An Introduction to Serbia
From the break-up of Yugoslavia, Serbia retains the capital, Belgrade, and the largest area. The independence of the last state to attempt to break away from Belgrade's control, Kosovo, is disputed - it was declared in 2008. See full country profile.Latest Research News from Europe (Other)
1 current Other European job:
GOVERNMENT: Parliamentary republic. Kosovo is administered by the UN body UNMIK, whose authority is however not recognised by Serbia.
AREA: 88,361 sq km
POPULATION: 7,120,666 (excluding Kosovo) (July 2011 est.)
MAJOR LANGUAGE: Official Language: Serbian
Some business and general info
The Market Research Industry
Trade and Industry in Serbia
As of this month its most famous current sporting son is the world's number 2 tennis player and not number 1 - but few would argue with the fact that Novak Djokovic has been the outstanding player of the last eighteen months. Also on the sporting front, Serbia is a five-time World Basketball Champion and has former European football champions in Red Star Belgrade.
It also vies with Russia for dominance of the world's raspberry market, and according to stats on Wikipedia was second there too, in 2003-4, but more recently we believe it's nabbed the crown, supplying around one third of the world's crop.
Go to next country
From the break-up of Yugoslavia, Serbia retains the capital, Belgrade, and the largest area. The independence of the last state to attempt to break away from Belgrade's control, Kosovo, is disputed - it was declared in 2008.
After Roman, Habsburg and Ottoman rule, and periods of independence and empire in between, the Serbs established an autonomous state ruled by its own dynasty in the nineteenth century, but with continual interference from the great powers including Austria. Famously, it was a Serbian nationalist student, Gavrilo Princip, whose assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand sparked off the First World War - Serbian people fought with the Allied side and estimates suggest more than half Serbia's male population were killed in the conflict.At the end of the Second World War Serbia became the hub of a new communist Yugoslavia under Josip Tito and Aleksandar Rankovi, heavy on repression - the latter reported that in its first five years the regime had arrested five million people. It broke up between 1989 and 1992 as nationalist movements flowered in each of the constituent republics, and horrific wars and genocide followed. The last wholly successful secession from the Federal state was Montenegro, in 2006. Today Serbia's politics remain tense, but it's now an official candidate for membership of the EU.
GDP: $78.8 bn (2011 est.); $10,642 per capita (excluding Kosovo)
Religions Excluding Kosovo, the population is 84% orthodox Christian, 6.2% Catholic, 3.4% Muslim and 1.4% Protestant.
Currency: Serbian dinar (RSD): $US1 = 97 RSD
Telephone Code: + 381
A late 1980s move from state controlled to free market economics was choked off by the Yugoslavian break-up, economic sanctions and infrastructure and industrial damage from the 1999 NATO bombings. After the departure of President Slobodan Miloevi in 2000 reforms took place and the economy grew rapidly GDP leapt from just $1,160 in 2000 to $6,539 in 2012, and its now a candidate for EU membership. Almost two thirds of Serbias GDP comes from services, and international investment in the economy is growing with Austria the single largest investor. At present, its main economic problems are a high unemployment rate (23.7% as of November 2011) and a large trade deficit.
Serbian Exports totalled $11.77 bn in 2011, with the main commodities being metals, electrics, food and military hardware. Germany 11.3%, Italy 11.1% and Bosnia and Herzegovina 10.1% are the three biggest export partners (2010 figures), while the biggest import partners that year were Russia 13.2%, Germany 10.8%, Italy 8.9% and China 7.6%. Oil, natural gas, vehicles and electrical machines were a major part of the total of $20.14bn exported in 2011.
Email me:
laurence@mrweb.com
