Belgrade

Belgrade Београд/Beograd
City
City of Belgrade
Belgrade Downtown
Coat of arms
Location in Europe and Serbia
Coordinates: 44°49′N 20°28′E / 44.817°N 20.467°E / 44.817; 20.467Coordinates: 44°49′N 20°28′E / 44.817°N 20.467°E / 44.817; 20.467
Country	Serbia
District	City of Belgrade
Municipalities	17
Establishment	Prior to 279 B.C. (Singidunum)[1]
Government
• Mayor	Siniša Mali (SNS)
• Ruling parties	SNS/SPS-PUPS/DSS
Area[2]
• City	359.96 km2 (138.98 sq mi)
• Urban	1,035 km2 (400 sq mi)
• Metro	3,222.68 km2 (1,244.28 sq mi)
Elevation[3]	117 m (384 ft)
Population
• City	1,166,763[4]
• Density	3,241/km2 (8,390/sq mi)
• Urban	1,233,796[4]
• District	1,659,440[4]
• District density	514/km2 (1,330/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	11000
Area code(s)	(+381) 11
Car plates	BG
Website	www.beograd.rs

Belgrade (/ˈbɛlɡreɪd/; Serbian: Београд/Beograd; [beǒɡrad]; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans.^[5] Its name translates to White city. The city has a population of 1.23 million, while over 1.65 million people live in its metro area (which encompass administrative limits of City of Belgrade).^[4]

One of the most important prehistoric cultures of Europe, the Vinča culture, evolved within the Belgrade area in the 6th millennium BC. In antiquity, Thraco-Dacians inhabited the region, and after 279 BC Celts conquered the city, naming it Singidūn.^[6] It was conquered by the Romans during the reign of Augustus, and awarded city rights in the mid-2nd century.^[7] It was settled by the Slavs in the 520s, and changed hands several times between the Byzantine Empire, Frankish Empire, Bulgarian Empire and Kingdom of Hungary before it became the capital of Serbian king Stephen Dragutin (1282–1316). In 1521, Belgrade was conquered by the Ottoman Empire and became the seat of the Sanjak of Smederevo.^[8] It frequently passed from Ottoman to Habsburg rule, which saw the destruction of most of the city during the Austro-Ottoman wars. Belgrade was again named the capital of Serbia in 1841. Northern Belgrade remained the southernmost Habsburg post until 1918, when the city was reunited. As a strategic location, the city was battled over in 115 wars and razed to the ground 44 times.^[9] Belgrade was the capital of Yugoslavia (in various forms of governments) from its creation in 1918, to its final dissolution in 2006.

Belgrade has a special administrative status within Serbia^[10] and it is one of five statistical regions of Serbia. Its metropolitan territory is divided into 17 municipalities, each with its own local council.^[11] It covers 3.6% of Serbia's territory, and 22.5% of the country's population lives in the city.^[12] Belgrade has been awarded many titles, and is classified as a Beta- global city.^[13]

Geography

Belgrade lies 116.75 metres (383.0 ft) above sea level and is located at the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers. The historical core of Belgrade, Kalemegdan, lies on the right banks of both rivers. Since the 19th century, the city has been expanding to the south and east; after World War II, Novi Beograd (New Belgrade) was built on the left bank of the Sava river, connecting Belgrade with Zemun. Smaller, chiefly residential communities across the Danube, like Krnjača, Kotež and Borča, also merged with the city, while Pančevo, a heavily industrialized satellite city, remains a separate town. The city has an urban area of 360 square kilometres (140 sq mi), while together with its metropolitan area it covers 3,223 km² (1,244 sq mi). Throughout history, Belgrade has been a crossroads between the West and the Orient.^[14]

On the right bank of the Sava, central Belgrade has a hilly terrain, while the highest point of Belgrade proper is Torlak hill at 303 m (994 ft). The mountains of Avala (511 m (1,677 ft)) and Kosmaj (628 m (2,060 ft)) lie south of the city. Across the Sava and Danube, the land is mostly flat, consisting of alluvial plains and loessial plateaus.^[15]

Climate

Belgrade lies in the humid subtropical (Cfa) climate zone, with four seasons and uniformly spread precipitation. Monthly averages range from 1.4 °C (34.5 °F) in January to 23.0 °C (73.4 °F) in July, with an annual mean of 12.5 °C (54.5 °F). There are, on average, 31 days a year when the temperature is above 30 °C, and 95 days when the temperature is above 25 °C. Belgrade receives about 690 millimetres (27 in) of precipitation a year, with late spring being wettest. The average annual number of sunny hours is 2,112. The highest officially recorded temperature in Belgrade was +43.6 °C (110 °F) on 24 July 2007,^[16] while on the other end, the lowest temperature was −26.2 °C (−15 °F) on 10 January 1893.^[17]

Climate data for Belgrade (1981–2010)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	20.7 (69.3)	23.9 (75)	28.8 (83.8)	32.2 (90)	34.9 (94.8)	37.4 (99.3)	43.6 (110.5)	40.0 (104)	37.5 (99.5)	30.7 (87.3)	28.4 (83.1)	22.6 (72.7)	43.6 (110.5)
Average high °C (°F)	4.6 (40.3)	7.0 (44.6)	12.4 (54.3)	18.0 (64.4)	23.5 (74.3)	26.2 (79.2)	28.6 (83.5)	28.7 (83.7)	23.9 (75)	18.4 (65.1)	11.2 (52.2)	5.8 (42.4)	17.4 (63.3)
Daily mean °C (°F)	1.4 (34.5)	3.1 (37.6)	7.6 (45.7)	12.9 (55.2)	18.1 (64.6)	21.0 (69.8)	23.0 (73.4)	22.7 (72.9)	18.0 (64.4)	12.9 (55.2)	7.1 (44.8)	2.7 (36.9)	12.5 (54.5)
Average low °C (°F)	−1.1 (30)	−0.1 (31.8)	3.7 (38.7)	8.3 (46.9)	13.0 (55.4)	15.8 (60.4)	17.5 (63.5)	17.6 (63.7)	13.5 (56.3)	9.0 (48.2)	4.2 (39.6)	0.2 (32.4)	8.5 (47.3)
Record low °C (°F)	−26.2 (−15.2)	−15.4 (4.3)	−12.4 (9.7)	−3.4 (25.9)	2.5 (36.5)	6.5 (43.7)	9.4 (48.9)	6.7 (44.1)	4.7 (40.5)	−4.5 (23.9)	−7.8 (18)	−13.4 (7.9)	−18.2 (−0.8)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	46.9 (1.846)	40.0 (1.575)	49.3 (1.941)	56.1 (2.209)	58.0 (2.283)	101.2 (3.984)	63.0 (2.48)	58.3 (2.295)	55.3 (2.177)	50.2 (1.976)	55.1 (2.169)	57.4 (2.26)	690.9 (27.201)
Avg. precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm)	13	12	11	13	13	13	10	9	10	10	12	14	139
Average relative humidity (%)	78	71	63	61	61	63	61	61	67	71	75	79	68
Mean monthly sunshine hours	72.2	101.7	153.2	188.1	242.2	260.9	290.8	274.0	204.3	163.1	97.0	64.5	2,111.9
Source: Republic Hydrometeorological Service of Serbia[18]

