The ethnic population of the Republic of Serbia is highly varied, the result of a turbulent history in this part of the world. The majority of the population of Serbia are Serbs, but another 37 nationalities also live on its territory. All citizens have equal rights and responsibilities and enjoy full national equality. The Constitution of the Republic of Serbia guarantees the rights of the minorities, in accordance with the highest international standards. The last 1991 Census puts the population of Serbia at 9,779,000, which is 94,1 per cent of the population of Yugoslavia. The population density runs to 111 inhabitants per square km. Serbs make up 66 per cent of the population, Albanians 17 per cent, Hungarians 3.5 per cent, followed by Romanians, Romanies, Slovaks, Croats, Bulgarians, Turks, and others.

The official language in the Republic is Serbian and the alphabet in official use is Cyrillic, as well as Latin. In the areas inhabited by national minorities, the languages and alphabets of the minorities are in official use, as provided by law.

The main religion of Serbia is Christian Orthodox, the faith of the Serbian people. The Serbian Orthodox Church, which has been autonomous since 1219, has played an important role in the development and the preservation of the Serbian national identity. The Romanian, Bulgarian and the majority of the Romani population are also Christian Orthodox. Beside the Christian Orthodox population, there are also other religious communities in Serbia : Islamic, Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and others.