The main characteristic of Balkan region in history is permanent migration. The character of this migration is changed from period to period. After WWII in Serbia migrations had economical character. These migrations are dominated till the last decade of XX century. According to the 2002 census, in foreign countries lives more than 400,000 citizens of Serbia. About 50 percent of citizens emigrated in decades before 1990, and the next 50 percent emigrated in period between 1990 and 2002. About 80 percent of emigrations are from central Serbia, and rest are from Vojvodina Province. Major emigration from Serbia has been directed towards Austria, Germany and Switzerland. The number of emigrants from Serbia is also high in France, Italy and Sweden. Outside of Europe most of the emigrants went in the United States of America
