Serbia is settled in the middle of Balkan Peninsula, in south-eastern Europe covering area of 88,361 km² with population of 9,396,411 (2002) including Kosovo. It is also known as a crossroad of Europe. Ancient Roman and modern-time roads that lead through the country are connecting east and west, north and south. Because it’s geo-strategic position, this part of Europe was under attack of great European and Asian tribes and nations. That is the reason why Serbia today hosts rich and diverse cultural and historic heritage which atract hundreds of thousand visitors every year.
Belgrade is a capital of Serbia situated at confluence of Sava and Danube rivers. With population of 1,576,124 it is political, cultural, administrative, economy and university center of the country. After democratic changes, Belgrade has become popular travel destination due to its crazy night life, never-ending parties, concerts and clubbing…
Serbia covers two geographical areas. Pannonian Basin lies north from Sava and Danube rivers. This bottom of the ancient Pannonian see today is the most fertile part of the country, with extensive agriculture and agronomy. Organic food production and village recovery programs have become the base of tourism development in this part of the country. Two low mountains dominate in this part of country: Fruška Gora and Vršačke Planine, famous for its old vineyards and traditional production of quality wines.
Mountainous Balkan Peninsula with its high mountains, gorges and river valleys is situated south of Sava and Danube rivers. Central part of Serbia, south of Belgrade known as Šumadija, covered with tick forest in the past, today is famous for it’s fruit planting and rakia (fruit brandy) production. Village and rural tourism is very popular. Here visitors can participate in everyday domestic activities, harvest and fruit picking, preparing healthy food and learning handcraft from local people. Mt. Kopaonik, with its peaks over 2000 m high is most popular ski resort in Serbia. Other mountains like Zlatibor, Tra, Zlatar i Stara Planina, each for itself, represent treasury of natural beauties attract tourists as mountain and heath tourism destinations. Serbia is rich in geo-thermal springs what makes excellent basis for spa and wellness programs. Most popular spa is Vrnjačka banja (Vrnjačka Spa), famous for its high quality healing mineral water and preserved nature.
To preserve the nature of the country, Serbia has established six national parks in the second half of 20th century which became very popular among many travelers.
Serbia is country with many rivers. Danube River connects Serbia with the Rhine-Main-Danube system, Black and North seas. Many cruise ships brings tourists every day from all over the world and make stops at Belgrade and Novi Sad for sightseeing tours and excursions. Sava, Morava, Drina, Ibar, Tisa, Tamiš, Timok, Begej, Nišava are regional rivers of great inportance for local population and economy. Those rivers are resource for nautical tourism, barging, fishing, water sports, swimming and recreation. Also, there are many lakes in Serbia, some of them are natural and some are men made river accumulations, cut-off meanders and sand pits. Just like rivers, lakes are also popular for swimming, boating, water sports and fishing.
Serbia is country of all it’s citizens. Serbian majority is 82.86% of the population, Hungarians 3.91%, Bosniaks 1.82%, followed by Romas 1.44 %, Croats 0.94%, Albanians 0.82%, Slovaks 0.79%, Vlachs 0.53%, Romanians 0.46%, Bulgarians 0.27%. There are 37 nationalities which is result of turbulent historic past.
Official language is Serbian (part of Slavic group of languages) with Cyrillic alphabet. Another official alphabet is Latin, commonly used allover the country on the traffic, information and street signs. Languages of minorities are used at the parts of the country where those communities live. English as a foreign language is spoken mostly by younger and mid-age population! Although, Serbia is a small country there are many dialects and pronunciation so don’t be surprised if, traveling through Serbia, find people speaking some strange and funny kind of language.
Generally most of Serbian population belong to Serbian Orthodox religion (part of Eastern Christianity). However, not so many of them goes to church every Sunday and for the holidays. Beside Serbian, Romanian, Bulgarian and part of the Roma minorities are Orthodox too. There are also Roman Catholic, Protestant, Islamic and Jewish communities. Some numbers of young people consider themselves as atheists. In remote parts of eastern Serbia there are traces of pagan inheritance and witchcraft.
Sexual orientation has equal rights officially. But when it comes to real life, things are little bit different. Good advice: If you are homosexual don’t show it publicly, you may get insult and even attacked by conservatives. There are some Gay clubs in Belgrade and Novi Sad where you can relax.
