Serbs

Serbs Срби / Srbi
Saint Sava · Tsar Dušan · Karađorđe · Tesla · Nadežda Petrović
Total population
12,000,000-13,000,000
Regions with significant populations
Serbia 6.212.838 (2002) [1] (excluding Kosovo)
Bosnia and Herzegovina 1,744,317 (2008) [2]  Germany 603,332 (2005) [3]  Austria 240,365 (2006) [4]  Montenegro 201,892 (2003) [5]  Croatia 201,631 (2001) [6]  Switzerland 185,953 (2008) [7]  United States 171,000 [8]  Sweden 76,600 (2008) [9]  Australia 96,895 (2006) [10]  United Kingdom 70,000 (2005) [11]  France 80,000 [12]  Italy 78,174 (2004) [13]  Slovenia 38,964 (2002) [14]  Romania 22,518 (2002) [15]  Belgium 15,857 (2008) [16]  Norway 12,500 (2006) [17]  Denmark 12,000 (2001) [18]  Greece 10,000 (2001) [19]  Hungary 7,350 (0.2%) [20]  United Arab Emirates 5,000 [21]  Turkey 4,600 [22]  Russia 4,156 (2002) [23]  Spain 3,826 (2008) [24]
Languages
Serbian
Religion
Predominantly Serbian Orthodox Christian
Related ethnic groups
Other Slavic peoples, especially South Slavs See "Cognate peoples" below

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Serbian Bokelji · Goranci · Shopi Torlaks · Užičans

Closely-related nationalities

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Culture

Literature · Music · Art Cinema · Epic poetry · Clans Slava · Costume · Religion Kinship · Cuisine · Sport

Language and dialects

Serbian · Serbo-Croatian Romano-Serbian · Shtokavian Torlakian · Šatrovački · Užičan Church Slavonic (Old) Slavoserbian Differences between standard Croatian, Serbian and Bosnian

History

History of Serbia Origins · Rulers

Serbs (Serbian: Срби, Srbi) are a South Slavic people living in the Balkans and Central Europe, mainly in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and, to a lesser extent, in Croatia. They are also a significant minority in two other republics of the Former Yugoslavia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Serbs are an officially recognized minority in both Romania and Hungary. There is a sizable Serbian diaspora in Western Europe (concentrated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria), as well in North America: the United States and Canada.

Historically the territories settled by Serbs in the 7th century have been under Celtic, Byzantine and Roman rule and were replaced by the successive invasions of the Ottomans, Hungarians, Venetian and Habsburgs. The Serbian revolution (1804-1815) marked the rebirth of modern Serbia and its establishment as a principality which fought the Ottomans, Bulgarians and Austrians for the supremacy over the Balkans. In 1918 Serbia lost its independence to the Yugoslav Kingdom and regained its sovereignty in 2006, after Montenegro left the Serbia and Montenegro union which had been the last fragment of the former Yugoslavia remaining in the 21st Century following the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

Contents 1 Ethnogenesis 2 Population 3 Culture 3.1 Famous Serbs 3.2 Language 3.3 Surnames 3.4 Religion 3.5 Symbols 3.6 Customs 3.7 Stereotypes 4 History 5 Subgroups 6 Maps 7 See also 8 External links 9 Notes

Ethnogenesis

Byzantine sources report that part of the White Serbs, led by the Unknown Archont, migrated southwards from their Slavic homeland of White Serbia (Poland) in the late sixth century and eventually overwhelmed the Serbian lands that now make up Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Herzegovina and Dalmatia. After settling on the Balkans, Serbs mixed with other Slavic tribes (which settled during the great migration of the Slavs) and with descendants of the indigenous peoples of the Balkans: Greeks, Thracians, Dacians and Illyrians.