History

Prehistory

Chipped stone tools found at Zemun show that the area around Belgrade was inhabited by nomadic foragers in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic eras. Some of these tools belong to the Mousterian industry, which are associated with Neanderthals rather than modern humans. Aurignacian and Gravettian tools have also been discovered there, indicating occupation between 50,000 and 20,000 years ago.^[19]

The first farming people to settle in the region are associated with the Neolithic Starčevo culture, which flourished between 6200 and 5200 BC.^[20] There are several Starčevo sites in and around Belgrade, including the eponymous site of Starčevo. The Starčevo culture was succeeded by the Vinča culture (5500–4500 BC), a more sophisticated farming culture that grew out of the earlier Starčevo settlements which is also named for a site in the Belgrade region (Vinča-Belo Brdo). The Vinča culture is known for its very large settlements, some of the largest in prehistoric Europe;^[21] anthropomorphic figurines such as the Lady of Vinča; the earliest known copper metallurgy in Europe;^[22] and the Vinča symbols.

Ancient city

The Paleo-Balkan tribes of Thracians and Dacians ruled this area prior to the Roman conquest.^[23] Belgrade was inhabited by a Thraco-Dacian tribe Singi;^[6] after the Celtic invasion in 279 BC, the Scordisci took the city, naming it "Singidūn" (dūn, fortress).^[6] In 34–33 BC the Roman army led by Silanus reached Belgrade. It became the romanized Singidunum in the 1st century AD, and by the mid-2nd century, the city was proclaimed a municipium by the Roman authorities, evolving into a full-fledged colonia (highest city class) by the end of the century.^[7] Apart from the first Christian Emperor of Rome who was born on the territory in modern Serbia in Naissus – Constantine I known as Constantine the Great^[24] – another early Roman Emperor was born in Singidunum: Flavius Iovianus (Jovian), the restorer of Christianity.^[25] Jovian reestablished Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire, ending the brief revival of traditional Roman religions under his predecessor Julian the Apostate. In 395 AD, the site passed to the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire.^[26] Across the Sava from Singidunum was the Celtic city of Taurunum (Zemun); the two were connected with a bridge throughout Roman and Byzantine times.^[27]

Middle Ages

In 442, the area was ravaged by Attila the Hun.^[28] In 471, it was taken by Theodoric the Great, who continued into Greece.^[29] As the Ostrogoths left for Italy, the Gepids took over the city. In 539 it was retaken by the Byzantines.^[30] In 577, some 100,000 Slavs poured into Thrace and Illyricum, pillaging cities and settling down.^[31] The Avars under Bayan I conquered the whole region by 582.^[32] According to Byzantine chronicle De Administrando Imperio, the White Serbs had stopped in Belgrade on their way back home, asking the strategos for lands; they received provinces in the west, towards the Adriatic, which they would rule as subjects to Heraclius (610–641).^[33] The first record of the name Beograd appeared around 878, during the rule of Bulgarian Knyaz Boris I. For about four centuries, the city remained a battleground between the Byzantine Empire, the Kingdom of Hungary, Serbia and the Bulgarian Empire.^[34] Basil II (976–1025) installed a garrison in Belgrade.^[35] The city hosted the armies of the First and the Second Crusade;^[36] while passing through during the Third Crusade, Frederick Barbarossa and his 190,000 crusaders saw Belgrade in ruins.^[37]

Stephen Dragutin (r. 1276–1282), received Belgrade from his father-in-law, Stephen V of Hungary in 1284; it served as the capital of the Kingdom of Syrmia, and Dragutin is regarded as the first Serbian king to rule over Belgrade.^[38]

Following the Battle of Maritsa in 1371 and the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, the Serbian Empire began to crumble as the Ottoman Empire conquered its southern territory.^[39][40] The north resisted through the Serbian Despotate, which had Belgrade as its capital. The city flourished under Stefan Lazarević, son of Serbian prince Lazar Hrebeljanović. Lazarević built a castle with a citadel and towers, of which only the Despot's tower and west wall remain. He also refortified the city's ancient walls, allowing the Despotate to resist the Ottomans for almost 70 years. During this time, Belgrade was a haven for many Balkan peoples fleeing Ottoman rule, and is thought to have had a population of 40, 000 to 50,000 people.^[38]

In 1427, Stefan's successor Đurađ Branković had to return Belgrade to the Hungarians, and Smederevo became the new capital. During his reign, the Ottomans captured most of the Serbian Despotate, unsuccessfully besieging Belgrade first in 1440^[36] and again in 1456.^[41] As it presented an obstacle to their further advance into Central Europe, over 100,000 Ottoman soldiers^[42] launched the 1456 Siege of Belgrade, in which the Christian army under commander John Hunyadi successfully defended the city from the Ottomans, wounding Sultan Mehmed II.^[43] The noon bell ordered by Pope Callixtus III commemorates the victory throughout the Christian world to this day.^[36][44]

Ottoman conquest and Austrian invasions

Seven decades after the initial siege, on 28 August 1521, the fort was finally captured by Ottoman Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent and his 250,000 soldiers; subsequently, most of the city was razed to the ground and its entire Orthodox Christian population was deported to Istanbul,^[36] to an area that has since become known as the Belgrade forest.^[45] Belgrade was made the seat of the district (Sanjak), becoming the second largest Ottoman town in Europe at over 100,000 people, surpassed only by Constantinople.^[42] Ottoman rule also introduced Ottoman architecture, including numerous mosques, increasing the city's Oriental influences.^[46] In 1594, a major Serb rebellion was crushed by the Ottomans. Later, Grand vizier Sinan Pasha ordered the relics of Saint Sava to be publicly torched on the Vračar plateau; in the 20th century, the Temple of Saint Sava was built to commemorate this event.^[47]

Occupied by the Habsburgs three times (1688–1690, 1717–1739, 1789–1791), headed by the Holy Roman Princes Maximilian of Bavaria and Eugene of Savoy,^[48] and field marshal Baron Ernst Gideon von Laudon respectively, Belgrade was quickly recaptured by the Ottomans and substantially razed each time.^[46] During this period, the city was affected by the two Great Serbian Migrations, in which hundreds of thousands of Serbs, led by their patriarchs, retreated together with the Austrians into the Habsburg Empire, settling in today's Vojvodina and Slavonia.^[49]

Capital of independent Serbia

During the First Serbian Uprising, the Serbian revolutionaries held the city from 8 January 1807 until 1813, when it was retaken by the Ottomans.^[50] After the Second Serbian Uprising in 1815, Serbia reached semi-independence, which was formally recognized by the Porte in 1830.^[51] In 1841, Prince Mihailo Obrenović moved the capital from Kragujevac to Belgrade.^[52][53]

In May 1868, Prince Mihailo was assassinated with his cousin Anka Konstantinović while riding in a carriage through the park of his country residence.^[54]

