1.
Serbia
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Serbia, officially the Republic of Serbia, is a sovereign state situated at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Pannonian Plain and the central Balkans. Relative to its territory, it is a diverse country distinguished by a transitional character, situated along cultural, geographic, climatic. Serbia numbers around 7 million residents, and its capital, Belgrade, following the Slavic migrations to the Balkans from the 6th century onwards, Serbs established several states in the early Middle Ages. The Serbian Kingdom obtained recognition by Rome and the Byzantine Empire in 1217, in the early 19th century, the Serbian Revolution established the nation-state as the regions first constitutional monarchy, which subsequently expanded its territory. During the breakup of Yugoslavia, Serbia formed a union with Montenegro which dissolved peacefully in 2006, in 2008 the parliament of the province of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence, with mixed responses from the international community. Serbia is a member of organizations such as the UN, CoE, OSCE, PfP, BSEC. An EU membership candidate since 2012, Serbia has been negotiating its EU accession since January 2014, the country is acceding to the WTO and is a militarily neutral state. Serbia is an income economy with dominant service sector, followed by the industrial sector. The country ranks high on the Social Progress Index as well as the Global Peace Index, relatively high on the Human Development Index, located at the crossroads between Central and Southern Europe, Serbia is found in the Balkan peninsula and the Pannonian Plain. Serbia lies between latitudes 41° and 47° N, and longitudes 18° and 23° E. The country covers a total of 88,361 km2, which places it at 113th place in the world, with Kosovo excluded, the area is 77,474 km2. Its total border length amounts to 2,027 km, all of Kosovos border with Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro are under control of the Kosovo border police. The Pannonian Plain covers the third of the country while the easternmost tip of Serbia extends into the Wallachian Plain. The terrain of the part of the country, with the region of Šumadija at its heart. Mountains dominate the third of Serbia. Dinaric Alps stretch in the west and the southwest, following the flow of the rivers Drina, the Carpathian Mountains and Balkan Mountains stretch in a north–south direction in eastern Serbia. Ancient mountains in the southeast corner of the country belong to the Rilo-Rhodope Mountain system, elevation ranges from the Midžor peak of the Balkan Mountains at 2,169 metres to the lowest point of just 17 metres near the Danube river at Prahovo. The largest lake is Đerdap Lake and the longest river passing through Serbia is the Danube, the climate of Serbia is under the influences of the landmass of Eurasia and the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea
2.
Internet
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The Internet is the global system of interconnected computer networks that use the Internet protocol suite to link devices worldwide. The origins of the Internet date back to research commissioned by the United States federal government in the 1960s to build robust, the primary precursor network, the ARPANET, initially served as a backbone for interconnection of regional academic and military networks in the 1980s. Although the Internet was widely used by academia since the 1980s, Internet use grew rapidly in the West from the mid-1990s and from the late 1990s in the developing world. In the two decades since then, Internet use has grown 100-times, measured for the period of one year, newspaper, book, and other print publishing are adapting to website technology, or are reshaped into blogging, web feeds and online news aggregators. The entertainment industry was initially the fastest growing segment on the Internet, the Internet has enabled and accelerated new forms of personal interactions through instant messaging, Internet forums, and social networking. Business-to-business and financial services on the Internet affect supply chains across entire industries, the Internet has no centralized governance in either technological implementation or policies for access and usage, each constituent network sets its own policies. The term Internet, when used to refer to the global system of interconnected Internet Protocol networks, is a proper noun. In common use and the media, it is not capitalized. Some guides specify that the word should be capitalized when used as a noun, the Internet is also often referred to as the Net, as a short form of network. Historically, as early as 1849, the word internetted was used uncapitalized as an adjective, the designers of early computer networks used internet both as a noun and as a verb in shorthand form of internetwork or internetworking, meaning interconnecting computer networks. The terms Internet and World Wide Web are often used interchangeably in everyday speech, however, the World Wide Web or the Web is only one of a large number of Internet services. The Web is a collection of interconnected documents and other web resources, linked by hyperlinks, the term Interweb is a portmanteau of Internet and World Wide Web typically used sarcastically to parody a technically unsavvy user. The ARPANET project led to the development of protocols for internetworking, the third site was the Culler-Fried Interactive Mathematics Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara, followed by the University of Utah Graphics Department. In an early sign of growth, fifteen sites were connected to the young ARPANET by the end of 1971. These early years were documented in the 1972 film Computer Networks, early international collaborations on the ARPANET were rare. European developers were concerned with developing the X.25 networks, in December 1974, RFC675, by Vinton Cerf, Yogen Dalal, and Carl Sunshine, used the term internet as a shorthand for internetworking and later RFCs repeated this use. Access to the ARPANET was expanded in 1981 when the National Science Foundation funded the Computer Science Network, in 1982, the Internet Protocol Suite was standardized, which permitted worldwide proliferation of interconnected networks.5 Mbit/s and 45 Mbit/s. Commercial Internet service providers emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the ARPANET was decommissioned in 1990
3.
