Serbian warriors on the Kosovo field, Gustav Morelli

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

is the

nation state A nation state is a political unit where the state and nation are congruent. It is a more precise concept than "country", since a country does not need to have a predominant ethnic group. A nation, in the sense of a common ethnicity, may i ...

of the

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

, who are Serbia's dominant ethnic group. Serbs are also dominant in

Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, lit=Serb Republic, also known as Republic of Srpska, ) is one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is locat ...

, an entity of

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

. In the 19th century, the Serbian

national identity National identity is a person's identity or sense of belonging to one or more states or to one or more nations. It is the sense of "a nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by distinctive traditions, culture, and language". National identity ...

was manifested, with awareness of

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

and

tradition A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

, medieval heritage, cultural unity, despite Serbs living under different empires. Three elements, together with the legacy of the

Nemanjić dynasty The House of Nemanjić ( sr-Cyrl, Немањић, Немањићи; Nemanjić, Nemanjići, ) was the most prominent dynasty of Serbia in the Middle Ages. This princely, royal, and later imperial house produced twelve Serbian monarchs, who rul ...

, were crucial in forging identity and preservation during foreign domination: the Serbian Orthodox Church,

Kosovo Myth The Kosovo Myth ( sr, Косовски мит / ''Kosovski mit''), also known as the Kosovo Cult and the Kosovo Legend, is a Serbian national myth based on legends about events related to the Battle of Kosovo (1389). It has been a subject in Ser ...

, and the

Serbian language Serbian (, ) is the standardized variety of the Serbo-Croatian language mainly used by Serbs. It is the official and national language of Serbia, one of the three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina and co-official in Montenegro and K ...

. The identification with medieval heritage through venerating

Serbian saints Over the history of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the church has had many people who were venerated to sainthood. The list below contains some of those saints and their feast days. *Venerable Avakum (Deacon Avakum) – *Venerable Anastasia o ...

, together with

Serbian epic poetry Serbian epic poetry ( sr, Српске епске народне песме, Srpske epske narodne pesme) is a form of epic poetry created by Serbs originating in today's Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and North Macedonia. The ...

, had helped develop a national consciousness separate from other Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox Christian peoples in the Balkans. The heroic epic cycles inspired the Serbs to revive their heroic past and freedom. In the stories, the Serbian hajduks, hajduks were heroes: they had played the role of the Serbian elite during Ottoman Serbia, Ottoman rule, they had defended the Serbs against Ottoman oppression, and prepared for the national liberation and contributed to it in the Serbian Revolution. The symbolical Kosovo Myth became the ''mythomoteur'', signifying martyrdom and defence of Serb honour and Christendom against Turks (term for Muslims), Turks (Muslims). When the Principality of Serbia gained independence from the Ottoman Empire, Orthodoxy became crucial in defining the national identity, instead of language which was shared by other South Slavs (Croats and Muslims (ethnic group), Muslims). The Cyrillic script is an important symbol of Serbian identity. Under the Constitution of Serbia of 2006, Serbian Cyrillic is the only script in official use; it is also co-official in Montenegro and

. The Serbian eagle, double-headed eagle and the Serbian cross, shield with fire steels are the main Serbian heraldry, heraldic symbols which have represented the national identity of the Serbian people across the centuries. An international self-esteem survey conducted on 16,998 people from 53 nations was published by the American Psychological Association in 2005; the questionnaire included views of one's individual personality, that of one's own nation and that of other nations. The research found that Serbia was placed first of the most self-esteemed nation, ahead of the United States (6th), and Japan (last place), and the majority of nations, as well as Serbs themselves, agreed on this. The research also noted that Serbia was among the 10 most Collectivism and individualism, collectivist nations.

See also

References

Further reading