126-519: The Serbian State Guard ( Serbian : Srpska državna straža , SDS; Serbian Cyrillic : Српска државна стража ; German : Serbische Staatsgarde/Serbische Staatswache ), also known as the Nedićevci , was a collaborationist paramilitary force used to impose law and order within the German occupied territory of Serbia during World War II . It was formed from two former Yugoslav gendarmerie regiments,
252-553: A Slavic language ( Indo-European ), of the South Slavic subgroup. Other standardized forms of Serbo-Croatian are Bosnian , Croatian , and Montenegrin . "An examination of all the major 'levels' of language shows that BCS is clearly a single language with a single grammatical system." It has lower intelligibility with the Eastern South Slavic languages Bulgarian and Macedonian , than with Slovene (Slovene
378-490: A fatally strategic position, the city has been battled over in 115 wars and razed 44 times, being bombed five times and besieged many times. Being Serbia's primate city , Belgrade has special administrative status within Serbia. It is the seat of the central government, administrative bodies, and government ministries, as well as home to almost all of the largest Serbian companies, media, and scientific institutions. Belgrade
504-494: A general mobilisation by defecting openly to his Chetniks. According to report by state commission set by post-war authorities dated December 25 1945, SDS members killed 925 people, mostly men, outside combat, beat up over 8 thousand people, raped 117 women, arrested around 11500 people and razed 850 houses and other objects. While this report is methodologically flawed, it does represent the bases for research of crimes of occupiers and their collaborators in Serbia. Three days after
630-470: A significant influence on Belgrade. He conceptualised a regulation plan for the city in 1867, in which he proposed the replacement of the town's crooked streets with a grid plan . Of great importance also was the construction of independent Serbian political and cultural institutions, as well as the city's now-plentiful parks. Pointing to Josimović's work, Serbian scholars have noted an important break with Ottoman traditions. However, Istanbul—the capital city of
756-642: A third of these refugees having settled in Belgrade. After the 2000 presidential elections , Belgrade was the site of major public protests, with over half a million people taking part. These demonstrations resulted in the ousting of president Milošević as a part of the Otpor movement. In 2014, Belgrade Waterfront , an urban renewal project, was initiated by the Government of Serbia and its Emirati partner, Eagle Hills Properties . Around €3.5 billion
882-406: A year when the maximum temperature is at or above 30 °C (86 °F), and 95 days when the temperature is above 25 °C (77 °F), On the other hand, Belgrade experiences 52.1 days per year in which the minimum temperature falls below 0 °C (32 °F), with 13.8 days having a maximum temperature below freezing as well. Belgrade receives about 698 mm (27 in) of precipitation
1008-419: A year, with late spring being wettest. The average annual number of sunny hours is 2,020. Belgrade may experience thunderstorms at any time of the year, experiencing 31 days annually, but it's much more common in spring and summer months. Hail is rare and occurs exclusively in spring or summer. The highest officially recorded temperature in Belgrade was 43.6 °C (110.5 °F) on 24 July 2007, while on
1134-449: Is a rare example of synchronic digraphia , a situation where all literate members of a society have two interchangeable writing systems available to them. Media and publishers typically select one alphabet or the other. In general, the alphabets are used interchangeably; except in the legal sphere, where Cyrillic is required, there is no context where one alphabet or another predominates. Although Serbian language authorities have recognized
1260-524: Is a recognized minority language in Croatia , North Macedonia , Romania , Hungary , Slovakia , and the Czech Republic . Standard Serbian is based on the most widespread dialect of Serbo-Croatian, Shtokavian (more specifically on the dialects of Šumadija-Vojvodina and Eastern Herzegovina ), which is also the basis of standard Croatian , Bosnian , and Montenegrin varieties and therefore
1386-744: Is classified as a Beta- Global City . The city is home to the University Clinical Centre of Serbia , a hospital complex with one of the largest capacities in the world ; the Church of Saint Sava , one of the largest Orthodox church buildings ; and the Belgrade Arena , one of the largest capacity indoor arenas in Europe . Belgrade hosted major international events such as the Danube River Conference of 1948 ,
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#17327832879811512-780: Is considered to be the most successful project of fixing the problem. During the construction of the neighbourhood from the 1970s, the terrain was systematically improved and the movement of the land is today completely halted. Under the Köppen climate classification , Belgrade has a humid subtropical climate ( Cfa ) bordering on a humid continental climate ( Dfa ) with four seasons and uniformly spread precipitation. Monthly averages range from 1.9 °C (35.4 °F) in January to 23.8 °C (74.8 °F) in July, with an annual mean of 13.2 °C (55.8 °F). There are, on average, 44.6 days
1638-666: Is known for its very large settlements, one of the earliest settlements by continuous habitation and some of the largest in prehistoric Europe. Also associated with the Vinča culture are anthropomorphic figurines such as the Lady of Vinča , the earliest known copper metallurgy in Europe, and a proto-writing form developed prior to the Sumerians and Minoans known as the Old European script , which dates back to around 5300 BC. Within
1764-539: Is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Europe and the world. One of the most important prehistoric cultures of Europe , the Vinča culture , evolved within the Belgrade area in the 6th millennium BC. In antiquity, Thraco - Dacians inhabited the region and, after 279 BC, Celts settled the city, naming it Singidūn . It was conquered by the Romans under the reign of Augustus and awarded Roman city rights in
1890-536: Is part of the Western South Slavic subgroup, but there are still significant differences in vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation to the standardized forms of Serbo-Croatian, although it is closer to the Kajkavian and Chakavian dialects of Serbo-Croatian ). Speakers by country: Serbian was the official language of Montenegro until October 2007, when the new Constitution of Montenegro replaced
2016-530: Is shows that it was in accord with its time; for example, the Serbian Alexandride , a book about Alexander the Great , and a translation of Tristan and Iseult into Serbian. Although not belonging to the literature proper, the corpus of Serbian literacy in the 14th and 15th centuries contains numerous legal, commercial and administrative texts with marked presence of Serbian vernacular juxtaposed on
