Serbia (serb. Srbija) Landlocked Balkan state. It borders to the North with Hungary, to the NE with Romania, to the East with Bulgaria, to the South with Macedonia, to the SW with Kosovo (proclaimed independent from the Serbia on February 17, 2008), to the West with Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, to the NW with Croatia.
- Physical characteristics
The Serbian territory is marked by the discrepancy of its three fundamental morphological units: a vast flat region, to the N; a central hill; a southern mountain range. The northern part of the country is occupied by the extreme edge of the Pannonian plain and is crossed by the Tisza, the Danube and the Sava. The Tisza, which runs along it in the direction of the meridians, separates the Banat region (to the E) from those of Bačka (to the W), before joining the Danube. The hydrographic richness of the region has allowed the construction of numerous canals, which increase the economic value and importance of the three rivers, all of which can be navigated. The only strip of relief present in the northern section of the Serbia is located in the Sirmio region (Fruška Gora, 539 m). These hilly formations slope towards the S, where the landscape, at the confluence of the Drina in the Sava, it regains a flat character which remains unchanged along the entire northern bank of the Sava and the Danube. The morphological homogeneity of the northern region contrasts with the heterogeneity that characterizes the territories of the central and southern one. AS of the Danube, in the central-eastern section of the country, the relief of the Homoljske Planine (940 m) connects with the Transylvanian Alps, in an area rich in mineral deposits. Further south, the Midžor rises (2168 m), belonging to the massif of the Western Balkans. At the center of the territory lies the Šumadija, the heart of ancient Serbia, between the Drina (to the W), the Sava and the Danube (to the N), the middle and lower course of the Morava (to the E) and the Western Morava (to S). The highest peak is located in central massif of the Rudnik Mountains (1132 m), from which numerous streams with an irregular profile radiate. In the southwestern part of the Serbian territory the mountains return to reach 2000 m (Kopaonik, 2017 m; Golija, 1833 m).
The climate of Serbia is typically continental, with humid summers and sultry winters and rather rigid, marked by the passage of cold air currents coming mostly from E. The average temperature of Belgrade in January is -1.6 ° C and in July of 22 ° C. Precipitation is mainly winter in the S and summer in the N. The hydrographic picture is characterized not only by the presence of numerous rivers, but also by the wealth of natural (Palić, Rusanda) and artificial lake basins. Also important are the thermal springs of Vraniška Banja, Soko Banja and Niška Banja.
- Population
With the secession of Kosovo, the Serbian ethnic group represents 82.9% of the population in the rest of the country. Followed by the Hungarians (3.9%, but about 15% in Vojvodina), the Bosnians (1.8%), the Roma (1.4%), the Montenegrins (0.9%) and various other minorities (Slovaks, Croats, Romanians, Ruthenians, etc.) concentrated mainly in Vojvodina. The population growth rate is negative (−0.4% in 2009), with a very low birth rate (9.1 ‰), contrasted by a very high death rate (13.8 ‰). The urban network includes, in addition to the capital (1,500,000 residents In the urban agglomeration), a few other important cities, among which over 100,000 residents Novi Sad (capital of Voivodina), Niš, along the middle course of the Southern Morava, and Kragujevac, in the Šumadija.
The language spoken in Serbia belongs to the Serbo-Croatian group, involved in a process of differentiation, in Serbian on the one hand and Croatian on the other, which takes shape from differences in the alphabet (Serbian is written in Cyrillic), pronunciation and facts lexical in nature.
The Christian-Orthodox religion is the one professed by the Serbian majority, while in Vojvodina the number of Catholics is relevant; minorities of Muslims and Protestants.
