Serbia

Serbia (Serbian: Србија, Srbija), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: Република Србија, Republika Srbija), is a country located in both Central and Southeastern Europe. Its territory covers southern part of the Pannonian Plain and central part of the Balkans. Serbia borders 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. Belgrade is the capital of Serbia and the largest city.

After the Slavic settlement on the Balkans, Serbs formed a medieval kingdom, which was torn apart by Ottoman expansion in 16th century. Serbia regained independence from the Ottoman Empire in a 19-th century revolution and subsequently expanded its territory. After the World War I, it united with other South Slavic peoples into the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Its current borders were settled after World War II, when it became a federal unit within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. After its dissolution in a series of wars in the 1990s, Serbia once again became an independent state in 2006, following the breakup of short-lived union with Montenegro.

In February 2008, the parliament of Kosovo declared independence from Serbia after turmoil of 1990s, ten years of UN administration and unsettled negotiations on its final status. The response from the international community has been mixed. Serbia still regards Kosovo as its southern province governed by the UN.

Serbia is a member of the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and the Council of Europe which it presided over in 2007. It is also a potential candidate for membership in the European Union.