"Miman Homepage" miman's Profile

My name is Mima and I live in Serbia. Serbia, officially the Republic of Serbia is a landlocked country in Central and Southeastern Europe, covering the central part of the Balkan Peninsula and the southern part of the Pannonian Plain. The capital is Belgrade. Serbia borders Hungary to the north; Romania and Bulgaria to the east; the Republic of Macedonia and Albania to the south; and Montenegro, Croatia, and Republika Srpska (part of Bosnia and Herzegovina) to the west. Following its uprisings against Turkish yoke between 1804 and 1815, Serbia was established as an autonomous state which obtained formal independence in 1878. Victorious in Balkan wars and World War I, for nearly a century Serbia was part of various South Slavic states, including the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes from 1918 to 1941 (re-named the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929), the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1992, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1992 to 2003, and the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro from 2003 to 2006. After Montenegro voted to leave the State Union, Serbia officially proclaimed its independence on June 5, 2006, as the successor state to the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.

Serbia

My husband and me - Abu Simbel

Serbia is located in the Balkans (a historically and geographically distinct region of southeastern Europe) and in the Pannonian Plain (a region of central Europe). It shares borders with Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, the Republic of Macedonia, and Romania. Serbia is landlocked, although the Danube River provides shipping access to inland Europe and the Black Sea.Serbia's terrain ranges from the rich, fertile plains of the northern Vojvodina region, limestone ranges and basins in the east, and, in the southeast, ancient mountains and hills. The north is dominated by the Danube River. A tributary, the Morava River, flows through the more mountainous southern regions.

History of Serbia

Coat of arms of Serbia

The roots of the Serbian state date back to the 7th century. A Serbian kingdom was established in the 11th century.The medieval Serbian state was re-formed in the 12th century by the Serbian Grand Župan Stefan Nemanja. In 1220 Serbia became a kingdom, and in 1346, Stefan Dušan established the Serbian Empire. The Empire was disintegrated and fell to the Ottoman Turks after the historic Battle of Kosovo in 1389. The northern Serbian territories were totally conquered in 1459 when Smederevo fell. Following the collapse of Serbian Empire in Battle of Kosovo, between 1459 and 1804, Serbia was under the Ottoman occupation. The Ottoman period was a defining one in the history of the country; Slavic, Byzantine, Arabic and Turkish cultures suffused. Many contemporary cultural traits can be traced back to Ottoman period. The First Serbian Uprising of 1804-1813, led by Đorđe Petrović (Karađorđe ), and the Second Serbian Uprising of 1815 resulted in the establishment of the Principality of Serbia. From 1815 to 1903, the Serbian state was ruled by the House of Obrenović, except from 1842 to 1858, when Serbia was ruled by Prince Aleksandar Karađorđević. In 1903, the House of Obrenović was replaced by the House of Karađorđević. The assassination of Austrian Crown Prince Franc Ferdinand in Sarajevo in 1914, served as a pretext for the Austrian attack on Serbia that marked the beginning of World War I. This enormous sacrifice was the contribution Serbia gave to the Allied victory and the remodeling of Europe and of the World after World War I. With the end of World War I and the downfall of Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire the conditions were met for proclaiming the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians in December of 1918. Luftwaffe bombed Belgrade and other major cities and in April 1941. The occupying powers committed numerous crimes against the civilian population, especially against Serbs and Jews. In 1945, Serbia was established as one of the federal units of the second Yugoslavia, the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia. After the collapse of the second Yugoslavia in 1992 until the year 2003, Serbia, together with Montenegro, was part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Despite the civil wars in neighbouring Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia remained peaceful until 1998, when the clashes with K.L.A. started in Kosovo. Between 1998 and 1999, continued clashes in Kosovo between Serbian and Yugoslav security forces and the K.L.A. prompted a NATO aerial bombardment which lasted for 78 days. From 2003 to 2006, Serbia was part of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, into which the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia had been transformed. On June 3, the Parliament of Montenegro declared Montenegro independent of the State Union and on June 5, the National Assembly of Serbia declared Serbia the successor to the State Union.

Car Dusan

Serbia is one of Europe's most culturally diverse countries. The borders between large empires ran through the territory of today's Serbia for long periods in history: between the Eastern and Western halves of the Roman Empire; and between the Ottoman Empire and the Austrian Empire . As a result, while the north is culturally Central European, the south is rather more Oriental. Of course, both regions have influenced each other, and so the distinction between north and south is artificial to some extent. The Byzantine Empire's influence on Serbia was perhaps the greatest. Serbs are Orthodox Christians, not Roman Catholics, with their own national church - the Serb Orthodox Church. They use both the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets, as a result of both Eastern and Western influences. The monasteries of Serbia, built largely in the Middle Ages, are one of the most valuable and visible traces of medieval Serbia's association with the Byzantium, but also with the Romanic (Western) Europe that Serbia had close ties with back in middle ages.

