Bujanovac

Bujanovac
Бујановац
—  Municipality and Town  —
Central bus station of Bujanovac

Coat of arms
Location of the municipality of Bujanovac within Serbia
Coordinates:
Country Serbia
District Pčinja
Settlements 59
Government
 • Mayor Shaip Kamberi
Area[1]
 • Municipality 461 km2 (178 sq mi)
Population (2011 census)[2]
 • Town unknown
 • Municipality unknown(estimated over 40,000)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 17520
Area code +381 17
Car plates BU
Website www.bujanovacinfo.org

Bujanovac (Serbian: Бујановац, pronounced [bǔjanɔʋats], Albanian: Bujanoc) is a town and municipality in Pčinja District of southern Serbia, located at the South Morava basin.

It is known for its source of mineral water, so it is also known as Bujanovačka Banja (Бујановачка Бања).

The town and municipality were the battlegrounds for an insurgency in 1999–2001, following the Kosovo War, it is part of the geo-political Preševo Valley.
The population of the town and municipality is unknown, due to 2011 census boycott by mainly Albanian people who live there. Officially, there are only 18,542 inhabitants, but that is unreal number as 10 years before there was more than 40,000 inhabitants.

Contents

History

Ancient history

Kale-Krševica, located south of Ristovac, is an archaeological site of a 5th century BC Ancient Greek city of Macedon, thought to be Damastion. Thracian Triballi and Paeonian Agrianes dwelled in the region, with the Scordisci settling here after the Gallic invasion of the Balkans in 279 BC.

The region was conquered by the Romans after 75 BC.

Roman era

It became part of the Roman propraetoral province Moesia in 29 BC (imperial from 27 BC). In 87 AD the region was re-organized into the Moesia Superior (Upper Moesia).

Ottoman era

It became part of Rumelia.

Modern

After the Berlin agreement, signed in 1878, there were some administrative changes in the Ottoman Empire. Bujanovac and its surroundings became part of the "Preševo area" of the Priština District and in 1905–1912 Bujanovac belonged to the 2nd category of borough covering 28 villages. After the Balkan Wars, the area belonged to Kumanovo District. After the establishment of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians, in 1918, Bujanovac became part of Vranje Oblast, one of total 33, formed after the Vidovdan Constitution, in 1921. With administrative changes in 1929, it became part of Vardar Banovina, with the town of Skopje as capital. With the forming of Democratic Federal Yugoslavia, it was part of Socialist Republic of Serbia (1943–1990). After World War II, in 1947, Bujanovac was established as one of 117 cantons of Central Serbia, under its own name.[3]

Insurgency in Preševo Valley

Between 1999 and 2001, an ethnic Albanian organization, subgroup to the Kosovo-Albanian KLA (UCK), known as the "Liberation Army of Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac" (UCPMB) operated in this region, known in the Insurgency in the Preševo Valley (1999–2001). Though there were casualties and injuries on both sides, the events did not quite attract the same international media attention as what had been happening in Kosovo until 1999, and what was also happening south of the border in the Republic of Macedonia during 2001. The situation as of 2007 is peaceful.

Culture

Sports

Bujanovac has a football team: BSK Bujanovac.

Demographics

According to 2002 census, the municipality of Bujanovac had a population of 43,302 people. The Bujanovac municipality has 461 square kilometers and 59 inhabited places.

Ethnic groups in the municipality

Settlements with the absolute Serb ethnic majority are Baraljevac, Bogdanovac, Božinjevac, Borovac, Bratoselce, Brnjare, Buštranje, Vogance, Gramada, Donje Novo Selo, Drežnica, Đorđevac, Žbevac, Žuželjica, Jablanica, Jastrebac, Karadnik, Klenike, Klinovac, Košarno, Krševica, Kuštica, Levosoje, Lopardince, Lukarce, Ljiljance, Pretina, Rakovac, Rusce, Sveta Petka, Sebrat, Sejace, Spančevac, Srpska Kuća, Starac and Trejak. Mixed settlement with the relative Serb majority is Bujanovac.

Settlements with the absolute Albanian majority are Biljača, Breznica, Veliki Trnovac, Vrban, Gornje Novo Selo, Dobrosin, Zarbince, Končulj, Letovica, Lučane, Mali Trnovac, Muhovac, Negovac, Nesalce, Pribovce, Ravno Bučje, Samoljica, Suharno, Turija, Uzovo and Čar. Mixed settlement with the relative Albanian majority is Oslare.

Ethnic Composition of the municipality
Year Serb  % Albanian  % Roma  % Total
1961 20,033 51.28% 16,618 42.54% 11 39,064
1971 18,840 43.29% 21,209 48.73% 2,749 6.32% 43,522
1981 15,914 34.09% 25,848 55.36% 4,130 8.85% 46,689
1991 [1] 14,660 29.77% 29,588 60.09% 4,408 8.95% 49,238
2002 14,782 34.14% 23,681 54.69% 3,867 8.93% 43,302

Ethnic groups in the town

In 2002, the population of the Bujanovac town was composed of:

Total : 12,011

International cooperation

See also

References