SERBIA: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE

So, the World Cup is upon us once again. Besides always rooting for Japan and Brazil no matter what, I always root for the smaller countries and countries I’d like to visit. I was actually rooting for Serbia and caught a little of one of their games when I was at work. To be honest, I don’t quite understand all the rules of soccer yet. I tried to look at the standings and just threw my hands up at all the abbreviations. Stop making things complicated. 

 

Essentially, Serbia refers to the Serbs or Sorbs, but where they got their name is pretty much unknown. There are a handful of theories, many are stemmed from words of Indic, Greek and/or other Slavic origins, all with an array of possible meanings. (Who ARE these people anyway?) It’s also changed names several times, from People’s Republic of Serbia to Socialist Republic of Serbia, and now it’s just Republic of Serbia.

Serbia is located on Europe’s Balkan Peninsula, surrounded by Hungary to the north; Romania and Bulgaria to the east; Macedonia and Kosovo to the south; and Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Croatia to the west. The northern part of the country has some plains, but the central and southern parts are quite mountainous as the Dinaric Alps, the Carpathian Mountains, and the Balkan Mountains rise up throughout these areas. The northern areas and high-elevation areas can have a pretty temperate climate, but the southern areas are a little more Mediterranean. There are several rivers that flow through the country, but the Danube remains the most important one. They’re also at risk for quite a bit of severe weather (woo-hoo! I love storms, just as long as it’s not super bad on the damages).

Slobodan Milosevic

The earliest known evidence of human settlement dates back nearly a half-million years ago. Serbia has a history that is rife with other people controlling its lands. The Greeks, Celtic tribes, the Romans, Byzantines, and Bulgarians were among those who ventured into this area and claimed at least part of the land for themselves. Christianity was introduced during the Middle Ages. During the 16^th century, Serbia fell under Hapsburg and Ottoman rule who fought for nearly a century before the Hapsburgs eventually took over. However, the south remained under Ottoman control, and being a largely Islamic group, hated on the Christians. Christian Serbs were considered inferior, and many started moving north into more Christian-friendly lands. It took over a decade of fighting against the Ottomans to gain their independence, but they finally did that in 1815. Although there were some uprisings, the Serbians did finally kick feudalism to the curb. Even though they declared their independence in 1815, the last of the Turkish/Ottoman soldiers finally left in 1867 (talk about unwanted guests–apparently Serbia was the first Airbnb complaint). However, a few years later, in true adolescent fashion, they announced their unity with Bosnia and warred against the Ottomans.  In 1912, the Balkan League kicked the Ottoman’s butt, eventually allowing for Serbia to expand its territory by 80% while doubling its population. Serbia was a major player in the Balkans during WWI. During WWII, Serbia became part of Yugoslavia. The Axis Powers invaded the area, and an estimated nearly 16,000 Serbian Jews were killed during the occupation. In 1989, Slobodan Milosevic took the top job in Serbia, causing a lot of problems in Serbia (like refusing to accept he lost elections, among other things). In 1992, the country of Yugoslavia changed its name to become Serbia and Montenegro, which disbanded in 2006 when Montenegro decided they’ve had enough and wanted to be single. In 1998, Kosovo decided they also wanted to go out on their own, and after fighting a conflict over it, decided they were done with Serbia. However, not everyone is on board with this decision (basically Serbia). [But for the sake of this blog, I’m including Kosovo and the other two non-UN member states at the end].

With a little over a million people located at where the Danube and Sava Rivers meet, Belgrade is Serbia’s capital. And it’s one of Europe’s oldest capitals, first conquered by the Celts in 279 BC. Generally located in the north-central part of the country, it’s been leveled and rebuilt 44 times and has seen battle another 115 times. I’d say that makes it a pretty resilient city. It also served as the Yugoslavian capital. Today, it serves as the Serbia’s center for commerce, finance, government, culture, media, transportation, and more. There are several universities and colleges located in the metro area, and the city is also known for its architecture.

Serbia’s upper-middle income is the result of an emerging economy. Many large international corporations including Coco-Cola, Carlsburg, and Siemens have invested their money and resources in Serbia. They have a prominent agricultural sector, making them a leading producer of frozen fruit in Europe, especially in raspberries. They also have a significant wine industry as well. While Serbia may not be a huge tourist destination, it’s certainly more popular as a domestic and regional tourism spot.

