisted by Dimitrije Ljoti\u0107’s<\/a> fascist organization Yugoslav National Movement (Zbor).<\/a><\/p>\n The Yugoslav territory was the scene of a civil war between royalist Chetniks<\/a> commanded by Dra\u017ea Mihailovi\u0107<\/a> and communist partisans commanded by Josip Broz Tito<\/a>.<\/p>\n Axis auxiliary units of the Serbian Volunteer Corps<\/a> and the Serbian State Guard<\/a> fought against both of these forces. Siege of Kraljevo<\/a> was a major battle of the Uprising in Serbia<\/a>, led by Chetnik forces against the Nazis. Several days after the battle began the German forces committed a massacre of approximately 2,000 civilians in an event known as the Kraljevo massacre<\/a>, in a reprisal for the attack. Draginac and Loznica massacre of 2,950 villagers in Western Serbia in 1941 was the first large execution of civilians in occupied Serbia by Germans, with Kragujevac massacre<\/a> and Novi Sad Raid<\/a> of Jews and Serbs by Hungarian fascists being the most notorious, with over 3,000 victims in each case. After one year of occupation, around 16,000 Serbian Jews were murdered in the area, or around 90% of its pre-war Jewish population during The Holocaust in Serbia. Many concentration camps were established across the area. Banjica concentration camp<\/a> was the largest concentration camp and jointly run by the German army and Nedi\u0107’s regime, with primary victims being Serbian Jews, Roma, and Serb political prisoners.<\/p>\n During this period, hundreds of thousands of ethnic Serbs fled the Axis puppet state known as the Independent State of Croatia and sought refuge in German-occupied Serbia, seeking to escape the large-scale persecution and genocide of Serbs, Jews, and Roma being committed by the Usta\u0161e regime<\/a>.<\/p>\n According to Josip Broz Tito himself, Serbs made up the vast majority of Anti-fascist fighters and Yugoslav Partisans for the whole course of World War II.A study by Vladimir \u017derjavi\u0107 estimates total war related deaths in Yugoslavia at 1,027,000, including 273,000 in Serbia. The Usta\u0161e regime committed the Genocide of Serbs and systematically murdered approximately 300,000 to 500,000 Serbs.<\/p>\n The victory of the Communist Partisans resulted in the abolition of the monarchy and a subsequent constitutional referendum. A one-party state was soon established in Yugoslavia by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. It is claimed between 60,000 and 70,000 people died in Serbia during the 1944\u201345 communist takeover and purge<\/a>. All opposition was suppressed and people deemed to be promoting opposition to socialism or promoting separatism were imprisoned or executed for sedition. Serbia became a constituent republic within the SFRY known as the Socialist Republic of Serbia, and had a republic-branch of the federal communist party, the League of Communists of Serbia.<\/p>\n Serbia’s most powerful and influential politician in Tito-era Yugoslavia was Aleksandar Rankovi\u0107<\/a>, one of the “big four” Yugoslav leaders, alongside Tito, Edvard Kardelj<\/a>, and Milovan \u0110ilas.<\/a><\/p>\n Rankovi\u0107 was later removed from the office because of the disagreements regarding Kosovo’s nomenklatura and the unity of Serbia. Rankovi\u0107’s dismissal was highly unpopular among Serbs. Pro-decentralization reformers in Yugoslavia succeeded in the late 1960s in attaining substantial decentralization of powers, creating substantial autonomy in Kosovo and Vojvodina, and recognizing a distinctive “Muslim” nationality. As a result of these reforms, there was a massive overhaul of Kosovo’s nomenklatura<\/a> and police, that shifted from being Serb-dominated to ethnic Albanian-dominated through firing Serbs on a large scale. Further concessions were made to the ethnic Albanians of Kosovo in response to unrest, including the creation of the University of Pristina<\/a> as an Albanian language institution. These changes created widespread fear among Serbs of being treated as second-class citizens.<\/p>\n Belgrade, the capital of SFR Yugoslavia and SR Serbia, hosted the first Non-Aligned Movement Summit in September 1961, as well as the first major gathering of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) with the aim of implementing the Helsinki Accords<\/a> from October 1977 to March 1978. The 1972 smallpox outbreak<\/a> in SAP Kosovo and other parts of SR Serbia was the last major outbreak of smallpox in Europe since World War II.<\/p>\n In 1989, Slobodan Milo\u0161evi\u0107<\/a> rose to power in Serbia. Milo\u0161evi\u0107 promised a reduction of powers for the autonomous provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina, where his allies subsequently took over power, during the Anti-bureaucratic revolution<\/a>. This ignited tensions between the communist leadership of the other republics of Yugoslavia, and awoke ethnic nationalism across Yugoslavia that eventually resulted in its breakup, with Slovenia<\/a>, Croatia<\/a>, Bosnia and Herzegovina<\/a>, and Macedonia<\/a> declaring independence during 1991 and 1992. Serbia and Montenegro remained together as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY).<\/p>\n Fueled by ethnic tensions, the Yugoslav Wars (1991\u20132001) erupted, with the most severe conflicts taking place in Croatia and Bosnia, where the large ethnic Serb communities opposed independence from Yugoslavia. The FRY remained outside the conflicts, but provided logistic, military and financial support to Serb forces in the wars. In response, the UN imposed sanctions against Serbia which led to political isolation and the collapse of the economy (GDP decreased from $24 billion in 1990 to under $10 billion in 1993). Following the rise of nationalism and political tensions after Slobodan Milo\u0161evi\u0107 came to power, numerous anti-war movements developed in Serbia and many anti-war protests were held in Belgrade. Multi-party democracy was introduced in Serbia in 1990, officially dismantling the one-party system. Critics of Milo\u0161evi\u0107 stated that the government continued to be authoritarian despite constitutional changes, as Milo\u0161evi\u0107 maintained strong political influence over the state media and security apparatus. When the ruling Socialist Party of Serbia refused to accept its defeat in municipal elections in 1996, Serbians engaged in large protests against the government.