Coat of arms of Serbia
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The coat of arms of Serbia is a re-introduction of the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Serbia adopted by the Republic of Serbia in 2004 and later slightly redesigned in 2010. The coat of arms consists of two heraldic symbols which represent the national identity of the Serbian people across the centuries, the Serbian eagle. The Emblem of the Socialist Republic of Serbia was adopted the same time as the flag and it was designed by Đorđe Andrejević-Kun. The traditional shield of arms of Serbia with 4 fire steels, the cross which has always been included shield of arms was removed for ideological reasons of socialist atheism. It was placed above a rising sun with a cog wheel symbolizing the workers and surrounded with a wreath of wheat and oak leaves. A red ribbon with dates 1804 and 1941 which refer to the dates of the first Serbian uprising against the Ottomans, the socialist coat of arms remained in official use long after the dissolution of socialist Yugoslavia and after the red star was removed in 1992 from the flag. The National Assembly recommended usage of the old symbols of the Kingdom of Serbia on August 17,2004, the recommended usage was made Law on May 11,2009 thus officially replacing the socialist heraldic Coat of arms. The principal field stands for the Serbian state and it consists of a white double-headed eagle on a red shield, its body and wings in white, and tongues, beaks, legs and claws in gold, between two golden fleur-de-lis. The inescutcheon stands for the Serbian nation, in a red shield, all of the letters face horizontally outwards. A blazon in heraldic terms is, Gules, a bicephalic eagle Argent armed Or, overall an escutcheon Gules, a cross Argent between four firesteels Argent. All crowned with a royal crown, the design on the inescutcheon has been used by Serbian states and the Serbian church since the Middle Ages. The four shapes around the cross are a stylized form of letters. Although Serbia is now a republic, the coat of arms features the crown of the former monarchy. The lesser arms is used frequently, appearing on passports, identity cards, drivers licenses. The use of the eagle dates back to the late Byzantine era. The double-headed eagle can be more often on inscriptions, medieval frescoes and embroidery on the clothes of Byzantine. Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja was among the first in Serbia who used the symbol, the survived golden ring of Queen Teodora has the symbol engraved. The Nemanjić dynasty coat of arms was the double-headed eagle, during the reign of Emperor Stefan Dušan, the double-headed eagle can be seen on everyday objects and state related documents, such as vax stamps and proclamations
4.