Afterwards, overwhelmed by the Ottoman wars in Europe which ravaged their territories, Serbs once again started crossing the rivers Sava and Danube and resettling the previously abandoned regions in Central Europe which are today's Vojvodina, Slavonia, Transylvania and Hungary proper. Apart from the Habsburg Empire, thousands were attracted to Imperial Russia, where they were given territories to settle: Nova Serbia and Slavo-Serbia were named after these refugees. Two Great Serbian Migrations resulted in a relocation of the Serbian core from the Ottoman-dominated South towards the developed (Christian) North, where it has remained ever since.

Population

The majority of Serbs live in Serbia, Montenegro and Republika Srpska (in Bosnia and Herzegovina). The Republic of Serbia is the nation-state of the Serb people, they are a constituent nation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (90% in the Srpska entity) and a recognized people in the Republic of Montenegro where they have lived since their arrival 1,500 years ago. Large indigenous population also lived in Croatia, where they were a constituent nation before 1990 and today a recognized national minority. Much smaller Serb autochthonous minorities exist in the Republic of Macedonia (mainly in Kumanovo and Skopje), Slovenia (Bela Krajina), Romania (Banat), Hungary (Szentendre, Pécs, Szeged) and Italy (Trieste- home to about 6,000 Serbs)^[25]. Many Serbs also live in the diaspora, notably in Germany, Austria, The Netherlands, Switzerland, France, Sweden, Brazil, Canada, the US and Australia.

The largest urban populations of Serbs in the former Yugoslavia are to be found in Belgrade (c. 1,700,000), Novi Sad (c. 300,000), Niš (c. 250,000), Banja Luka (in Bosnia-Herzegovina) (c. 220,000), Kragujevac (c. 175,000), East Sarajevo and Prijedor (in Bosnia-Herzegovina) (c. 130,000). All the capitals of the former Yugoslavia contain a strong historical Serbian minority - 10,000 strong and over (taking up anywhere between 2%- 3% of the population - Zagreb, Skopje - through Ljubljana and Sarajevo, and finally, Podgorica - over 26%).

In Serbia, 6.2 million Serbs constitute about 62% (83% excluding Kosovo) of the population, including Kosovo, which has declared itself independent from Serbia in February 17, 2008. Another 1,6 million live in Bosnia and Herzegovina [1] and 200,000 in Croatia (650,000 prior to the war), with another 250,000 in Montenegro following its independence. In the 1991 census Serbs consisted 39% of the overall population of former Yugoslavia; there were around 8.5 million Serbs in the entire country.

Abroad, Vienna is said to be home to the largest Serb population followed by Chicago (and its surrounding area) with Toronto and Southern Ontario coming in third. Los Angeles and Indianapolis are known to have a sizable Serbian community, but so does Istanbul and Paris. The number of Serbs in the diaspora is unknown but it is estimated to be up to 4 million according to Ministry for Diaspora Republic of Serbia. Smaller numbers of Serbs live in New Zealand, and Serbian communities in South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Chile) are reported to grow and exist to this day. According to official figures, 5000 Serbs live in Dubai but the unofficial figure is estimated to be around 15,000.^[21]

Culture

Main article: Serbian culture

Serbian culture refers to the culture of Serbia as well as the culture of Serbs in other parts of the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere in the world. The nearby Byzantine Empire had a strong influence in the Middle Ages while the Serbian Orthodox Church has had an enduring influence. However, one must note that the first Serbian kings were crowned by the Vatican, not Constantinople, and that prior to the Ottoman invasion Serbs have had strong Roman Catholic influence, especially in the coastal areas (Montenegro, Croatia). Austrians and Hungarians have highly influenced Serbs of Vojvodina, Croatian Serbs and Bosnian Serbs to smaller extent, while Republic of Venice influenced Serbs living on the coast (Bay of Kotor for example). Serbian culture was also influenced by three centuries of rule under the Ottoman Empire. Following autonomy in 1817 and latter formal independence, there was a resurgence of Serbian culture in today's central Serbia in the nineteenth century. Prior to that of Habsburg Vojvodina was the cultural bastion of the Serbian national identity. Socialist Realism was predominant in official art during the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia but recent decades have seen a growing influence from the West as well as traditional culture.

