Serbia » Belgrade

Belgrade is the capital of the Republic of Serbia, as well as the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. It is one of the oldest cities in Europe, first settled in the 3rd century BC by the Celts before becoming the Roman settlement of Singidunum. The name Beograd (Belgrade) was first mentioned in 878 AD. It has been the capital of Serbia since 1404, and was the capital of Yugoslavia from 1918 until 2003.

The city lies at the confluence of the Sava and Danube Rivers in north central Serbia, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkan Peninsula. The official population of the Belgrade region is 1,576,124. Unofficially (taking into account the large number of Serbian refugees and displaced persons from Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and the province of Kosovo-Metohia), the population probably surpasses 2 million. It is the largest city on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, and by population ranks fourth in the Balkans behind Istanbul, Athens and Bucharest. 

Belgrade has the status of a separate territorial unit in Serbia, with its own autonomous city government. Its territory is divided into 17 municipalities, each of which has its own local council. Belgrade spreads over 3.6% of the territory of Serbia, and 21% of the Serbian population (excluding that of the Kosovo-Metohia province) lives in the city. It is the central economic hub of Serbia: about a third of all employed workers in Serbia work in Belgrade. Belgrade is also the capital of Serbian culture, education and science.