With the Principality's full independence in 1878, and its transformation into the Kingdom of Serbia in 1882, Belgrade once again became a key city in the Balkans, and developed rapidly.^[50][55] Nevertheless, conditions in Serbia as a whole remained those of an overwhelmingly agrarian country, even with the opening of a railway to Niš, Serbia's second city, and in 1900 the capital had only 70,000 inhabitants^[56] (at the time Serbia numbered 1.5 million). Yet by 1905 the population had grown to more than 80,000, and by the outbreak of World War I in 1914, it had surpassed the 100,000 citizens, not counting Zemun which then belonged to Austria-Hungary.^[57]

The first-ever projection of motion pictures in the Balkans and Central Europe was held in Belgrade, in June 1896 by Andre Carr, a representative of the Lumière brothers. He shot the first motion pictures of Belgrade in the next year; however, they have not been preserved.^[58]

World War I and the Interbellum

The First World War began on 28 July 1914 when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Most of the subsequent Balkan offensives occurred near Belgrade. Austro-Hungarian monitors shelled Belgrade on 29 July 1914, and it was taken by the Austro-Hungarian Army under General Oskar Potiorek on 30 November. On 15 December, it was re-taken by Serbian troops under Marshal Radomir Putnik. After a prolonged battle which destroyed much of the city, between 6 and 9 October 1915, Belgrade fell to German and Austro-Hungarian troops commanded by Field Marshal August von Mackensen on 9 October 1915. The city was liberated by Serbian and French troops on 1 November 1918, under the command of Marshal Louis Franchet d'Espérey of France and Crown Prince Alexander of Serbia. Since Belgrade was decimated as the front-line city, Subotica overtook the title of the largest city in the Kingdom for a short while.^[61]

After the war, Belgrade became the capital of the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929. The Kingdom was split into banovinas, and Belgrade, together with Zemun and Pančevo, formed a separate administrative unit.^[62]

During this period, the city experienced fast growth and significant modernisation. Belgrade's population grew to 239,000 by 1931 (incorporating the town of Zemun, formerly in Austria-Hungary), and 320,000 by 1940. The population growth rate between 1921 and 1948 averaged 4.08% a year.^[63] In 1927, Belgrade's first airport opened, and in 1929, its first radio station began broadcasting. The Pančevo Bridge, which crosses the Danube, was opened in 1935,^[64] while "King Alexander Bridge" over the Sava was opened in 1934. On 3 September 1939 the first Belgrade Grand Prix, the last Grand Prix motor racing race before the outbreak of World War II, was held around the Belgrade Fortress and was followed by 80,000 spectators.^[65] The winner was Tazio Nuvolari.^[66]

World War II

On 25 March 1941, the government of regent Crown Prince Paul signed the Tripartite Pact, joining the Axis powers in an effort to stay out of the Second World War and keep Yugoslavia neutral during the conflict. This was immediately followed by mass protests in Belgrade and a military coup d'état led by Air Force commander General Dušan Simović, who proclaimed King Peter II to be of age to rule the realm. Consequently, the city was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe on 6 April 1941, when up to 24,000 people were killed.^[67][68] Yugoslavia was then invaded by German, Italian, Hungarian, and Bulgarian forces, Belgrade was occupied by the German Army on 13 April 1941 and suburbs as far east as Zemun, in the Belgrade metropolitan area, were incorporated into a Nazi state, the Independent State of Croatia. Belgrade became the seat of the Nedić regime, headed by General Milan Nedić.

During the summer and fall of 1941, in reprisal for guerrilla attacks, the Germans carried out several massacres of Belgrade citizens; in particular, members of the Jewish community were subject to mass shootings at the order of General Franz Böhme, the German Military Governor of Serbia. Böhme rigorously enforced the rule that for every German killed, 100 Serbs or Jews would be shot.^[69] The resistance movement in Belgrade was led by Major Žarko Todorović from 1941 until his arrest in 1943.^[70]

Just like Rotterdam, which was devastated twice, by both German and Allied bombing, Belgrade was bombed once more during World War II, this time by the Allies on 16 April 1944, killing about 1,100 people. This bombing fell on the Orthodox Christian Easter.^[71] Most of the city remained under German occupation until 20 October 1944, when it was liberated by the Red Army and the Communist Yugoslav Partisans. On 29 November 1945, Marshal Josip Broz Tito proclaimed the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia in Belgrade (later to be renamed to Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on 7 April 1963). ^[72] Higher estimates from the former secret police place the victim count of political persecutions in Belgrade at 10,000.^[73]

After World War II

During the post-war period, Belgrade grew rapidly as the capital of the renewed Yugoslavia, developing as a major industrial center.^[55] In 1948, construction of New Belgrade started. In 1958, Belgrade's first television station began broadcasting. In 1961, the conference of Non-Aligned Countries was held in Belgrade under Tito's chairmanship. In 1962, Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport was built. In 1968, major student protests led to several street clashes between students and the police.^[74]

Breakup of Yugoslavia

On 9 March 1991, massive demonstrations led by Vuk Drašković were held in the city against Slobodan Milošević.^[75] According to various media outlets, there were between 100,000 and 150,000 people on the streets.^[76] Two people were killed, 203 injured and 108 arrested during the protests, and later that day tanks were deployed onto the streets to restore order.^[77] Further protests were held in Belgrade from November 1996 to February 1997 against the same government after alleged electoral fraud at local elections.^[78] These protests brought Zoran Đinđić to power, the first mayor of Belgrade since World War II who did not belong to the League of Communists of Yugoslavia or its later offshoot, the Socialist Party of Serbia.^[79]

In 1999, during the Kosovo War, NATO bombings caused substantial damage to the city. Among the sites bombed were the buildings of several ministries, the RTS building, which killed 16 technicians, several hospitals, the Hotel Jugoslavija, the Central Committee building, the Avala Tower, and the Chinese embassy.^[80] Several of these buildings have been left in their bombed states to serve as a memorial for the bombings.^[81]

After the 2000 presidential elections, Belgrade was the site of major public protests, with over half a million people on the streets. These demonstrations resulted in the ousting of president Milošević.^[82][83]

In modern Serbia

In 2015, an agreement has been reached over the Belgrade Waterfront deal with Eagle Hills (a UAE company), putting in stone the construction of a new part of the city on currently undeveloped wasteland by the riverside. This project, extremely controversial (especially among many citizens of Belgrade), will cost 3 billion dollars for the Republic of Serbia. ^[84]

Administration

Belgrade is a separate territorial unit in Serbia, with its own autonomous city authority.^[10] The City Assembly of Belgrade has 110 members, elected on four-year terms.^[85] 13-member City Council, elected by the Assembly and presided by the mayor and his deputy, carries the control and supervision of the City Administration.^[86] The Administration performs day-to-day administrative affairs. It is divided into 14 Secretariats, each having a specific portfolio, such as traffic or health care, and several professional services, agencies and institutes.^[87]

2014 Belgrade local elections were won by Serbian Progressive Party, which formed a wide ruling coalition with Socialist Party of Serbia and Democratic Party of Serbia. These elections ended a long-time rule of Democratic Party, which elected mayors from 2004 to 2013.^[88] Mayor of Belgrade is Siniša Mali, a political independent affiliated with Serbian Progressive Party.^[89]

The city's budget for 2013 was 82.8 billion dinars (approximately $1 billion US dollars).^[90]

As the capital city of Serbia, Belgrade hosts many governmental institutions including the National Assembly and Government of Serbia, as well as 75 diplomatic missions.^[91]

Municipalities

The city is divided into 17 municipalities.^[11] Previously, they were classified into 10 "urban" (lying completely or partially within borders of the city proper) and 7 "suburban" municipalities, whose centres are smaller towns.^[92] With the new 2010 City statute, they were all given equal status, with the proviso that suburban ones (except Surčin) have certain autonomous powers, chiefly related with construction, infrastructure and public utilities.^[11]

Most of the municipalities are situated on the southern side of the Danube and Sava rivers, in the Šumadija region. Three municipalities (Zemun, Novi Beograd, and Surčin), are on the northern bank of the Sava, in the Syrmia region, and the municipality of Palilula, spanning the Danube, is in both the Šumadija and Banat regions.

