Serbia, officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: Republika Srbija), is a landlocked country in Central and Southeastern Europe, covering the central part of the Balkan Peninsula and the southern part of the Pannonian Plain . It is bordered by Hungary to the north; Romania and Bulgaria to the east; Albania and the Republic of Macedonia to the south; and Montenegro , Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to the west. The capital is Belgrade.

Serbs settled the region by 630 AD, having been invited by the Byzantine emperor Heraclius. Serbs were fully converted to Christianity by 865 AD. They formed four distinct independent kingdoms by the 14th century — in Dioclea, Rascia, Syrmia and Bosnia. The medieval Serbian Kingdom , later the Serbian Empire of >Stefan Dušan , rose from Byzantine, Bulgarian and Hungarian patronage to become a threat to the very existence of Constantinople itself before succumbing to the Ottoman Empire . Another shortlasting incarnation of the Serbian Empire was the one of Emperor Jovan Nenad in 16th-century Vojvodina , however the state also collapsed to the Ottoman Empire , before finally passing to the Habsburg Empire , where it would remain for centuries to come. Belgrade had indured and repelled several Ottoman invasions and was the last major Balkan city to surrender in 1521, opening the gates of Central Europe - Vojvodina , Hungary and Vienna .

Despite three Austrian occupations and numerous rebellions, 2/3rds of the modern state had remained under Ottoman occupation from the 15th century to the uprisings against Turkish occupation in 1804. Two consequent national revolutions have re-established Serbia (in 1815) as a semi-independent prinicipality, which has expelled the Ottomans in 1867, de facto securing its sovereignty. Formal independence was internationally recognised at the Congress of Berlin in 1878. Northern third of the country, Vojvodina , has endured a century long Ottoman occupation before passing to Habsburg Empire in the 17th century, only to proclaim independence from Austria-Hungary in 1918.

Victorious in Balkan wars and both World Wars, for nearly a century Serbia was backbone of various South Slavic states , including the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes from 1918 to 1941 (renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929), the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1992, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1992 to 2003, and the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro from 2003 to 2006. After Montenegro narrowly voted for independence from the State Union, Serbia officially proclaimed its independence on June 7 , 2006 , as the successor state to the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.

Tourism in Serbia is mostly based in mountains and villages. The most famous mountain resorts are Zlatibor , Kopaonik , and the Tara . There also are a lot of spas in Serbia, one the biggest of which is the Vrnjacka Banja . There is also significant tourism in Belgrade and Novi Sad (the capital of the Vojvodina province), as well to the Exit Festival and the Guca trumpet festival.

• 3-Letter abbreviation: SRB
• 2-Letter abbreviation: RS
• Country common name: Serbia
• Country official name: Republic of Serbia
• Continent: Europe
• Capital: Belgrade
• Other major cities: Novi Sad, Nish, Kragujevac, Prishtina, Subotica
• Currency: New Yugoslav dinar
• Official languages: Serbian
• Motto: "Only Unity Saves the Serbs."

• Surface area: 88,361  km²
• Highest point: Daravica 2,656 m
• Neighbouring countries: Albania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania
• Neighbouring seas and oceans: None

• Population (in millions): 10.10
• Gross domestic product (GDP) per inhabitant (in US dollars): 4,400
• Density (inhabitants per km²): 104.15
• Average age (in years): 36.2
• Life expectancy at birth (in years): 73.97

• Country international telephone code: + 381
• Internet code: .rs, .yu
• Number of Internet users: 1.4 million (2006)