Flag of Serbia
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The flag of Serbia is a tricolor consisting of three equal horizontal bands, red on the top, blue in the middle and white on the bottom. The same tricolor, in altering variations, has used since the 19th century as the flag of the state of Serbia. The current form of the flag was adopted on 11 November 2010. The state flag bears the coat of arms, centered vertically. The flag ratio is 2 to 3, with three horizontal bands of red, blue and white, each taking one third of the height. Recommended colors are, ^α Only used on the greater arms ermine mantling and it is described as vexillum unum de zendato rubeo et blavo—a flag of fabric red and blue, zendato being a type of light, silky fabric. This is the oldest known attestation of colours of a Serbian flag, in 1326, Dečanski sent a delegate to the Mamluk Sultanate in Alexandria and sought a flag in yellow colour, to be used as a war flag. The Byzantines mention that there were several war flags hoisted by the Serbs at the Battle of Velbuzhd, Stefan Dušan was crowned Emperor in 1346, Dušan also adopted the Byzantine tetragramme with four fire-steels, which afterwards became an element of the Serbian flag until today. A flag in Hilandar, seen by Dimitrije Avramović, was alleged by the brotherhood to have been a flag of Emperor Dušan, it was a triband of red at the top and bottom and white in the centre. Emperor Dušan also adopted the Imperial divelion, which was purple and had a cross in the centre. Another of Dušans flags was the Imperial cavalry flag, kept at the Hilandar monastery on Mount Athos, during the First Serbian Uprising, various flags were used. Among the early flags, the one described by Mateja Nenadović could be connected with todays flag, regular armies of the uprising usually had light yellow flags with various symbols, while voivode flags were often red-white, and with a superimposed black two-headed eagle. There were also flags of other colors, including red-yellow, red-white-blue and red-blue and this variety of colors was followed by variety of symbols on the flags, most often taken from Hristofor Zhefarovichs book Stemmatographia of 1741. The most common symbol on the flags were the Serbian cross, followed by coat of arms of Tribalia, most of the flags were made in Sremski Karlovci, designed by Serbian painters Stefan Gavrilović, Ilija Gavrilović and Nikola Apostolović. The 1835 Sretenje Constitution described the colors of the Serbian flag as bright red, white, the constitution was criticized, especially by Russia, and the flag was specifically singled out as being similar to the revolutionary flag of France. The colors are the reverse of those on the flag of Russia, an example, Serbia used the red, blue and white tricolor continuously from 1835 until 1918 when Serbia joined the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later known as Yugoslavia. After World War II, Yugoslavia was reformed into a socialist federal republic, composed of six republics, each republic was entitled to its own flag on the condition that it contained the socialist red star. 1992 Serbian constitutional referendum asked the voters to choose between the flag with and without the star, with red star gaining the majority of votes, however not the absolute majority of voters
5.
Regalia of Serbia
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Serbia, like most former monarchies of Europe, has had crowns once worn by its rulers. The various Serbian principalities and kingdoms were organised around a number of different royal dynasties, many of these invested in symbols of royalty which has led to a number of distinctive crowns, jewels and other treasures of incredible wealth surviving to the present day. As far as is known, there are four royal crowns once worn by Serbian kings or princes that have survived to the present day, the Nemanjić Crown Jewels are the oldest of the surviving pieces of Serbian royal regalia. They were used in the ceremonies of members of the medieval House of Nemanjić. The 14th Century Crown of King Stephen III is kept at Cetinje Monastery in the Republic of Montenegro, another crown which had once belonged to medieval Serbian rulers is kept in the Royal Treasury museum in Vienna, Austria. Also, at the Vienna Royal Treasury are found two further crowns once worn by members of the medieval Nemanjić dynasty, one of which was attributed to Prince Stefan Bockaj. Together with these is a mantle of unknown origin which is believed to have been captured by the Serbs from the Ottomans at Brasov. The Karađorđević Crown Jewels were created in 1904 for the coronation of King Peter I, the pieces were made from materials that included bronze taken from the cannon Karađorđe used during the First Serbian Uprising. This gesture was symbolic because 1904 was the 100th anniversary of that uprising, the regalia was made in Paris by the famous Falise brothers jewellery company and is currently the only Serbian crown kept in the territory of the Republic of Serbia. The Royal Mantle is made of velvet, embroidered with gold. History of Serbia List of Serbian monarchs Kingdom of Serbia Serbian Empire Official Website
6.