Municipality	Area (km2)	Population (2002)	Population (2011)	Classification
Barajevo	213	24,641	27,110	suburban
Čukarica	156	168,508	181,231	urban
Grocka	289	75,466	83,907	suburban
Lazarevac	384	58,511	58,622	suburban
Mladenovac	339	52,490	53,096	suburban
Novi Beograd	41	217,773	214,506	urban
Obrenovac	411	70,975	72,524	suburban
Palilula	451	155,902	173,521	urban
Rakovica	31	99,000	108,641	urban
Savski Venac	14	42,505	39,122	urban
Sopot	271	20,390	20,367	suburban
Stari Grad	5	55,543	48,450	urban
Surčin	285	38,695	43,819	urban
Voždovac	148	151,768	158,213	urban
Vračar	3	58,386	56,333	urban
Zemun	154	136,645	168,170	urban
Zvezdara	32	132,621	151,808	urban
TOTAL	3227	1,576,124	1,659,440
Source: Statistical Office of Serbia[4]

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, the city has a population of 1,166,763, while the urban area of Belgrade (with adjacent urban settlements of Borča, Ovča, and Surčin included) has 1,233,796 inhabitants, and the population of the metropolitan area (the administrative area of the City of Belgrade) stands at 1,659,440 people. The main population groups according to nationality in the city municipality of Belgrade are: Serbs (1,505,448), Roma (27,325), Montenegrins (9,902), Yugoslavs (8,061), Croats (7,752), Macedonians (6,970), and Muslims by nationality (3,996).^[93]

Belgrade is home to many ethnicities from all over the former Yugoslavia. Many people came to the city as economic migrants from smaller towns and the countryside, while hundreds of thousands arrived as refugees from Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo, as a result of the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s.^[94] Between 10,000 and 20,000^[95] Chinese are estimated to live in Belgrade; they began immigrating in the mid-1990s. Block 70 in New Belgrade is known colloquially as the Chinese quarter.^[96][97] Many Middle Easterners, mainly from Syria, Iran, Jordan and Iraq, arrived in order to pursue their studies during the 1970s and 1980s, and have remained in the city.^[98] In 2007, a group of Iraqi Kurdish families stayed in UN Barracks in New Belgrade.^[99]

Although there are several historic religious communities in Belgrade, the religious makeup of the city is relatively homogenous. The Serbian Orthodox community is by far the largest, with 1,429,170 adherents. There are also 3,996 Muslims, 16,305 Roman Catholics, and 3,796 Protestants. There once was a significant Jewish community in Belgrade, but following the World War II Nazi occupation of the city, and subsequent Jewish emigration, their numbers have fallen to 2,200 from over 10,000.^[100]

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1880	102,346	—
1890	123,814	+21.0%
1900	146,527	+18.3%
1910	165,724	+13.1%
1921	212,088	+28.0%
1931	268,794	+26.7%
1948	407,816	+51.7%
1953	731,807	+79.4%
1961	942,190	+28.7%
1971	1,209,360	+28.4%
1981	1,470,073	+21.6%
1991	1,602,226	+9.0%
2002	1,578,334	−1.5%
2011	1,659,440	+5.1%
2015	1,702,525	+2.6%

The largest settlements in Belgrade region are:

Settlement	Population (2002 Census)	Population (2011 Census)[101]
Belgrade	1,119,642	1,166,763
Borča	35,909	46,086
Grocka	22,248	26,904
Lazarevac	23,551	26,006
Obrenovac	23,620	25,429
Mladenovac	22,114	23,609
Sremčica	18,450	21,001
Surčin	14,292	18,205
Ripanj	10,741	11,088
Ugrinovci	7,199	10,807
Leštane	8,492	10,473

Economy

Belgrade is the financial centre of Serbia and Southeast Europe with total 17.000.000 m² office space,^[102] and is home to the country's central bank. Currently, over 600,000 people are employed in 120,286 companies,^[103] 22,600 enterprises and 50,000 shops.^[104]

With 6,924 companies in the sector (2013 data), Belgrade is one of information technology centers in this part of Europe, with strong growth.^[103] Microsoft Development Center located in Belgrade was at the time of its establishment fifth such center in the world.^[105] Many world IT companies choose Belgrade as regional or European center such as Asus,^[106] Intel,^[107] Dell,^[108] Huawei, NCR^[109] etc.

New Belgrade is the main business district in the country. It offers a range of facilities such as hotels, congress halls (Sava Centar), class A and class B office buildings, sporting facilities (Belgrade Arena), shopping malls (Ušće and Delta City) and business parks (Airport City Belgrade).

The Belgrade Stock Exchange is also located in New Belgrade. Currently, over 1.2 million square meters of land is under construction in New Belgrade and the estimated value of construction in the next two and half years is over 1.5 billion Euros.

Serbia overcame the problems of inflation in the mid-1990s, and Belgrade has been growing strongly ever since. As of 2009, over 40% of Serbia's GDP is generated by the city, which also has 31.4% of Serbia's employed population.^[110] The city of Belgrade's 2014 nominal GDP is estimated at 16.97 USD), which amounts to 859,329 RSD ($10,086) per capita.^[111] In September 2013, the average monthly net salary in Belgrade was 53,564 RSD ($635), while gross salary was 73,970 RSD ($877).^[112] In the annual Economist Intelligence Unit survey in 2013, Belgrade ranked 86th most expensive among 131 world cities.^[113][114]

According to the Eurostat methodology, and contrasting sharply to the Balkan region, 66.2% of the city's households owned a computer in 2012. According to the same survey, 60.5% of households have an internet connection; 90.4% at least one mobile phone, and 71.7% cable television.^[115] these figures are above those of the regional capitals such as Sofia, Bucharest and Athens.

Sava Centar congress hall, built in 1978

Culture

Belgrade hosts many annual international cultural events, including the Film Festival, Theatre Festival, Summer Festival, Music Festival, Book Fair, and the Beer Fest.^[116] The Nobel Prize winning author Ivo Andrić wrote his most famous work, The Bridge on the Drina, in Belgrade.^[117] Other prominent Belgrade authors include Branislav Nušić, Miloš Crnjanski, Borislav Pekić, Milorad Pavić and Meša Selimović.^{[118][119][120]} Internationally Belgrade prominent artist: Marina Abramović and Milovan Destil Marković.

