Serbia is widely regarded as a strong example of how the internet can be developed as a multilingual and multiscript space. The country is home to 21 national minorities, which together account for around 15% of the population. In line with national legislation, minority languages may be used in public administration in communities where these groups represent at least 15% of residents. At the same time, Serbian the country’s official language uses both Cyrillic and Latin scripts.
This commitment to linguistic and script diversity extends into the digital sphere, including the domain name system. Serbia has developed its online presence through two parallel domains: the Latin-script .rs ccTLD, introduced in 2008, and the Cyrillic .срб IDN, launched in 2012.
By the end of last year, 157,783 domains had been registered under .rs, reflecting a 6.49% increase compared to 2024. In contrast, .срб recorded 3,189 registrations, marking a notable 49.79% growth over the same period. Despite this rapid increase, the Cyrillic domain still represents a relatively small share of the overall domain market a trend consistent with the global IDN landscape.
These insights were presented in Yerevan at the “Building a Truly Multilingual Internet” UADay2026 regional conference by Dijana Milutinović, Communications Manager at the Serbian National Internet Domain Registry Foundation (RNIDS).
Milutinović noted that, in recent years, five Cyrillic typefaces have been developed and made freely available to support the use of Serbian online. While the .срб domain has been positioned as an important linguistic and cultural asset and prepared for universal acceptance, its widespread adoption is still in progress.
She emphasized that Serbia’s evolving digital and language policies are gradually fostering an environment where multilingual solutions can be effectively implemented, particularly in public administration, education and digital services.
