Serbia 🇷🇸

Quick facts

• Capital: Belgrade
• Continent: Europe
• Population: 7,221,365
• Area: 88,361 km²
• Density: 81.7 people per km²
• Currency: RSD
• Languages: Serbian
• ISO code: RS

Where Serbia sits

Serbia 🇷🇸 is one of 46 countries in Europe, with its capital at Belgrade. It covers 88,361 square kilometres — 111th in the world — and is home to about 7,221,365 people, 104th globally.

The countries it shares a continent with include Russia, Germany, United Kingdom, France and Italy. If you are learning geography region by region — which works far better than alphabetically, because memory for places is spatial — those are the ones to learn alongside it.

How Serbia compares

Raw figures are hard to hold on their own, so it helps to anchor them. In population, Serbia sits closest to Nicaragua and Laos. In land area, its nearest counterparts are Jordan and Azerbaijan.

At 81.7 people per square kilometre it is somewhat above the world average of 59.4. It ranks higher by population than by area, so it is more crowded than its size alone suggests.

Serbian is an official language in 3 countries here, among them Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. The RSD is used by Serbia and no one else.

To see Serbia next to every other country, sort the country rankings by population, area or density; its currency and languages are listed alongside every other country's in world currencies and world languages.

How to remember Serbia

Belgrade stands where the Sava river meets the Danube, at the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. For the flag, Serbia's stripes are Russia's turned upside down (red-blue-white instead of white-blue-red), with the coat of arms added.

The flag of Serbia: red, blue and white

🇷🇸 The flag is three horizontal stripes of red, blue and white, with the coat of arms (a white two-headed eagle on a red shield, under a crown) towards the flagpole. Red, blue and white are the Pan-Slavic colours, standing for freedom and revolutionary ideals. On the coat of arms, the eagle on the red shield stands for the state.

Region and neighbours

Serbia is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, on the Balkans and in the Pannonian Basin, crossed by the Danube. It shares land borders with 8 countries: Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. Serbia is landlocked, with no coast on the open ocean.

• Hungary 🇭🇺 — capital Budapest
• Romania 🇷🇴 — capital Bucharest
• Bulgaria 🇧🇬 — capital Sofia
• North Macedonia 🇲🇰 — capital Skopje
• Kosovo 🇽🇰 — capital Pristina
• Montenegro 🇲🇪 — capital Podgorica
• Bosnia and Herzegovina 🇧🇦 — capital Sarajevo
• Croatia 🇭🇷 — capital Zagreb

Three facts about Serbia

1. Belgrade is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Europe.
2. Serbia is one of the largest producers of raspberries and blackberries in the world.
3. Serbia's land ranges from 2,169 m at Midžor peak in the Balkan Mountains down to just 17 m near Prahovo in the Timok Valley.

Sources: Wikipedia: Serbia, Wikipedia: Flag of Serbia, Wikipedia: Belgrade, CIA World Factbook.

Quiz yourself on Serbia

• European capitals quiz — match Serbia to Belgrade
• European flags quiz — spot the Serbia flag among its neighbours
• Landlocked countries quiz — Serbia has no sea coast

Quizzes that include Serbia

Three angles are worth covering for any country — where it is, what its flag looks like, and what its capital is. For Serbia those are:

• Europe map quiz — place it on a blank map
• Europe flags quiz — identify its flag among its neighbours
• Europe capitals quiz — match it to Belgrade
• Serbia capital quiz — five quick questions starting with Serbia
• Daily Map Challenge — five countries to find on a blank world map, the same five for everyone each day

Doing all three for one continent before moving on is far more efficient than learning flags globally, then capitals globally, then the map.

Read more about Serbia

• Capital of Serbia: Belgrade — the capital in detail, with size and density rankings
• All 46 countries of Europe

Nearby countries

• Albania 🇦🇱 — capital Tirana
• Andorra 🇦🇩 — capital Andorra la Vella
• Austria 🇦🇹 — capital Vienna
• Belarus 🇧🇾 — capital Minsk
• Belgium 🇧🇪 — capital Brussels
• Bosnia and Herzegovina 🇧🇦 — capital Sarajevo
• Bulgaria 🇧🇬 — capital Sofia
• Croatia 🇭🇷 — capital Zagreb
• Cyprus 🇨🇾 — capital Nicosia
• Czechia 🇨🇿 — capital Prague
• Denmark 🇩🇰 — capital Copenhagen
• Estonia 🇪🇪 — capital Tallinn

Frequently asked questions

What are the colours of the Serbia flag?

The flag of Serbia is three horizontal stripes of red, blue and white, with the coat of arms (a white two-headed eagle on a red shield, under a crown) towards the flagpole. Red, blue and white are the Pan-Slavic colours, standing for freedom and revolutionary ideals. On the coat of arms, the eagle on the red shield stands for the state.

Which countries border Serbia?

Serbia shares land borders with Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia.

How can I remember the capital of Serbia?

Belgrade stands where the Sava river meets the Danube, at the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. For the flag, Serbia's stripes are Russia's turned upside down (red-blue-white instead of white-blue-red), with the coat of arms added.