Serbian Beograd
City (pop., 1999: 1,168,454), capital of the republic of Serbia and federal capital of Serbia and Montenegro (formerly Yugoslavia).
Lying at the juncture of the Sava rivers, it is one of the Balkans' most important commercial and transportation centres. Inhabited by Celts in the 4th century BC, it was later taken by the Romans and named Singidunum. It was destroyed by the Avars in the 6th century. In the 11th century AD it became a frontier town of Byzantium, and in the 13th century came under the rule of {{link=Serbia">Serbia . The Ottoman Turks besieged the city in the 15th century, and the forces of Süleyman I finally took it in 1521; it was held almost continuously by the Turks into the 19th century. It became the capital of the kingdom of Serbia in 1882 and, after World War I, of the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (renamed Yugoslavia in 1929). It suffered severely under Nazi occupation (1941–44). It was damaged by NATO bombers in the Kosovo conflict (1999). Yugoslavia underwent many border changes in the 20th century and was renamed Serbia and Montenegro in 2003.