Although Serbia is a secular state, Orthodox Christians make up nearly 85% of the population. Other Christian denominations include Roman Catholic, Lutheranism, and Calvinism. There are some Muslims, a few Jews, and a handful of atheists/agnostics.

The official language is Serbian, and it’s the only European language to have two alphabets: Cyrillic and Latin. The Serbian Cyrillic script was listed as the official script in their constitution in 1814, but today slightly more people prefer the Latin alphabet instead. I know, I do: my Cyrillic reading ability sucks. 

Hahaha, ok. Just kidding.

So, most people associate vampires with Dracula as being “the first” one. But there was one before the Romanian story: it was Petar Blagojevic (not to be confused with the former governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich, who is also of Serbian descent). In fact, even the word vampire has its origins in the Serbo-Croatian word vampir. Who knows, maybe Rod is related to this vampire guy? I wondered why all of his press conferences were held at night, and once I swear I saw him turn into a bat just to avoid traffic on the Dan Ryan.

Up next: art and literature

GREECE: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE

It’s the birthplace of Western Civilization, where democracy and political science, mathematics, Western thought, modern literature, language, drama, and the Olympic games were created and developed. And from there, they spread all across Europe and eventually the world. The Ancient Greeks have contributed so much to the development of the world as we know it. But what about the Greece of today? That’s what I want to know.

The Greeks themselves call their country Hellas or Ellada.  However, the term “Greece” came from the Roman term for the country, Graecia. The term Hellas is also used in English, as in the Hellenic Republic.

Greece lies between the Ionian Sea (which separates Greece from Italy) and the Aegean Sea (which separates Greece from Turkey). It also borders the countries of Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Turkey. The country lies on a peninsula known as the Peloponnese Peninsula and also includes 1200-6000 islands (depending on how you define an island apparently) at the end of this peninsula, of which 227 are inhabited, the largest being Crete. About 80% of Greece is either covered in mountains or hills, which means there are no navigable rivers here. Mt. Olympus is the highest peak in the country, the same peak the Ancient Greeks thought was where the gods lived. The Vikos Gorge is noted as the deepest gorge in the world and many endangered species use its natural protection as a refuge.

Some of the oldest artifacts of human existence in the Balkans are Greek, which isn’t surprising seeing how the Ancient Greek Civilization was one of the most advanced civilizations at that time. Greece went through its own Dark Ages, which traditionally ends with the first Olympic games in 776 BC.  Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey also were written right around this time as well. During this time, Greece was more or less made of a collection of city-states spreading across much of the Balkans and the Peloponnesian Peninsula. It was a thriving cultural center in all of Europe and much of the world as well — a central hub for literature, language, architecture, drama, philosophy, science, and mathematics. And in 508 BC, it became the world’s first democracy, the model that much of Europe, the Americas, and many other areas of the world base their government on. Greece entered a series of wars, battles, and oppositions with the Persians, then with the Peloponnesian War between the Spartans and the Athenians, the Goths, the Huns, the Slavics, the Franks, the Venetians, the Serbs, and the Ottomans (Turks). They eventually were granted their independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1829.  They continued to have several wars with Turkey on into the 20^th century.  During WWII, the Italians demanded Greece to surrender to them, but they fought heroically and stood their ground against the Fascist Regime. Today, Greece is a highly industrial country and one of the biggest tourist spots in Europe.  Greece joined the European Union in 1981 and adopted the euro in 2001. Although Athens hosted the 2004 Summer Olympics, Greece was hit hard after the global economic crisis in 2008-2010.

Athens, the capital city, is one of the oldest cities in the world; they’ve been continually inhabited for the past 7000 years! Athens itself has been the center for education and government. It’s particularly famous for the Acropolis, the Parthenon, the Theatre of Dionysus, Plato’s Academy, Aristotle’s Lyceum, and the Acropolis Museum.  And actually you can go to the Acropolis Museum for free. And by free, I mean, go to Google Maps, type in “Acropolis Museum” and put it into streetview on top of the museum. You can walk through the museum, and it gives you a great view of the Parthenon. I’ve been to this museum several times this way. (I wonder what other museums Google mapped?)  With about 3.7 million people in its metro area (slightly smaller than Los Angeles, California), it is a crossroads between old and new, ancient Greek architecture standing next to modern, energy-efficient buildings. Dotted with parks, gardens, museums, shopping, sports arenas, theatres, and universities, Athens is every bit of a modern city.  Major highway systems, rail and subway systems, and ferry systems make it easy to get to and get around the city.

