Geography
According to Allcitycodes, Serbia is located in the Balkans, a historical and geographical region in Southeast Europe. It shares borders with Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Romania. There is no exit to the sea. The Danube River provides navigation to the interior of Europe and the Black Sea.
The terrain of Serbia is spread over the rich and fertile plains of the northern Vojvodina region, limestone areas and basins in the east, and ancient mountains and hills in the southeast. The Danube River dominates the north. A tributary, the Morava River flows through the more mountainous regions of the south.
The Serbian climate varies between a boreal continental climate with cold winters and hot and humid summers, with well distributed rainfall, and a more Adriatic climate in the south, with hot and dry summers, and relatively cold autumns and winters with heavy snowfall in the interior. .
Fauna
The abundance of rivers, forests and mountainous areas make the fauna of Serbia uniquely rich. Protected species found in their mountainous habitats include deer, wolf, European lynx, and common fox. Other mammals present in the country are the European hare, the wild boar, the chamois and the mouflon. In total, there are 90 species of mammals and about 110 species of freshwater fish., including 14 subspecies found only in the region and another 7 that appear on the IUCN Red List. There are also 70 species of reptiles in Serbia. The Carska Bara marsh area in Vojvodina is a Ramsar Site declared nature reserve and is listed among UNESCO’s High Ecological Value Areas.
But the greatest fauna wealth of Serbia is ornithological. The Balkan region is one of the most important bird watching spots in Europe. There are 379 cataloged species, five of them protected: the imperial eagle, the great bustard, the wild duck of Madagascar, the lesser kestrel and the crex crex. Many of these birds find a suitable habitat for reproduction in the country in summer, while others arrive from the north in winter. Among the breeding birds, there are 103 that are considered of interest by the European Conservation Council. Serbia has a significant proportion of the European bird populations as the Saker, the bittern, the heron, the autillo, the median peak and Syrian peak.
Flora
Despite being a relatively small country, there is an unusually high number of species in Serbia, some of which are endemic. High mountain areas, coniferous forest, sub-Mediterranean forest, Mediterranean mountain vegetation, steppe and wooded steppe are usually considered as main habitats.
Between Serbia and Montenegro they host 4,300 species of plants, which represents 2% of the world total, of which 400 are endemic. These include two varieties of pine, munika and molika, and one of fir, omorika, discovered in the 20th century. Many of the wild plants are valued for their medicinal properties. The most abundant tree species are oak, elm, maple, walnut, chestnut, ash, willow, and linden.
Demography
Serbia is populated mostly by Serbs. Significant minorities include Albanians (majority in the province of Kosovo-Metohija, Hungarians, Bosnians, Gypsies, Croats, Slovaks, Bulgarians, Romanians, etc. Serbia is made up of three territories: the province of Kosovo and Metohija, the province of Vojvodina and Central Serbia The two provinces are ethnically very heterogeneous, the result of the country’s historical division between the Muslim Ottoman Empire in the south and the Catholic Christian Austro-Hungarian Empire in the north.
The northern province of Vojvodina is the most developed part of the country in economic terms. Along with the former Yugoslav republics of Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina, Vojvodina was under the administration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the First World War. Vojvodina is one of the most ethnically heterogeneous territories in Europe, with more than 25 different national communities. According to the 2002 census, the province has a population of around two million residents, of which 65% declare themselves Serbs, 14.3% Hungarian, 2.79% Slovak, 2.78% Croatian, 2.45% Yugoslavs, 1.75% Montenegrins, 1.50% Romanians, 1.43% Gypsies, 0.97% Bunjevci, 0.77% Ruthenians, 0.58% Macedonians, 0.50% Se they ascribe to regional affiliations and 0.23% Ukrainians. The rest is shared between Albanians, Slovenians, Germans, Poles, Chinese, etc.
Population by provinces
According to 2006 estimates Serbia (total): 10,717,314 residents Vojvodina: 2,116,725 Central Serbia: 5,479,686 Kosovo and Metohija: 1,800,000 Estimates of 1.6 million Serbs in the former Yugoslavian republics outside of Serbia, and more than 1 million in other countries (including citizens of Serbian origin), mainly in Germany, Austria and the United States.
Cities
These are the largest cities in Serbia (those with more than 100,000 residents), according to 2006 data. For Kosovo and Metohija these are estimates made by UNMIK.
- Belgrade: 1,119,642 h (1,576,124 in the metropolitan area).
- Novi Sad: 216,583 hours (299,294 in the metropolitan area).
- Priština: 200,000 h (2002 estimate).
- Niš: 173,724 h (235,159 in the metropolitan area).
- Kragujevac: 146,373 h (175,802 in the metropolitan area).
- Prizren: 121,000 h (2002 estimate).
- Subotica: 99,981 h (148,401 in the metropolitan area).
- Leskovac: 64,500 hours (162,000 in the metropolitan area).
