Serbian diaspora refers to Serbian emigrant communities in the diaspora. The existence of a numerous diaspora of Serbian nationals is mainly a consequence of either economic or political (coercion or expulsion) reasons.
There were different waves of Serbian migration, characterized by:
The main countries of destination were Germany, Austria, the United States, Sweden, Canada, and Australia. Based on a 2007 estimate, there were 4.2 to 5.8 million Serbians or people of Serbian origin in the diaspora. The Ministry of Diaspora (MoD) estimated in 2008 that the Serbian diaspora numbered 3,908,000 to 4,170,000, the numbers including not only Serbian citizens but people who view Serbia as their nation-state regardless of the citizenship they hold; these could include second- and third-generation Serbian emigrants or descendants of emigrants from other former Yugoslav republics who never obtained Serbian citizenship but are ethnic Serbs. By continent or region, it was estimated that 2,705,000–2,765,000 lived in Europe (excluding former Yugoslavia), 1–1,2 million in North America, 130,000 in Australia, 26,000 in Africa, 20,000 in Central and South America, 8,000 in Asia, 5,000–7,000 in New Zealand, 5,000 in the Middle East. There were 1,000 diaspora associations, registered in 191 countries.
In 2014 it was estimated based on diplomatic-consular posts that the Serbian diaspora numbered 5.1 million in about 100 states. The term "Serbs in the region" is used for ethnic Serbs of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Albania, Kosovo and Hungary, estimated to number 2,120,000. The latter group may or may not be included in estimates.
| Official data | Estimates | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Germany | (2017) Serbian nationals and Serbian-born German citizens.[1] | (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora. | See also Serbs in Germany. | |
 Austria | (2018) Serbian nationals and Serbian-born Austrian citizens.[2] | – (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora. | 300,000 (est.)[3] [4] –320 000+ Serbs in Austria (Domestic numbers)[5] Approximately 100,000 Serbians in Vienna alone[6] | |
 Switzerland | (2016)[7] | (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora. | Serbian and Montenegrin immigrants (2000 est.).[8] Serbian immigrants (2008 est.).[9] An Unknown number of ethnic Serbs in Switzerland. Based on the census in 2000, 103,350 persons gave Serbian or Croatian as their main language. At the end of 2012, approximately 98,700 Serbian nationals lived in Switzerland. Ethnic Serbs are mainly concentrated in German-speaking areas of Switzerland. | |
 Sweden | (2016) Serbian-born (excl. Kosovo) Swedish citizens.[10] (2013) Serbian citizens, residents. | (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora. | 80,000 (2003) Serbs in Sweden.[11] | |
 France | (2011) Serbian ancestry[12] [13] | (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora. | 120,000 Serbs in France. | |
 Italy | (2017) "Foreign citizens" from Serbia (excl. Kosovo)[14] | (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora. | (2013) Serbian citizens, residents. Serbian immigrants (2014).[15] (2016) "Foreign citizens" from Serbia (excl. Kosovo)[16] Unknown number of Serbs in Italy. | |
 Slovenia | (2013) Serbian citizens, residents. | (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora. | 38,964 self-declared "Serb(ian)" community (2011).[17] See also Serbs in Slovenia. | |
 United Kingdom | "Serbian" "Usual residents" in England and Wales (2011)[18] | (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora. | Serbian Embassy estimated 70,000 ethnic Serbs (2001), see Serbs in the United Kingdom[19] | |
 Romania | (2013) Serbian citizens, residents. | (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora. | ethnic Serbs (Serbs in Romania) (2011 census)[20] Estimated 23,000 Serbs. | |
 Netherlands | (2013) Serbian citizens, residents. | (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora. | (2005) Serbian immigrants.Serbs in the Netherlands | |
 Hungary | (2013) Serbian citizens, residents. | (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora. | The census records a "Serbian (ethnic) minority", (2011),[21] which does not include Serbian nationals in Hungary. | |
 Greece | (2014) non-resident Serbian nationals (incl. Kosovo).[22] Serbian-born Greek citizens (2001). | (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora. | 15,000 (est.) Serbs in Greece | |
| (2015) Serbian nationals, temporary residents.[23] | (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora. | 3,510 Russian nationals of Serb ethnicity (2010 census).[24] See also Serbs in Russia. | ||
 Turkey | N/A | (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora. | The 1965 census registered over 65,000 Serbian speakers.[25] See also Serbs in Turkey. | |
