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Belgrade c-enicon'bɛlɡɹeɪd ( , -srbɛˈɔ˘ɡradsr-beograd is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. The city proper has a population of 1.21 million people, while the official metropolitan area has about 1.67 million people. Its name in English translates to White city. One of the largest prehistoric cultures of Europe, the Vinča culture, prospered here in the 6th millennium BC. In antiquity, the area was held by Thraco-Dacians, and after 279 BC the Celts conquered the city, naming it Singidūn. It was conquered during the reign of Augustus, and awarded city rights in the mid 2nd century. It was settled by the Slavs in the 520s, and changed hands several times before it become the capital of King Stephen Dragutin (1282 � 1316). In 1521 Belgrade was conquered by the Ottomans and became the seat of a Sanjak. It frequently passed from Ottoman to Habsburg rule, which saw the destruction of most of the city during the Austro-Turkish wars. Belgrade was again named the capital of Serbia in 1841. Northern Belgrade remained an Austrian outpost until the breakup of Austria-Hungary in 1918. As a strategic location, the city was battled over in 115 wars and razed to the ground 44 times. Belgrade was the capital of Yugoslavia from 1918 to 1989. Belgrade has a special administrative status within Serbia. Its metropolitan territory is divided into 17 municipalities, each with its own local council. It covers 3.6% of Serbia's territory, and 22.5% of the country's population lives in the city. |