SERVIA Servia has an area of 18,650 square miles, and a population of about 2,900,000. The greater part of the country is mountainous ; in the west and in the south are the ancient formations of the Thraco-Macedonian region, while, in the Balkan districts of the east, ranges of crystalline rock alternate with broad plateaus of limestone. Only in the north, near Belgrade, is there any considerable area of lowland.
Agriculture, in one form or another, is the principal occupation of the Servian people. Arable farming is practised mainly in the low-lying districts of the north, and in the valleys of the rivers, more especially in those of the Morava and its tributary, the Western Morava. Maize and wheat are the principal products ; the first of these constitutes the staple food of the population and is also used for fattening swine, while the second is largely exported. Climatic conditions favour the cultivation of fruit, and vines and plums are both extensively grown. From the former, a good wine is obtained ; and the latter are either converted into plum brandy, the national drink of the Servians, or exported as prunes. In the oak forests, which cover considerable areas in the upland districts, large numbers of pigs find a ready supply of food, and sheep and cattle are also raised. The timber resources of the country, derived mainly from oak and beech forests, are considerable, though their value has been considerably reduced as a result of the reckless exploitation to which they have been subjected.
Mineral wealth is believed to be abundant, but little has been done to develop it. Coal, mostly of a lignitic character, is worked in the north of the country and elsewhere, but the output is not large. Copper, lead, and zinc are also obtained in small quantities, and other minerals are known to exist. Manufactures are of little importance.
The economic development of Servia has, as yet, hardly begun. It is true that there is little real poverty in the country, as practi cally every peasant occupies a small holding, of which he is the proprietor ; but he is far from being a good farmer, as his agri cultural methods are primitive, and full advantage is not taken of the fertility of the soil. The exploitation of minerals is handi capped, not only by the absence of good means of communication, but by the want of capital within the country itself, and by the disturbed political conditions which have hitherto prevented its free flow from without. The geographical situation of Servia, more over, compels it to look to Austria-Hungary for a market for the cereals, cattle, and pigs, which are its chief exports ; but tariff wars with its more powerful neighbour have seriously crippled its trade within recent years. An outlet in the Adriatic has become for Servia a matter of urgent necessity.