Aardvark

Hi Josh,   Alas, the Yugoslav Federation underwent great civic upheaval following the collapse of centralised economies across Central and Eastern Europe in 1989-1992.   Slovenia seceded from Yugoslavia first, swiftly followed by Croatia and then Bosnia-Herzegovina. The administration in the capital of the entire Yugoslav Federation, Belgrade, dispatched the Yugoslav army and air force to halt these Slovene, Croat & Bosnian bids for secession, but, while Slovenia separated itself from Yugoslavia only lightly scathed (it probably benefitted a great deal from the protection afforded by its common borders with Italy and Austria in Western Europe), civil war continued in other regions until the mid-1990s, resulting in the tearing apart of multi-ethnic communities and the deaths of thousands.   The settlement at the end of the civil war in Bosnia resulted in the state being administratively separated into a 'Federation of Bosnia & Herzegovina' and a 'Republika Srpska', with the latter largely populated by Bosnian ethnic Serbs.   Macedonia - later renamed 'the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia' to avoid antagonising neighbouring Greece - also seceded from the Yugoslav Federation in 1991, while, more recently, the state of Montenegro (now one of the world's youngest countries) democratically seceded from the federation of Serbia & Montenegro (ie. rump Yugoslavia) after a close referendum in 2006. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in February 2008 and at present, according to Wikipedia at least, 65 countries recognise Kosovo as an independent state.   So... what was once Yugoslavia ("South Slavia") is now:   1) Slovenia 2) Croatia 3) Bosnia Herzegovina (officially includes Republika Srpska) 4) FYR Macedonia 5) Montenegro 6) Serbia 7) Kosovo   With a healthy sense of caution (always bear in mind that ANYONE can edit Wikipedia!) you will find a lot of information on these now-separate states on Wikipedia. See the following list:   0) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_Federal_Republic_of_Yugoslavia 1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovenia 2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatia 3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosnia 4) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FYR_Macedonia 5) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montenegro 6) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbia 7) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosovo   Hope that's of some use! If you have any further, more specific questions, don't hesitate to contact me on @attitudeTravel on Twitter!   Alan L, Editor, attitude Travel

Thank you! I am Serbian & Croatian so I will enjoy this very much!