Serbia
Updated: Sep 16, 2022
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Country Name
Serbia or officially the Republic of Serbia.
Location
Serbia is a landlocked country situated at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe in the southern Pannonian Plain and the central Balkans.
It borders Hungary to the north, Romania to the northeast, Bulgaria
to the southeast, North Macedonia to the south, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to the west, and Montenegro to the southwest.
The country claims a border with Albania through the disputed territory of Kosovo.
Capital
Belgrade.
Reason for Naming
The origin of the name Serbia is unclear.
Historically, authors have mentioned the Serbs and the Sorbs of eastern Germany in a variety of ways: Cervetiis (Servetiis), Suurbi, Sorabi, Soraborum, Sorabos, Surpe, Sorabici, Sorabiet, etc These authors used these names to refer to Serbs and Sorbs in areas where their historical and current presence is not uncertain (notably in the Balkans and Lusatia).
There exist two prevailing theories on the origin of the ethnonym Serb, one from the Proto-Slavic language with an appellative meaning of a "family kinship" and "alliance", while another from an Iranian-Sarmatian language with various meanings.
Some scholars based on the claim of Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus suggest that name Serb comes from the Latin word servus, "servant" or "slave".
Flag
The first use of the current flag design was in 2004. The Flag of Serbia was adopted in 2010.
The flag is composed of traditional Pan-Slavic tricolor of red, blue, and white stripes and the coat of arms, these colors are said to represent revolutionary ideas. However, the color sequence is reversed compared to the other Slavic flags, the red color represents the bloodshed in the fight for freedom, the blue color represents the Serbian sky, and the white color represents light.
On the left side of the flag, there is a national coat of arms, which describes
a white double-headed eagle holding a red shield placed on a red background. Above the head of the eagle, a crown inspired by the crown of Serbian tsars is situated.
The field of the coat of arms symbolizes the state of Serbia while the white eagle and fleur-de-lis are symbols of the dynasty.
The royal crown above the eagle was inspired by Serbia’s crown of stars. A small red shield in the design is divided into four parts with a Cyrillic C in each corner. These represent Samo Sloga Serbina Spasava, which translates to, “Only Unity Will Save The the Serbs.”
*Flag facts
- The flags of Russia, Slovenia, Slovakia, and the flag of Serbia are almost identical to one another, these flags comprise three horizontal stripes of red, blue, and white, but the difference is in the coat of arms also Russian flag didn't contain any symbols while the color of Serbian flag is upside down.
Language
Serbian is the official language of Serbia.
Serbian is the most widely spoken language in Serbia, The language serves as the native language of about 88% of the country’s population. It is the only European language to be written using two distinct scripts. Serbian can be written using both Latin and Cyrillic alphabets. The Constitution of Serbia declares the Serbian Cyrillic as the official script of the nation while the Latin script is described as a “script in official use.”
Several minority languages are officially recognized in Serbia. These languages are Bosnian, Croatian, Slovak, Rusyn, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Albanian, and Romanian.
In Serbia, these minority languages are granted official status in the municipalities or cities where more than 15% of the population speak these languages.
English is the most popular foreign language spoken in Serbia. English classes are offered to students in a large number of schools across the country.
Religion
Serbia is a predominantly Christian country, particularly Orthodox Christian (85%), while Roman Catholicism (6%) is the second most common Christian denomination.
About 1% of Serbia’s inhabitants are Protestant, while Muslims make up some 3% of the population people making it the nation’s third-largest religion in Serbia. Serbia also has a small Jewish population standing at only 578 people.
Currency
Serbian dinar (RSD).
