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Serbia

Population: 7,186,862 (est.)

Language(s): Serbian

Capital: Belgrade

Interesting Facts:

The Serbian dinar is the official currency of Serbia.
Serbia is one of the religiously diverse countries of Europe, with an Eastern Orthodox majority, and Catholic and Islamic minority, among other smaller confessions.
Serbia has a transitional economy mostly dominated by services, manufacturing and agriculture. The economy is heavily reliant on exports and foreign investment.
Serbia suffers from a high unemployment rate (23.7% as of February 2012) and an unfavorable trade deficit.
Serbia tends to face cold winters, and hot, humid summers with well distributed rainfall patterns.
With mean January temperatures around 0 °C (32 °F), and mean July temperatures around 22 °C (72 °F).
Belgrade is one of the oldest cities in Europe, first settled in the 3rd century BC by the Celts, before becoming the Roman settlement of Singidunum.
Serbia follows a democratic parliamentary system.
Serbia is the largest raspberry exporter, accounting for one third of all the raspberries in the world.
Serbia is the only country outside of the Commonwealth of Independent States to have a free-trade agreement with Russia.

Serbia, officially the Republic of Serbia, is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Pannonian Plain and the central part of the Balkans, lying between the homonymous mountain range and Carpathian mountains in the east, Dinaric Alps in the west, and the Morava valley – an intersection of land routes which lead southwards, towards Salonica, and eastwards, towards Asia minor. Relative to its history, culture, and relatively small territory, Serbia is distinguished by its transitional character. The country is landlocked and borders Hungary to the north; Romania and Bulgaria to the east; Macedonia to the south; and Croatia, Bosnia, and Montenegro to the west; also, it borders Albania through the disputed region of Kosovo. The capital of Serbia, Belgrade, is among Europe‘s oldest cities, and one of the largest in East Central Europe.

Following their settlement in the Balkans, Serbs established several states in early Middle Ages. The Serbian Kingdom obtained recognition by Rome and Constantinople in 1217; country status was raised to Serbian Empire, in 1346. By the mid-16th century, the entire territory of modern-day Serbia was annexed by the Ottoman Empire, at times interrupted by the Habsburgs. In the early 19th century the Serbian revolution established the nation-state as the region’s first constitutional monarchy, which subsequently expanded its territory and pioneered the abolition of feudalism in the Balkans. Following disastrous losses in WWI, and subsequent unification of Habsburg crownland of Vojvodina and Syrmia with Serbia, the country co-founded Yugoslavia with other South Slavic peoples, which would exist in various formations until 2006. In February 2008 the parliament of UNMIK-administered Kosovo declared independence, with mixed responses from international governments.

Serbia is a member of the UN, Council of Europe, OSCE, PfP, BSEC and CEFTA. It is also an official candidate for membership in the European Union and a neutral country.

Source: Wikipedia