1999 remained at approximately the 1998 level, about
three-quarters of a trillion dollars (1999 est.)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: roughly 2% of gross world product
(1999 est.)

This page was last updated on 1 January 2002

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Yugoslavia

Introduction

Yugoslavia

Background: The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes was formed in
1918; its name was changed to Yugoslavia in 1929. Occupation by Nazi
Germany in 1941 was resisted by various paramilitary bands that fought
themselves as well as the invaders. The group headed by Marshal TITO
took full control upon German expulsion in 1945. Although Communist,
his new government successfully steered its own path between the Warsaw
Pact nations and the West for the next four and a half decades. In the
early 1990s, post-TITO Yugoslavia began to unravel along ethnic lines:
Slovenia, Croatia, and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia all
declared their independence in 1991; Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992. The
remaining republics of Serbia and Montenegro declared a new "Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia" (FRY)in 1992 and, under President Slobodan
MILOSEVIC, Serbia led various military intervention efforts to unite
Serbs in neighboring republics into a "Greater Serbia." All of these
efforts were ultimately unsuccessful. In 1999, massive expulsions by
FRY forces and Serb paramilitaries of ethnic Albanians living in Kosovo
provoked an international response, including the NATO bombing of Serbia
and the stationing of NATO and Russian peacekeepers in Kosovo. There are
Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS)-led coalitions governing at the
federal and Serbian Republic levels, implementing a wide-ranging political
and economic reform program. The governing coalition in Montenegro is
seeking independence from the Federation. Kosovo has been governed by
the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) since June 1999,
under the authority of UN Security Council Resolution 1244.

Geography Yugoslavia

Location: Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea, between
Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina

Geographic coordinates: 44 00 N, 21 00 E

Map references: Europe

Area: total: 102,350 sq km water: 214 sq km land: 102,136 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Kentucky

Land boundaries: total: 2,246 km border countries: Albania 287 km,
Bosnia and Herzegovina 5