Serbia and Montenegro

From Imakoopedia

Serbia and Montenegro is a country that was part of Yugoslavia. It is in the Balkans, in Eastern Europe. It has a coastline on the Adriatic Sea in the southwest, and i surrounded by Albania to the south, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the west, Bulgaria to the southeast, Croatia to the northwest and southwest, Hungary to the north, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the south, Romania to the northeast.

It controls one of the major land routes from Western Europe to Turkey and the Near East; strategic location along the Adriatic coast.

Table of contents

1 Regions 2 Cities 2.1 Ports and harbors 3 Other destinations 4 Understand 4.1 Climate 4.2 Terrain 4.3 History 5 Get in 5.1 By plane 5.2 By train 5.3 By car 5.4 By bus 5.5 By boat 6 Get around 7 Talk 8 Buy 9 Eat 10 Drink 11 Sleep 12 Learn 13 Work 14 Stay safe 15 Stay healthy 15.1 Health warnings: depleted uranium 16 Respect 17 Contact 18 External links 19 Geography 20 People 21 Government 22 Economy 23 Communications 24 Transportation 25 Military 26 Transnational Issues

Regions

• Central Serbia
• Kosovo
• Montenegro
• Vojvodina

Administrative divisions 

2 republics (republike, singular - republika); and 2 nominally autonomous provinces* (autonomn pokrajine, singular - autonomna pokrajina); Kosovo*, Montenegro, Serbia, Vojvodina*

Cities

• Belgrade - Capital

Ports and harbors

• Bar
• Kotor
• Novi Sad
• Pancevo
• Tivat
• Zelenika

Other destinations

Understand

Climate

In the north, continental climate (cold winters and hot, humid summers with well distributed rainfall); central portion, continental and Mediterranean climate; to the south, Adriatic climate along the coast, hot, dry summers and autumns and relatively cold winters with heavy snowfall inland

Terrain

Extremely varied; to the north, rich fertile plains; to the east, limestone ranges and basins; to the southeast, ancient mountains and hills; to the southwest, extremely high shoreline with no islands off the coast. A natural hazard is destructive earthquakes.

Highest point 

Đaravica 2,656 m

History

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 paramilitary 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, 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" (FRY) 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 FRY forces and Serb paramilitaries of ethnic Albanians living in Kosovo provoked an international response, including the NATO bombing of Serbia and the stationing of NATO and Russian peacekeepers in Kosovo. Federal elections in the fall of 2000, brought about the ouster of MILOSEVIC and installed Vojislav KOSTUNICA as president. The arrest of MILOSEVIC in 2001 allowed for his subsequent transfer to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in the Hague to be tried for crimes against humanity. In 2001, the country's suspension was lifted, and it was once more accepted into UN organizations under the name of Yugoslavia. Kosovo has been governed by the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) since June 1999, under the authority of UN Security Council Resolution 1244. In 2002, the Serbian and Montenegran components of Yugoslavia began negotiations to forge a looser relationship. These talks became a reality in February 2003 when lawmakers restructured the country into a loose federation of two republics called Serbia and Montenegro. An agreement was also reached to hold a referendum in each republic in three years on full independence.

Independence 

4 February 2003 (when changed from Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to State Union of Serbia and Montenegro)

National holiday

• Serbia : 15 February - Start of First Serbian Uprising 1804
• Montenegro: 13 July - Uprising against German occupation 1941

Constitution 

4 February 2003

Get in

Getting into Serbia and Montenegro does not constitute a problem for most European nationals. You don't need to obtain a visa for entering Serbia and Montenegro.

By plane

If you want go by taxi to the city center of Belgrade, don't take one of the taxis that are offered by men in and around the airport. They are much too expensive. Just take one that arrives with new travellers. They will be happy if they don't have to go back on their own. The average trip is between 550 and 800 Dinars.

Make sure that the taximeter is switched on. Tarif 1 is the correct one Monday to Saturday from morning till 10 a.am.

