The Republic of Serbia (, ), is a landlocked country in Central and Southeastern Europe, covering the southern part of the Pannonian Plain and the central part of the Balkan Peninsula. Its capital is Belgrade. It borders Hungary on the north; Romania and Bulgaria on the east; Albania and Macedonia on the south; and Montenegro, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina on the west. For centuries shaped at cultural boundaries between East and West, a powerful medieval Kingdom, later Serbian Empire, has been born, taking up much of the Balkans. The modern state of Serbia emerged in 1817 following the Second Serbian Uprising. Later, it expanded its territory further south to include Kosovo and Metohija and the regions of Ra?ka and Vardar Macedonia (in 1912). Finally, Vojvodina (formerly an autonomous Habsburg crownland named Voivodship of Serbia and Tami? Banat) proclaimed its secession from Austria-Hungary, and united with Serbia in November 25