2142-637: Is the capital and largest city of Serbia . It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula . The population of the Belgrade metropolitan area is 1,685,563 according to the 2022 census. It is one of the major cities of Southeast Europe and the third most populous city on the Danube river . Belgrade
2268-718: Is the "identity script" of the Serbian nation. However, the law does not regulate scripts in standard language , or standard language itself by any means, leaving the choice of script as a matter of personal preference and to the free will in all aspects of life (publishing, media, trade and commerce, etc.), except in government paperwork production and in official written communication with state officials, which have to be in Cyrillic. Traffic signs and directional signs, and place names, on main or international roads are to be written with both Cyrillic and Latin script To most Serbians,
2394-435: Is the only general historical dictionary of Serbo-Croatian. Its first editor was Đuro Daničić , followed by Pero Budmani and the famous Vukovian Tomislav Maretić . The sources of this dictionary are, especially in the first volumes, mainly Štokavian . There are older, pre-standard dictionaries, such as the 1791 German–Serbian dictionary or 15th century Arabic-Persian-Greek-Serbian Conversation Textbook . The standard and
2520-794: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Serbian, written in the Cyrillic script : Сва људска бића рађају се слободна и једнака у достојанству и правима. Она су обдарена разумом и свешћу и треба једни према другима да поступају у духу братства. Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Serbian, written in the Latin alphabet : Sva ljudska bića rađaju se slobodna i jednaka u dostojanstvu i pravima. Ona su obdarena razumom i svešću i treba jedni prema drugima da postupaju u duhu bratstva. Article 1 of
2646-555: The Banat . It was the only area of the partitioned Kingdom of Yugoslavia in which the German occupants established a military government, to exploit the key rail and riverine transport routes that passed through it, and its valuable resources, particularly non-ferrous metals . The Military Commander in Serbia appointed Serbian puppet governments to "carry on administrative chores under German direction and supervision". On 29 August 1941,
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#17327832879812772-579: The Belgrade forest . Belgrade was made the seat of the Pashalik of Belgrade (also known as the Sanjak of Smederevo), and quickly became the second largest Ottoman town in Europe at over 100,000 people, surpassed only by Constantinople . Ottoman rule introduced Ottoman architecture , including numerous mosques, and the city was resurrected—now by Oriental influences. In 1594, a major Serb rebellion
2898-718: The British near the Italian -Yugoslav border in May 1945. Following the Axis invasion, occupation and dismantling of Yugoslavia in April 1941, the Wehrmacht established the German occupied territory of Serbia under a military government of occupation . The territory included most of Serbia proper , with the addition of the northern part of Kosovo (around Kosovska Mitrovica ), and
3024-621: The Chetnik movement of Draža Mihailović , and it was purged by the Germans on several occasions for that reason. In October 1944, as the Soviet Red Army closed on Belgrade, the SDS was transferred to Mihailović's control by a member of the fleeing Nedić administration, but it quickly disintegrated during its withdrawal west, with only a small number of former SDS members being captured by
3150-547: The Declaration on the Common Language of Croats, Bosniaks, Serbs, and Montenegrins was issued in 2017. The other dialect spoken by Serbs is Torlakian in southeastern Serbia, which is transitional to Macedonian and Bulgarian . Serbian is practically the only European standard language whose speakers are fully functionally digraphic , using both Cyrillic and Latin alphabets. The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet
3276-481: The Higher SS and Police Leader in Serbia, SS- Obergruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Polizei (SS-General of Police) August Meyszner , regarding the maintenance of law and order in the occupied territory. It was formed on 10 February 1942 from two former Yugoslav gendarmerie regiments, Drinski and Dunavski , but the law formally creating the force was not issued by Nedić until 2 March 1942. The SDS took over
3402-956: The Hungarian king , made Smederevo his new capital. Even though the Ottomans had captured most of the Serbian Despotate , Belgrade, known as Nándorfehérvár in Hungarian, was unsuccessfully besieged in 1440 and 1456. As the city presented an obstacle to the Ottoman advance into Hungary and further, over 100,000 Ottoman soldiers besieged it in 1456 , in which the Christian army led by the Hungarian General John Hunyadi successfully defended it. The noon bell ordered by Pope Callixtus III commemorates
3528-573: The Independent State of Croatia in occupied Yugoslavia, another puppet state, where Ustashe regime carried out the Genocide of Serbs . During the summer and autumn of 1941, in reprisal for guerrilla attacks, the Germans carried out several massacres of Belgrade citizens; in particular, members of the Jewish community were subject to mass shootings at the order of General Franz Böhme ,
3654-489: The Neolithic Starčevo culture , which flourished between 6200 and 5200 BC. There are several Starčevo sites in and around Belgrade, including the eponymous site of Starčevo . The Starčevo culture was succeeded by the Vinča culture (5500–4500 BC), a more sophisticated farming culture that grew out of the earlier Starčevo settlements and also named for a site in the Belgrade region ( Vinča-Belo Brdo ). The Vinča culture
3780-631: The Proto-Slavic language . There are many loanwords from different languages, reflecting cultural interaction throughout history. Notable loanwords were borrowed from Greek, Latin, Italian, Turkish, Hungarian, English, Russian, German, Czech and French. Serbian literature emerged in the Middle Ages , and included such works as Miroslavljevo jevanđelje ( Miroslav's Gospel ) in 1186 and Dušanov zakonik ( Dušan's Code ) in 1349. Little secular medieval literature has been preserved, but what there
3906-543: The Second Serbian Uprising in 1815, Serbia achieved some sort of sovereignty, which was formally recognised by the Porte in 1830. The development of Belgrade architecture after 1815 can be divided into four periods. In the first phase, which lasted from 1815 to 1835, the dominant architectural style was still of a Balkan character, with substantial Ottoman influence. At the same time, an interest in joining
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4032-476: The Serbian Revolution , Belgrade was once again named the capital of Serbia in 1841. Northern Belgrade remained the southernmost Habsburg post until 1918, when it was attached to the city, due to former Austro-Hungarian territories becoming part of the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes after World War I . Belgrade was the capital of Yugoslavia from its creation to its dissolution. In