Famous Serbs

See also: List of Serbs

Serbs have played a significant role in the development of the arts and sciences. Prominent individuals include the scientists Nikola Tesla, Michael I. Pupin, Jovan Cvijić, and Milutin Milanković; the renowned mathematician Mihailo Petrović and controversial co-author of Theory of Relativity Mileva Marić (Albert Einstein's first wife); the famous composers Goran Bregovic, Stevan Mokranjac and Stevan Hristić; the celebrated authors Borislav Pekić, Ivo Andrić and Miloš Crnjanski; the prolific inventor Ogneslav Kostović Stepanović; the polymath Đura Jakšić; the famous sports stars like Ana Ivanović, Novak Djokovic, Predrag Stojakovic, Dejan Stankovic, Nemanja Vidic, Sinisa Mihajlovic, Dejan Bodiroga, Vlade Divac; actors Karl Malden (Mladen Sekulovich), Rade Šerbedžija and the actress Milla Jovovich. Famous directors like Dušan Makavejev, Peter Bogdanovich and Emir Kusturica. The Serb ruler during the Middle Ages (see List of Serbian rulers), Stephen Nemanja, and his son, Saint Sava, founded the monastery of Hilandar for the Serbian Orthodox Church, one of the greatest and oldest Orthodox Christian monuments in the world. Famous singers "Weird Al" Yankovic, Željko Joksimović and Marija Šerifović are of Serbian origin.

The mother of the last (Eastern) Roman Emperor, Constantine XI Paleologos Dragases, was a Serbian princess, Helena Dragash (Jelena Dragaš), and she liked to be known by her Serbian surname of Dragaš. Many Serbian Royal Families had significant role in Europe's and Balkan history. Such as House of Nemanjić , House of Vojislavljević , House of Mrnjavčević , House of Lazarević , House of Branković , House of Crnojević , House of Balšić , House of Obrenović and House of Karađorđević . The most famous of them was Emperor Dusan . Mehmed-paša Sokolović a 16th-century Ottoman Grand Vizier. Born in an Orthodox Serb family in southeast Bosnia, Sokolović was taken away at an early age as part of the devshirmeh system of Ottoman collection of young boys to be raised to serve as janissaries or in the imperial administration.

According to the National Enquirer, author Ian Fleming patterned James Bond after Duško Popov, a real life Serbian double agent nicknamed "Tricycle".

Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb, assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand on 28 June 1914, precipitating the crisis between Austro-Hungary and Serbia that led to the World War I.

Language

Main article: Serbian language

Serbs speak the Serbian language, a member of the South Slavic group of languages. While the Ethnic identity is to some extent linguistic, apart from the Cyrillic alphabet which Serbs use along with Latin alphabet, the language is mutually intelligible (Almost identical) to the standard Croatian and Bosnian (see Differences in standard Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian) and some linguists still consider it part of the pre-war Serbo-Croatian language.

There are several variants of the Serbian language. The older forms of Serbian are Old Serbian and Russo-Serbian, a version of the Church Slavonic language.

Some members of the Serbian diaspora do not speak the language (in English-speaking countries of USA, Canada and UK) but are still considered Serbs by ethnic origin or descent.

Surnames

Main article: Serbian surnames

Most Serbian surnames have the surname suffix -ić (pronounced [itʲ] or [itɕ], Cyrillic: -ић). This is often transliterated as -ic. In history, Serbian names have often been transcribed with a phonetic ending, -ich or -itch. This form is often associated with Serbs from before the early 20th century: hence Milutin Milanković is usually referred to, for historical reasons, as Milutin Milankovitch.

