Serbia

Coordinates: 44°N 21°E / 44°N 21°E / 44; 21

Serbia (ⁱ/ˈsɜːrbiə/, Serbian: Србија / Srbija, IPA: [sř̩bija]), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: Република Србија / Republika Srbija), is a sovereign state situated at the crossroads between Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Pannonian Plain and the central Balkans. Serbia 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; it also claims a border with Albania through the disputed territory of Kosovo. The capital of Serbia, Belgrade, is one of the largest cities in Southeast Europe. Serbia numbers around 7 million residents.

Following the Slavic migrations to the Balkans from the 6th century onwards, Serbs established several states in the early Middle Ages. The Serbian Kingdom obtained recognition by Rome and Constantinople in 1217; it reached its peak in 1346 as a relatively short-lived Serbian Empire. 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. Following disastrous casualties in World War I, and subsequent unification of Habsburg crownland of Vojvodina with Serbia, the country co-founded Yugoslavia with other South Slavic peoples, which would exist in various political formations until the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s, which had devastating effects for the region. As a result, Serbia formed a union with Montenegro in 1992, which broke apart in 2006, when Serbia again became an independent country. In 2008 the parliament of Kosovo, Serbia's southern province with an Albanian ethnic majority, declared independence, with mixed responses from the international community.

Belgrade

Belgrade (/ˈbɛlɡreɪd/; Serbian: Beograd / Београд; [beǒɡrad]; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. Its name translates to "White city". The city has a population of 1.23 million, while over 1.65 million people live within city limits .

One of the most important prehistoric cultures of Europe, the Vinča culture, evolved within the Belgrade area in the 6th millennium BC. In antiquity, Thraco-Dacians inhabited the region, and after 279 BC Celts conquered the city, naming it Singidūn. It was conquered by the Romans during the reign of Augustus, and awarded city rights in the mid-2nd century. It was settled by the Slavs in the 520s, and changed hands several times between the Byzantine Empire, Frankish Empire, Bulgarian Empire and Kingdom of Hungary before it became the capital of Serbian king Stephen Dragutin (1282–1316). In 1521, Belgrade was conquered by the Ottoman Empire and became the seat of the Sanjak of Smederevo. It frequently passed from Ottoman to Habsburg rule, which saw the destruction of most of the city during the Austro-Ottoman wars. Belgrade was again named the capital of Serbia in 1841. Northern Belgrade remained the southernmost Habsburg post until 1918, when the city was reunited. As a strategic location, the city was battled over in 115 wars and razed to the ground 44 times. Belgrade was the capital of Yugoslavia (in various forms of governments) from its creation in 1918, to its final dissolution in 2006.

Novi Pazar

Novi Pazar (Serbian Cyrillic: Нови Пазар, pronounced [nɔ̂v̞iː pǎzaːr]) is a city located in southwest Serbia, in the Raška District. Novi Pazar is the cultural center of the Bosniaks in Serbia and the historical region of Sandžak. A multicultural area of Muslims and Orthodox Christians, many monuments of both religions, like the Altun-Alem Mosque and the Church of St. Apostles Peter and Paul, are found in the region. As of the 2011 census, the population of the municipal area of Novi Pazar was 125 000, while the city itself had a population of 68,749.

Name

Novi Pazar means "new marketplace", which in turn was derived from Slavic placename Trgovište 'market', found near the modern city. During the Ottoman rule, it was known as Yeni Pazar (meaning "new market" in Turkish), which is derived from bazaar (from Persian بازار (bāzār), meaning "market"; from Middle Persian بهاچار (bahā-chār), meaning "place of prices").

Geography

Novi Pazar is located in the valleys of the Jošanica, Raška, Deževska, and Ljudska rivers at the elevation of 496m, in southeast Sandžak (Raška) region. The city is surrounded by Golija and Rogozna mountains; Pešter plateau lies southeast from the city. The total area of the municipality is 742 km². It contains over 100 settlements, mostly small and spread over hills and mountains surrounding the city. The largest surrounding village is Mur with over 3000 residents.

Serbian

Serbian may refer to:

See also

6th millennium

The sixth millennium of the Gregorian calendar will begin on January 1, 5001, and end on December 31, 6000. It will be the sixth millennium in the Anno Domini or Common Era.

Astronomical events

Science predictions

Science fiction