4158-657: The Tripartite Pact , joining the Axis powers in an effort to stay out of the Second World War and keep Yugoslavia neutral during the conflict. This was immediately followed by mass protests in Belgrade and a military coup d'état led by Air Force commander General Dušan Simović , who proclaimed King Peter II to be of age to rule the realm. As a result, the city was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe on 6 April 1941, killing up to 2,274 people. Yugoslavia
4284-641: The UNESCO General Conference . Josip Broz Tito died in May 1980 and his funeral in Belgrade was attended by high officials and state delegations from 128 of the 154 members of the United Nations from all over the world, based on which it became one of the largest funerals in history . On 9 March 1991, massive demonstrations led by Vuk Drašković were held in the city against Slobodan Milošević . According to various media outlets, there were between 100,000 and 150,000 people on
4410-507: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in English: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. Belgrade Belgrade ( / b ɛ l ˈ ɡ r eɪ d / bel- GRAYD , / ˈ b ɛ l ɡ r eɪ d / BEL -grayd ; Serbian : Београд , Beograd , Serbian: [beǒɡrad] )
4536-518: The romanised Singidunum in the 1st century AD and, by the mid-2nd century, the city was proclaimed a municipium by the Roman authorities, evolving into a full-fledged colonia (the highest city class) by the end of the century. While the first Christian Emperor of Rome — Constantine I , also known as Constantine the Great —was born in the territory of Naissus to the city's south, Roman Christianity's champion, Flavius Iovianus (Jovian/Jovan),
4662-568: The 1940 pattern olive green uniform of the Royal Yugoslav Army, or the earlier Kingdom of Serbia pattern which was a green-grey in the case of officers, and a greyish-ochre colour for enlisted ranks. These were obtained from stores secured during the invasion. The Review of the Serbian State Guard ( Glasnik Srpske Državne Straže ) was the official gazette of the SDS, published from 1942 to the end of 1943. The journal
4788-672: The Balkans and Central Europe was held in Belgrade in June 1896 by André Carr, a representative of the Lumière brothers . He shot the first motion pictures of Belgrade in the next year; however, they have not been preserved. The first permanent cinema was opened in 1909 in Belgrade. The First World War began on 28 July 1914 when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Most of the subsequent Balkan offensives occurred near Belgrade. Austro-Hungarian monitors shelled Belgrade on 29 July 1914, and it
4914-592: The Constitution of 1992. Amid opposition from pro-Serbian parties, Montenegrin was made the sole official language of the country, and Serbian was given the status of a language in official use along with Bosnian , Albanian , and Croatian . In the 2023 Montenegrin census, 43.18% declared Serbian to be their native language, while Montenegrin was declared by 34.52% of the population. Standard Serbian language uses both Cyrillic ( ћирилица , ćirilica ) and Latin script ( latinica , латиница ). Serbian
5040-573: The Danube valley, and Umka , and especially its neighbourhood of Duboko, in the Sava valley. They have moving and dormant phases, and some of them have been recorded for centuries. Less active downhill creep areas include the entire Terazije slope above the Sava (Kalemegdan, Savamala ), which can be seen by the inclination of the Pobednik monument and the tower of the Cathedral Church , and
5166-482: The Danube, was opened in 1935, while King Alexander Bridge over the Sava was opened in 1934. On 3 September 1939 the first Belgrade Grand Prix , the last Grand Prix motor racing race before the outbreak of World War II, was held around the Belgrade Fortress and was followed by 80,000 spectators. The winner was Tazio Nuvolari . On 25 March 1941, the government of regent Crown Prince Paul signed
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5292-605: The European mainstream allowed Central and Western European architecture to flourish. Between 1835 and 1850, the amount of neoclassicist and baroque buildings south of the Austrian border rose considerably, exemplified by St Michael's Cathedral (Serbian: Saborna crkva) , completed in 1840. Between 1850 and 1875, new architecture was characterised by a turn towards the newly popular Romanticism , along with older European architectural styles. Typical of Central European cities in
5418-581: The German Military Governor of Serbia . Böhme rigorously enforced the rule that for every German killed, 100 Serbs or Jews would be shot. Belgrade became the first city in Europe to be declared by the Nazi occupation forces to be judenfrei . The resistance movement in Belgrade was led by Major Žarko Todorović from 1941 until his arrest in 1943. Just like Rotterdam , which was devastated twice by both German and Allied bombing, Belgrade
5544-488: The Germans appointed the Government of National Salvation (Влада народног спаса / Vlada narodnog spasa ) under General Milan Nedić , to replace the short-lived Commissioner Administration. The Serbian State Guard (or SDS) was established by Nedić on the basis of an understanding he reached with the German Military Commander in Serbia, General der Artillerie (Lieutenant General) Paul Bader , and
5670-461: The Germans for execution. They engaged in the execution of hostages both under Gestapo or Wehrmacht control and at their own initiative. The SDS clashed with other collaborationist formations at times, specifically Dimitrije Ljotić 's Serbian Volunteer Corps ( Srpski dobrovoljački korpus or SDK), and the Pećanac Chetniks loyal to vojvoda Kosta Pećanac . In March 1942, Nedić suggested to
5796-543: The Germans that the SDK and Pećanac Chetniks be incorporated into the SDS and that he take control of the force, but this idea was firmly rejected. In mid-1942, Meyszner appointed Dragomir Jovanović , the German-approved mayor and chief of police of Belgrade, as chief of Serbian State Security, which included responsibility for the SDS. The Germans considered that Radovanović was a Mihailović sympathiser, so in June 1942 he
5922-599: The Germans took it more seriously and offered him an audience with Adolf Hitler . On that basis, Nedić remained at his post. In October 1942, the Border Guard was transferred to the Ministry of Finance. Also in 1942, the Gestapo arrested some SDS officers suspected of having links with Mihailović, and by the end of 1942 the Germans had purged the SDS in an attempt to eliminate those who sympathised with Mihailović. One of
6048-431: The Hungarian king in 1427. Noon bells in support of the Hungarian army against the Ottoman Empire during the siege in 1456 have remained a widespread church tradition to this day. In 1521, Belgrade was conquered by the Ottomans and became the seat of the Sanjak of Smederevo . It frequently passed from Ottoman to Habsburg rule, which saw the destruction of most of the city during the Ottoman–Habsburg wars . Following