<\/p>\n In 1998, continued clashes between the Albanian guerilla Kosovo Liberation Army<\/a> and Yugoslav security forces led to the short Kosovo War<\/a> (1998\u201399), in which NATO intervened, leading to the withdrawal of Serbian forces and the establishment of UN administration in the province. After the Yugoslav Wars, Serbia became home to highest number of refugees and internally displaced persons in Europe.<\/p>\n After presidential elections in September 2000, opposition parties accused Milo\u0161evi\u0107 of electoral fraud. A campaign of civil resistance followed, led by the Democratic Opposition of Serbia<\/a> (DOS), a broad coalition of anti-Milo\u0161evi\u0107 parties. This culminated on 5 October when half a million people from all over the country congregated in Belgrade, compelling Milo\u0161evi\u0107 to concede defeat. The fall of Milo\u0161evi\u0107<\/a> ended Yugoslavia’s international isolation. Milo\u0161evi\u0107 was sent to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia<\/a>. The DOS announced that FR Yugoslavia would seek to join the European Union. In 2003, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was renamed Serbia and Montenegro; the EU opened negotiations with the country for the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. Serbia’s political climate remained tense.<\/p>\n On 21 May 2006, Montenegro held a referendum to determine whether to end its union with Serbia. The results showed 55.4% of voters in favor of independence, which was just above the 55% required by the referendum. On 5 June 2006, the National Assembly of Serbia declared Serbia to be the legal successor to the former state union. The Assembly of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia on 17 February 2008. Serbia immediately condemned the declaration and continues to deny any statehood to Kosovo. The declaration has sparked varied responses from the international community, some welcoming it, while others condemned the unilateral move. Status-neutral talks between Serbia and Kosovo-Albanian authorities are held in Brussels, mediated by the EU.<\/p>\n In April 2008 Serbia was invited to join the Intensified Dialogue program with NATO, despite the diplomatic rift with the alliance over Kosovo. Serbia officially applied for membership in the European Union on 22 December 2009, and received candidate status on 1 March 2012, following a delay in December 2011. Following a positive recommendation of the European Commission and European Council in June 2013, negotiations to join the EU commenced in January 2014.<\/p>\n Since Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107<\/a> came to power, Serbia has suffered from democratic backsliding into authoritarianism, followed by a decline in media freedom and civil liberties. Massive anti-government protests began in 2018<\/a> and continued into 2020, making them one of Europe’s longest-running protests. After the COVID-19 pandemic spread to Serbia in March 2020, a state of emergency was declared and a curfew was introduced for the first time in Serbia since World War II. In January and February 2021 Serbia carried the second-fastest vaccine rollout in Europe.<\/p>\n A landlocked country situated at the crossroads between Central and Southern Europe, Serbia is located in the Balkan peninsula<\/a> and the Pannonian Plain<\/a>. The country covers a total of 88,361 km2 (including Kosovo), which places it at 113th place in the world; with Kosovo excluded, the total area is 77,474 km2, which would make it 117th. The Pannonian Plain covers the northern third of the country (Vojvodina<\/a> and Ma\u010dva<\/a>) while the easternmost tip of Serbia extends into the Wallachian Plain<\/a>. The terrain of the central part of the country, with the region of \u0160umadija<\/a> at its heart, consists chiefly of hills traversed by rivers. Mountains dominate the southern third of Serbia. Dinaric Alps<\/a> stretch in the west and the southwest, following the flow of the rivers Drina<\/a> and Ibar<\/a>. The Carpathian Mountains<\/a> and Balkan Mountains<\/a> stretch in a north\u2013south direction in eastern Serbia.<\/p>\n Ancient mountains in the southeast corner of the country belong to the Rilo-Rhodope Mountain system<\/a>. Elevation ranges from the Mid\u017eor<\/a> peak of the Balkan Mountains at 2,169 meters (7,116 feet) (the highest peak in Serbia, excluding Kosovo) to the lowest point of just 17 meters (56 feet) near the Danube river at Prahovo<\/a>. The largest lake is \u0110erdap Lake (163 square kilometers) and the longest river passing through Serbia is the Danube.<\/p>\n Serbia has an emerging market economy in upper-middle income range. The economy is dominated by services which accounts for 67.9% of GDP, followed by industry with 26.1% of GDP, and agriculture at 6% of GDP. The official currency of Serbia is Serbian dinar<\/a>, and the central bank is National Bank of Serbi<\/a>a.<\/p>\n Serbia has an unfavorable trade balance: imports exceed exports by 25%. Serbia’s exports, however, recorded a steady growth in last couple of years reaching $19.2 billion in 2018. The country has free trade agreements with the EFTA and CEFTA, a preferential trade regime with the European Union, a Generalized System of Preferences with the United States, and individual free trade agreements with Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Turkey.