Population of Serbia: number, history, ethnic composition

The Republic of Serbia is a developed multinational state of Eastern Europe. It is located in the south of the Balkan Peninsula. Since 2000 he has been a member of the UN, since 2012 - a candidate for membership in the European Union. Administratively the country is divided into several regions. Autonomous has recently been considered Kosovo and Vojvodina. The latter is the most multi-ethnic region in Europe.

History of settlement

Since the 6th century AD. E. Ancient Slavic communities began to appear on the territory of modern Serbia. For the most part, they inhabited the western parts of the Balkan Peninsula. After a hundred and fifty years, such pro-state associations began to emerge, like Dukla, Travuniya, Zakhumye and Paganiya. The largest and most numerous of them was the Serbian Principality. For a long time all the Baltic regions were under the rule of the Byzantine Empire.

In the 14th century, the Serbian principality was able to defend its independence. So the modern power began to emerge. In the period from 1330 to 1350 there was a rapid flowering of the principality. Nevertheless, towards the end of the century, Serbia was again conquered. Now it has become the administrative region of the Ottoman Empire. Throughout the next century thousands of Turks came to the territory of the principality. It is noteworthy that by the middle of the 16th century, the population of Serbia was half of the indigenous representatives of the Ottoman Empire. In the late 17th century, the principality became part of the Austrian state. Since the beginning of 1810, several major uprisings took place in Serbia. The civil war claimed thousands of lives. And only in 1878 in Berlin, the long-awaited independence of the state was proclaimed. At the beginning of the 20th century, the new country included such territories as Kosovo, part of Sandzak and Macedonia. In the years of the First and Second World War, the state lost some of its possessions. In 2006, Montenegro split from Serbia, and a couple of years later - Kosovo.

Demographic indicators

The first census of the population in the country was only at the end of 2011. Even then, the demography of Serbia was negative. According to the census, the country's population was about 7.5 million people. At the same time, the largest number was recorded in the Southern and Northern regions of the country. Following on similar indicators are located Shumadiya, Belgrade and Voevodina. As for Kosovo, its population is slightly more than 1.7 million inhabitants.

The demographic crisis is complicated by an increased level of mortality. By this indicator, Serbia is ahead of all the countries of Europe. The death rate exceeds the birth rate by almost 40%. The average life expectancy is 74 years. Since the mid-2000s, a large family is considered a huge rarity. In recent years, the level of migration in the country is kept at 0%. Moreover, tens of thousands of young able-bodied people leave the country every year.

Multinational composition

The population of Serbia is 83% indigenous. The next predominant ethnic group is the Hungarians. Their share is about 4%. Most of the Hungarians are concentrated in Vojvodina. Among the other most numerous nationalities, it is worthwhile to identify Roma, Croats, Bosniaks, Slovaks, Vlachs, Montenegrins, Romanians and Macedonians.

Albanians represent the majority of the population in Kosovo - more than 93%. Next came the Bosnians, Serbs and Turks. Concerning religion, Serbia is a liberal country. Most of the population refers to the Orthodox Church. The proportion of Christians is about 85%. Catholic parishioners - about 5.5%. The rest of the residents are either Muslims or Protestants.

Population of Serbia

Since the 1990s, the republic's demographic indicators have left much to be desired. The authorities are trying to motivate residents to raise the birth rate, but economic instability and political tension play a negative role. From 1990 to 1995, the population of Serbia grew by only 180 thousand people. By the end of this period, the population was 7.74 million. In subsequent years, the count of the population of Serbia declined. Negative dynamics are noted to this day. From 1995 to 2005, the population of Serbia decreased by 300 thousand people. Over the next 10 years - fell another 4%. Annually, as a result of emigration of local residents and an increased level of mortality, the republic loses up to 0.49% of its inhabitants.

Number in 2015

By September 2015, the population of Serbia decreased by almost 25 thousand people. Experts note that by the end of the year the figures will be more than 33 000 inhabitants. As a result, by January 2016 the republic's population will drop to a mark of 7.09 million people. Thus, the population growth will again turn out to be negative and will be on the order of -0.47%.
In 2015, about 60 thousand children were born, and the population died 1.5 times more. The natural increase remained at the level of -50%. The migratory influx in Serbia has not been observed for several years.

It is interesting that around 180 children appear in the country every day. The mortality rate is up to 270 people. The resultant daily population decline is at the level of 90.