Serbia

Serbia, Balkan state. The Serbs were Slavs who settled the Balkans from the 600s onward. Stephen Nemanja (r.1168–96) created the first united kingdom, which became a great empire under Stephen Dushan (r.1331–55), but after the battle of Kosovo (1389) Serbia remained under Turkish rule until independence was restored in 1878. After World War I occupation by Austria, it became the core of the kingdom of Yugoslavia. After 1992 it formed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia together with Montenegro. Serbia (34,00 sq mi/88,060 sq km) is mountainous and mainly agricultural. Its capital is Belgrade.

See also: Yugoslavia, Federal Republic of.