Belgrade

Tourism in Serbia is mostly based in mountains and villages. The most famous mountain resorts are Zlatibor, Kopaonik, and the Tara. There also are a lot of spas in Serbia, one the biggest of which is the Vrnjačka Banja. There is also significant tourism in Belgrade and Novi Sad (the capital of the Vojvodina province), as well to the Exit Festival and the Guča trumpet festival.

Vojvodina

Center of Novi Sad

The Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is one of the two autonomous provinces in Serbia. It is located in the northern part of the country, in the Pannonian plain. Its capital and the largest city is Novi Sad (my hometown) and the second largest city is Subotica. Vojvodina is ethnically, culturally and linguistically diverse, with more than 26 different ethnic groups and six official languages. Vojvodina is situated in the northern part of Serbia. The region is traditionally divided by the Danube and Tisa rivers into: Bačka in the northwest, Banat in the east and Syrmia (Srem) in the southwest.

Tempe of Saint Sava in Belgrade

Serbia is a multireligious country. Dominant religion is Orthodox Christianity (notably the Serbian Orthodox Church), but there are also numerous adherents of Islam (living mostly in Kosovo, Sandžak and Preševo Valley), and Catholic Christianity (living mostly in northern part of Vojvodina), as well as adherents of other religious groups such are Protestant Christians, Jews, and others. Most of the citizens of Serbia are adherents of the Serbian Orthodox Church, while the Romanian Orthodox Church is also present in parts of Vojvodina inhabited by ethnic Romanian minority. Besides Serbs, the ethnic groups of Serbia whose members are mostly adherents of Orthodox Christianity are: Montenegrins, Romanians, Yugoslavs, Roma, Macedonians, Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Russians, Greeks, Vlachs, etc. The identity of ethnic Serbs was historically largely based on Orthodox Christianity and on the Serbian Orthodox Church, to the extent that some Serb nationalists claimed that those who are not its faithful are not Serbs. However, the conversion of the south Slavs from paganism to Christianity took place before the Great Schism, the split between the Greek East and the Catholic West. After the Schism, those who lived under the Orthodox sphere of influence became Orthodox and those who lived under the Catholic sphere of influence became Catholic. Some ethnologists consider that the distinct Serb and Croat identities relate to religion rather than ethnicity. With the arrival of the Ottoman Empire, some Serbs and Croats converted to Islam. The Serbian Orthodox Church or the Church of Serbia is one of the autocephalous Orthodox Christian churches, ranking sixth after Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Russia. It exercises jurisdiction over Orthodox Christians in Serbia and surrounding Slavic and other lands, as well as exarchates and patriarchal representation churches around the world. The Patriarch of Serbia serves as first among equals in his church; the current patriarch is His Holiness Pavle.

Belgrade

The villages of Serbia offer an atmosphere we have already forgotten in today’s busy world: a wholesome, freshly prepared breakfast in the shade, the air that makes you drunk with its freshness, warm eiderdown quilts and the openheartedness of the host. See the milking of the cows and the making of cheese, pick an apple or plum, rub it on your sleeve and bite into it. Have a drink from the nearby spring. Take a back-stage look at old arts and crafts. The famous ancestor has famous offsprings: Tesla's and Pupin's ingenuity, the thought and the word of the Nobel laureate Ivo Andric, of Crnjanski and Kis. Get to know the wisdom of the naive art of the villages. Market days in Serbia – the roving festivals of national folklore. It is there that one can still observe the typical items of the traditional peasant costumes. At the sound of a flute or an accordion, a tambourine or a violin, the ancient kolo dance will start.

Intro Updated Aug 23, 2007
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Comments (31)

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TrendsetterME Apr 14, 2012 at 9:07 PM

Hey Miroslava, "Happy Birthday", with all my best wishes ... :)
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a2lopes Apr 15, 2009 at 6:25 AM

Srecan Rodjendan Mima and many happy returns of the day. Greetings from Lisbon which is waiting for your visit next May for the Euromeeting. It will be fun with vteers from all over. Cheers
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tijana2503 Apr 15, 2008 at 12:07 PM

Srecan rodjendan! neka tvoje zelje postanu stvarnost!!!!
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Etoile2B Apr 15, 2008 at 11:14 AM

Happy Birthday from sunny California! Here's to many fabulous years!
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sayedaburas Apr 15, 2008 at 9:21 AM

♫•:*¨`*:•Happy birthday to you♫♫Happy b-day to you♫HAPPY BIRTHDAY to ღMIROღ ♫♫Happy b-day to yoou•:*¨`*:•♫ I wish you not only a happy year, but also happier maany returns (~_~)
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Bokhari76 Apr 15, 2008 at 3:10 AM

Happy Birthday Miroslava. Wish you many happy returns of the day.
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keny Apr 15, 2008 at 1:53 AM

Best wishes from istanbul Miroslava. Happy býrthday to you:-)
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GracesTrips Apr 14, 2008 at 10:49 PM

Happy Birthday, Miroslava! Hope you enjoy a great day!
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sigthor_egle Apr 14, 2008 at 10:04 PM

nice page, we wish you a happy birthday :)
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siaki68 Jul 19, 2007 at 1:06 PM

Great homepage Miroslava. Serbia sounds a very beautiful country!! :-)