6174-720: The Latin alphabet whereas 36% favors the Cyrillic one. Latin script has become more and more popular in Serbia, as it is easier to input on phones and computers. The sort order of the ćirilica ( ћирилица ) alphabet: The sort order of the latinica ( латиница ) alphabet: Serbian is a highly inflected language , with grammatical morphology for nouns, pronouns and adjectives as well as verbs. Serbian nouns are classified into three declensional types, denoted largely by their nominative case endings as "-a" type, "-i" and "-e" type. Into each of these declensional types may fall nouns of any of three genders : masculine, feminine or neuter. Each noun may be inflected to represent
6300-410: The Latin script predominates, although both scripts are commonly seen. The Serbian government has encouraged increasing the use of Cyrillic in these contexts. Larger signs, especially those put up by the government, will often feature both alphabets; if the sign has English on it, then usually only Cyrillic is used for the Serbian text. A survey from 2014 showed that 47% of the Serbian population favors
6426-450: The Latin script tends to imply a cosmopolitan or neutral attitude, while Cyrillic appeals to a more traditional or vintage sensibility. In media, the public broadcaster, Radio Television of Serbia , predominantly uses the Cyrillic script whereas the privately run broadcasters, like RTV Pink , predominantly use the Latin script. Newspapers can be found in both scripts. In the public sphere, with logos, outdoor signage and retail packaging,
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#17327832879816552-424: The Partisan-held city of Tuzla in northeastern Bosnia. This failure and mutual recriminations between Mihailović's Chetniks and the SUK resulted in the effective disintegration of the SUK. By mid-January 1945, 5,000 former SDS members had rejoined the Germans, with some returning to Serbia to take advantage of Josip Broz Tito 's amnesty. Most were transported to Austria where they were used in labour battalions under
6678-431: The Partisans in October 1944, allowing Army Group E to make retreat to Bosnia. This collaboration is more shameful, considering that German forces committed atrocities against civilian population during this retreat, an example of which is a massacre of 30 civilians in Zalug near Prijepolje . In the last days of December 1944, the SUK participated, along with other Chetnik formations, in an unsuccessful attempt to capture
6804-413: The Partisans near Bijeljina in eastern Bosnia . In June 1943, the Germans rounded up and executed 1,139 Serb civilians under suspicion that they had been collaborating with the resurgent Partisans. The SDS were involved in these crimes, and throughout 1943 were actively involved in committing atrocities against Serbian civilians. After many delays, on 18 September 1943 Nedić met with Hitler in Berlin and
6930-555: The SDS lost 157 men killed, 107 wounded and 26 missing. During 1944, SDS started heavy repression in area around Leskovac , because of region's overwhelming support for Yugoslav Partisans . Repression always included beatings and arrests in pro-Partisan villages, and in around half of the villages, Partisan supporters were executed and their houses were burnt down. In late March, SDS unit of Mihajlo Zotović participated in anti-partisan action, alongside German forced and Albanian militia in 6 villages on Pasjača mountain . Part of population of
7056-400: The SDS reached its maximum strength of 36,716 men. By February 1944, the SDS leadership were avoiding any direct confrontations with Mihailović's Chetniks. In the spring and summer of 1944, the SDS had declined to a strength of around 24,000–25,000 men. With the return of the Partisans to Serbia proper, the SDS began to incur serious casualties. For example, between 15 March and 15 August 1944,
7182-472: The SDS was created specifically for service in the Banat, and was known as the Banat State Guard. It was formed from the region's German minority (or Volksdeutsche ), and in March 1942 numbered less than one thousand. Nedić intended that the SDS would not only maintain law and order and guard the borders, but also monitor the people's requirements and offer assistance and protection in areas such as "health care, cultural, educational and economic life". The SDS
7308-420: The SDS was used against the Partisans operating within the occupied territory. In late 1941, prior to the formation of the SDS, the Serbian gendarmerie had participated in the German-led Operation Uzice , which drove the Partisans and Chetniks from the Užice area. The SDS routinely executed captured Partisans, and frequently took and murdered hostages in towns and villages. The SDS also included former members of
7434-434: The Village Guard ( seljačka straža ). The SDS was equipped using arms and ammunition captured by the Germans from throughout Europe, and was organised as a largely static force split across five regions ( oblasts ): Belgrade , Kraljevo , Niš , Valjevo and Zaječar , with one battalion per region. Each region was further divided into three districts ( okrugs ), each of which included one or more SDS companies . A branch of
7560-454: The Voždovac section, between Banjica and Autokomanda . Landslides encompass smaller areas, develop on the steep cliffs, sometimes being inclined up to 90%. They are mostly located in the artificial loess hills of Zemun: Gardoš , Ćukovac and Kalvarija . However, the majority of the land movement in Belgrade, some 90%, is triggered by the construction works and faulty water supply system (burst pipes, etc.). The neighbourhood of Mirijevo
7686-469: The Yugoslav Army in the Homeland" once again under the command of Radovanović and it joined the withdrawal of other Chetnik formations towards the Sandžak region then into northeastern Bosnia. This arrangement resulted in a difficult and uneasy alliance which began to disintegrate under the pressures of the withdrawal. SUK, alongside Chetniks and Muslim Militia, troops helped Germans take better positions in Sandžak, as they helped them take important towns from
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#17327832879817812-421: The area around Belgrade was inhabited by nomadic foragers in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic eras. Some of these tools are of Mousterian industry —belonging to Neanderthals rather than modern humans. Aurignacian and Gravettian tools have also been discovered near the area, indicating some settlement between 50,000 and 20,000 years ago. The first farming people to settle in the region are associated with
7938-431: The area was ravaged by Attila the Hun . In 471, it was taken by Theodoric the Great , king of the Ostrogoths, who continued into Italy. As the Ostrogoths left, another Germanic tribe, the Gepids , invaded the city. In 539, it was retaken by the Byzantines. In 577, some 100,000 Slavs poured into Thrace and Illyricum , pillaging cities and more permanently settling the region. The Avars , under Bayan I , conquered