Most of Serbia's film industry is based in Belgrade. FEST is an annual film festival that held since 1971, and, through 2013, had been attended by four million people and had presented almost 4,000 films.^[121]

The city was one of the main centers of the Yugoslav New Wave in the 1980s: VIS Idoli, Ekatarina Velika, Šarlo Akrobata and Električni Orgazam were all from Belgrade. Other notable Belgrade rock acts include Riblja Čorba, Bajaga i Instruktori and Partibrejkers.^[122][123] Today, it is the center of the Serbian hip hop scene, with acts such as Beogradski Sindikat, Škabo, Marčelo, and most of the Bassivity Music stable hailing from or living in the city.^[124][125] There are numerous theatres, the most prominent of which are National Theatre, Theatre on Terazije, Yugoslav Drama Theatre, Zvezdara Theatre, and Atelier 212. The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts is also based in Belgrade, as well as the National Library of Serbia. Other major libraries include the Belgrade City Library and the Belgrade University Library. Belgrade's two opera houses are: National Theatre and Madlenianum Opera House.^[126][127]

There are many foreign cultural institutions in Belgrade, including the Spanish Instituto Cervantes,^[128] the German Goethe-Institut^[129] and the French Institut français,^[130] which are all located in the central pedestrian area of Knez Mihailova Street. Other cultural centers in Belgrade are American Corner,^[131] Austrian Cultural Forum,^[132] British Council,^[133] Chinese Confucius Institute,^[134] Canadian Cultural Center,^[135] Hellenic Foundation for Culture,^[136] Italian Istituto Italiano di Cultura,^[137] Iranian Culture Center,^[138] Azerbaijani Culture Center^[139] and Russian Center for Science and Culture.^[140] European Union National Institutes for Culture operates a cluster of cultural centres from the EU.^[141]

Following the victory of Serbia's representative Marija Šerifović at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, Belgrade hosted the Contest in 2008.^[142]

Museums

The most prominent museum in Belgrade is the National Museum, founded in 1844 and currently closed for reconstruction. The Museum houses a collection of more than 400,000 exhibits, (over 5600 paintings and 8400 drawings and prints, including many foreign masters like Bosch, Juan de Flandes, Titian, Tintoretto, Rubens, Van Dyck, Cézanne, G.B.Tiepolo, Renoir, Monet, Lautrec, Matisse, Picasso, Gauguin, Chagall, Van Gogh, Mondrian etc., and also the famous Miroslav's Gospel.^[143] The Ethnographic Museum, established in 1901, contains more than 150,000 items showcasing the rural and urban culture of the Balkans, particularly the countries of former Yugoslavia.^[144]

The Museum of Contemporary Art was the first Contemporary art museum in Europe^[145] founded in 1958 and has a collection of around 35,000 works including Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Joan Miró, David Hockney, Ivan Meštrović and others since 1900.^[146] The Museum is currently closed due to renovation.

The Military Museum houses a wide range of more than 25,000 military exhibits dating as far back as to the Roman period, as well as parts of a F-117 stealth aircraft shot down by the Serbian army.^[147][148]

The Museum of Aviation in Belgrade has more than 200 aircraft, of which about 50 are on display, and a few of which are the only surviving examples of their type, such as the Fiat G.50. This museum also displays parts of shot down US and NATO aircraft, such as the F-117 and F-16^[149]

The Nikola Tesla Museum, founded in 1952, preserves the personal items of Nikola Tesla, the inventor after whom the Tesla unit was named. It holds around 160,000 original documents and around 5,700 personal other items including his urne.^[150] The last of the major Belgrade museums is the Museum of Vuk and Dositej, which showcases the lives, work and legacy of Vuk Stefanović Karadžić and Dositej Obradović, the 19th century reformer of the Serbian literary language and the first Serbian Minister of Education, respectively.^[151] Belgrade also houses the Museum of African Art, founded in 1977, which has the large collection of art from West Africa.^[152]

With around 95,000 copies of national and international films, the Yugoslav Film Archive is the largest in the region and among the 10 largest archives in the world.^[153] The institution also operates the Museum of Yugoslav Film Archive, with movie theatre and exhibition hall. The archive's long-standing storage problems were finally solved in 2007, when a new modern depository was opened.^[154] The Yugoslav Film Archive also exhibits original Charlie Chaplin's stick and one of first movies by Auguste and Louis Lumière.^[155]

The Belgrade City Museum moved into a new building in downtown in 2006.^[156] The Museum hosts a range of collections covering the history of urban life since prehostory.^[157]

The Museum of Yugoslav History has collection from Yugoslav era. Beside paintings, the most valuable are Moon rocks donated by Apollo 11 crew Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins while visiting Belgrade in 1969 and from mission Apollo 17 donated by Richard Nixon in 1971.^[158] Museum also houses Joseph Stalin's sabre with 260 brilliants and diamonds,donated by Stalin himself.^[159]

Museum of Science and Technology moved to the building of the first city's power plant in Dorćol in 2005.^[160]

Architecture

Belgrade has wildly varying architecture, from the center of Zemun, typical of a Central European town,^[161] to the more modern architecture and spacious layout of New Belgrade. The oldest architecture is found in Kalemegdan Park. Outside of Kalemegdan, the oldest buildings date only from the 18th century, due to its geographic position and frequent wars and destructions.^[162] The oldest public structure in Belgrade is a nondescript Turkish türbe, while the oldest house is a modest clay house on Dorćol, from late 18th century.^[163] Western influence began in the 19th century, when the city completely transformed from an oriental town to the contemporary architecture of the time, with influences from neoclassicism, romanticism, and academic art. Serbian architects took over the development from the foreign builders in the late 19th century, producing the National Theatre, Old Palace, Cathedral Church and later, in the early 20th century, the National Assembly and National Museum, influenced by art nouveau.^[162] Elements of Neo-Byzantine architecture are present in buildings such as Vuk's Foundation, old Post Office in Kosovska street, and sacral architecture, such as St. Mark's Church (based on the Gračanica monastery), and the Temple of Saint Sava.^[162]

During the period of Communist rule, much housing was built quickly and cheaply for the huge influx of people fleeing the countryside following World War II, sometimes resulting in the brutalist architecture of the blokovi (blocks) of New Belgrade; a socrealism trend briefly ruled, resulting in buildings like the Trade Union Hall.^[162] However, in the mid-1950s, the modernist trends took over, and still dominate the Belgrade architecture.^[162]

Belgrade has the second oldest sewer system in Europe.^[164]

Tourism

The historic areas and buildings of Belgrade are among the city's premier attractions. They include Skadarlija, the National Museum and adjacent National Theatre, Zemun, Nikola Pašić Square, Terazije, Students' Square, the Kalemegdan Fortress, Knez Mihailova Street, the Parliament, the Church of Saint Sava, and the Old Palace. On top of this, there are many parks, monuments, museums, cafés, restaurants and shops on both sides of the river. The hilltop Avala Monument and Avala Tower offer views over the city.