Greece’s economy is a high-income economy and considered advanced. They generally rank high in terms of GDP (gross domestic product) and PPP (purchasing power parity), an indication of their high standard of living and ranking high on the Human Development Index. Roughly 85% of their economy is service-based with tourism as one of their biggest economic drivers. Greece was ranked as the 7^th most-visited country in the European Union and 16^th in the world. Greece is ranked number one in Europe’s production of pistachios and cotton; number two in rice production and olives; number three in almonds, tomatoes, watermelons, and figs; and they’re ranked fourth in tobacco production. And because of its coastal location, they have a highly-developed shipping and fishing industry.  Science and technology is a huge industry in Greece. In fact, millions of women all over the world have a Greek scientist to thank (or resent, rather). His name is Georgios Papanikolaou, and he came up with the Pap smear. There have also been many Greek scientists who have made contributions to the confusing world of physics and even more confusing world of computer science. However, Greece fell into trouble after the 2008 global economic crisis, and although they are slowly climbing out of it, they still have one of the lowest credit ratings among EU countries.

By far, the most-adhered-to religion in Greece is Eastern Orthodoxy, which is a part of the Greek Orthodox Church. Some 97-98% of Greeks identify themselves as Eastern Orthodox. In comparison with other countries in Europe, most Greeks take religion seriously.  There are a small number of Turkish Muslims (with Muslims from elsewhere included as well) who live in Greece. The Greek city of Thessaloniki used to have a large Sephardic Jewish population at the beginning of the 20^th century, but after WWII, those numbers dropped drastically. A small number of Roman Catholics and even Jehovah’s Witnesses among others have followers in Greece.

The Greek language is the official language of Greece; however, the question of whose dialect and which form (more classical, scholarly Greek vs. what was spoken by the people) has been a constant source of debate and dispute for centuries. In fact, this wasn’t resolved until the mid-1970s when the government finally decided that the official language form should be the language of the people. The literacy rate in Greece has more than tripled since the 1950s. There are several other minority languages spoken in Greece, which includes Albanian, Turkish, Bulgarian, Romani, Macedonian Slavic, Aromanian, and Meglenitic.  If you look at a list of English-language prefixes and suffixes, many of these come from Greek and Latin.

Greece has a ton of cool things about it: in light of our recent (deplorable) election turnout, no one in Greece has the option to stay home; it’s mandatory to vote. There’s a small chance that the next marble statue you see is of Greek marble since 7% of the world’s marble comes from here. There are actually some olive trees planted in the 13^th century that are still producing olives today! It’s no doubt that Greece is a beautiful place to visit: they enjoy over 250 days of sunshine a year; it’s lucky for them that they get to enjoy the sunshine longer than most people since they rank 26^th in the world for life expectancy.  Greeks feel that waving with an open palm is taboo, so they prefer to wave with a raised fist instead. Apparently, the British poet Lord Byron was so head-over-heels about the Greeks, he went to Greece to help them fight in their war for independence against the Turks, where he later caught fever and died (they still consider him a national hero). The word “barbarian” is a Greek word meaning anyone who didn’t speak Greek. To counter that, I suppose this is where the phrase “It’s all Greek to me” came from (Perhaps? Maybe?). Greeks generally have the lowest divorce rates yet the highest abortion rates (makes you wonder if the two are related somehow). Greece’s original currency, the drachma, was the oldest in Europe, reaching the fine old age of 2650 years (it was replaced by the euro). So, I think I’ll get some feta cheese, some kalamata olives, watch My Big Fat Greek Wedding again, and look forward to some real Greek food in about a week.

Up next: art and literature

CROATIA: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE

When I was in elementary school, Croatia was then part of Yugoslavia. During my 5^th grade year, Yugoslavia split up, and Croatia was one of the countries that was born out of this. After college, I became a fan of the show ER during its final couple of seasons. The character of Luka was from Croatia (he was played by Goran Višnjić, who was actually from Croatia in real life). It was through his character where I first really heard about Croatia and Zagreb. 

