FACTS ABOUT SERBIA

AMAZING FACTS ABOUT SERBIA

1.                 The official name of Serbia is the “Republic of Serbia”.

2.                 Belgrade is the capital city of Serbia.

3.                 The total population of Serbia is 7,111,024.

4.                 The natives of Serbia are called Serbians.

5.                 The Serbian dinar (RSD) is the official currency of Serbia.

6.                 Serbia shares a border with Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

7.                 The tallest stone gates in Europe are located in Serbia. These gates, which are three in number, are called the Little Prerast, the Big Prerast, and the Dry Prerast. Contrary to what the names might suggest, Little Prerast is the biggest among the three. It measures 34 meters in height, 30 meters in length, and 15 meters in width.

8.                 Serbia has its own Grand Canyon. The Temštice river canyon is a canyon in Serbia that strikingly resembles the Grand Canyon of the Colorado because of its red cliffs.

9.                 Did you know the first vampire was not Dracula? Yes, Dracula was not the first. The first vampire in the world who was also extensively written about in the Austrian press in 1725 was Petar Blagojević. In fact, the word vampire was derived from the Serbian word, Vampir.

10.            We all know that the first video transmission between North America and Europe was done in 1963 because of the launch of the first telecommunications satellite. But what most people do not know is that the video featured a fresco from the Mileševa monastery in Serbia known as the White Angel. So you can safely say that Serbia took part in the breakthrough that was intercontinental telecommunication.

11.            Have you ever seen an insect dance? Well, if you have never seen it, then visit Serbia in June. This dance occurs during a phenomenon called the Blooming of the Tisza River. The Palingenia longicauda, which is an insect performs a romantic and melancholic dance of life and death as spectators watch in amazement for 12 minutes.

12.            Serbians too played a major role in the first moon landing. Though they might not have contributed financially, their’s was a contribution of manpower. Three Serbians took part in that project, which was known as Apollo. Also, a Serbian named Mihajlo Pipin is among the founders of National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) on 3 March 1915, which later became NASA.

13.            We all know that islands do not float but reach deep into the earth’s crust just like any other landform. But in Serbia, there are two lakes named Vlasina and Semeteš where islands float on the lakes’ surfaces.

14.            There are globes in Serbia that are filled with mystery. Firstly, nobody can tell for certain the origin of these globes named the Povlen globes. Scientists say that they originated from volcanic activity, while others claim that they were created by aliens. There are also those who claim that these globes posses healing and miraculous powers.

15.            Serbia is a landlocked country.

16.            Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, is one of the largest cities in Southeast Europe.

17.            Serbia formed a union with Montenegro in 1992, and split up again in 2006 to become independent.

18.            It is ranked 66^th in the world on the Human Development Index.

19.            The name “Serbia” comes from the Greek language, meaning “land of the Serbs.”

20.            Serbia has five national parks: Đerdap, Fruška Gora, Kopaonik, Šar-planina and Tara. You can explore more about these Serbian national parks here.

21.            Serbia is slightly smaller than South Carolina in the area.

22.            It has a total land boundary of 2,322 kilometers and no coastline, as it is a landlocked country.

23.            The lowest point, 35 m, is at the Danube and Timok Rivers, and the highest point is Midzor at 2,169 m.

24.            Serbia’s agricultural land area is approximately 58%, while forests cover 31.6% of its total land area.

25.            Earthquakes are quite common in Serbia, and the country gets devastated with these natural disasters multiple times a year. See more insights about earthquakes

26.            There are 0.95 males for every female in Serbia.

27.            The country spends 10.6% and 4.8% of its GDP on health-related expenditures and education, respectively.

28.            There are 122 municipalities in Serbia.

29.            There are 130 mobile and 40 landline connections for every 100 people.

30.            In Serbia, the internet is used by almost 50% of the population.

31.            For 500 years Serbia was ruled by the Ottoman Empire (Turks).

32.            The majority of Serbian last names end with ‘ic’.

33.            Serbia is ahead of the Swiss in clock making. They started doing this almost 600 years before the Swiss took over the industry heavily and made their name worldwide.

34.            Serbia became a member of the UNESCO Executive Board recently (2015).

35.            According to statistics, Serbians are known to be the most hospitable people in the world. They believe that they won’t gain any favor from the gods if they are not hospitable to their guests.

36.            Do you love raspberries? Serbia is the largest exporter of raspberries in the world. It contributes 30% of all raspberries to the international market.

37.            Serbians love the game of football.

38.            Ivo Andric is the only Nobel Prize winner from Serbia. He won the esteemed award for literature in 1961.

39.            Nikola Tesla, regarded as one of the most important inventors in history, was born on July 10, 1856 in Serbia (now Croatia). He died as a Serbian American (the name for United States of America citizens of Serb ethnic ancestry.) Tesla created great inventions and made discoveries in the disciplines of electric current and magnetism. His name is also used in the unit of magnetic induction (T). Read more about Nikola Tesla here.

40.            Some of the other renowned scientists from Serbia, apart from Nikola Tesla, include Milutin Milanković (mathematician, astronomer, climatologist, geophysicist, civil engineer), Mihajlo I. Pupin (physicist and physical chemist), Josif Pančić (botanist, doctor, famous lecturer), Mihailo Petrović Alas (mathematician and inventor), Mileva Marić (physicist) and Vuk Stefanović Karadžić (philologist and linguist). In spite of its turbulent history, the country has produced enormous talent in the field of science.

41.            Another famous person from Serbia from the field of sports is Novak Djokovic. He is a professional tennis player who holds the number-one ATP ranking at the time of this writing. He has won 12 Grand Slam singles titles to this day. You can visit his website here.

42.            Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, has been ranked the highest among party places in the world by Lonely Planet. Interested in Belgrade? Check out the Lonely Planet Belgrade travel page.

43.            A fifth of all Roman rulers were born in Serbia between the 3rd and 4th centuries.

44.            A donation of $5.4 million to help revive the economy of the Bosnian town of Srebrenica – site of a 1995 Massacre – was made recently by the Serbian government. This town had seen a massacre of 8000 Muslims by Serbians almost 20 years ago. And the government wants to make up for the loss of brotherhood by uplifting the town’s condition and of those who still inhabit the place.

45.            Serbia installed it’s first-ever wind power house at the ‘Kula wind farm.’ The country is aiming for 500 MW of wind capacity by 2020.

46.            Serbian people are very brave, which they proved back in 1918. At that time, their army broke the Thessaloniki front in a mere 18 days. Other armies, including the British, Italian, Greek and French, also attempted the task, but were not able to do it, even in months.

47.            Serbia Exports: automobiles, iron and steel, rubber, clothes, wheat, fruit and vegetables, nonferrous metals, electric appliances, metal products, weapons and ammunition.

48.            Serbia Imports: machinery and transport equipment, fuels and lubricants, manufactured goods, chemicals, food and live animals and raw materials.

49.            The internet country code for Serbia is .rs.