Country Information - Serbia and Montenegro

Federal President: Svetozar Marovic (2003)

Presidents: Boris Tadic, Serbia (2004); Filip Vujanovic, Montenegro (2003)

Prime Ministers: Vojislav Kostunica, Serbia (2004); Milo Djukanovic, Montenegro (2002)

Area: 39,517 sq mi (102,350 sq km)

Population (2005 est.): 10,829,175 (growth rate: 0.0%); birth rate: 12.1/1000; infant mortality rate: 12.9/1000; life expectancy: 74.7; density per sq mi: 274

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Belgrade, 1,717,800 (metro. area), 1,285,200 (city proper)

Other large cities: Pristina, 204,500; Novi Sad, 191,300; Nis, 174,000

Monetary unit: Yugoslav new dinar

Languages: Serbian (official) 95%, Albanian 5%

Ethnicity/race: Serbs 62.6%, Albanians 16.5%, Montenegrins 5%, Hungarians 3.3%, other 12.6% (1991)

Religions: Orthodox 65%, Islam 19%, Roman Catholic 4%, Protestant 1%, other 11%

Literacy rate: 93% (1991)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $26.27 billion; per capita $2,400. Real growth rate: 6.5%. Inflation: 8.8%. Unemployment: 30%; unemployment is approximately 50% in Kosovo. Arable land: 33%. Agriculture: cereals, fruits, vegetables, tobacco, olives; cattle, sheep, goats. Labor force: 3.2 million; agriculture n.a., industry n.a., services n.a. Industries: machine building (aircraft, trucks, and automobiles; tanks and weapons; electrical equipment; agricultural machinery); metallurgy (steel, aluminum, copper, lead, zinc, chromium, antimony, bismuth, cadmium); mining (coal, bauxite, nonferrous ore, iron ore, limestone); consumer goods (textiles, footwear, foodstuffs, appliances); electronics, petroleum products, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. Natural resources: oil, gas, coal, antimony, copper, lead, zinc, nickel, gold, pyrite, chrome, hydropower, arable land. Exports: $2.667 billion (f.o.b., 2003 est.): manufactured goods, food and live animals, raw materials. Imports: $7.144 billion (f.o.b., 2003 est.): machinery and transport equipment, fuels and lubricants, manufactured goods, chemicals, food and live animals, raw materials. Major trading partners: Italy, Germany, Greece, Austria, France, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania.

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 2.017 million (1995); mobile cellular: 87,000 (1997). Radio broadcast stations: AM 113, FM 194, shortwave 2 (1998). Radios: 3.15 million (1997). Television broadcast stations: more than 771 (including 86 strong stations and 685 low-power stations, plus 20 repeaters in the principal networks; also numerous local or private stations in Serbia and Vojvodina) (1997). Televisions: 2.75 million (1997). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 9 (2000). Internet users: 400,000 (2001).

Transportation: Railways: total: 4,059 km (2002). Highways: total: 49,805 km; paved: 31,029 km (including 560 km of expressways); unpaved: 18,776 km (2000). Waterways: 587 km; Danube River runs through Serbia connecting Europe with the Black Sea; in early 2000 the river was obstructed at Novi Sad due to a pontoon bridge; a canal system in north Serbia is available to by-pass damage, however, lock size is limited (1999). Ports and harbors: Bar, Belgrade, Kotor, Novi Sad, Pancevo, Tivat, Zelenika. Airports: 45 (2002).

International disputes: the Albanian government calls for the protection of the rights of ethnic Albanians outside its borders in the Kosovo region of Serbia and Montenegro while continuing to seek regional cooperation; several ethnic Albanian groups in Kosovo voice union with Albania; has delimited about half of the boundary with Bosnia and Herzegovina, but sections along the Drina River remain in dispute; in late 2002, Serbia and Montenegro and Croatia adopted an interim agreement to settle the disputed Prevlaka Peninsula, allowing the withdrawal of the UN monitoring mission (UNMOP), but discussions could be complicated by the inability of Serbia and Montenegro to come to an agreement on the economic aspects of the new federal union.