The -ić suffix is a Slavic diminutive, originally functioning to create patronymics. Thus the surname Petrić signifies little Petar, as does, for example, a common prefix Mac ("son of") in Scottish and O' in Irish names. It is estimated that some two thirds of all Serbian surnames end in -ić but that some 80% of Serbs carry such a surname with many common names being spread out among tens and even hundreds of non-related extended families.

Other common surname suffixes are -ov or -in which is the Slavic possessive case suffix, thus Nikola's son becomes Nikolin, Petar's son Petrov, and Jovan's son Jovanov. Those are more typical for Serbs from Vojvodina. The two suffixes are often combined.

The most common surnames are Marković, Nikolić, Petrović, and Jovanović.

Religion

Main article: Serbian Orthodox Church

Conversion of the South Slavs from paganism to Christianity began in the 7th century, long before the Great Schism, the split between the Orthodox East and the Roman Catholic West, the Serbs were fully christian 871 by Byzantine Christian Missionaries. After the Schism, those who lived under the Orthodox sphere of influence became Orthodox and those who lived under the Catholic sphere of influence became Catholic, thus, Croats were Catholic and Serbs - Orthodox Christian. Later, with the arrival of the Ottoman Empire, many Slavs converted to Islam. Some ethnologists consider that the distinct Serb, Croatian and Bosniak identities were drawn from religion rather than ethnicity.

Symbols

Main article: List of Serbian flags

The Serbian flag is a red-blue-white tricolour. It is often combined with one or both of the other Serb symbols.

• The white two-headed eagle, which represents dual power and sovereignty (Serbian and Byzantine), was the coat of arms of the House of Nemanjić.

• The Serbian cross. If displayed on a field, traditionally it is on red field, but could be used with no field at all.

Both the eagle and the cross, besides being the basis for various Serbian coats of arms through history, are bases for the symbols of various Serbian organizations, political parties, institutions and companies.

Serbian folk attire varies, mostly because of the very diverse geography and climate of the territory inhabited by the Serbs. Some parts of it are, however, common:

• A traditional shoe that is called the opanak. It is recognizable by its distinctive tips that spiral backward. Each region of Serbia has a different kind of tips.
• A traditional hat that is called the šajkača. It is easily recognizable by its top part that looks like the letter V or like the bottom of a boat (viewed from above), after which it got its name. It gained wide popularity in the early 20th century as it was the hat of the Serbian army in the First World War. It is still worn everyday by some villagers today, and it was a common item of headgear among Bosnian Serb military commanders during the Bosnian War in the 1990s. However, "šajkača" is common mostly for the Serbian population living in the region of Central Serbia (Šumadija), while Serbs living in Vojvodina, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia had different types of traditional hats, which are not similar to "šajkača". Different types of traditional hats could be also found in eastern and southern parts of Central Serbia.

Customs

The Serbs are a highly family-oriented society. A peek into a Serbian dictionary and the richness of their terminology related to kinship speaks volumes.

Of all Slavs and Orthodox Christians, only Serbs have the custom of slava. The custom could also be found among some Russians and Albanians of Serbian origin although it has often been lost in the last century. Slava is celebration of a saint; unlike most customs that are common for the whole people, each family separately celebrates its own saint (of course, there is a lot of overlap) who is considered its protector. A slava is inherited from father to son and each household may only have one celebration which means that the occasion brings all of the family together.

Though a lot of old customs are now no longer practiced, many of the customs that surround Serbian weddings still are.

The traditional Serbian dance is a circle dance called kolo. It is a collective dance, where a group of people (usually several dozen, at the very least three) hold each other by the hands or around the waist dancing, forming a circle (hence the name), semicircle or spiral. It is called Oro in Montenegro. Similar circle dances also exist in other cultures of the region.

