Bor, Serbia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Location in Serbia | |
|---|---|
 |
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| General Information | |
| District | Bor |
| Land area | 856 km² |
| Population (2002 census) |
39,387 (town) 55,817 (municipality) |
| Settlements | 14 |
| Coordinates | |
| Area code | +381 30 |
| Car plates | BO |
| Postal code | 19210 |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) CEST (UTC+2) |
| Politics | |
| Mayor | Branislav Rankić (SRS) |
Bor (Serbian Cyrillic: Бор) is a town and municipality located in eastern Serbia, with one of the largest copper mines in Europe. It is the administrative center of the Bor District of Serbia.
Contents |
[edit] Geography
Bor is in a region called the Timočka Krajina (the Timok Frontier). It is surrounded by many beautiful places such as Banjsko Polje, the spa-town Brestovačka Banja, the lake Borsko Jezero, and the mountain Stol, and it is very close to the mountain Crni Vrh. Just outside of Bor lies another beautiful village by the name of Brestovac.
[edit] History
During the Roman rule, the area around Bor belonged to the province of Upper Moesia. In the Middle Ages the area belonged to Byzantine Empire (4th century-6th century; 9th-10th century; 11th century; 12th-13th century), Kingdom of the Gepids (6th century), Bulgarian Empire (681-1018; 1185-14th century), Kingdom of Hungary (12th-13th century), and Serbia (13th-15th century). [1] There is disagreement between Serbian and Bulgarian sources whether area belonged to Serbian [2] or Bulgarian [3] [4] states in the 13th-15th century period - it certainly was a border area between two countries. Area around Bor was part of the Kingdom of Syrmia (13th-14th century), [5] part of the Kingdom of Serbia (14th century), [6] part of the Serbian Empire under Stefan Dušan (14th century), [7] [8] part of the Moravian Serbia (14th century), [9] and part of the Serbian Despotate (15th century). [10] Area was later (in the 15th century) conquered by the Ottoman Empire, and since 1805, it is again part of the Serbian state.
In 1903, the mine of Bor was opened, which was important moment for the development of Bor. Since 1947, Bor officially have status of a town - in this time its population numbered 11,000.
[edit] Municipality
Bor municipality includes the town of Bor and the following villages:
- Brestovac
- Bučje
- Gornjane
- Donja Bela Reka
- Zlot
- Krivelj
- Luka
- Metovnica
- Oštrelj
- Slatina
- Tanda
- Topla
- Šarbanovac
[edit] Demographics
[edit] Ethnic groups in the municipality
In the 1991 census, Bor municipality had 59,900 residents, the absolute majority declaring themselves as Serbs.
In the 2002 census, the population of the Bor municipality numbered 55,817 residents, and was composed of:
[edit] Settlements by ethnic majority
According to the 2002 census, the settlements in the Bor municipality with Serb ethnic majority are: Bor, Brestovac, Donja Bela Reka, and Oštrelj. The settlements with Vlach ethnic majority are: Bučje, Gornjane, Krivelj, Luka, Metovnica, Tanda, Topla, and Šarbanovac. Ethnically mixed settlements are: Zlot (with relative Serb majority) and Slatina (with relative Vlach majority).
[edit] Ethnic groups in the town
In the 2002 census, the population of the Bor town numbered 39,387 residents, and was composed of:
- Serbs = 32,785
- Vlachs = 2,352
- Roma = 1,216
- Macedonians = 507
- Yugoslavs = 251
- Montenegrins = 192
- Albanians = 105
- others
The number of residents has dropped since air pollution has caused many people to leave the town.
[edit] Politics
Seats in the municipality parliament won in the 2004 local elections: [1]
- Democratic Party (8)
- Democratic Party of Serbia (6)
- Serbian Strength Movement (6)
- Serbian Radical Party (5)
- Socialist Party of Serbia (3)
- Serbian Renewal Movement (2)
- G17 Plus (2)
- Group of the citizens "A hope for Bor" (2)
- "I also love Bor" (1)
[edit] Economy
Since the mid-1990s and during the time of sanctions on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, production in this mine dropped significantly from the very prosperous 1970s and 1980s. This has been due to both diminishing reserves and the inability to obtain new equipment that would most efficiently gather the remaining ore no longer of high grade. Copper mining is the key basis of Bor's economy and the effects of decreased production can be seen all over the town.
On March 6, 2007, RTB Bor (Bors mining company) was sold to Romanian Curpom for US$400 Million. Cuprom has pledged to modernise the production facilities in RTB Bor and Majdanpek mines, in order to improve the productivity levels. This is seen as the breakthrough deal that the city of Bor needed to speed up its much needed economic reforms. Source: http://news.monstersandcritics.com/business/news/article_1273087.php/Romanian_firm_buys_Serbia%60s_copper_plant
Currently, the average monthly wage in the city of Bor is US $412 (24 665 RSD, EUR 309, NZD 581) - As of February 2007 Source: http://webrzs.statserb.sr.gov.yu/axd/en/dokumenti/zp14022007.pdf This average monthly wage is set to receive a large increase as soon as the modernizing of RTB Bor begins(Including the flow-on effects, i.e. Further business investment in the city, etc.)
[edit] Trivia
The municipality of Bor still (as of November 2006) does not have an official website. The new municipal government from Serbian Radical Party publicly announced its creation in September 2006 at address http://www.opstinabor.com, but they forgot an important thing — to register it. That fact was employed by a skilled opponent, who registered the site first and put an insulting comment to the municipal government at its front page. The site contents were subsequently replaced with more elaborate critics, but the prank was retold by the citizens and even attracted some coverage in Serbian media. [11]
[edit] References
- ^ Istorijski atlas, Zavod za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva - Zavod za kartografiju "Geokarta", Beograd, 1999.
- ^ Istorijski atlas, Zavod za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva - Zavod za kartografiju "Geokarta", Beograd, 1999.
- ^ Historical maps of medieval Bulgaria (in Bulgarian)
- ^ Атлас по история, Картография, София, 2001.
- ^ Istorijski atlas, Zavod za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva - Zavod za kartografiju "Geokarta", Beograd, 1999.
- ^ Istorijski atlas, Zavod za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva - Zavod za kartografiju "Geokarta", Beograd, 1999.
- ^ Istorijski atlas, Zavod za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva - Zavod za kartografiju "Geokarta", Beograd, 1999.
- ^ http://www.bor030.net/
- ^ Istorijski atlas, Zavod za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva - Zavod za kartografiju "Geokarta", Beograd, 1999.
- ^ Istorijski atlas, Zavod za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva - Zavod za kartografiju "Geokarta", Beograd, 1999.
- ^ Zoran Stanojević (October 5, 2006). "www.vreme.rs" (Serbian). Vreme 822. Retrieved on 2006-11-17.
