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The aging of the population represents one of the dominant characteristics of the demographic development of Serbia in the second half of the 20th century. The aging process was especially intensified during the last decade of the last century, which resulted in the fact that the population of Serbia today is among the oldest in the world. The main cause of population aging is the declining and low fertility and negative migration balance of the young and younger middle-aged population. Demographic aging is a comprehensive process that has affected all municipalities, districts and regions of the country and takes place simultaneously from the top of the age pyramid (increasing the share of the old population) and from the base of the age pyramid (decrease in the share of youth). A clear spatial polarization of demographic age has been established within the Republic of Serbia. On the one hand, there are large cities that have improved the age structure and raised fertility rates through immigration, while on the other hand, there are depopulated municipalities of eastern and southern Serbia and the municipalities of the inner city core of Belgrade. During the first half of the 21st century, a continuation of low fertility and a further decrease in mortality are expected, which will lead to an increase in life expectancy. The depopulation tendencies could be stopped only due to a sudden increase in fertility and a positive migration balance. The aging process will be continuous and continue to be very intense. The aging of the elderly will be especially pronounced. The contingent of the population over 80 years old will increase significantly and will represent a quarter of the total number of old people. All of the above points to a seriously deteriorated age structure, which further leads to an imbalance in the relationship between the able-bodied and dependent part of the population, primarily the elderly. The effects will be reflected on the financing of social programs related to the elderly population, that is, on the pension and health systems.

The autonomous province of Kosovo and Metohija is a historical part of Old Serbia and the central area of the medieval Serbian state of the Nemanjić family, which makes it a historical-geographical and cultural-geographical area of enormous importance for the Republic of Serbia. At the same time, the Serbian Orthodox Church throughout its entire spiritual, historical and cultural existence in Kosovo and Metohija shares the fate of the Serbian people. The destruction of Serbian religious monuments in Kosovo and Metohija has been happening for centuries, so the continuity of the destruction of Serbian churches and monasteries can be traced from the 17th century to the present day. During the NATO intervention on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and on the territory of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija, which lasted from March 24 to June 9, 1999, Albanian extremists devastated and demolished the largest number of Serbian sacral monuments. At the same time, the period at the end of the 20th century and the first two decades of the 21st century was marked by the cruel persecution of Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija and the devastation of the entire Serbian cultural heritage. By applying the methodology of cultural-geographic research and field research, the goal of the paper is to confirm and document all known cases of devastation and destruction of Serbian sacral heritage in Kosovo and Metohija from 1999 to 2022, which were committed by the Albanian extremists.