Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia (Serbo-Croatian, Albanian, Bosnian, Croatian, Macedonian, Montenegrin, Serbian, Slovene: Jugoslavija; Cyrillic script: Југославија; literally in English: "South Slavia" or "Land of the South Slavs") is a term that describes three political entities that existed successively on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe, during most of the 20th century.

The first country to be known by this name was the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, which before 3 October 1929 was known as the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. It was established on 1 December 1918 by the union of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs and the Kingdom of Serbia (to which the Kingdom of Montenegro was annexed on 13 November 1918, and the Conference of Ambassadors in Paris gave international recognition to the union on 13 July 1922). The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was invaded by the Axis powers in 1941, and because of the events that followed, was officially abolished in 1943 and 1945.

The second country with this name was the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia, proclaimed in 1943 by the Yugoslav Partisans resistance movement in World War II. It was renamed to the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia in 1946, when a communist government was established. In 1963, it was renamed again to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). This was the largest Yugoslav state, as Istria and Rijeka were added to the new Yugoslavia after the end of World War II. The constituent eight Socialist Republics and Socialist Autonomous Provinces that made up the country, were: SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SR Croatia, SR Macedonia, SR Montenegro, SR Slovenia and SR Serbia (including the autonomous provinces of SAP Vojvodina and SAP Kosovo which were also equal members of the federation). Starting in 1991, the SFRY disintegrated in the Yugoslav Wars which followed the secession of most of the country's constituent entities.

The last country to bear the name was the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) established on March 27, 1992. It was a federation on the territory of the two remaining (non-secessionist) republics of Montenegro and Serbia (including the autonomous provinces of Vojvodina and Kosovo). In reallity, Yugoslavia fell with the making of the FRY. On February 4, 2003, it was renamed to the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, and officially abolished the name "Yugoslavia". On June 3 and June 5, 2006 respectively, Montenegro and Serbia declared independence, thereby ending the Yugoslav state. Kosovo declared independence in 2008. Its statehood is, however, still disputed.