Serbia: Map & History

History

Archaeological evidence of Paleolithic settlements on the territory of present-day Serbia is scarce. A fragment of a hominid jaw found in Mala Balanica Cave is believed to be up to 525,000 years old.

Around 6500 BC, during the Neolithic, the Starčevo and Vinča cultures were present in the region of modern-day Belgrade. They were widespread across much of Southeast Europe as well as parts of Central Europe and Anatolia. Several important archaeological sites from this era, including Lepenski Vir and Vinča-Belo Brdo, exist along the banks of the Danube.

During the Iron Age, the Greeks encountered local tribes of Triballi, Dardani, and Autariatae as they expanded culturally and politically into the region from the 5th to the 2nd century BC.

Government and politics

Serbia is a parliamentary republic. The current constitution was adopted in 2006 following the dissolution of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. The Constitutional Court reviews the constitutionality of laws and other general acts.

The President is the head of state, elected by popular vote to a five-year term and limited to a maximum of two terms. In addition to being the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and representing the country in international affairs, the president has the procedural duty of proposing a candidate for prime minister to the parliament. Aleksandar Vučić is the current president following the 2017 and 2022 presidential elections.

Executive power is primarily exercised by the Government, headed by the Prime Minister and composed of cabinet ministers.

Economy

Serbia is an upper-middle-income developing mixed economy. It is predominantly a service economy, with the tertiary sector accounting for 58.8% of GDP, followed by the secondary sector with 26.1% and the primary sector with 3.2%. The country has a very high level of human development and moderate levels of income inequality. The official currency is the Serbian dinar, and the central bank is the National Bank of Serbia.

The labour force stands at 3.1 million. The employment rate was 50.9% in 2025; the employment structure shows the characteristics of post-industrial economies, with 60.1% employed in tertiary sector, 28.6% in secondary sector and 11.3% in the primary sector. Unemployment remains a problem, with rate of 7.2% as of 2026.

Culture

The cultural identity of Serbia was shaped by centuries of historical divisions and overlapping influences as its territory successively formed the frontier between the Byzantine Empire and the Western Christianity, and later the Ottoman and Habsburg empires.