National Minorities

The traditional Slovakian folk costume (click on photo to enlarge)

With respect to its ethnic composition, the State Union of Serbia-Montenegro is a highly heterogeneous state. The prevalent national minorities are Albanians, Hungarians and Bosniaks. According to the 1991 census, (Serbia carried out a census in 2002, while in Montenegro it is underway) 33.7% of the Serbia-Montenegrin population belongs to minority communities, of which four fifths are Albanians, Hungarians and Bosniaks.

According to the 2002 census, there are 1, 135, 393 members of national minorities in Serbia, excluding Kosovo-Metohija. The largest number of national minorities live in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina - Hungarians (290, 207), Croats (56, 645) Slovaks (56, 637), Romanians (30, 419), Roma (29,057) Backa Croats (19, 766) Ruthenes (15, 626), Macedonians (11, 785), Ukrainians (4, 635), Germans (3, 154), Czechs (1, 648) and others.

There are 59, 952 members of national minorities in Central Serbia, and these are: Bosniaks (135, 670), Bulgarians (18, 839), Vlachs (39, 953), Gorani (3, 975), Macedonians (14, 062), Muslims (15, 869), Roma (79, 136), Croats (14, 569) and others.

The largest number of ethnic Albanian minority nationals populate the southern Serbian province of Kosovo-Metohija. However, it is difficult to establish their exact number in the province due to a number of reasons, including the fact that the ethnic Albanian minority last took part in the 1981 census, boycotting the one carried out in 1991. Also, armed conflicts, the migration of a high number of Serbs and members of other minorities in the province, as well as the arrival of tens of thousands of Albanians from Albania have largely altered Kosovo-Metohija's ethnic composition.