Geography and History of Serbia

Geography of Serbia

Officially known as the Republic of Serbia, it is a country located at the intersection of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Pannonian Plain and the central part of the Balkans.

Relative to its small size, history and culture, Serbia is a very diverse country distinguished by a transitional character. Serbia is landlocked and share its borders with 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 the largest cities in East-Central Europe. Serbia lies between latitudes 41° and 47° N, and longitudes 18° and 23° E. Some of the prominent topographical features of Serbia are: the Pannonian Plain (mainly Vojvodina) and river lowlands, the Balkan and Carpathian Mountains, the Dinaric Alps, along with hillside streching across central part of Serbia.

The climate of Serbia is influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea and the landmass of Eurasia. In the northern part of Serbia, the climate is more continental, with cold winters, and hot, humid summers with well distributed rainfall patterns. In the southern part of Serbia, summers and autumns are drier, and winters are relatively cold, with heavy inland snowfall in the mountains.

History of Serbia

The history of Serbia states that the Serbs settled in the country around the 6th century. The Serbs constantly fought with their neighbors like the Greeks and Bulgarians.

Stephen Nemanja was noted as the great “zhupan” of Serbia, sometime in 1159 and his dynasty ruled the country for 200 years. In those days Serbia was a powerful empire. After 1355, the empire fell down paving the way for the Ottoman or Turkish onslaughts. The battle of Kosovo is a prominent chapter in Serbia history. The Turkish occupation of the country had lasted for centuries and in those times the relics of the Dusan Empire were conserved by the Serbian Orthodox Church.

At a point of time Russia had an alliance with Serbia to fight against the Turks. In 1908, the Serbs formed the Balkan League composed of Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Greece, to fight against Turkey, Austria and Hungary. In the Second Balkan War, Serbia had turned against and defeated Bulgaria that had been a previous ally. There was also a link between the Serbia history and World War I. According to the Serbia history the country is now a free nation and functions as a republican state.