ABSTRACT
The Republic of Serbia, including Vojvodina but excluding Kosova and Montenegro, is a small country with a land area of 88,361 square kilometres, just over one-third of the size of the UK and of the former Communist-ruled Yugoslav Federation and just over one-sixth of the size of France. In 2002, according to the population census of that year, Serbia (excluding Kosova and Montenegro) had a population of 7.5 million. Apart from the capital city Belgrade, which had 1.6 million inhabitants in 2002, Serbia’s major cities are Novi Sad (299,294), Nis (250,518), Kragujevac (175,802), Leskovac (156,252) and Subotica (148,401). In 2000, about 55 per cent of land area was cultivated (mainly in the fertile plains of Vojvodina), about 15 per cent was either grassland or under permanent tree crops (e.g., orchards, olive groves), and the remaining 30 per cent was forest and woodland. About 17.3 per cent of the working population was engaged in agriculture in 2002 (Web site of the Serbian Government: Facts about Serbia, 2005).