Elite neighborhood of Dedinje is situated near the Topčider and Košutnjak parks. The beli dvor (White Palace), house of royal family Karađorđević, is open for visitors. The palace has many valuable artworks.^[165] Nearby, Josip Broz Tito's mausoleum, called The House of Flowers, documents the life of the former Yugoslav president.

Ada Ciganlija is a former island on the Sava River, and Belgrade's biggest sports and recreational complex. Today it is connected with the right bank of the Sava via two causeways, creating an artificial lake. It is the most popular destination for Belgraders during the city's hot summers. There are 7 kilometres (4 miles) of long beaches and sports facilities for various sports including golf, football, basketball, volleyball, rugby union, baseball, and tennis.^[166] During summer there are between 200,000 and 300,000 bathers daily.^[167]

Extreme sports are available, such as bungee jumping, water skiing, and paintballing.^[166][168] There are numerous tracks on the island, where it is possible to ride a bike, go for a walk, or go jogging.^[166][168] Apart from Ada, Belgrade has total of 16 islands^[169] on the rivers, many still unused. Among them, the Great War Island, at the confluence of Sava, stands out as an oasis of unshattered wildlife (especially birds).^[170] These areas, along with nearby Small War Island, are protected by the city's government as a nature preserve.^[171]

Tourist income in 2012 amounted to nearly 500 million euros;^[172] in 2013, Belgrade was visited by 660,000 registered tourists, of which 520,000 were foreign.^[173] Of those, more than 70,000 arrived by 550 river cruisers.^[174] In 2013, growth of foreign tourists was recorded 24%.^[175]

Nightlife

Belgrade has a reputation for offering a vibrant nightlife; many clubs that are open until dawn can be found throughout the city. The most recognizable nightlife features of Belgrade are the barges (splav), spread along the banks of the Sava and Danube Rivers.^{[176][177][178]}

Many weekend visitors—particularly from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia—prefer Belgrade nightlife to that of their own capitals, due to a perceived friendly atmosphere, great clubs and bars, cheap drinks, the lack of language difficulties, and the lack of restrictive night life regulation.^[179][180]

Famous alternative clubs include Akademija and the famed KST (Klub Studenata Tehnike), located in the basement of the University of Belgrade Faculty of Electrical Engineering.^{[181][182][183]} One of the most famous sites for alternative cultural happenings in the city is the SKC (Student Cultural Centre), located right across from Belgrade's highrise landmark, the Beograđanka. Concerts featuring famous local and foreign bands are often held at the center. SKC is also the site of various art exhibitions, as well as public debates and discussions.^[184]

A more traditional Serbian nightlife experience, accompanied by traditional music known as Starogradska (roughly translated as Old Town Music), typical of northern Serbia's urban environments, is most prominent in Skadarlija, the city's old bohemian neighborhood where the poets and artists of Belgrade gathered in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Skadar Street (the centre of Skadarlija) and the surrounding neighbourhood are lined with some of Belgrade's best and oldest traditional restaurants (called kafanas in Serbian), which date back to that period.^[185] At one end of the neighbourhood stands Belgrade's oldest beer brewery, founded in the first half of the 19th century.^[186] One of the city's oldest kafanas is the Znak pitanja("?").^[187]

The Times reported that Europe's best nightlife can be found in buzzing Belgrade.^[188] In the Lonely Planet "1000 Ultimate Experiences" guide of 2009, Belgrade was placed at the 1st spot among the top 10 party cities in the world.^[189]

Sport

There are approximately one-thousand sports facilities in Belgrade, many of which are capable of serving all levels of sporting events.^[190] Belgrade has hosted several major sporting events recently, including Eurobasket 2005, the 2005 European Volleyball Championship, the 2006 European Water Polo Championship, the European Youth Olympic Festival 2007, and the 2009 Summer Universiade.^[191]

The city is home to Serbia's two biggest and most successful football clubs, Red Star Belgrade and Partizan Belgrade. Red Star won the 1991 UEFA Champions League (European Cup). The two major stadiums in Belgrade are the Marakana (Red Star Stadium) and the Partizan Stadium.^[192] The rivalry between Red Star and Partizan is one of the fiercest in world football.^[193]

According to the European Arenas Association, the Belgrade Arena is the largest European indoor arena with capacity of 25,000. It is used for major sporting events and large concerts. In May 2008 it was the venue for the 53rd Eurovision Song Contest.^[194] The Pionir Hall is the main venue of basketball clubs KK Partizan, European champion of 1992 and KK Crvena zvezda.^[195][196]

In recent years, Belgrade has also given rise to several world-class tennis players such as Ana Ivanović, Jelena Janković and Novak Đoković. Ivanović and Đoković are the first female and male Serbian players, respectively, to win Grand Slam singles titles. The Serbian national team won the 2010 Davis Cup, beating the French team in the finals played in the Belgrade Arena.^[197]

Fashion

Since 1996,^[198] biannual (autumn/winter and spring/summer seasons) fashion weeks are held citywide. Numerous Serbian and international designers and fashion brands have their shows on the fashion week. Belgrade Fashion Week is on the list of 40 most significant fashion weeks in the world.^[199]

Media

Belgrade is the most important media hub in Serbia. The city is home to the main headquarters of the national broadcaster Radio Television Serbia – RTS, which is a public service broadcaster.^[200] The most popular commercial broadcaster is RTV Pink, a Serbian media multinational, known for its popular entertainment programs.One of the most popular commercial broadcaster is B92, another media company, which has its own TV station, radio station, and music and book publishing arms, as well as the most popular website on the Serbian internet.^[201][202] Other TV stations broadcasting from Belgrade include 1Prva (formerly Fox televizija), Košava, and others which only cover the greater Belgrade municipal area, such as Studio B. Numerous specialised channels are also available: SOS channel (sport), Metropolis (music), Art TV (art), Cinemania (film), and Happy TV (children's programs).

High-circulation daily newspapers published in Belgrade include Politika, Blic, Večernje novosti, Kurir and Danas. There are 2 sporting dailies, Sportski žurnal and Sport, and one economic daily, Privredni pregled. A new free distribution daily, 24 sata, was founded in the autumn of 2006. Also, Serbian editions of the world-famous magazines such as Playboy, Cosmopolitan, Elle, National Geographic, Men's Health, The Best Shop, Grazia and others have their headquarters based in the city.

Education

Belgrade has two state universities and several private institutions of higher education. The University of Belgrade, founded in 1808 as the "Great School", is the oldest institution of higher learning in Serbia.^[203] Having developed with the city in the 19th century, quite a few University buildings are a constituent part of Belgrade's architecture and cultural heritage. With enrollment of nearly 90,000 students, the University is one of the Europe's largest.^[204]

There are also 195 primary (elementary) schools and 85 secondary schools. Of the primary schools, there are 162 regular, 14 special, 15 art, and 4 adult schools. The secondary school system has 51 vocational schools, 21 gymnasiums, 8 art schools and 5 special schools. The 230,000 pupils are managed by 22,000 employees in over 500 buildings, covering around 1,100,000 m².^[205]

Transportation

Belgrade has an extensive public transport system based on buses (118 urban lines and more than 300 suburban lines), trams (12 lines), and trolleybuses (8 lines).^[206] It is run by GSP Beograd and SP Lasta, in cooperation with private companies on various bus routes. The BusPlus ticketing system based on contactless smart cards began operating in February 2012. Belgrade also has a commuter rail network, Beovoz, now run by the city government. The main railway station connects Belgrade with other European capitals and many towns in Serbia. Travel by coach is also popular, and the capital is well-served with daily connections to every town in Serbia and to many other European destinations through the central bus station.

