.rs Serbia Country Information Serbia, officially the Republic of Serbia, is a landlocked country in Central and Southeastern Europe, covering the southern part of the Pannonian Plain and the central part of the Balkan Peninsula. Serbia is bordered by Hungary to the north; Romania and Bulgaria to the east; the Republic of Macedonia and Albania to the south; and Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro to the west. The capital is Belgrade.
For centuries, shaped at cultural boundaries between East and West, a powerful medieval Kingdom - later renamed Serbian Empire - occupied much of the Balkans. The modern state of Serbia emerged in 1817 following the Serbian revolution. Later, it expanded its territory further south to include Kosovo and the regions of Raka and Vardar Macedonia. Formerly an autonomous Habsburg crownland, Vojvodina proclaimed its secession from Austria-Hungary on November 25, 1918 to unite with Serbia, preceded by the Syrmia region. The current borders of the country were established following the end of World War II, when Serbia became a federal unit within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Serbia became an independent state again in 2006, after Montenegro left the union which was formed after the dissolution of Yugoslavia in 1990s.
In 1999 Kosovo was placed under interim UN administration pursuant to UN Resolution 1244. In February 2008 the parliament of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia. Serbia's government, as well as the UN Security Council, have not recognised Kosovo's independence. The response from the international community has been mixed. In April 2008 Serbia was offered to enter the intensified dialogue programme with NATO despite the diplomatic rift with the Alliance over Kosovo. Serbia is located in Europe, on the Balkan peninsula and in the Pannonian Plain. It is placed at the crossroads between Central, Southern and Eastern Europe. The Danube river (2850 km) flows through the northern third of the country; it is 588 km long and forms the border with Croatia and part of Romania, alongside the Wallachian Plain in the east. The Sava river forms the southern border of the Vojvodina province, flows into the Danube in central Belgrade, and bypasses the hills of the Fruka Gora in the west. Sixty kilometers to the northeast of Belgrade, the Tisa river flows into the Danube and ends its 1350 km long journey from Ukraine, and the partially navigable Timi? River (60 km/350 km) flows into the Danube near Pan?evo. The Begej river (254 km) flows into Tisa near Titel. All five rivers are navigable, connecting the country with Northern and Western Europe (through the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal North Sea route), to Eastern Europe (via the Tisa, Timi?, Begej and Danube Black sea routes) and to Southern Europe (via the Sava river).
The eastern border of the country is determined by the Carpathian Mountain range, which runs through the whole of Central Europe. The Southern Carpathians meet the Balkan Mountains, following the course of Velika Morava, a 500 km long (partially navigable) river. Midor peak is the highest point in eastern Serbia at 2156 m. In the southeast, the Balkan Mountains meet the Rhodope Mountains, connecting the country with Greece.
The ar Mountain of Kosovo form the border with Albania, with one of the highest peaks in the region, Djeravica (2656 m). Dinaric Alps of Serbia follow the flow of the Drina river (at 350 km navigable for smaller vessels only) overlooking the Dinaric peaks on the other side of the shore in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Over one quarter of Serbia's overall landmass (27%) is covered by forest.
Climate
The Serbian climate varies between a continental climate in the north, with cold winters, and hot, humid summers with well distributed rainfall patterns, and a more Adriatic climate in the south with hot, dry summers and autumns and relatively cold winters with heavy inland snowfall. Differences in elevation, proximity to the Adriatic sea and large river basins, as well as the exposure to the winds account for climate differences.
Vojvodina possesses typical continental climate, with air masses from Northern and Western Europe which shape its climatic profile. South and Southwest Serbia is subject to Mediterranean influences, however the Dinaric Alps and other mountain ranges contribute cooling down the biggest part of warm air masses. Winters are quite harsh in Sandak because of the mountains which encircle that plateau.
Average annual air temperature for the period 196190 for the area with the altitude of up to 300 m amounts to 10.9 °C. The areas with the altitudes of 300 to 500 m have average annual temperature of around 10.0 °C, and over 1000 m of altitude around 6.0 °C.
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