8064-420: The beginning of the 13th century, the entire official correspondence of Dubrovnik with states in the hinterland was conducted in Serbian. In the mid-15th century, Serbia was conquered by the Ottoman Empire and for the next 400 years there was no opportunity for the creation of secular written literature. However, some of the greatest literary works in Serbian come from this time, in the form of oral literature,
8190-494: The camp stated that executions at the camp were carried out by both the Belgrade Special Police and the SDS, and that those executed included children. A total of 3,849 people were killed at the camp before it was closed on 3 October 1944. The SDS became increasingly unpopular with the population as time went on. Despite their limited independence, the SDS actively engaged in dehumanising Jews , Roma and communist Serbs , and in killing people from those groups or delivering them to
8316-494: The capital of the Kingdom of Syrmia , a vassal state to the Kingdom of Hungary. Dragutin (Hungarian: Dragutin István ) is regarded as the first Serbian king to rule over Belgrade. Following the battles of Maritsa (1371) and Kosovo field (1389) , Moravian Serbia, to Belgrade's south, began to fall to the Ottoman Empire . The northern regions of what is now Serbia persisted as the Serbian Despotate , with Belgrade as its capital. The city flourished under Stefan Lazarević ,
8442-417: The centre of the Principality's administrative, military and cultural institutions. His project of creating a new market space (the Abadžijska čaršija), however, was less successful; trade continued to be conducted in the centuries-old Donja čaršija and Gornja čaršija. Still, new construction projects were typical for the Christian quarters as the older Muslim quarters declined; from Serbia's autonomy until 1863,
8568-441: The city is under rapid development and reconstruction, especially in the area of Novi Beograd , where (as of 2020) apartment and office buildings were under construction to support the burgeoning Belgrade IT sector , now one of Serbia's largest economic players. In September 2020, there were around 2000 active construction sites in Belgrade. The city budget for 2023 stood at 205,5 billion dinars (1.750 billion Euros). The budget for
8694-412: The city of Belgrade has been estimated to be more than 2 billion Euros for 2024. Belgrade lies 116.75 m (383.0 ft) above sea level and is located at the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers. The historical core of Belgrade, Kalemegdan , lies on the right banks of both rivers. Since the 19th century, the city has been expanding to the south and east; after World War II, New Belgrade
8820-413: The city proper, on Cetinjska Street, a skull of a Paleolithic human dated to before 5000 BC was discovered in 1890. Evidence of early knowledge about Belgrade's geographical location comes from a variety of ancient myths and legends. The ridge overlooking the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, for example, has been identified as one of the places in the story of Jason and the Argonauts . In
8946-504: The city terrain is mass wasting . On the territory covered by the General Urban Plan there are 1,155 recorded mass wasting points, out of which 602 are active and 248 are labeled as 'high risk'. They cover almost 30% of the city territory and include several types of mass wasting. Downhill creeps are located on the slopes above the rivers, mostly on the clay or loam soils, inclined between 7 and 20%. The most critical ones are in Karaburma , Zvezdara , Višnjica , Vinča and Ritopek , in
9072-828: The city would become a battleground between the Byzantine Empire , the medieval Kingdom of Hungary , and the Bulgarian Empire . Basil II (976–1025) installed a garrison in Belgrade. The city hosted the armies of the First and the Second Crusade , but, while passing through during the Third Crusade , Frederick Barbarossa and his 190,000 crusaders saw Belgrade in ruins. King Stefan Dragutin (r. 1276–1282) received Belgrade from his father-in-law, Stephen V of Hungary , in 1284, and it served as
9198-605: The direction of Organisation Todt , but about 1,500 were allowed to move to the Ljubljana Gap area, where they could join other collaborationist forces, such as the SDK or the Chetnik formations of Momčilo Đujić or Dobroslav Jevđević . Mihailović was not concerned about their departure, describing the former SDS troops as the "worst troops in the world". The remnants of the SDS/SUK and Mihailović's Chetniks remained under
9324-580: The early 19th century, Vuk Stefanović Karadžić promoted the spoken language of the people as a literary norm. The dialects of Serbo-Croatian , regarded Serbian (traditionally spoken in Serbia), include: Vuk Karadžić 's Srpski rječnik , first published in 1818, is the earliest dictionary of modern literary Serbian. The Rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika (I–XXIII), published by the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts from 1880 to 1976,
9450-469: The fall of the Nedić regime on 6 October 1944, Felber transferred the command of the SDS to General Miodrag Damjanović , the head of Nedić's secretariat and a principal confidant of Mihailović within Nedić's administration. Damjanović immediately placed himself and the remaining 6,500 troops of the SDS under Mihailović's command. The SDS was then renamed the "Serbian Shock Corps ( Srpski udarni korpus or SUK) of
9576-745: The first Non-Aligned Movement Summit (1961), the first major gathering of the OSCE (1977–1978), the Eurovision Song Contest ( 2008 ), as well as sports events such as the first FINA World Aquatics Championships ( 1973 ), UEFA Euro ( 1976 ), Summer Universiade ( 2009 ) and EuroBasket three times ( 1961 , 1975 , 2005 ). On 21 June 2023, Belgrade was confirmed host of the BIE- Specialized Exhibition Expo 2027 . Chipped stone tools found in Zemun show that
9702-585: The gendarmerie that had assisted German troops to round up hostages to be shot at both Kraljevo and Kragujevac in October 1941. In July 1941, the Banjica concentration camp had been established in the suburbs of Belgrade. It was initially guarded by both the Gestapo and the SDS, but sole responsibility was eventually transferred to the SDS, who behaved sadistically and violently towards the inmates. Survivors of
9828-568: The last quarter of the 19th century, the fourth phase was characterised by an eclecticist style based on the Renaissance and Baroque periods. In 1841, Prince Mihailo Obrenović moved the capital of the Principality of Serbia from Kragujevac to Belgrade. During his first reign (1815–1839), Prince Miloš Obrenović pursued expansion of the city's population through the addition of new settlements, aiming and succeeding to make Belgrade
9954-605: The matrix of Serbian Church Slavonic . By the beginning of the 14th century the Serbo-Croatian language, which was so rigorously proscribed by earlier local laws, becomes the dominant language of the Republic of Ragusa . However, despite her wealthy citizens speaking the Serbo-Croatian dialect of Dubrovnik in their family circles, they sent their children to Florentine schools to become perfectly fluent in Italian. Since
