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General Information
Note: As of February 2003, the Yugoslav parliament ceased to be and the Union of Serbia and Montenegro was voted into existence. The Union was agreed in 2002 and will remain unchanged for at least three years after which time the individual states can decide whether to stay united or to separate. At the time of writing, all information is correct and up to date, but it may be subject to quick change and new events may change various aspects of any of the following sections. All information should be double-checked with an official source.
Area: Serbia and Montenegro comprises Serbia (including the provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina) with 88,361 sq km (39,449 sq miles) and Montenegro with 13,812 sq km (5331 sq miles). These two were respectively the largest and smallest of the republics which made up the former Yugoslavia. The country officially covers 102,173 sq km (39,448 sq miles), or 40 per cent of the territory of the former federation (255,804 sq km/98,766 sq miles).
Population: Together, Serbia and Montenegro have an estimated total population of 10,629,400 (1999).
Population Density: 104 per sq km.
Capital: Belgrade (Beograd, Serbia). Population: 1,168,454 (1991). Podgorica is the capital of Montenegro.
GEOGRAPHY: Roughly rectangular in shape and on a major European communications axis north–west and south–east, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia borders Hungary to the north, Romania to the northeast, Bulgaria to the southeast, the Kosovo region and Albania to the south, Bosnia-Herzegovina to the west and Croatia to the northwest. The province of Kosovo, now administered by the UN, is in the south, and shares borders with Macedonia (former Yugoslav Republic) and Albania. Serbia is dominated by the flat, fertile farmland of the Danube and Tisza valleys. The scenery varies from rich Alpine valleys, vast fertile plains and rolling green hills to bare, rocky gorges as much as 1140m (3800ft) deep, thick forests and gaunt limestone mountain regions. Belgrade, the capital, lies on the Danube. Montenegro is a small mountainous region on the Adriatic coast north of Albania, bordering on Bosnia-Herzegovina to the west. Its small Adriatic coastline comprises the main ports of Bar and those in the Gulf of Kotor.
Government: Union of States since February 2003 (previously Federal Republic since 1992. First gained independence as the ‘Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes’ in 1918 from the Austro-Hungarian Empire; renamed Yugoslavia in 1929). Head of State: President Vojislav Kostunica since 2000. Head of Government: Prime Minister Dragisa Pesic since 2001. The Kosovo region is now administered by the UN.
Language: Serbian, which uses the Cyrillic script, Albanian and Hungarian.
Religion: Majority Eastern Orthodox Serbs, with a large Muslim ethnic Albanian minority (especially in the province of Kosovo), a Roman Catholic ethnic Serbian minority (mainly located in the province of Vojvodina) and a small Jewish community.
Time: GMT + 1 (GMT + 2 from last Sunday in March to Saturday before last Sunday in October).
Electricity: 220 volts AC, 50Hz.
Telephone
IDD is available. Country code: 381. Outgoing international code: 99.
Mobile telephone
GSM 900/1800 networks provide coverage in main towns. Network operators include Mobtel (website: www.mobtel.com), Mobilna Telefonija Sribje (website: www.telekom.yu), Monet (website: www.monetcg.com) and Promonte (website: www.promonte.com).
Fax
Transmissions are available to and from Western Europe.
Internet
ISPs include Infosky (website: www.infosky.net). Internet cafes can be found in the main urban centres.
Post
Postal services within Serbia and Montenegro are reasonably good.
Press
The main local newspapers and magazines, in decreasing order of circulation, are Politika (Belgrade), Vecernje Novosti (Belgrade) and Politika Ekspres (Belgrade).
BBC World Service and Voice of America frequencies: From time to time these change.
BBC (website: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice):
Voice of America (website: www.voa.gov):
Note: CNN is also available via satellite (Astra) in a number of Belgrade and Montenegrin (Adriatic Coast) hotels.
Copyright © 2003 Columbus Publishing Ltd.
Terms and Conditions apply.
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