Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. The city lies on two international waterways, at the confluence of the Sava and Danube in north central Serbia, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkan Peninsula. With a population of 1,630,000 (official estimate 2007), Belgrade is the largest city in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, second largest city on the Danube river and the fourth largest in Southeastern Europe, after Istanbul, Athens, and Bucharest.
History
One of the oldest cities of Europe, with archeological finds tracing settlements as early as 6th millennium BC, Belgrade's wider city area was the birthplace of the largest prehistoric culture of Europe, the Vinča culture. The city was discovered by the Greeks, founded and named by the Celts (White City, name it still bears), awarded city rights by the Roman Empire before it was permanently settled by White Serbs from the 600s onwards. As a strategic key, the city was battled over in 140 separate wars since the ancient period by countless armies of the East and West. In medieval times, it was in the possession of Byzantine, Frankish, Bulgarian, Hungarian and Serbian rulers. In 1521, Belgrade was conquered by the Ottomans and became the seat of the Pashaluk of Belgrade, as the principal city of Ottoman Europe and among the largest European cities.
Prince Eugene (Prinz Eugen von Savoyen) forced Belgrade to surrender in 1717 after defeating the Ottoman army with a German relief army. In the Peace of Belgrade on September 18, 1739, the city became Ottoman again. From 1807 to 1812, Belgrade was the seat of the Serbian government and then Belgrade became Turkish again and since 1807 Belgrade became the capital of Serbia.
Frequently passing from Ottoman to HRE rule, the status of Serbian capital would be regained only in 1841, after the Serbian revolution. Northern Belgrade, though, remained an Austrian outpost until the breakup of Austria-Hungary in 1918. The united city then became the capital of several incarnations of Yugoslavia, up to 2006, when Serbia became an independent state again.
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 having its own local council. It covers 3.6% of the territory of Serbia, and 24% of the country's population lives in the city. Belgrade is the central economic hub of Serbia, and the capital of Serbian culture, education and science.