Serbs have their own customs regarding Christmas. The Serbian Orthodox Church uses the Julian calendar, so Christmas currently falls on January 7 of the Gregorian calendar. Early in the morning of Christmas Eve, the head of the family would go to a forest in order to cut badnjak, a young oak, the oak tree would then be brought into the church to be blessed by the priest. Then the oak tree would be stripped of its branches with combined with wheat and other grain products would be burned in the fireplace. The burning of the badnjak is a ritual which is most certainly of pagan origin and it is considered a sacrifice to God (or the old pagan gods) so that the coming year may bring plenty of food, happiness, love, luck and riches. Nowadays, with most Serbs living in towns, most simply go to their church service to be given a small parcel of oak, wheat and other branches tied together to be taken home and set afire. The house floor and church is covered with hay, reminding worshipers of the stable in which Jesus was born.

Christmas Day itself is celebrated with a feast, necessarily featuring roasted piglet as the main meal. Another Christmas meal is a deliciously sweet cake made of wheat, called koljivo whose consumption is more for ritual than nourishment. One crosses oneself first, then takes a spoonful of the cake and savors it. But the most important Christmas meal is česnica, a special kind of bread. The bread contains a coin; during the lunch, the family breaks up the bread and the one who finds the coin is said to be assured of an especially happy year.

Christmas is not associated with presents like in the West, although it is the day of Saint Nicholas, the protector saint of children, to whom presents are given. However, most Serbian families give presents on New Year's Day. Santa Claus (Deda Mraz (literally meaning Grandpa Frost)) and the Christmas tree (but rather associated with New Year's Day) are also used in Serbia as a result of globalisation. Serbs also celebrate the Orthodox New Year (currently on January 14 of the Gregorian Calendar).

Religious Serbs also celebrate other religious holidays and even non-religious people often celebrate Easter (on the Orthodox date).

For Serbian meals, see Serbian cuisine.

Stereotypes

One oft-quoted aspect of the Serbian character is inat (инат), roughly translating as "spite," or the stubborn refusal to submit (regardless of the reason), or acting to the contrary, even to the point of harming oneself. While inat can have negative connotations, some cite Serbian tenacity in sports and in warfare to this characteristic.^[26][27]

Another related feature, often lamented by Serbs themselves, is disunity and discord; as Slobodan Naumović puts it, "Disunity and discord have acquired in the Serbian popular imaginary a notorious, quasi-demiurgic status. They are often perceived as being the chief malefactors in Serbian history, causing political or military defeats, and threatening to tear Serbian society completely apart." That disunity is often quoted as the source of Serbian historic tragedies, from the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 to Yugoslav wars in 1990s.^[28] Even the contemporary notion of "two Serbia's"—one supposedly national, liberal and Eurocentric, and the other conservative, nationalist and Euroskeptic—seems to be the extension of the said discord.^[29] Popular proverbs "two Serbs, three political parties" and "God save us from Serbs that may unite!", and even the unofficial Serbian motto "only unity saves Serbs" (Samo sloga Srbina spasava) illustrate the national frustration with the inability to unite over important issues.

As with many other peoples, there are popular stereotypes on the local level: in popular jokes and stories, inhabitants of Vojvodina (Lale) are perceived as phlegmatic, undisturbed and slow; Montenegrins are lazy and pushy; southern Serbians are misers; Bosnians are raw and stupid; people from Central Serbia are often portrayed as capricious and malicious, etc.

History

Main article: History of Serbs

See also: History of Serbia

Before their arrival on the Balkans, Serbs inhabited White Serbia, situated in present day Poland. The Serb settlement in the Balkans took place between 610 and 630. They formed five principalities in the early 7th century which were later to be incorporated into the Serbian Empire, called Rascia, Travunia, Zachlumia, Pagania and Doclea. The Serbs were under the Byzantine sphere which contributed greatly to the Serbs and their culture. The Serbian region was Christianized by Byzantine Greek Christian missionaries in several waves even before the arrival of Serbs in 610, before the Great Schism that would further differentiate Serbs from their neighboring Croats.

