FOR CENTURIES STRASSLING THE BOUNDARIES BETWEEN EAST AND WEST, SERBIA HAD BEEN DIVIDED AMONG THE EASTERN AND WESTERN HALVES OF ROMAN EMPIRES BETWEEN KINGDOM OF HUNGARY, BULGARIAN EMPIRE, FRANKISH KINGDOM AND BYZANTIUM AND BETWEEN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE AND THE AUSTRIAN EMPIRE, AS WELL AS VENICE IN THE SOUTH. THE RESULT OF THESE OVERLAPPING INFLUENCES ARE DISTINCT CHARACTERS AND SHARP CONTRASTS BETWEEN VARIOUS SERBIAN REGIONS.