10080-652: The mid-2nd century. It was settled by the Slavs in the 520s, and changed hands several times between the Byzantine Empire , the Frankish Empire , the Bulgarian Empire , and the Kingdom of Hungary before it became the seat of the Serbian king Stefan Dragutin in 1284. Belgrade served as capital of the Serbian Despotate during the reign of Stefan Lazarević , and then his successor Đurađ Branković returned it to
10206-407: The most notable form being epic poetry . The epic poems were mainly written down in the 19th century, and preserved in oral tradition up to the 1950s, a few centuries or even a millennium longer than by most other "epic folks". Goethe and Jacob Grimm learned Serbian in order to read Serbian epic poetry in the original. By the end of the 18th century, the written literature had become estranged from
10332-415: The noun they modify, but must agree in number, gender and case with the modified noun. Serbian verbs are conjugated in four past forms— perfect , aorist , imperfect , and pluperfect —of which the last two have a very limited use (imperfect is still used in some dialects, but the majority of native Serbian speakers consider it archaic), one future tense (also known as the first future tense, as opposed to
10458-517: The noun's grammatical case , of which Serbian has seven: Nouns are further inflected to represent the noun's number , singular or plural. Pronouns, when used, are inflected along the same case and number morphology as nouns. Serbian is a pro-drop language , meaning that pronouns may be omitted from a sentence when their meaning is easily inferred from the text. In cases where pronouns may be dropped, they may also be used to add emphasis. For example: Adjectives in Serbian may be placed before or after
10584-402: The number of Belgrade quarters even decreased, mainly as a consequence of the gradual disappearance of the city's Muslim population . An Ottoman city map from 1863 counts only 9 Muslim quarters ( mahalas ). The names of only five such neighbourhoods are known today: Ali-pašina, Reis-efendijina, Jahja-pašina, Bajram-begova, and Laz Hadži-Mahmudova. Following the Čukur Fountain incident , Belgrade
10710-451: The official status of both scripts in contemporary Standard Serbian for more than half of a century now, due to historical reasons, the Cyrillic script was made the official script of Serbia's administration by the 2006 Constitution . The Latin script continues to be used in official contexts, although the government has indicated its desire to phase out this practice due to national sentiment. The Ministry of Culture believes that Cyrillic
10836-682: The only completed etymological dictionary of Serbian is the " Skok ", written by the Croatian linguist Petar Skok : Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika ("Etymological Dictionary of Croatian or Serbian"). I-IV. Zagreb 1971–1974. There is also a new monumental Etimološki rečnik srpskog jezika (Etymological Dictionary of Serbian). So far, two volumes have been published: I (with words on A-), and II (Ba-Bd). There are specialized etymological dictionaries for German, Italian, Croatian, Turkish, Greek, Hungarian, Russian, English and other loanwords (cf. chapter word origin ). Article 1 of
10962-415: The opening of a railway to Niš , Serbia's second city. In 1900, the capital had only 70,000 inhabitants (at the time Serbia numbered 2.5 million). Still, by 1905, the population had grown to more than 80,000 and, by the outbreak of World War I in 1914, it had surpassed the 100,000 citizens, disregarding Zemun , which still belonged to Austria-Hungary . The first-ever projection of motion pictures in
11088-616: The overall command of Damjanović as part of the Chetnik Šumadija Division. These Chetniks had been under the command of the SS since 12 December 1944. They crossed the river Soča and surrendered to the British Army near the Italian-Yugoslav border on 5 May 1945. Fortunately for them, they were interned as prisoners of war and other than a few senior officers, were not repatriated to Yugoslavia to face trial. The SDS wore either
11214-434: The rank and file of the SDS was sympathetic to Mihailović's Chetniks, and SDS units were regularly being "disarmed" by them, sometimes even staging mock battles to disguise transfers of much needed weapons and ammunition to Mihailović's forces. Jovanović himself provided financial assistance to Mihailović from his own discretionary funds. In April 1943, units of the SDS were praised by German commanders for their fighting against
11340-418: The right bank of the Sava, central Belgrade has a hilly terrain, while the highest point of Belgrade proper is Torlak hill at 303 m (994 ft). The mountains of Avala (511 m (1,677 ft)) and Kosmaj (628 m (2,060 ft)) lie south of the city. Across the Sava and Danube, the land is mostly flat, consisting of alluvial plains and loessial plateaus . One of the characteristics of
11466-598: The role and functions of the gendarmerie, and was initially commanded by Stevan Radovanović. Sources vary on the strength of the SDS. The Germans initially set a maximum strength of 17,000, but the SDS quickly reached a strength of 18,500. Initially the SDS included four groups, the Rural Police ( poljska straža ), the Municipal Police ( gradska straža ), the Frontier (or Border) Guard ( granična straža ), and
11592-624: The same government after alleged electoral fraud in local elections. These protests brought Zoran Đinđić to power, the first mayor of Belgrade since World War II who did not belong to the League of Communists of Yugoslavia or its later offshoot, the Socialist Party of Serbia . In 1999, during the Kosovo War , the NATO bombing campaign targeted a number a buildings in Belgrade. Among
11718-413: The second conditional (without use in the spoken language—it should be used for impossible conditional clauses). Serbian has active and passive voice . As for the non-finite verb forms, Serbian has one infinitive , two adjectival participles (the active and the passive), and two adverbial participles (the present and the past). Most Serbian words are of native Slavic lexical stock, tracing back to
11844-433: The second future tense or the future exact, which is considered a tense of the conditional mood by some contemporary linguists), and one present tense . These are the tenses of the indicative mood. Apart from the indicative mood, there is also the imperative mood . The conditional mood has two more tenses: the first conditional (commonly used in conditional clauses, both for possible and impossible conditional clauses) and
11970-420: The senior SDS officers arrested by the Gestapo during the purge was Lieutenant Colonel Milan Kalabić , the prefect of Požarevac , and father of one of Mihailović's unit commanders, Nikola Kalabić . The elder Kalabić had been passing information, arms and ammunition to Mihailović's Chetniks. In October 1942, Milan Kalabić was executed by the Germans along with other Chetnik commanders and men. By 1943, most of
