Serbia
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| Official language | Serbian | ||
| Capital | Belgrade | ||
| Area - Total - % water | 88,361 km² n/a | ||
| Population - Total (1998) - Density | 11,206,847 126.83/km² | ||
| Ethnic groups (2002) | Serbs: 66% Albanians: 17% Hungarians: 3.5% Others: 13.5% | ||
| President | Predrag Marković (interim) | ||
| Prime Minister | Vojislav Koštunica | ||
| Anthem | Hej Sloveni | ||
| Time zone | UTC +1 | ||
| Currency | Serbian dinar Also Euro in Kosovo | ||
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The Republic of Serbia is a republic of south-eastern Europe, which is united with Montenegro in a loose commonwealth known as the Union of Serbia and Montenegro.
The Kingdom of Serbia was established in the 11th century, and in the 13th century it eventually became the Serbian Empire. After 1918, Serbia was a part of Yugoslavia in its various forms. From 1992, following the independence of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Republic of Macedonia from the SFRY (the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia), until February 2003, Serbia and Montenegro made up the two-member Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Serbia is populated mostly by Serbs. Significant minorities in Serbia include Albanians, Hungarians and Roma.
The current prime minister of Serbia, as of March 2004, is the former Yugoslav president, Vojislav Kostunica, who replaced Slobodan Milosevic as president in October of 2000. Serbia's (interim) president is Predrag Markovic.
Serbian anthem is Hej Sloveni. "Hej Sloveni" is the anthem of the commonwealth of Serbia and Montenegro also. A minority of Serbs would like to have "Boze pravde" as their anthem, but it is considered unlikely to change in the near future.
The Serbian coat of arms was devised in the aftermath of World War II, replacing the country's 19th century coat of arms. Although some have campaigned for the older arms to be restored, others oppose this because it was the official coat of arms of the principality of Serbia, which no longer exists.
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Serbia is made up of 108 counties. It has two autonomous provinces: Kosovo and Metohia in the south (with 30 counties), which is presently under the administration of the United Nations, and Vojvodina in the north (with 54 counties).
The part of Serbia that is neither in Kosovo nor in Vojvodina is not an administrative division and is called central Serbia. In English this region is often called "Serbia proper" to denote "the part of the Republic of Serbia not including the provinces of Vojvodina and Kosovo; the ethnic and political core of the Serbian state," as the Library of Congress puts it. [1]. This usage was apparently also employed in Serbo-Croatian during the Yugoslav era (in the form of "uža Srbija"). Its use in English is purely geographical without any particular political meaning being implied.
Administrative subdivisions
See also
External link
Former Yugoslavia (SFRY)
Republics
Bosnia and Herzegovina | Croatia | Macedonia | Montenegro | Serbia | Slovenia
Autonomous provinces of Serbia
Kosovo | Vojvodina