You can change money at the airport.

By train

By car

Be sure your Green Card has an uncancelled "YU" or "SCG" box.

By bus

By boat

Get around

Talk

Languages 

Serbian 95%, Albanian 5%

Buy

Eat

Drink

Sleep

Learn

Work

Stay safe

Stay healthy

Health warnings: depleted uranium

Zones where there is still Wikipedia:depleted uranium from the 1999 war include places near Serbia's southern boundary with Kosovo, near the towns Presevo, Bujanovac, and Vranje, as well as in Montenegro [1] (http://eagle.westnet.gr/~cgian/du-kosovo4.htm).

Respect

Contact

External links

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Geography

Geographic coordinates 

44 00 N, 21 00 E

Area 

total: 102,350 sq km
water: 214 sq km
land: 102,136 sq km

Area - comparative 

slightly smaller than Kentucky

Coastline 

199 km

Natural resources 

oil, gas, coal, antimony, copper, lead, zinc, nickel, gold, pyrite, chrome, hydropower, arable land

Land use 

arable land: 36.34%
permanent crops: 3.44%
other: 60.22% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land 

570 sq km

Environment - current issues 

pollution of coastal waters from sewage outlets, especially in tourist-related areas such as Kotor; air pollution around Belgrade and other industrial cities; water pollution from industrial wastes dumped into the Sava which flows into the Danube

Environment - international agreements 

party to: Air Pollution, Climate Change, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Biodiversity

People

Population 

10,656,929
note: all data dealing with population is subject to considerable error because of the dislocations caused by military action and ethnic cleansing (July 2002 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%

Government

Country name 

conventional long form: Serbia and Montenegro
conventional short form: none
local short form: none
local long form: Srbija-Crna Gora

Legal system 

based on civil law system

Judicial branch 

Federal Court or Savezni Sud; Constitutional Court; judges for both courts are elected by the Federal Assembly for nine-year terms
note: after the promulgation of the new Constitution, the Federal Court will have constitutional and administrative functions; it will have an equal number of judges from each republic

Diplomatic representation in the US 

chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Ivan ZIVKOVIC
chancery: 2134 Kalorama Road NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 462-6566

Diplomatic representation from the US 

chief of mission: Ambassador William D. MONTGOMERY
embassy: Kneza Milosa 50, 11000 Belgrade
telephone: [381] (11) 361-9344
FAX: [381] (11) 646-031
branch office: Pristina

Flag description 

three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), white, and red

Economy

Economy - overview 

MILOSEVIC-era mismanagement of the economy, an extended period of economic sanctions, and the damage to Yugoslavia's infrastructure and industry during the war in Kosovo has left the economy only half the size it was in 1990. Since the ousting of former Federal Yugoslav President MILOSEVIC in October 2000, the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) coalition government has implemented stabilization measures and embarked on an aggressive market reform program. After renewing its membership in the IMF in December 2000, Yugoslavia continued to reintegrate into the international community by rejoining the World Bank (IBRD) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). A World Bank-European Commission sponsored Donors' Conference held in June 2001 raised $1.3 billion for economic restructuring. An agreement rescheduling the country's $4.5 billion Paris Club government debts was concluded in November 2001; it will write off 66% of the debt and provide a basis for Belgrade to seek similar debt relief on its $2.8 billion London Club commercial debt. The smaller republic of Montenegro severed its economy from federal control and from Serbia during the MILOSEVIC era and continues to maintain it's own central bank, uses the euro instead of the Yugoslav dinar as official currency, collects customs tariffs, and manages its own budget. Kosovo, while technically still part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (now Serbia and Montenegro) according to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244, is moving toward local autonomy under United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and is dependent on the international community for financial and technical assistance. The euro and the Yugoslav dinar are official currencies, and UNMIK collects taxes and manages the budget. The complexity of Serbia and Montenegro political relationships, slow progress in privatization, and stagnation in the European economy are holding back the economy; nonetheless, growth may be 4.5% in 2003.

