When did serbia and montenegro split? and what, exactly, is kosovo? you.

Serbia and Montenegro spit definitely in 2006, although the country was before called "Serbia and Montenegro", and there were clear boundaries between the territories. 

Kosovo is, depending on the point of view, a independent country in the Balkans, with an Albanian population, or a part of Serbia.

The thing is that Serbia has no de facto power over Kosovo, and Kosovo is de facto independent, but on the international stage not every country recognizes Kosovo as an independent country.

The statistics for the eastern war are grim. more than three-million men died in the fighting, more than nine-million men were wounded, and every major country which participated lost its form of government.

They made a checks and balance system to equal power within the branches. the "check" meant that one branch would watch one branch and "balance" them if they were too powerful. if you want more info on this, i would just google checks and balance system.