Croatia lies on the Balkan Peninsula across the Adriatic Sea from Italy, surrounded by Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Topographically speaking, the land is fairly diverse. The coastal regions are made of thousands of islands – the two largest are Cres and Krk (that’s right, there are no vowels. Sorry, Scrabble players, it’s a proper noun.) The Dinaric Alps run along the coastal side of the country.  It’s also home to quite a few deep caves (49 are deeper than 820 ft; 14 are deeper than 1620 ft; and 3 are deeper than 3280 ft!  Great vacation destination for spelunkers, I suppose.) I’ve also seen several spectacular photos from Lake Plitvice, which is actually made of a network of 16 lakes, complete with cascading waterfalls, and known for its distinguishing turquoise, blues, and greens.

It’s somewhat unclear where the name Croatia came from exactly. It more likely used in reference to the name of a tribe of people from this area. The word for Croatia in the Croatian language is Hrvatska, which is why their internet domain extension is .hr.  The area along the southern coast near the Bosnian border is known as Dalmatia, also lending its name to the name of the black-and-white-spotted dog breed since it’s believed this is where their origin is.

From the early days, the area was explored and inhabited by Greeks and then later became part of the Roman Empire.  During the Middle Ages, it was fought over by the Ottoman Empire as well (because really, who wasn’t part of the Ottoman Empire at one point or another in this area of the world?).  From this point until WWI, it seems like Croatia was at war with someone all the time. Croatia eventually became part of the Hapsburg Monarchy and the Austro-Hungary Empire. This lasted until after WWI with the creation of Yugoslavia. During WWII, this area was controlled by both Germany and Italy. Jews here were either killed or transported to Germany to be killed. It’s been estimated that only 9000 of the 39000 Jews survived the ordeal. 1991 was a huge year for independence for many countries. Yugoslavia broke up into the modern countries of Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia (also including two autonomous regions of Serbia: Vojvodina and Kosovo). [Russia also broke up in 1991 into 15 new countries, as well as the Marshall Islands and Micronesia broke from the US, and it was only a year after Germany united, Yemen united, and Namibia broke from South Africa.]

The capital is Zagreb, and it’s roughly the size of Indianapolis (about 792,000 people in the city, 1.1 million in the metro area). The name itself is derived from a Croatian word meaning “to scoop,” based on a myth that a viceroy was leading his thirsty soldiers across a desert, and out of frustration, he drove his sword into the ground and out came water. Today it’s a modern city, with modern infrastructure and public transportation, world-class museums (including the Museum of Broken Relationships – yes, it’s real), orchestras, theatre, art, highly-ranked universities (University of Zagreb), and sports facilities.

After struggling a bit following independence, Croatia’s economy picked up and are now considered a high-income market economy.  They are mostly a service sector jobs but do have a significant contribution from the industrial sector and tourism.  Unemployment remains a problem, with the unemployment rate being around 17.6%.

The Croatian language is the official language and the language spoken by the majority of Croats. It’s part of the Slavic language family, and is written in both the Latin alphabet as well as the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet. Other minor languages spoken in Croatia include Czech, Hungarian, Italian, Ruthenian, Serbian, and Slovakian. Most Croats study at least one other foreign language, almost half studying English, followed by German, Italian, French, Russian, and Spanish. See, this is why I’ll fit in well when I retire and live in Zagreb. I started to study some Czech years ago, I’m sure Croatian can’t be THAT far off. I’ll pick it up.

The vast majority of Croats are followers of Roman Catholicism. Constantine VII was the one credited to introducing Christianity to Croatia during the 7^th century (though it may have been anywhere between the 6^th-9^th centuries).  Lesser followed religions or philosophies include agnostic/atheist, orthodoxy, Islam, and a random assortment of other.

There are several famous people who claim Croatian ancestry. Actor Eric Bana (short for Banadinović) is part Croatian and so is Scott Bakula (from Quantum Leap). Former US Representative from Ohio Dennis Kucinich is part Croat, and so are a number of NBA players. It was a Croat who created the bane of the male businessman: the necktie. Croatian inventors also brought us the parachute and military parachute, electric speedometer, the use of tungsten filaments in light bulbs, the first prototypes of the self-propelled torpedo, mechanical pencils and fountain pens, hot water bottle, anode battery, rail-car brake, the Puretic power block used in fishing, the orbital engine, wireless energy transfer, the world’s first hydroelectric power plant, first flyable rigid airship, dactyloscopy (filing fingerprints), and the condiment Vegeta.  Croatian engineers also had a hand in creating the MP3 player. I had no idea so much came from Croatia. Although, my favorite thing might be the Kandit Pločice Rum candy bar that I found at the international grocery store a couple weeks ago. And of course, Croatia is also known for their wine and beer. Really, what more do I need?