Serbian cross
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The Serbian cross is a national symbol of Serbia, part of the Coat of arms of Serbia, flag of Serbia and the Serbian Orthodox Church. It is composed of a symbol with four stylized letters S on each of its corners. The Serbian tradition attributes the symbol to St. Sava, 12th century metropolitan of Žiča and Archbishop of Serbs, creation of the motto from those four letters. The actual origin of the symbols is with the Byzantine Empire. The double-headed eagle and the cross are the heraldic symbols which represent the national identity of the Serbian people across the centuries. Crosses with firesteels have been used since Roman times, as symbols, some historians connect it with the labarum, the Imperial flag of Constantine the Great. In the 6th century the cross with four fields, tetragramme, the symbol was adopted by the First Crusaders since the first event, Peoples Crusade. Michael VIII Palaiologos adopted the symbol when he resurrected the Byzantine Empire, with the initials of the motto of the Palaiologos dynasty, King of Kings. It was used in flags and coins, as Alexander Soloviev writes, the use of letters in western heraldry is non existent. Stojan Novaković argues that the use of the Serbian cross, as a national symbol, began in 1397. It was possibly derived from the Dečani polijelej, Serbian historian Stanoje Stanojević argues that it entered its use in 1345, with Stefan Dušans elevation to Emperor. In the Middle Ages, both the Greek style, with closed fire-steels, and the Serbian syle, with open fire-steels, were used in Serbia, a 1439 map by Gabriel de Vallseca used both the Serbian cross and eagle when depicting Serbia. According to Mavro Orbini, it was used by Vukašin Mrnjavčević, next, it is found in the Belgrade Armorial II, the Fojnica Armorial, the Armorial of Stanislaus Rubcich, and Stemmatographia, while still continuing to be used in foreign heraldic sources. The Metropolitanate of Karlovci, established in 1691, adopted it in its seal, during WWII, The Serbian cross was used in the Nazi backed puppet government, Government of National Salvation Flag. Miloš Obrenović adopted the Serbian cross as the flag when forming the first units of the regular army in 1825. The Serbian cross symbol has been used in Serb heraldry. The memorial park in Tekeriš, where the first battle of the Great War was fought, the cross with symbols S as heraldic symbols. Archived from the original on May 21,2013, određivanje nacionalnih heraldičkih simbola na primjeru Srba i Hrvata
7.
Three-finger salute (Serbian)
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In Serbian and Orthodox tradition, the number three is exceptionally important. Three fingers are used when signing the cross in Orthodoxy, symbolizing the Trinity, the Serbs, when swearing Oath, historically used the three fingers along with the greetings My Holy Trinity or for the Honorable Cross and Golden Freedom during formal and religious events. The salute was made with both hands, raised above the head. Serbian peasants sealed a pledge by raising three fingers to the face, the face being the focus of honour in Balkan culture, a Serbian proverb goes There is no cross without three fingers. Karađorđe was appointed leader of the Serbian rebels after they all raised their three fingers in the air and thereby swore Oath, the three fingers were viewed of as a symbol of Serbdom in the 19th century. Njegoš mentioned the crossing with three fingers has not remained when speaking of the Islamization of Serbs, a theme in The Mountain Wreath. Paja Jovanovićs painting, The Takovo Uprising, depicts Miloš Obrenović holding a war flag, the Serb-Catholic movement in Dubrovnik, which supported that Serbs had three faiths, criticized the Pan-Serbists who according to them only truly believed those Serbs, who cross with three fingers. A short story published in 1901 surrounds a Serbian despot meeting with a Szilágyi, Serbian Metropolitan Nikolaj Velimirović called for a Serbian salute in which three fingers were to be raised along the greeting, Thus Help Us God. In 1937, Velimirović began a sermon protesting the Catholic support for separation of state, during World War II, the Catholic church in Independent Croatia sought that the Serbs renounce crossing with three fingers. A letter from the Chetniks to the Yugoslav Partisans stressed that the government was in London. An Ustashe song went Nesta krsta sa tri prsta, historian Dragan Petrović stresses that Vuk Drašković was not the author of the salute, but that greater credit belongs to Mirko Jović and Jovan Rašković. During the Yugoslav wars, the salute was used as a Serb symbol. Serb soldiers raised the three fingers as a sign of victory. e, at sport events, by opponents of Milošević, by President Boris Tadić during the 2008 Summer Olympics, etc. The salute is used by sport fans and players when celebrating victories. After winning the 1995 European basketball championship, the entire then-Yugoslav team displayed the three fingers, sasha Djordjevic says he flashed the three fingers not to be provocative. Just, thats Serbia, thats us, thats me – nothing else, Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic raises three fingers after his victories. The salute is used by members and supporters of almost all Serbian political parties on their rallies during election campaigns and it can be seen at all kinds of street demonstrations and celebrations. Croats, Bosniaks, and Kosovo Albanians, who have been at war with Serbs, There were instances when non-Serb captives were forced to use the salute
8.
