20 Similarities & Differences Between The Countries Of The Former Yugoslavia

The 20 maps here are work of reddit user PepperBlues show the various similarities and differences between the countries of the former Yugoslavia in 2023, 32 years after the country began to breakup.

And in case you’re too familiar with your Balkan geography these maps should help:

Countries Of The Former Yugoslavia

Breakup Timeline of The Former Yugoslavia

Claims Nikola Tesla vs Doesn’t Claim Nikola Tesla

For more on this debate see: Nationality Of Nikola Tesla According To Each Country’s Wikipedia Page

Member of the EU vs Not a Member of The EU

Member of NATO vs Not a Member of NATO

Has 10 Michelin Star Restaurants vs Doesn’t Have Michelin Star Restaurants

Find out what they are here.

Catholic vs Muslim vs Orthodox

Latin Alphabet vs Latin & Cyrillic Alphabets

Human Development Index

FIFA World Cup

Average Wage

Adoption By Same-Sex Couples

Euro Zone vs National Currency

Olympic Medals at Summer & Winter Olympics

Nobel Laurates

Number of Official Languages

Number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites

See them here.

Claims of Ancient Pyramids

An explanation can found here.

Has or Doesn’t Have McDonalds

Press Freedom

The Fall of +38

Map credit Unimaps World

Another random fact after Yugoslavia dissolved they eliminated the +38 calling code and replaced it with the ones you see above.

Here are some key facts about each of the countries that emerged from the former Yugoslavia:

1. Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Capital: Sarajevo
• Population: Approximately 3.43 million (2022 estimate)
• GDP (Nominal): $29.078 billion (2024 estimate)
• GDP per Capita (Nominal): $8,317 (2024 estimate)
• Major Religions: Islam, Serbian Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism
• Official Languages: Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian
• Currency: Convertible Mark (BAM)
• Area: 51,209 km²
• Population Density: 69 people per km²
• Human Development Index (HDI): 0.779 (2022)
• Gini Coefficient: 32.7 (2015)
• Time Zone: Central European Time (CET)
• Calling Code: +387
• Internet TLD: .ba

2. Croatia

• Capital: Zagreb
• Population: Approximately 3.85 million (2023 estimate)
• GDP (Nominal): $60.702 billion (2019)
• GDP per Capita (Nominal): $14,950 (2019)
• Major Religion: Roman Catholicism
• Official Language: Croatian
• Currency: Euro (€)
• Area: 56,594 km²
• Population Density: 74 people per km²
• Human Development Index (HDI): 0.837 (2018)
• Gini Coefficient: 29.7 (2018)
• Time Zone: Central European Time (CET)
• Calling Code: +385
• Internet TLD: .hr

3. Montenegro

• Capital: Podgorica
• Population: Approximately 623,633 (2023 census)
• GDP (Nominal): $7.058 billion (2023 estimate)
• GDP per Capita (Nominal): $11,338 (2023 estimate)
• Major Religions: Serbian Orthodoxy, Islam, Roman Catholicism
• Official Language: Montenegrin
• Currency: Euro (€)
• Area: 13,812 km²
• Population Density: 43.6 people per km²
• Human Development Index (HDI): 0.844 (2022)
• Gini Coefficient: 32.9 (2020)
• Time Zone: Central European Time (CET)
• Calling Code: +382
• Internet TLD: .me

4. North Macedonia

• Capital: Skopje
• Population: Approximately 1.83 million (2023 estimate)
• GDP (Nominal): Data not available
• GDP per Capita (Nominal): Data not available
• Major Religions: Macedonian Orthodoxy, Islam
• Official Language: Macedonian
• Currency: Macedonian Denar (MKD)
• Area: 25,713 km²
• Population Density: 81 people per km²
• Human Development Index (HDI): 0.759 (2018)
• Gini Coefficient: 31.9 (2018)
• Time Zone: Central European Time (CET)
• Calling Code: +389
• Internet TLD: .mk

5. Serbia

• Capital: Belgrade
• Population: Approximately 6.65 million (January 2024 estimate, excluding Kosovo)
• GDP (Nominal): $82.550 billion (2024 estimate)
• GDP per Capita (Nominal): $12,513 (2024 estimate)
• Major Religion: Serbian Orthodoxy
• Official Language: Serbian
• Currency: Serbian Dinar (RSD)
• Area: 88,499 km² (including Kosovo); 77,612 km² (excluding Kosovo)
• Population Density: 85 people per km²
• Human Development Index (HDI): 0.805 (2022)
• Gini Coefficient: 33.3 (2019)
• Time Zone: Central European Time (CET)
• Calling Code: +381
• Internet TLD: .rs

6. Slovenia

• Capital: Ljubljana
• Population: Approximately 2.08 million (2018)
• GDP (Nominal): $54.154 billion (2019)
• GDP per Capita (Nominal): $26,170 (2019)
• Major Religion: Roman Catholicism
• Official Language: Slovene
• Currency: Euro (€)
• Area: 20,273 km²
• Population Density: 102 people per km²
• Human Development Index (HDI): 0.902 (2018)
• Gini Coefficient: 23.4 (2018)
• Time Zone: Central European Time (CET)
• Calling Code: +386
• Internet TLD: .si

7. Kosovo

• Capital: Pristina
• Population: Approximately 1.8 million (2023 estimate)
• GDP (Nominal): Data not available
• GDP per Capita (Nominal): Data not available
• Major Religions: Islam, Serbian Orthodoxy
• Official Languages: Albanian, Serbian
• Currency: Euro (€)
• Area: 10,908 km²
• Population Density: 159 people per km²

You can also watch the two following short videos:

and

Here’s one more joke:

Map created by unimaps.world

And here’s a Yugoslav map of the UK & Ireland from the 1980s

Map found by reddit user u/TheKingMonkey

Who says:

From a display on the wall of the ‘Museum of the 80s’ in Sarajevo, Bosnia. I’m not sure why I like the Serbo-Croat (or at least that’s what I assume it is) names for the cities as they look like they are almost phonetic attempts at English language pronunciations.

Can you think of any other ways the countries of the former Yugoslavia are the same or different?