The city is placed along the Pan-European corridors X and VII.^[5] The motorway system provides for easy access to Novi Sad and Budapest, in the north; Niš to the south; and Zagreb, to the west. Situated at the confluence of two major rivers, the Danube and the Sava, Belgrade has 7 bridges—the two main ones are Branko's bridge and the Gazela Bridge, both of which connect the core of the city to New Belgrade. With the city's expansion and a substantial increase in the number of vehicles, congestion has become a major problem; this is expected to be alleviated by the construction of a bypass connecting the E70 and E75 motorways.^[207] Further, an "inner magistral semi-ring" is planned, including a new Ada Bridge across the Sava river, which is expected to ease commuting within the city and unload the Gazela and Branko's bridge.^[208]

The Port of Belgrade is on the Danube, and allows the city to receive goods by river.^[209] The city is also served by Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport, 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) west of the city centre, near Surčin. At its peak in 1986, almost 3 million passengers travelled through the airport, though that number dwindled to a trickle in the 1990s.^[210] Following renewed growth in 2000, the number of passengers reached approximately 2 million in 2004 and 2005,^[211] over 2.6 million passengers in 2008,^[212] reaching all-time peak in 2011 with over 3 million passengers.^[213]

Beovoz is the suburban/commuter railway network that provides mass-transit services in the city, similar to Paris' RER and Toronto's GO Transit. The main usage of today's system is to connect the suburbs with the city centre. Beovoz is operated by Serbian Railways.^[214] Belgrade suburban railway system connects suburbs and nearby cities to the west, north and south of the city. It began operation in 1992 and currently has 5 lines with 41 stations divided in two zones.^[215]

Belgrade was one of the last big European capitals and cities with over a million people to have no metro/subway or other rapid transit system. The Belgrade Metro is considered the third most important project in the country, after work on roads and railways. The two projects of highest priority are the Belgrade bypass and the Pan-European Corridor X.

International cooperation and honours

List of Belgrade's sister cities, and other forms of city cooperation and friendship:

Country	City	Year	Form
	Corfu	2010	Official sister cities[216][217][218][219][220]
	Coventry[221][222]	1957
	Chicago	2005
	Lahore	2007
	Ljubljana[223]	2010
	Skopje	2012
	Tel Aviv	1990
	Vienna	2003
Other forms of cooperation and city friendship:
	Athens	1966	Agreement on Friendship and Cooperation
	Banja Luka	2005	Agreement on Cooperation[224]
	Prnjavor	2005	Agreement on Cooperation
	Beijing	1980	Agreement on Cooperation[225]
	Berlin	1978	Agreement on Friendship and Cooperation
	Kiev	2002	Agreement on Cooperation
	Madrid	2001	Agreement on Cooperation
	Moscow	2002	Programme of Cooperation
	Rome	1971	Agreement on Friendship and Cooperation
	Shenzhen	2009	Agreement on Cooperation[226]
	Havana		Agreement on Friendship[227]

Some of the city's municipalities are also twinned to small cities or districts of other big cities; for details see their respective articles.

Belgrade has received various domestic and international honors, including the French Légion d'honneur (proclaimed 21 December 1920; Belgrade is one of four cities outside France, alongside Liège, Luxembourg and Volgograd, to receive this honour), the Czechoslovak War Cross (awarded 8 October 1925), the Yugoslavian Order of the Karađorđe's Star (awarded 18 May 1939) and the Yugoslavian Order of the People's Hero (proclaimed on 20 October 1974, the 30th anniversary of the overthrow of Nazi German occupation during World War II).^[228] All of these decorations were received for the war efforts during the World War I and World War II.^[229] In 2006, Financial Times' magazine Foreign Direct Investment awarded Belgrade the title of City of the Future of Southern Europe.^[230][231]

See also

• List of people from Belgrade

References

Bibliography

Notes

External links

• Official website of the City of Belgrade
• Tourist Organization of Belgrade
• Environmental Atlas of Belgrade, Institute of Public Health of Belgrade.