Serbian cuisine
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Serbian cuisine is the traditional cuisine of the Balkan country Serbia, sharing characteristics with the rest of the Balkan nations. The national dishes include pljeskavica, ćevapi, and Karađorđeva šnicla, the national drink is the plum brandy šljivovica or Homemade rakija. Serbian food is characterized not only of elements from Serbia, peasantry has greatly influenced the cooking process. In recent times, the Serbian diaspora has spread the cuisine across the world. William, archbishop of Tyre, who visited Constantinople in 1179, described the Serbs, They are rich in herds and flocks and unusually well supplied with milk, cheese, butter, meat, honey and wax. The first published cookbook in Serbia is The Big Serbian Cookbook, the best known Serbian cookbook is Patas Cookbook, written by Spasenija Pata Marković in 1907, the book remains in publication even today. An old Serbian legend says that during the time of the 14th-century Serbian Empire, under the rule of Stefan Uroš IV Dušan, meals in the Serbian palace were eaten with golden spoons, historians say that mediaeval Serbian cuisine mainly consisted of milk, dairy produce and vegetables. Not a lot of bread was eaten, but when it was, the rich ate bread made from wheat, the only meat consumed was game, with cattle kept for agricultural use. Most people in Serbia will have three meals daily, breakfast, lunch and dinner, with lunch being the largest in the Mediterranean fashion, however, traditionally, only lunch and dinner existed, with breakfast being introduced in the second half of the 19th century. It has a mix of various traditions, Serbian confectioneries often offer koljivo, baklava, nut roll. A number of foods which are bought in the West, are often made at home in Serbia. These include rakija, slatko, jam, jelly, various pickled foods, notably sauerkraut, the reasons for this range from economical to cultural. Food preparation is a part of the Serbian family tradition. Breakfast in Serbia is an early but hearty meal, although before breakfast most people take a cup of coffee. The most common are simple pottages made of beef or poultry with added noodles, fishermans soup and lamb soup are considered to be delicacies. Grilled meats are the main course dishes offered in most restaurants. They are often eaten as fast food and they are traditionally made by holding the meat to the wind and cold air and only later smoked. A traditional Serbian welcome is to offer the guest with just bread and salt, some people believe that it is sinful to throw away bread regardless of how old it is
9.
Slivovitz
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Šljivovica, Slivovitza, Schlivowitz, or Slivovitsa is a fruit brandy made from damson plums, often referred to as plum brandy. Slivovitz is produced in Central and South-East Europe both commercially and privately, primary producers are in Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia. In the Balkans, Slivovitz is considered a kind of Rakia, in Hungaria Pálinka and in the Czech Republic and Slovakia Pálenka, for example, Czech meruňka apricot → meruňkovice apricot brandy, broskev peach → broskvovice peach brandy. The primary producers are Bosnia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, during the production process, the plums and their ground kernels are crushed and pressed, yeast, starch, and sugar may be added to the juice. The mixture is allowed to ferment. There may be one or more stages, depending on the desired final product or region of production. Some producers have obtained a Hechsher certifying that it is kosher for Passover, imitation slivovitz is made by flavouring spirits with prune juice and artificial oil of bitter almonds. In Bulgaria, the Troyan plum brandy has been distilled in the Troyan Monastery by the monks since the founding of the monastery in the 14th century, the original recipe included 40 herbs, and was passed through the centuries from abbot to abbot. In 1894 the Monasterys brandy was presented at a competition in Antwerp, Belgium. It is considered best distilled to a level between 39 and 41 degrees. Some celebrities who have tasted Troyan plum brandy are Pope John Paul II, patriarch Maxim of Bulgaria celebrated his 95th birthday in 2009 in the Sofia Metropolitanate with Troyan plum brandy. In cooperation with the Bulgarian government, the Czech distillery Rudolf Jelinek protected the brands Troyanska slivova, however, the Czechs reduced the alcohol content to pay less duty. The production of Vinprom-Troyan is mainly for export, for the past 18 years, Troyan has a special holiday, The Festival of Plum. This holiday is celebrated at the end of September in Troyan, the plum has always been an essential produce in this region. Since the beginning of the 20th century plums have been made into marmalades, pesto, dried prunes and it is primarily produced in the southern and eastern provinces of Moravia and in Vysočina, where the country retains its rural character. The production was introduced by immigrants from the Balkans since the 16th century. Although illegal, traditional home distilleries still exist, the majority of production moved to certified local community-owned distilleries to prevent errors during the distillation process. It also allows state authorities to collect their respective taxes based on the proof of the product, however there are tax-reliefs for private, the usual proof of private-produced slivovice is over 50% of alcohol in the final product, commercially available mass-produced drinks are mostly lower proof
