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Country Guide > Europe > Serbia and Montenegro | |
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General Information Note As of February 2003, the Yugoslav parliament ceased to be and the Union of Serbia & Montenegro was voted into existence. The Union was agreed in 2002 and will remain unchanged for at least three years, after which time the individual states can decide whether to stay united or to separate. At the time of writing, all information is correct and up-to-date, but it may be subject to quick change and new events may alter various aspects of any of the following sections. All information should be double-checked with an official source. Area Serbia & Montenegro comprises Serbia (including the provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina) with 88,361 sq km (39,449 sq miles) and Montenegro with 13,812 sq km (5331 sq miles). These two were respectively the largest and smallest of the republics which made up the former Yugoslavia. The country officially covers 102,173 sq km (39,448 sq miles), or 40 per cent of the territory of the former federation (255,804 sq km/98,766 sq miles). Population Together, Serbia and Montenegro have an estimated total population of 10,664,300 (official estimate 2002). Population Density 104.4 per sq km. Capital 1,687,000 (UN estimate 2001; including suburbs). Belgrade is the capital of Serbia & Montenegro. Geography Roughly rectangular in shape and on a major European communications axis north–west and south–east, Serbia & Montenegro borders Hungary to the north, Romania to the northeast, Bulgaria to the southeast, the Kosovo region and Albania to the south, Bosnia & Herzegovina to the west and Croatia to the northwest. The province of Kosovo, now administered by the UN, is in the south, and shares borders with Macedonia (Former Yugoslav Republic of) and Albania. Serbia is dominated by the flat, fertile farmland of the Danube and Tisza valleys. The scenery varies from rich Alpine valleys, vast fertile plains and rolling green hills to bare, rocky gorges as much as 1140m (3800ft) deep, thick forests and gaunt limestone mountain regions. Belgrade, the capital, lies on the Danube. Montenegro is a small mountainous region on the Adriatic coast north of Albania, bordering Bosnia & Herzegovina to the west. Its small Adriatic coastline comprises the main ports of Bar and those in the Gulf of Kotor. Government Union of States since February 2003 (previously Federal Republic since 1992). First gained independence as the ‘Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes’ in 1918 from the Austro-Hungarian Empire; renamed Yugoslavia in 1929. Heads of State: Union of Serbia and Montenegro: President Svetozar Marovic since 2003; Serbia: President: Boris Tadic since 2004; Montenegro: President Filip Vujanovic since 2002. Heads of Government: Union of Serbia and Montenegro: Prime Minister Dragisa Pesic since 2001; Serbia: Prime Minister: Vojislav Kostunica since 2004; Montenegro: Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic since 2003. The Kosovo region is now administered by the UN. Language Serbian, which uses the Cyrillic script, Albanian and Hungarian. Religion Majority Eastern Orthodox Serbs, with a large Muslim ethnic Albanian minority (especially in the province of Kosovo), a Roman Catholic ethnic Serbian minority (mainly located in the province of Vojvodina) and a small Jewish community. Time GMT + 1 (GMT + 2 from last Sunday in March to Saturday before last Sunday in October). Electricity 220 volts AC, 50Hz. Communications Telephone Telephone: IDD is available. Country code: 381. Outgoing international code: 99. Mobile telephone GSM 900/1800 networks provide coverage in main towns. Network operators are Mobtel (website: www.mobtel.com), Monet (website: www.monetcg.com), Promonte (website: www.promonte.com) and Telekom Srbija (website: www.telekom.yu). Fax Transmissions are available to and from Western Europe. Internet ISPs include Infosky (website: www.infosky.net). Internet cafes can be found in the main urban centres. Post Postal services within Serbia and Montenegro are reasonably good. Press The main local newspapers and magazines, in decreasing order of circulation (and all based in Belgrade), are Vecernje Novosti, Blic and Politika. Radio BBC World Service (website: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice) and Voice of America (website: www.voa.gov) can be received. From time to time the frequencies change and the most up-to-date can be found online. Note CNN is also available via satellite (Astra) in a number of Belgrade and Montenegrin (Adriatic Coast) hotels. |