12096-743: The sites bombed were some ministry buildings, the RTS building, hospitals, Hotel Jugoslavija , the Central Committee building , Avala Tower , and the Chinese embassy . Between 500 and 2,000 civilians were killed in Serbia and Montenegro as a result of the NATO bombings, of which 47 were killed in Belgrade. After the Yugoslav Wars , Serbia became home to the highest number of refugees and internally displaced persons in Europe, with more than
12222-626: The son of Serbian prince Lazar Hrebeljanović . Lazarević built a castle with a citadel and towers, of which only the Despot's tower and the west wall remain. He also refortified the city's ancient walls, allowing the Despotate to resist Ottoman conquest for almost 70 years. During this time, Belgrade was a haven for many Balkan peoples fleeing Ottoman rule, and is thought to have had a population ranging between 40,000 and 50,000 people. In 1427, Stefan's successor Đurađ Branković , returning Belgrade to
12348-466: The spoken language. In the second half of the 18th century, the new language appeared, called Slavonic-Serbian . This artificial idiom superseded the works of poets and historians like Gavrilo Stefanović Venclović , who wrote in essentially modern Serbian in the 1720s. These vernacular compositions have remained cloistered from the general public and received due attention only with the advent of modern literary historians and writers like Milorad Pavić . In
12474-591: The state to which Belgrade and Serbia de jure still belonged—underwent similar changes. In May 1868, knez Mihailo was assassinated with his cousin Anka Konstantinović while riding in a carriage in his country residence. With the Principality 's full independence in 1878 and its transformation into the Kingdom of Serbia in 1882, Belgrade once again became a key city in the Balkans, and developed rapidly. Nevertheless, conditions in Serbia remained those of an overwhelmingly agrarian country, even with
12600-426: The streets. Two people were killed, 203 were injured and 108 were arrested during the protests, and later that day tanks were deployed onto the streets to restore order. Many anti-war protests were held in Belgrade, with the largest protests being dedicated to solidarity with the victims from the besieged Sarajevo . Further anti-government protests were held in Belgrade from November 1996 to February 1997 against
12726-667: The time of antiquity, too, the area was populated by Paleo-Balkan tribes , including the Thracians and the Dacians , who ruled much of Belgrade's surroundings. Specifically, Belgrade was at one point inhabited by the Thraco-Dacian tribe Singi; following Celtic invasion in 279 BC, the Scordisci wrested the city from their hands, naming it Singidūn ( d|ūn , fortress). In 34–33 BC, the Roman army reached Belgrade. It became
12852-503: The victory throughout the Christian world to this day, which is now a cultural symbol of Hungary . Seven decades after the initial siege, on 28 August 1521, the fort was finally captured by Suleiman the Magnificent with 250,000 Turkish soldiers and over 100 ships. Subsequently, most of the city was razed to the ground and its entire Orthodox Christian population was deported to Istanbul to an area that has since become known as
12978-480: The villages left with Partisans, so mostly women and children remained in them. During operation 9 women and 2 girls were killed, 9 more wounded and 80 more tortured, while razing 87 and robbing almost 200 houses. Witnesses claimed that only SDS troops participated in killing, torture and razing houses. This crime is different to most crimes of SDS, as majority of victims of the crime were women and children. By August 1944, SDS units were responding to Mihailović's call for
13104-551: The war ended, the city was left with 11,500 demolished housing units. During the post-war period, Belgrade grew rapidly as the capital of the renewed Yugoslavia , developing as a major industrial centre. In 1948, construction of New Belgrade started. In 1958, Belgrade's first television station began broadcasting. In 1961, Belgrade hosted the first and founding conference of the Non-Aligned Movement under Tito's chairmanship. In 1962, Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport
13230-570: The whole region and its new Slavic population by 582. Following Byzantine reconquest, the Byzantine chronicle De Administrando Imperio mentions the White Serbs , who had stopped in Belgrade on their way back home, asking the strategos for lands; they received provinces in the west, towards the Adriatic, which they would rule as subjects to Heraclius (610–641). In 829, Khan Omurtag
13356-726: Was able to add Singidunum and its environs to the First Bulgarian Empire. The first record of the name Belograd appeared on April, 16th, 878, in a Papal missive to Bulgarian ruler Boris I . This name would appear in several variants: Alba Bulgarica in Latin, Griechisch Weissenburg in High German, Nándorfehérvár in Hungarian, and Castelbianco in Venetian, among other names, all variations of 'white fortress' or ' Bulgar white fortress'. For about four centuries,
13482-865: Was bombed once more during World War II , this time by the Allies on 16 April 1944, killing at least 1,100 people. This bombing fell on the Orthodox Christian Easter . Most of the city remained under German occupation until 20 October 1944, when it was liberated by the Red Army and the Communist Yugoslav Partisans . On 29 November 1945, Marshal Josip Broz Tito proclaimed the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia in Belgrade (later renamed to Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on 7 April 1963). When
13608-455: Was bombed by the Ottomans. On 18 April 1867, the Ottoman government ordered the Ottoman garrison, which had been since 1826 the last representation of Ottoman suzerainty in Serbia, withdrawn from Kalemegdan . The forlorn Porte's only stipulation was that the Ottoman flag continue to fly over the fortress alongside the Serbian one. Serbia's de facto independence dates from this event. In the following years, urban planner Emilijan Josimović had
13734-738: Was born in Singidunum. Jovian reestablished Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire , ending the brief revival of traditional Roman religions under his predecessor Julian the Apostate . In 395 AD, the site passed to the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire . Across the Sava from Singidunum was the Celtic city of Taurunum (Zemun) ; the two were connected with a bridge throughout Roman and Byzantine times. In 442,
13860-443: Was built on the left bank of the Sava river, connecting Belgrade with Zemun . Smaller, chiefly residential communities across the Danube, like Krnjača , Kotež and Borča , also merged with the city, while Pančevo , a heavily industrialised satellite city, remains separate. The city has an urban area of 360 km (140 sq mi), while together with its metropolitan area it covers 3,223 km (1,244 sq mi). On