 Finland | (2018) 1st and 2nd generation Serbian immigrants.[26] | (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora. | (2015) Serbian speakers.[27] | |
 Denmark | (2017) | (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora. | ||
 Luxembourg | (2015)[28] | (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora. | See also Serbs in Luxembourg. | |
 Belgium | (2013) Serbian citizens, residents. | (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora. | ||
 Norway | (2017) Serbian (post-2006) immigrants and Norwegian-born descendants.[29] | (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora. | See also Serbs in Norway. | |
 Spain | (2017) Serbian citizens, residents.[30] (2017) Spanish citizens. | (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora. (January 2012 est.).[31] | (2013) Serbian citizens, residents. See also Serbs in Spain. | |
 Czech Republic | (2013) Serbian citizens, residents. | (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora. | ||
 Cyprus | (2011)[32] | (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora. | ||
 Ireland | (2016)[33] | (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora. | Higher estimate of ethnic Serbs. | |
 Poland | (2013) Serbian citizens, residents. | (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora. | The number can reach up to 7,000. | |
 Slovakia | (2013) Serbian citizens, residents. | (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora. | (December 2017).[34] See also Serbs of Slovakia. | |
 Ukraine | (2001) ethnic Serb Serbian nationals[35] | (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora. | ethnic Serbs, out of whom 219 had Serbian citizenship, 104 Ukrainian, 218 Russian, and 68 others. See also Serbs in Ukraine. | |
 Bulgaria | (2013) Serbian citizens, residents. | (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora. | See also Serbs of Bulgaria. | |
 Malta | (2011) Serbian-born.[36] | |||
 Iceland | 732 (2016) | |||
 Liechtenstein | (2014)[37] | |||
 Portugal | (2021, foreigners only; for instance excludes 234 Luso-Serbs naturalised since 2008)[38] [39] | (2013MoD est.) Serbian diaspora. [40] | See also Serbs in Portugal. | |
 Belarus | (1989)[41] | (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora. | See also Serbs in Belarus. | |
 Latvia | (2015) Serbian nationals[42] | |||
 Estonia | (2011) Serbian nationals.[43] | |||
| (2014)[44] | ||||
 Lithuania | (2011)[45] |
See main article: Serbs in Germany. The first Serbs who settled in Germany were Serbian craftsmen and seasonal workers, who started arriving at the beginning of the 20th century . At the end of the Second World War, the German population, as well as a part of the Serbian monarchists and Croatian nationalists, fled from Yugoslavia to Germany due to the retaliation of the communist government. More mass immigration of labor migrants, the so-called guest workers (German: Gastarbeiter) took place after 1968 and the signing of the employment agreement between the SFRY and FR Germany. After that, a new wave of immigration occurred due to the disintegration and wars in the territory of the former Yugoslavia in the 90s of the 20th century.
Most Serbs living in Germany came here in the 1960s and 1970s as job-seeking immigrants or guest workers from Yugoslavia. Other Serbs - or Serbian citizens - came to Germany as refugees during the Yugoslavian wars (from 1991 to 2001) or as asylum seekers from the Roma community .
See main article: Serbs in Austria.
Serbs have very long historical presence on the territory of modern Austria. By the end of the Middle Ages, migration of ethnic Serbs towards Austrian lands was caused by expansion of the Ottoman Empire. Exiled members of Serbian noble families were welcomed by Habsburg rulers, who granted them new possessions. In 1479, emperor Friedrich III granted castle Weitensfeld in Carinthia to exiled members of Branković dynasty of Serbia.
During the period of Ottoman–Habsburg wars (from 16th to 18th century), Austrian policy towards Serbs was marked by special interests, related to complex political situation in various regions of the expanding Habsburg monarchy. Emperor Leopold I issued several charters (1690, 1691, 1695) to Eastern Orthodox Serbs, who sided with Habsburgs during the Vienna War (1683-1699), granting them religious freedom in the Monarchy. Serbian Orthodox patriarch Arsenije III visited Austrian capital (Vienna) on several occasions, and died there in 1706.
Serbian Orthodox metropolitan Isaija Đaković, who visited Austrian capital on several occasions since 1690, also died in Vienna, in 1708. During the 18th and 19th century, new communities of ethnic Serbs were developing in major Austrian cities, consisted mainly of merchants, officers and students, who were under the spiritual jurisdiction of the Serbian Orthodox Metropolitanate of Karlovci.
