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Located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, Belgrade „The White Town“ is one of the oldest and largest urban towns on the Balkans. Belgrade is the capital of Serbia, with about 1.6 million inhabitants.

 

Belgrade is an educational, cultural, scientific and financial center of Serbia. There is something about Belgrade which attracts people to always visit it again. One of the most famous writers in Serbia Duško Radović once said: „Whoever had been lucky to wake up in Belgrade this morning, could be satisfied that for today he achieved enough in life. Any further insistence on something more, would be immodest." In its rich and turbulent history, Belgrade was battled over in 115 wars and razed 44 times. The first time in history, it became the capital city of Serbia in 1405 and from 1918 it was the capital of many Yugoslovenian states until 2006 when the Montenegro separated from Serbia.

 

It is noted that Belgrade was founded in 3rd century BC when Celts conquered the city. Later it was held by Romans who gave it the name Singidunum. The Roman Well, Belgrade Fortress known as Kalemegdan, underground tunnels and prehistoric Vinča archaeological site now stand in silent testimony to  the ancient past. Belgrade was part of the Byzantine Empire, Frankish Empire, Bulgarian Empire and Kingdom of Hungary before it became the capital of Serbian king Dragutin in 14th century. A few hundreds of years later, Belgrade was taken into Ottoman and Habsburg rule. It officially became the state capital once again in 1841.

 

Today, city of Belgrade covers 3.6% of Serbia's territory, and 22.5% of the country's population lives within its administrative limits. It is classified as a Beta - Global City according to Globalization and World Cities research in 2015.  With many cultural sights and hospitality to offer as well as rich and urban lifestyle, Belgrade is a hometown for many students. The official University of Belgrade has an enrollment of nearly 90,000 students and it is one of the Europe's largest Universities.