13986-635: Was built. In 1968, major student protests led to several street clashes between students and the police. In 1972, Belgrade faced a smallpox outbreak , the last major outbreak of smallpox in Europe since World War II. Between October 1977 and March 1978, the city hosted the first major gathering of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe with the aim of implementing the Helsinki Accords from, while in 1980 Belgrade hosted
14112-419: Was created with the approval of the German military authorities, and for a long period was controlled by the Higher SS and Police Leader in the occupied territory. It assisted the Germans in imposing one of the most brutal occupation regimes in occupied Europe and helped guard and execute prisoners at the Banjica concentration camp in Belgrade . Its leaders and much of the rank and file were sympathetic to
14238-673: Was crushed by the Ottomans. In retribution, Grand Vizier Sinan Pasha ordered the relics of Saint Sava to be publicly torched on the Vračar plateau ; in the 20th century, the church of Saint Sava was built to commemorate this event. Occupied by the Habsburgs three times ( 1688–1690 , 1717–1739 , 1789–1791 ), headed by the Holy Roman Princes Maximilian of Bavaria and Eugene of Savoy , and field marshal Baron Ernst Gideon von Laudon , respectively, Belgrade
14364-481: Was devised in 1814 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić , who created it based on phonemic principles. The Latin alphabet used for Serbian ( latinica ) was designed by the Croatian linguist Ljudevit Gaj in the 1830s based on the Czech system with a one-to-one grapheme-phoneme correlation between the Cyrillic and Latin orthographies, resulting in a parallel system. Serbian is a standardized variety of Serbo-Croatian ,
14490-572: Was edited by Jonić, and contributors included Nedić and Milan Aćimović . Serbian language Serbian ( српски / srpski , pronounced [sr̩̂pskiː] ) is the standardized variety of the Serbo-Croatian language mainly used by Serbs . It is the official and national language of Serbia , one of the three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina and co-official in Montenegro and Kosovo . It
14616-443: Was liberated by Serbian and French troops on 1 November 1918, under the command of Marshal Louis Franchet d'Espèrey of France and Crown Prince Alexander of Serbia . Belgrade, devastated as a front-line city, lost the title of largest city in the Kingdom to Subotica for some time. After the war, Belgrade became the capital of the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929. The Kingdom
14742-539: Was predominantly inhabited by a Muslim population. Traces of Ottoman rule and architecture—such as mosques and bazaars , were to remain a prominent part of Belgrade's townscape into the 19th century; several decades, even, after Serbia was granted autonomy from the Ottoman Empire. During the First Serbian Uprising , Serbian revolutionaries held the city from 8 January 1807 until 1813, when it
14868-481: Was promised that he would be given command of the SDS and the SDK. Upon his return to Belgrade, Nedić called upon the Military Commander in Serbia, General der Infanterie Hans Felber , to make arrangements for the transfer of command, but Felber advised him that he had received no orders to do so. It was not until 2 November 1943 that Nedić was finally given command of both the SDS and SDK. In late 1943
14994-464: Was quickly recaptured by the Ottomans and substantially razed each time. During this period, the city was affected by the two Great Serbian Migrations , in which hundreds of thousands of Serbs, led by two Serbian Patriarchs , retreated together with the Austrian soldiers into the Habsburg Empire, settling in today's Vojvodina and Slavonia . At the beginning of the 19th century, Belgrade
15120-423: Was replaced by Colonel Borivoje Jonić, the brother of Nedić's minister of education, Velibor Jonić . In July 1942 the SDS consisted of 15,000–20,000 men. In August and September 1942, Nedić again tried to have the SDS placed under his command, and the German refusal to do so contributed to him tendering his resignation. Nedić had threatened to resign several times previously for similar reasons, but on this occasion
15246-785: Was retaken by the Ottomans. In 1807, Turks in Belgrade were massacred and forcefully converted to Christianity. The massacre was encouraged by Russia in order to cement divisions between the Serb rebels and the Porte . Around 6,000 Muslims and Jews were forcibly converted to Christianity. Most mosques were converted into churches. Muslims, Jews, Aromanians and Greeks were subjected to forced labour, and Muslim women were widely made available to young Serb men, and some were taken into slavery. Milenko Stojković bought many of them, and established his harem for which he gained fame. In this circumstances Belgrade demographically transformed from Ottoman to Serb. After
15372-406: Was royalist and was rapidly infiltrated by Chetniks loyal to Draža Mihailović . It also lacked sufficient officers, and although it had some initial successes, it never developed into an effective military force. Meyszner took overall control of the SDS three days after its formation, a decision which was strongly opposed by Nedić. Along with other collaborationist military and paramilitary units,
15498-512: Was split into banovinas and Belgrade, together with Zemun and Pančevo , formed a separate administrative unit. During this period, the city experienced fast growth and significant modernisation. Belgrade's population grew to 239,000 by 1931 (with the inclusion of Zemun), and to 320,000 by 1940. The population growth rate between 1921 and 1948 averaged 4.08% a year. In 1927, Belgrade's first airport opened, and in 1929, its first radio station began broadcasting. The Pančevo Bridge , which crosses
15624-474: Was taken by the Austro-Hungarian Army under General Oskar Potiorek on 30 November. On 15 December, it was re-taken by Serbian troops under Marshal Radomir Putnik . After a prolonged battle which destroyed much of the city, starting on 6 October 1915, Belgrade fell to German and Austro-Hungarian troops commanded by Field Marshal August von Mackensen on 9 October of the same year. The city
15750-516: Was then invaded by German , Italian , Hungarian , and Bulgarian forces. Belgrade was captured by subterfuge, with six German soldiers led by their officer Fritz Klingenberg feigning threatening size, forcing the city to capitulate. Belgrade was more directly occupied by the German Army in the same month and became the seat of the puppet Nedić regime , headed by its namesake general. Some of today's parts of Belgrade were incorporated in
15876-446: Was to be jointly invested by the Serbian government and their Emirati partners. The project includes office and luxury apartment buildings, five-star hotels, a shopping mall and the envisioned ' Belgrade Tower '. The project is, however, quite controversial—there are a number of uncertainties regarding its funding, necessity, and its architecture's arguable lack of harmony with the rest of the city. In addition to Belgrade Waterfront ,
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