Up next: holidays and celebrations

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE

It’s a name I first heard in the early-to-mid-1990s. Not quite sure where it was at the time – generally somewhere in Europe – images of war-torn buildings on fire, people running for their lives in the streets, and two peoples – Serbs and Croats – were my own knowledge of this country with the really long name.  Unfortunately these views stayed with me since I was 14, but now I feel like I’m exploring an entirely different country. Those images that I knew of are only a snapshot of what Bosnia and Herzegovina is all about.

Just east of Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina is bordered by Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, and a very small (around 12 miles) stretch of land along the Adriatic Sea. Situated in the Dinaric Alps (also called the Dinarides) on the Balkan Peninsula, it has many areas of limestone and salt deposits. The area has a long history of being ruled by someone else, starting with various Slavic peoples until the Ottoman Empire moved in and claimed the lands, ruling there from the mid-15^th century to the late 19^th century. They were among the first to influence the culture in this region, chiefly regarding the introduction of Islam and cuisine which changed their previous way of life. Later, the area had been included as part of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy up until WWI. After that, it was part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia until Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence in 1992.

The first mention of the word Bosnia was discovered in the mid-10^th century, but there are several theories as to its exact etymology. Many historians and linguistics think it may have derived from the Bosna River, one of the major rivers that flow through Bosnia and Herzegovina. In classical Latin, the river’s name was Bossina, or Bosona in Illyrian, both of which mean “running water.” The name Herzegovina came from the German word for “duke” (Herzog) combined with the ending –ovina, meaning “land,” roughly meaning the same as the word “dukedom.” It was in reference to the lands that were owned by a dignitary and nobleman of the 1440s. And apparently, it’s also equally acceptable to refer to the country as “Bosnia and Herzegovina” or “Bosnia-Herzegovina.”

The largest ethnic group is the Bosniaks, followed by another large proportion of Serbs. Croats and others also live throughout the area as well. Because of the divided ethic groups living there, Bosnia and Herzegovina has two official languages: Bosnian and Croatian, although Serbian is also spoken in areas were Serbs tend to dominate and several sources also include it was an official language. All three of these languages belong to the Serbo-Croatian language group, part of the larger Slavic language family. Because of its history, Bosnian is written in both Cyrillic and Latin letters.

The capital is Sarajevo, often nicknamed "The Jerusalem of Europe" or "The Jerusalem of the Balkans" due to its sizable numbers of followers of Islam, Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and Judaism. Sarajevo has had its moments in the international spotlight: the first being that it was the second city in the world (just after San Francisco, California) to have a full-time electric tram running throughout the city.  Sarajevo is also the site where the Austrian archduke Franz Ferdinand (no, not the singer) was assassinated and in essence started WWI. In 1984, Sarajevo hosted the Olympics, only to suffer from destruction due to the Bosnian war for independence nearly ten years later. Even in the midst of reconstruction, Sarajevo has been listed as 43^rd best city in the world by Lonely Planet and has made others’ “Top Cities” lists as a cultural capital, hosting renowned film festivals and jazz festivals.

Despite the fact that the country had went through a war (for which the peace treaty was signed about a two-hour drive from me in Dayton, Ohio – how did I not know that?), it certainly has fathomed better than other countries have in comparison in the 20 years after a reconstruction began. They maintain a high literacy rate, overall health and life expectancy, access to clean water and sanitation, as well as education. These things in combination make Bosnia Herzegovina and Sarajevo in particular one of the fastest growing regions in Europe. I think it’ll be interesting to see Bosnia and Herzegovina’s history told through its cultural arts and its cuisine. I already have my menu set and my Spotify playlists made, and I can assure you that this is a country of surprises. I could quite possibly add Sarajevo to my list of places I want to see before I die.

Up next: Holidays and Celebrations