The first Serb states were Rascia or Raška and Zeta. Their rulers had varying degrees of autonomy, until virtual independence was achieved under Saint Sava, who became the first head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, and his brother Stefan Prvovenčani of Serbia, who became the first Serb king. Serbia did not exist as a state of that name, but was rather the region inhabited by the Serbs; its kings and tsars were called the "King of the Serbs" or "Tsar of the Serbs", not "King of Serbia" or "Tsar of Serbia". The medieval Serbian states are nonetheless often (if anachronistically) referred as a whole to as "Serbia".

Serbia reached its golden age under the House of Nemanjić, with the Serbian state reaching its apogee of power in the reign of Tsar Stefan Uroš Dušan. The Serbian Empire lost it's powers following Stefan's death and the contemporary incursion of the Ottoman Empire into south-eastern Europe frightened the Balkans. With Ottoman expansion into Europe with the fall of Adrianople and Thrace, Serbs together with Hungarians, Bulgarians, Greeks and others, tried their best for the Balkans integrity. The Turks gained more power, and in 1389, the Serbs fought them in the historical Battle of Kosovo, which is regarded as the key event in the loss of Serbia to the Ottoman Empire. By 1459, Serbia was beaten by the Turks, the small Serbian territories of Bosnia and Montenegro were lost by 1496.

As Christians, the Serbs were regarded as a "protected people" under Ottoman law. Many converted to Islam, notably in the Sandzak and Bosnia region, some converted in order to be more successful in the Ottoman Empire society, many were forced as part of Turkification or Islamisation and avoided persecution. Serbs, together with Greeks and Bulgarians, were favored as the Sultans infantry unit called Janissaries, the outcome of the Devşirme system.

The Serbs opposed the Ottoman yoke, which resulted in several major battles and rebellions against the Turks and de-population of Serbian lands. Serbs in the south migrated to the north and sought refuge in Croatia and Hungary. The Serbs of Montenegro were disliked because of their bravery and dignity to each other, unsatisfied with the situation in the region, they assassinated many deployed Turks in the mountains, which caused heavy monitoring of the Serb clans and hiding from the Turks was necessary, or else, death awaited. Years went on and the Austro-Hungarian Empire gained control in the north, which also threatened the dreams of a free state of the Serbs. The Serbs and Croats rebelled in Dalmatia and Slavonia in guerrilla formations of Uskoks and Hajduks during the 16th and 17th century. In 1852, the Principality of Montenegro was proclaimed, a nation-state of the Serbs.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the First Serbian Uprising succeeded in liberating at least some Serbs for a limited time. The Second Serbian Uprising was much more successful, resulting in Ottoman recognition of Serbia as autonomous principality within the Empire. Serbia acquired international recognition as an independent kingdom at the Congress of Berlin in 1878. However, many Serbs remained under foreign rule – that of the Ottomans in the south, and of the Habsburgs in the north and west. The southern Serbs were liberated in the First Balkan War of 1912, while the question of the Habsburg Serbs' independence was the spark that lit World War I two years later. During the war, the Serbian army fought fiercely, eventually retreating through Albania to regroup in Greece, and launched a counter-offensive through Macedonia. Though they were eventually victorious, the war devastated Serbia and killed a huge proportion of its population – by some estimates, over half of the male Serbian population died in the conflict, influencing the region's demographics to this day.

After the war, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later called Yugoslavia) was created. Almost all Serbs finally lived in one state, in majority. The Kingdom had its capital in Belgrade and was ruled by a Serbian king; it was, however, unstable and prone to ethnic tensions.

During the Second World War, the Axis Powers occupied Yugoslavia, dismembering the country. Serbia was occupied by the Germans, while in Bosnia and Croatia, Serbs were put under the rule of the Italians and the fascist Ustaša regime in the Independent State of Croatia. Under Ustaša rule in particular, Serbs and other non-Croats were subjected to systematic genocide, known as the Serbian genocide, when hundreds of thousands were killed. The Hungarian and Albanian fascists, who occupied northern and southern parts of the country, also performed persecutions and genocide against the Serb population from these regions.

