Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia, former federated country situated on the west-central Balkan Peninsula.

This article briefly examines the history of Yugoslavia from 1929 until 2003, when it became the federated union of Serbia and Montenegro (which further separated into its component parts in 2006). For more detail, see the articles Serbia, Montenegro, and Balkans.

Three federations have borne the name Yugoslavia (“Land of the South Slavs”). The Kingdom of Yugoslavia (Kraljevina Jugoslavija), officially proclaimed in 1929 and lasting until World War II, covered 95,576 square miles (247,542 square km). The postwar Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Socijalistička Federativna Republika Jugoslavija) covered 98,766 square miles (255,804 square km) and had a population of about 24 million by 1991. In addition to Serbia and Montenegro, it included four other republics now recognized as independent states: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, and Slovenia. The “third Yugoslavia,” inaugurated on April 27, 1992, had roughly 45 percent of the population and 40 percent of the area of its predecessor and consisted of only two republics, Serbia and Montenegro, which agreed to abandon the name Yugoslavia in 2003 and rename the country Serbia and Montenegro. In 2006 the union was disbanded, and two independent countries were formed.

Aspects of the topic Yugoslavia are discussed in the following places at Britannica.

Articles from Britannica encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

Yugoslavia - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)

Yugoslavia was a country that existed in southeastern Europe from 1929 to 2003. It was created when several former kingdoms and territories joined together. They became the six republics, or states, of the country of Yugoslavia. Each republic had its own mixture of ethnic groups and religions. Tensions sometimes flared up between the different groups.

Yugoslavia - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

The Balkan country of Yugoslavia existed from 1929 to 2003, as three succeeding federations. A state cobbled together out of many different South Slav peoples with long, separate histories, it was strained by nationalist pressures from its inception. Yugoslavia included what are now Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia.