Serbia ˈsɜrbiə, officially the Republic of Serbia (Република Србија / Republika Srbija, IPA-sh), is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Pannonian Plain and the central Balkans. The country is landlocked and borders Hungary to the north; Romania and Bulgaria to the east; Macedonia to the south; and Croatia, Bosnia, and Montenegro to the west; also, it borders Albania through the disputed region of Kosovo. The capital of Serbia, Belgrade, is among Europe's oldest cities, and one of the largest in East Central Europe.

Following their settlement in the Balkans, Serbs established several states in the early Middle Ages. The Serbian Kingdom obtained recognition by Rome and Constantinople in 1217; the state was elevated to the Serbian Empire, in 1346. By the mid-16th century, the entire territory of modern-day Serbia was annexed by the Ottoman Empire, at times interrupted by the Habsburgs. In the early 19th century the Serbian revolution established the nation-state as the region's first constitutional monarchy, which subsequently expanded its territory and pioneered the abolition of feudalism in the Balkans. Following disastrous casualties in World War I, and subsequent unification of Habsburg crownland of Vojvodina and Syrmia with Serbia, the country co-founded Yugoslavia with other South Slavic peoples, which would exist in various formations until 2006. In February 2008 the parliament of UNMIK-administered Kosovo declared independence, with mixed responses from international governments.

Serbia is a member of the UN, Council of Europe, OSCE, PfP, BSEC and CEFTA. It is also an official candidate for membership in the European Union, which the EC recommended for opening of EU entry talks by June 2013, and a neutral country.
Serbia is an upper-middle income economy (WB, IMF), which has made largest progress in the region in terms of overall democracy scores (FH) and overall democratic, economic and governance transformation.