Industries 

machine building (aircraft, trucks, and automobiles; tanks and weapons; electrical equipment; agricultural machinery); metallurgy (steel, aluminum, copper, lead, zinc, chromium, antimony, bismuth, cadmium); mining (coal, bauxite, nonferrous ore, iron ore, limestone); consumer goods (textiles, footwear, foodstuffs, appliances); electronics, petroleum products, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals

Agriculture - products 

cereals, fruits, vegetables, tobacco, olives; cattle, sheep, goats

Exports - commodities 

manufactured goods, food and live animals, raw materials

Imports - commodities 

machinery and transport equipment, fuels and lubricants, manufactured goods, chemicals, food and live animals, raw materials

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)

Currency code 

YUM

Exchange rates 

new Yugoslav dinars per US dollar - official rate: 65 (January 2002), 10.0 (December 1998), 5.85 (December 1997), 5.02 (September 1996); black market rate: 14.5 (December 1998), 8.9 (December 1997)

Fiscal year 

calendar year

Communications

Telephones - main lines in use 

2.017 million (1995)

Telephones - mobile cellular 

87,000 (1997)

Telephone system 

general assessment: NA
domestic: NA
international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations 

AM 113, FM 194, shortwave 2 (1998)

Radios 

3.15 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations 

more than 771 (including 86 strong stations and 685 low-power stations, plus 20 repeaters in the principal networks; also numerous local or private stations in Serbia and Vojvodina) (1997)

Televisions 

2.75 million (1997)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) 

9 (2000)

Internet users 

400,000 (2001)

Transportation

Railways 

total: 4,059 km
standard gauge: 4,059 km 1.435-m gauge (1,377 km electrified)
note: during the 1999 Kosovo conflict, the Serbian rail system suffered significant damage due to bridge destruction; many rail bridges have been rebuilt; Montenegrin rail lines remain intact (2001)

Highways 

total: 48,603 km
paved: 28,822 km (including 560 km of expressways)
note: because of the 1999 Kosovo conflict, many road bridges were destroyed; since the end of the conflict in June 1999, there has been an intensive program to either rebuild bridges or build by-pass routes (1999)
unpaved: 19,781 km

Waterways 

587 km
note: the Danube River, central Europe's connection with the Black Sea, runs through Serbia; since early 2000, a pontoon bridge, replacing a destroyed conventional bridge, has obstructed river traffic at Novi Sad; the obstruction is bypassed by a canal system, the inadequate lock size of which limits the size of vessels which may pass; the pontoon bridge can be opened for large ships but has slowed river traffic (2001)

Airports 

46 (2001)

Airports - with paved runways 

total: 19 19
over 3,047 m: 2 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 5 5
914 to 1,523 m: 2 2
under 914 m: 4 4 (2002)
1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 6

Airports - with unpaved runways 

total: 26 27
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 12
under 914 m: 2 13 (2002)

Heliports 

4 (2002)

Military

Military branches 

Army (VJ) (including ground forces with border troops, naval forces, air and air defense forces)

Transnational Issues

Disputes - international 

Serbia and Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina have delimited about half of their boundary, but several segments, particularly along the meandering Drina River, remain in dispute; The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (F.Y.R.O.M.)-Yugoslavia (now Serbia and Montenegro) signed and ratified a boundary agreement, which adjusts the former republic boundaries, with demarcation to commence in 2002; ethnic Albanians in Kosovo dispute authority of the agreement which cedes small tracts of Kosovo to F.Y.R.O.M.; Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro continue to discuss disputed Prevlaka Peninsula and control over the Gulf of Kotor despite imminent UN intention to withdraw UNMOP observer mission

Illicit drugs 

transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin moving to Western Europe on the Balkan route; economy vulnerable to money laundering