After the war, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was formed. As with pre-war Yugoslavia, the country's capital was at Belgrade. Serbia was the largest republic and the largest ethnic group. There were also two established autonomous provinces within Serbia - Kosovo (with an Albanian majority) and Vojvodina (with an Hungarian minority). Besides Serbia, the large Serb populations were concentrated in Bosnia and Herzegovina (where they were the largest ethnic group until 1971) and Croatia as well as Montenegro.

Communist Yugoslavia collapsed in the early 1990s, with four of its six republics becoming independent states. This led to several bloody civil wars, as the large Serbian communities in Croatia and Bosnia attempted to remain within Yugoslavia, then consisting of only Serbia and Montenegro. Serbs in Croatia formed their state of Republika Srpska Krajina which was later abolished by the Croatian government (result of expelling of more than 250,000 Serbs and killing of thousands during Operation Storm) a shuddering reminder of events in the World War II. Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina formed their state of Republika Srpska, currently one of the two political entities that form the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Another war broke out in Kosovo (see Kosovo War) after years of tensions between Serbs and Albanians. Up to 250,000 Serbs expelled from Croatia during the "Operation Storm" in 1995, and 300,000 left until 1993, and another 200,000 were expelled from Kosovo after the Kosovo War, and settled mostly in Central Serbia and Vojvodina as refugees.

Subgroups

The subgroups of Serbs are commonly based on regional affiliation. Some of the major subgroups of Serbs include: Šumadinci, Ere, Vojvođani, Crnogorci, Bačvani, Banaćani, Bokelji, Bosanci, Sremci, Semberci, Krajišnici, Hercegovci, Torlaci, Shopi,etc.

Montenegrins were/are considered a subgroup of Serbs for a long time by themselves, as well as by Serbs outside Montenegro. In the late 20th century, an independence movement in Montenegro gained ground, resulting in a split among Montenegrins on the issue. Now some consider themselves to belong to a separate Montenegrin nation. Supported by Albanians, Bosniaks and Croats from Montenegro, they gained a relative majority and won a referendum in 2005. that Montenegro made independent from Serbia. However, world wide, the presence of Serb Montenegrins is prevailing.

(Note: These terms can be also used to refer to any native inhabitants of the regions in question, regardless of ethnicity, i.e. to Magyar Vojvodinians or Croat Herzegovinians.)

Some Serbs, mostly living in Montenegro and Herzegovina are organized in clans. See: list of Serbian tribes.

Maps

See also

• List of Serbs
• Political entities inhabited or ruled by Serbs
• Raci, pejorative designation of Serbs by Germans
• Serb clans, Serb noble and warrior clans of Montenegro
• Serbian-Americans
• Serbs of Albania
• Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Serbs of Croatia
• Serbs in Hungary
• Serbs of Kosovo
• Serbs of Macedonia
• Serbs of Montenegro
• Serbs in Romania
• Serbs of Vojvodina
• Timeline of Serbian history
• Serbians, citizens of Serbia
• Serbomans, pejorative term for Serb Macedonians
• Yugoslavs
• Religion in Serbia
• Three-finger salute (Serbian), Serb salute
• Illyrians

External links

• Serbianna News server about Serbia and the Balkans

Notes

Ethnic groups in Serbia Serbia Serbs · Bosniaks · Ethnic Muslims · Jews · Roma · Romanians (Vlachs) · Montenegrins · Macedonians · Armenians. Vojvodina Banat Bulgarians · Croats  · Šokci  · Bunjevci  · Danube Swabians (Banat Swabians) · Hungarians (Székelys) · Montenegrins · Pannonian Rusyns · Roma · Romanians · Serbs · Slovaks · Macedonians. Kosovo Albanians · Gorani · Croats · Montenegrins · Serbs · Roma (Ashkali · Egyptians) · Turks. Demographic history of Serbia / Vojvodina / Kosovo