The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes was formed in 1918; its name was
changed to Yugoslavia in 1929. Occupation by Nazi Germany in 1941 was resisted
by various partisan bands that fought themselves as well as the invaders. The
group headed by Marshal TITO took full control upon German expulsion in 1945.
Although communist in name, his new government successfully steered its own
path between the Warsaw Pact nations and the West for the next four and a half
decades. In the early 1990s, post-TITO Yugoslavia began to unravel along ethnic
lines: Slovenia, Croatia, and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia all
declared their independence in 1991; Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992.
The remaining republics of Serbia and Montenegro declared a new "Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia" in 1992 and, under President Slobodan MILOSEVIC, Serbia
led various military intervention efforts to unite Serbs in neighboring
republics into a "Greater Serbia." All of these efforts were ultimately
unsuccessful. In 1999, massive expulsions by Serbs of ethnic Albanians living in
the autonomous republic of Kosovo provoked an international response, including
the NATO bombing of Serbia and the stationing of NATO and Russian peacekeepers
in Kosovo.
Blatant attempts to manipulate presidential balloting in October of 2000 were
followed by massive nationwide demonstrations and strikes that saw the election
winner, Vojislav KOSTUNICA, replace MILOSEVIC.
|
Location: |
Southeastern Europe, bordering
the
Adriatic Sea, between Albania and
Bosnia and Herzegovina |
|
Geographic coordinates: |
44 00 N, 21 00 E |
|
Population: |
10,677,290
note: all data dealing with population
is subject to considerable
error because of
the dislocations caused by military action
and ethnic
cleansing (July 2001 est.) |
|
Nationality: |
noun: Serb(s); Montenegrin(s)
adjective: Serbian; Montenegrin |
|
Ethnic groups: |
Serb 62.6%, Albanian 16.5%,
Montenegrin 5%,
Hungarian 3.3%, other 12.6% (1991) |
|
Religions: |
Orthodox 65%, Muslim 19%, Roman
Catholic 4%,
Protestant 1%, other 11% |
|
Languages: |
Serbian 95%, Albanian 5%
|
|
Currency: |
new Yugoslav dinar (YUM); note - in Montenegro the euro is
legal tender; in Kosovo both the euro and the
Yugoslav dinar are legal (2002) |
|
Exchange rates: |
1 EURO to Yugoslav Dinar: 71.52413 (April 2004) |
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