The Österreichisch Serbische Gesellschaft (Austrian Serbian Society) was founded in 1936 as "Österreichisch-Jugoslawischen Gesellschaft".
In 2011, the Serbian Orthodox Eparchy of Austria and Switzerland was created, centered in Vienna.[46]
They are the second largest ethnic minority group in Austria, after Germans. The first wave of Serbs to Austria began in the early 19th century, while the largest wave was during the migrant worker program of the 1960s and 1970s. Serb immigration to Austria is still active today due to economic and familial factors. Like in most Western European countries, the Serb community in Austria consists mainly of Serbs from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
See main article: Serbs in Switzerland. Swiss Serbs refers to ethnic Serbs or people of Serbian ancestry that are citizens of Switzerland. There are 185 303 people of Serbian origin living in Switzerland, making the 4th largest ethnic group. They are located mostly in the regions of Geneva, Lausanne, Basel and Zurich. Most Serbs moved to Switzerland during the 1960's and 1970's, some also came as refugees during the Yugoslav wars of the 1990's. The first migration of Serbs to Switzerland began in the middle of the 19th century. Before and during the First World War, some Serbs studied at the University of Zurich, including some who later held important offices in their homeland. Zurich was considered an important educational center for young Serbs. From 1863 to 1914, a total of 160 Serbian students studied in Zurich, including numerous women. [4] This was a result of the good economic, cultural, diplomatic and political relations between Switzerland and Serbia at the time.
The second wave of Serb migration occurred after the coup d'état by Alexander I. On January 6, 1929, he suspended the 1921 constitution, dissolved parliament and proclaimed the royal dictatorship . In the interwar period, many Serbs, as well as Croats and Slovenes who were oppressed or in an economically hopeless situation, fled to the West.
In the second half of the 20th century, large numbers of Serbs went to Western Europe (especially Austria, Germany and Switzerland), North America or Australia as guest workers, largely due to difficult economic conditions . The Serbs played a disproportionately strong role in Yugoslav guest worker migration to Switzerland. Following recruitment agreements, Switzerland concluded a corresponding agreement with Yugoslavia in 1961. In addition, there were some emigrants who left Yugoslavia for political reasons. This migration enabled the then communist Yugoslavia to reduce unemployment and at the same time generated enormous foreign currency earnings through the money the emigrants sent to their families . Initially, it was not intended that the workers would stay in Switzerland permanently. Women and children have since followed suit, and some Serbs are already in the third or fourth generation living here.
The last wave of emigration came with the collapse of Yugoslavia (1991–1995), when Serbs left the country because of the renewed ethnic conflicts, the civil war, but also because of the catastrophic economic situation.
See main article: Serbs in France. There are about 120,000 Serbs in France today. They are located mainly in the regions of Paris, Lyon, Grenoble, Belfort, Mulhouse, Montbéliard and Strasbourg .The first wave of Serbs in France came together with other southern Europeans (Italians, Spaniards, Portuguese, Greeks). The majority of Serbs, however, came during the 1960s and 1970s, some also came later as refugees from the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s . A smaller part of Serbs in France are descendants of immigrants from the period after the First World War .
There were Serbs in Paris in the 19th century who were educated at the universities there. There were so many of them in 1886 that they founded the "Serbian Reading Room" in Paris. The reading room was arranged at the address: Paris, 128. Rue St. Germain, and its Board consisted of: prof. David Savić, Tihomilj Jovanović lawyer and Spiro B. Poznanović is a journalist. [2] That reading room made good progress, and it received several Serbian newspapers and magazines for free. It moved its headquarters to a new address: Paris, Rue Dolomien 3. The Serbian reading room is written about (but as a newly founded one!?) in February 1899, at the address: Salle de lecture Serbe s Rue Jean de Beauvais, Paris. [3]
Lawyer Janićije Drobnjak, professor at the Faculty of Law in Paris, died there in 1899. He is remembered for the drama in five acts "The Last Despot", which was once played in the Belgrade National Theater. He also published in newspapers, such as "Gimnazialac" - the first work called "Pustinjak". [4]
Among the Serbs in Paris is Živko Vlahović, who is engaged in translating literary works from Serbian to French and in Slavic studies. [5]
According to Delfa Ivanić, at the time of the First World War, there were 7 small Serbian taverns in Nice, where mostly Serbian people ate. Then a Serbian women's association "L komite de dam Serb" was founded, whose president was Mrs. Stana Lozanić (wife of Sima Lozanić), and Mar Marko Trifković (wife of Marko Trifković) and Delfa Ivanić as vice presidents. The goal of the association was to help poor Serbian refugees who found themselves abroad without enough money. They sold dolls dressed in Serbian folk costumes in Nice and Lyon, and sent some to Paris and America. They also organized an exhibition of paintings by Paško Vučetić and others. Their office was in one room of the consulate. At the time, there was also a boarding school for Serbian girls in Nice. [6]
Delfa Ivanić and Stana Lozanić are in the house of Svetolik Radovanović in Paris in 1916 . founded a society with the name "Committee of Serbian Women in Paris". The goal was to help Serbian refugees and send packages to prisoners. There were two presidents: Đurđina Pašić and Blanša Vesnić . Then there was also the society "La Nation Serbe eu France". Some prominent Frenchmen were also members of the society: Victor Berard, Emil Oman, Stéphane Jean-Marie Pichon ... La Patrie Serbe was a magazine of Serbs in Paris that was published from October 1916 to December 1918 in French. The editor was Dragomir Ikonić .In the period between 1915 and in 1918 . In France, there were between five and six thousand Serbian students in more than 150 schools.