<\/p>\n Serbia is among the world’s largest producer of plums as of 2018, which is considered the national fruit of Serbia.<\/p>\n Serbia is among the world’s largest producer of raspberries as of 2016.<\/p>\n Serbia is one of the largest provider of frozen fruit to the EU (largest to the French market, and 2nd largest to the German market).<\/p>\n Agricultural production is most prominent in Vojvodina on the fertile Pannonian Plain.<\/p>\n Main industrial sectors include: automotive, mining, non-ferrous metals, food-processing, electronics, pharmaceuticals, clothes.<\/p>\n Serbia has a strategic transportation location since the country’s backbone, Morava Valley<\/a>, represents the easiest land route from continental Europe to Asia Minor and the Near East.<\/p>\n Serbian road network carries the bulk of traffic in the country. Total length of roads is 45,419 km of which 962 km are “class-IA state roads” (i.e. motorways); 4,517 km are “class-IB state roads” (national roads); 10,941 km are “class-II state roads” (regional roads) and 23,780 km are “municipal roads”. The road network, except for the most of class-IA roads, are of comparatively lower quality to the Western European standards because of lack of financial resources for their maintenance in the last 20 years.<\/p>\n Over 300 kilometers of new motorways has been constructed in the last decade and additional 154 kilometers are currently under construction. Coach transport is very extensive: almost every place in the country is connected by bus, from largest cities to the villages; in addition there are international routes (mainly to countries of Western Europe with large Serb diaspora).<\/p>\n Serbia has 3,819 kilometers of rail tracks, of which 1,279 are electrified and 283 kilometers are double-track railroad. Although still a major mode of freight transportation, railroads face increasing problems with the maintenance of the infrastructure and lowering speeds. Rail services are operated by Srbija Voz<\/a> (passenger transport) and Srbija Kargo<\/a> (freight transport).<\/p>\n There are three airports with regular passenger traffic. Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport<\/a> served 6.2 million passengers in 2019 and is a hub of flagship carrier Air Serbia<\/a> which flies to 59 destinations in 32 countries and carried some 2.8 million passengers in 2019. Ni\u0161 Constantine the Great Airport<\/a> and Morava Airport<\/a> are mainly catering low-cost airlines but also serving as secondary Air Serbia hubs.<\/p>\n Serbia has a developed inland water transport since there are 1,716 kilometers of navigable inland waterways (1,043 km of navigable rivers and 673 km of navigable canals), which are almost all located in northern third of the country. The most important inland waterway is the Danube<\/a> (part of Pan-European Corridor VII). Other navigable rivers include Sava<\/a>, Tisza<\/a>, Begej<\/a> and Timi\u015f<\/a> River, all of which connect Serbia with Northern and Western Europe through the Rhine\u2013Main\u2013Danube Canal<\/a> and North Sea route, to Eastern Europe via the Tisza, Begej and Danube Black Sea routes, and to Southern Europe via the Sava river. More than 8 million tons of cargo were transported on Serbian rivers and canals in 2018 while the largest river ports are: Novi Sad, Belgrade, Pan\u010devo, Smederevo<\/a>, Prahovo<\/a> and \u0160abac.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/Belgrade-300x214.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>History:<\/h2>\n
Prehistory and Antiquity:<\/h3>\n
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<\/a>Middle Ages:<\/h3>\n
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<\/a>Ottoman and Habsburg Rule:<\/h3>\n
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<\/a>Revolution and Independence:<\/h3>\n
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<\/a>The Balkan Wars and World War I:<\/h3>\n
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<\/a>Creation of Yugoslavia, World War II, and the Socialist Period:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/King-Peter-I-226x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
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<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/Peter-II-171x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/Josip-Broz-Tito-216x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/Execution-at-Banjica-300x227.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/Aleksandar-Rankovic-219x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Breakup of Yugoslavia and Political Transition:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/Slobodan-Milosevic-232x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/Breakup-of-Yugoslavia-300x187.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Modern Republic of Serbia:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/Aleksandar-Vucic-221x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Geography:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/Topographic-Map-of-Serbia-300x275.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Economy:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/Serbian-Dinar-Note-300x141.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/Serbian-Raspberries-300x225.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Transportation:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/Motoways-of-Serbia-202x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/Air-Serbia-Planes-at-Belgrade-Airport-300x200.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Flag of Serbia:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/Flag-of-Serbia-300x200.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>