Belgrade, Part One - Z capital


Belgrade is the capital city of Serbia.

There is a lot to say about Belgrade. First of all, it's big. Not as big as, let say London or Moscow, but in Serbia, it is by far the biggest city, and it's estimated that some were around 2.5 million people live in its wider area. That's something like 7 times bigger then the second biggest city in the county, and one third of the complete Serbian population.

There isn't a single thing that defines Belgrade. I live in a city some 80 km away, and the first association I have is - overcrowded. A lot of people from the south and central regions come here to live and find prosperity, even more in the last 15 to 20 years of economic stagnation. That is still the case.

You probably wouldn't think of it as pretty place in a architectural sense, because you can see almost everywhere a mixture of buildings from the late 19th and early 20 century, communist era stile (lot of concrete and square shapes) and those built in modern trends, bundled up together with no grater plan in mind. Also, road infrastructure newer planed for this kind of population level, and daily gridlocks are common.

But simultaneously, having so many people in the same place gives Belgrade a metropolitan fell. It, unlike every other city in the country, has a really rich cultural and artistic life. Business there is booming, and by getting some international attention in the last 5 years, it's become the unrivaled money center in the country, and possibly in the region, not counting EU member states.

Nightlife is certainly diverse and vibrant, fueled primarily by a big student population.
In short, with all of its shortcomings, Belgrade is currently the place to be in Serbia.

More about it - soon on Experience Serbia blog.

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