Beograd or Belgrade, Serbia (Former Yugoslavia)

Belgrade is the capital and the largest city of Serbia. The first settlements in the area of Belgrade emerged in prehistoric Vinca in 4800 BC. The site of the city was settled in the 3rd century BC by the Celts, before becoming the Roman settlement of Singidunum. The Slavic name Beligrad (a form of Beograd, literally meaning White City) was first recorded in 878 AD. It first became the capital of the Serbian Kingdom of Syrmia in 1284; the Serbian Despotate was governed from the city from 1403, while in modern times it was the capital of the various incarnations of Yugoslavia from 1918 until 2003, as well as of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro from 2003 until 2006.

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 population of Belgrade, according to the Serbian census of 2002, is 1,576,124. It is the largest city on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, and by population ranks fourth in South Eastern Europe 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 province) lives in the city. It is the central economic hub of Serbia, and the capital of Serbian culture, education and science.

Following great losses at the Battle of Maritsa in 1371 and the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, the Serbian Empire began to crumble, the south being conquered by the Ottoman Empire. However, the north resisted in the form of the Serbian Despotate, which had Belgrade as its capital. The city flourished under Despot Stefan Lazarevic, son of the famous Serbian ruler Lazar Hrebeljanovic. Its ancient walls were refortified, along with its castles, harbours and churches, which helped the Despotate to avoid surrender to the Ottoman Turks for almost 70 years. At that time Belgrade became a haven for many Balkan peoples escaping Ottoman control. It is thought that the city had a population of some 40-50,000 at this time. During the reign of Šurad Brankovic, most of the Serbian Despotate fell to the Ottomans, but Belgrade itself invited in Hungarian kings for protection. The Ottomans, however, wanted to conquer Belgrade as it presented an obstacle to their further advance into central Europe. They attacked in 1456, leading to the famous Siege of Belgrade where the Christian army under John Hunyadi successfully defended the city from the Ottomans.

On March 9, 1991, massive demonstrations led by Vuk Draskovic were held against Slobodan Milosevic in the city. Two people – 17-year-old high school student Branivoje Milinovic and policeman Nedeljko Kosovic – were killed, 203 people were injured, and 108 were arrested in the protests. According to various media outlets, there were between 100,000 and 150,000 people on the streets that day. Later that day, tanks were deployed onto the streets to restore order.

After alleged electoral fraud at local elections, protests were held in Belgrade from November 1996 to February 1997 against the government of Slobodan Milosevic. These protests brought Zoran Dzindic to power as the first democratically elected mayor of Belgrade in the post-communist period.

The NATO bombing caused substantial damage to the city during the Kosovo War in 1999. Among the sites bombed were the buildings of several ministries, the RTS (Radio Television of Serbia) building, which killed 16 technicians, several hospitals, the Jugoslavija Hotel, the Central Committee building, the Avala TV Tower, and the Chinese embassy.

After elections in 2000, Belgrade was the site of major demonstrations with over half a million people on the streets (800,000 by police estimates, over 1,000,000 according to Misha Glenny) which caused the ouster of president Milosevic.