Already in May 1916, the Serbian University Battalion was formed in Josier, which included 300 high school students and students, 150 of whom had just passed the matriculation exam with excellent results.
See main article: Swedish Serbs. Serbs constituted a low percentage of the Swedish population prior to the 1960s. Some came after World War II, mostly seeking political asylum. The greatest proportion of Serbs came together with Greeks, Italians and Turks under the visa agreements in times of severe labour shortages or when particular skills were deficient within Sweden, as migrant workers (called arbetskraftsinvandring, see gastarbeiter).[47] During the 1960s and 1970s, agreements were signed with the government of Yugoslavia to help Sweden overcome its severe labour shortage.[48]
Bosnian and Croatian Serbs migrated in another wave during and after the Yugoslav wars. A third wave, of Kosovo Serbs, came during the Kosovo war in 1999.
| Official data | Estimates | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 United States | – (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora | Serbian Americans (2015).[49] It is highly likely that among the citizens who declared Yugoslavian ethnicity (328,547 in 2010; 310,682 in 2012 estimation), are siblings to or offshoots of American Serbs. | ||
 Canada | – (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora | 80,320 of "Serbian descent" (2011)[50] | ||
 Australia | (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora | 69,544 (2011) Serbian ancestry.[51] [52] 55,114 (0.3%) English and Serbian speakers (2011 census); 9,857 only Serbian speakers; the 2011 census recorded 69,544 people of Serbian ancestry from which 20,267 were born in Serbia. See also Serbian Australians | ||
 Argentina | 5,000 (2010) Serbian nationals.[53] | – (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora in Argentina. | 30,000 Argentines of Serb descent.[54] | |
 United Arab Emirates | 6,500 (2012 est.)[55] | |||
 Brazil | (2012) Serbian immigrant residents. | – (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora | ||
| (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora | Venezuelans of Serb descent[56] | |||
 New Zealand | N/A | – (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora | (2013) "Serbian ethnic group", residents[57] See also Serbian New Zealanders | |
 Libya | N/A | (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora | ||
| N/A | Serbians prior to 2012 evacuation.[58] | |||
 South Africa | (2013) Serbian immigrants (excl. Kosovo)[59] | (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora | 30,000 ethnic Serbs (including by ancestry)[60] | |
 Mexico | (2009) Serbian residents[61] | (2007 MoD est.) Serbian diaspora | ||
 Botswana | N/A | >1,000[62] | The main community of Serbs in Botswana is centered around Gaborone | |
 Kazakhstan | (1989)[63] | |||
 Georgia | (1989)[64] | |||
 Uzbekistan | (1989)[65] | |||
 Kyrgyzstan | (1989)[66] | |||
 Armenia | (1989)[67] | |||
 Turkmenistan | (1989)[68] | |||
 Azerbaijan | (1989)[69] | See also Serbs in Azerbaijan. | ||
 Tajikistan | (1989)[70] | |||
 Zambia | 24 | 24 Serbian Orthodox families (May 2009).[71] | ||
 Philippines | 200 |
. Sima Ćirković. 2004. The Serbs. Malden. Blackwell Publishing. 9781405142915.
. Konstantin Jireček. Geschichte der Serben. 1918. 2. Gotha. Perthes.