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Municipalities and cities of Serbia Municipalities of Belgrade Municipalities Barajevo Čukarica Grocka Lazarevac Mladenovac Novi Beograd Obrenovac Palilula Rakovica Savski Venac Sopot Stari Grad Surčin Voždovac Vračar Zemun Zvezdara Municipalities and cities of Vojvodina Novi Sad Novi Sad Petrovaradin Pančevo Sombor Sremska Mitrovica Subotica Zrenjanin Ada Alibunar Apatin Bač Bačka Palanka Bačka Topola Bački Petrovac Bečej Bela Crkva Beočin Čoka Inđija Irig Kanjiža Kikinda Kovačica Kovin Kula Mali Iđoš Nova Crnja Novi Bečej Novi Kneževac Odžaci Opovo Pećinci Plandište Ruma Sečanj Senta Šid Srbobran Sremski Karlovci Stara Pazova Temerin Titel Vrbas Vršac Žabalj Žitište Municipalities and cities of Šumadija and Western Serbia Čačak Jagodina Kragujevac Aerodrom Pivara Stanovo Stari Grad Stragari Kraljevo Kruševac Loznica Novi Pazar Šabac Užice Valjevo Aleksandrovac Aranđelovac Arilje Bajina Bašta Batočina Bogatić Brus Čajetina Ćićevac Ćuprija Despotovac Gornji Milanovac Ivanjica Knić Koceljeva Kosjerić Krupanj Lajkovac Lapovo Lučani Ljig Ljubovija Mali Zvornik Mionica Nova Varoš Osečina Paraćin Požega Priboj Prijepolje Rača Raška Rekovac Sjenica Svilajnac Topola Trstenik Tutin Ub Varvarin Vladimirci Vrnjačka Banja Municipalities and cities of Southern and Eastern Serbia Leskovac Niš Crveni Krst Medijana Niška Banja Palilula Pantelej Požarevac Požarevac Kostolac Smederevo Vranje Vranje Vranjska Banja Zaječar Aleksinac Babušnica Bela Palanka Blace Bojnik Boljevac Bor Bosilegrad Bujanovac Crna Trava Dimitrovgrad Doljevac Gadžin Han Golubac Kladovo Knjaževac Kučevo Kuršumlija Lebane Majdanpek Malo Crniće Medveđa Merošina Negotin Petrovac Pirot Preševo Prokuplje Ražanj Smederevska Palanka Sokobanja Surdulica Svrljig Trgovište Velika Plana Veliko Gradište Vladičin Han Vlasotince Žabari Žagubica Žitorađa Historical capitals of Serbia Destinikon (641–950) Ras (950–1276) Debrc (1276–1283) Belgrade (1283–1430; since 1841) Prizren (1300–1345) Skopje (1345–1371) Priština and Kruševac (1371–1389) Smederevo (1430–1453) Subotica (1526–1527) Kragujevac (1818–1841) Temišvar (1849–1860) Kragujevac (1914–1915) Niš (1915) Eurovision Song Contest History Languages Marcel Bezençon Awards OGAE Presenters Rules Voting Winners Winners discography Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest Best of Eurovision Eurovision Song Contest's Greatest Hits   Countries Active Albania Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Israel Italy Latvia Lithuania Macedonia Malta Moldova Montenegro Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia San Marino Serbia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom Inactive Andorra Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Luxembourg Monaco Morocco Slovakia Turkey Ukraine Former Serbia and Montenegro Yugoslavia Unsuccessful attempts Kazakhstan Kosovo Lebanon Liechtenstein Qatar Scotland Soviet Union Tunisia   Contests 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016   Host cities 1950s Lugano Frankfurt Hilversum Cannes 1960s London Cannes Luxembourg London Copenhagen Naples Luxembourg Vienna London Madrid 1970s Amsterdam Dublin Edinburgh Luxembourg Brighton Stockholm The Hague London Paris Jerusalem 1980s The Hague Dublin Harrogate Munich Luxembourg Gothenburg Bergen Brussels Dublin Lausanne 1990s Zagreb Rome Malmö Millstreet Dublin Dublin Oslo Dublin Birmingham Jerusalem 2000s Stockholm Copenhagen Tallinn Riga Istanbul Kiev Athens Helsinki Belgrade Moscow 2010s Oslo Düsseldorf Baku Malmö Copenhagen Vienna Congratulations: 50 Years of Eurovision (2005): Copenhagen Best of Eurovision (2006): Hamburg Eurovision Song Contest's Greatest Hits (2015): London   Venues 1950s Teatro Kursaal Großer Sendesaal des hessischen Rundfunks AVRO Studio Palais des Festivals 1960s Royal Festival Hall Palais des Festivals Villa Louvigny BBC Television Centre Tivolis Koncertsal RAI Concert Hall Villa Louvigny Hofburg Palace Royal Albert Hall Teatro Real 1970s RAI Congrescentrum Gaiety Theatre Usher Hall Grand Théâtre Brighton Dome Stockholm International Fairs Nederlands Congrescentrum Wembley Conference Centre Palais des Congrès International Convention Center 1980s Nederlands Congrescentrum RDS Simmonscourt Pavilion Harrogate International Centre Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle Grand Théâtre Scandinavium Grieg Hall Centenary Palace RDS Simmonscourt Pavilion Palais de Beaulieu 1990s Koncertna dvorana Vatroslav Lisinski Studio 15 di Cinecittà Malmö Isstadion Green Glens Arena Point Theatre Point Theatre Oslo Spektrum Point Theatre National Indoor Arena International Convention Center 2000s Ericsson Globe Parken Stadium Saku Suurhall Arena Skonto Hall Abdi İpekçi Arena Palace of Sports Olympic Indoor Hall Hartwall Areena Belgrade Arena Olimpiisky Indoor Arena 2010s Telenor Arena Esprit Arena Baku Crystal Hall Malmö Arena B&W Hallerne Wiener Stadthalle Congratulations: 50 Years of Eurovision (2005): Forum Copenhagen Best of Eurovision (2006): NDR Studios Eurovision Song Contest's Greatest Hits (2015): Eventim Apollo   National selections Current Albania Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bulgaria Denmark Estonia Finland Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Israel Italy Latvia Lithuania Macedonia Malta Moldova Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom Former Bosnia & Herzegovina Croatia Estonia Finland Greece Ireland Latvia Latvia Montenegro Serbia Serbia and Montenegro Switzerland Yugoslavia Category Portal Project Capitals of European states and territories Capitals of dependent territories and states whose sovereignty is disputed shown in italics. Western Amsterdam, Netherlands1 Andorra la Vella, Andorra Berlin, Germany Bern, Switzerland Brussels, Belgium2 Douglas, Isle of Man (UK) Dublin, Ireland London, United Kingdom Luxembourg, Luxembourg Paris, France Saint Helier, Jersey (UK) Saint Peter Port, Guernsey (UK) Vienna, Austria Northern Copenhagen, Denmark Helsinki, Finland Longyearbyen, Svalbard (Norway) Mariehamn, Åland Islands (Finland) Olonkinbyen, Jan Mayen (Norway) Oslo, Norway Reykjavík, Iceland Stockholm, Sweden Tórshavn, Faroe Islands (Denmark) Central Vaduz, Liechtenstein Southern Ankara, Turkey3 Athens, Greece Belgrade, Serbia Bucharest, Romania Gibraltar, Gibraltar (UK) Lisbon, Portugal Ljubljana, Slovenia Madrid, Spain Monaco, Monaco Nicosia, Cyprus4 North Nicosia, Northern Cyprus4, 5 Podgorica, Montenegro Pristina, Kosovo5 Rome, Italy San Marino, San Marino Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Skopje, Macedonia Sofia, Bulgaria Tirana, Albania Valletta, Malta Vatican City, Vatican City Zagreb, Croatia Eastern Astana, Kazakhstan3 Baku, Azerbaijan3 Bratislava, Slovakia Budapest, Hungary Chișinău, Moldova Kiev, Ukraine Minsk, Belarus Moscow, Russia3 Prague, Czech Republic Riga, Latvia Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh4, 5 Sukhumi, Abkhazia3, 5 Tallinn, Estonia Tbilisi, Georgia3 Tiraspol, Transnistria5 Tskhinvali, South Ossetia3, 5 Vilnius, Lithuania Warsaw, Poland Yerevan, Armenia4 1 Also the capital of the Kingdom of the Netherlands 2 Also the seat of the European Union, see Institutional seats of the European Union and Brussels and the European Union 3 Transcontinental country 4 Entirely in Southwest Asia but having socio-political connections with Europe 5 Partially recognised country The Danube Countries Germany Austria Slovakia Hungary Croatia Serbia Bulgaria Romania Moldova Ukraine Cities Ulm Ingolstadt Regensburg Passau Linz Vienna Bratislava Győr Budapest Novi Sad Belgrade Ruse Brăila Galați Izmail Tulcea Tributaries Iller Lech Regen Isar Inn Morava Váh Hron Ipeľ/Ipoly Drava Tisza/Tisa Sava Timiș/Tamiš Great Morava Timok Jiu Iskar Olt Osam Yantra Vedea Argeș Ialomița Siret Prut Islands Ada Kaleh (currently submerged) Balta Ialomiţei Belene Island Csepel Island Donauinsel Dranova Island Great Brăila Island Great War Island Island of Vukovar Island of Šarengrad Kozloduy Island Maican Island Margaret Island (Margit-sziget) Ostrovul Ciocăneşti Ostrovul Mare, Islaz Ostrvo (Kostolac) Sfântu Gheorghe Island Vardim Island Žitný ostrov List of crossings Statistical regions of Serbia Vojvodina Belgrade Šumadija and Western Serbia Southern and Eastern Serbia Kosovo and Metohija¹ ¹ Kosovo declared independence in 2008.