| Šumadija and Western Serbia Шумадија и западна Србија Šumadija i zapadna Srbija |
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| — Statistical region of Serbia — | |
| Location of Šumadija and Western Serbia in Serbia | |
| Country | Serbia |
| Capital | none |
| Population (2011 census) | |
| • Total | 2,013,388 |
| Districts | 8 |
Šumadija and Western Serbia (Serbian: Шумадија и западна Србија, Šumadija i zapadna Srbija) is one of the five statistical regions of Serbia. It was formed in 2010.
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In July 2009, The Serbian parliament adopted a new law in which Serbia was divided into seven statistical regions. [1] According to the law, territory of present-day Šumadija and Western Serbia was divided into two statistical regions - Western Region (Serbian: Zapadni region / Западни регион) and Central Region (Serbian: Centralni region / Централни регион). However, in May 2010, the law was modified and Western and Central region were merged into a single statistical region whose name is Šumadija and Western Serbia.
In ancient times, this area was divided between Roman provinces of Dalmatia, Moesia and Pannonia.
In the early history of the medieval Serbia, this region which was then part of the state of Raška, had a central role. During the Ottoman invasion of the medieval Serbia in the 14th-15th century, the country shifted its center to north. In the period of the Serbian Despotate in the 15th century, the modern Šumadija region became the center of the Serbian state and the location of the last two capitals of the medieval Serbia - Belgrade and Smederevo (However, the northern part of Šumadija where these two cities are located is not part of present-day Šumadija and Western Serbia region).
During the 18th century, the sylvan territories of Šumadija were the covert for the Hajduks who resisted the Ottoman authorities.
In 1804 the region was the birth place of modern Serbia (see: Serbian revolution). Between 1922 and 1929, several administrative units of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes were located in this area: the Šumadija Oblast, which roughly covered the territory of the present-day Šumadija District of Serbia (with its administrative seat in Kragujevac), the Podrinje Oblast (with seat in Šabac), the Valjevo Oblast (with seat in Valjevo), the Užice Oblast (with seat in Užice), the Raška Oblast (with seat in Čačak), the Morava Oblast (with seat in Ćuprija), and the Kruševac Oblast (with seat in Kruševac).
Between 1929 and 1941, the region was divided among several provinces of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia: the Drina Banovina, the Danube Banovina, the Morava Banovina, and the Zeta Banovina. All these provinces had their capitals outside of the area of present-day Šumadija and Western Serbia.
From 1941 to 1944, region was under Axis (German and Italian) occupation and most of it was part of Nedić's Serbia, with smaller area that was included into puppet state of Montenegro. In 1941, Yugoslav Partisans liberated a large territory of western Serbia and proclaimed in this area the Republic of Užice (Serbian: Uzička Republika), with a seat in Užice city. This large free territory was an island of freedom in the Nazi occupied Europe. However, the Republic of Užice had a short-lived existence. Soon after, the German troops occupied the territory again, and the majority of the partisans were forced to escape towards Bosnia.
From 1945 to 2009, the area was part of Central Serbia.
Districts in Šumadija and Western Serbia are:
The largest cities of the region are (with approximative population figures from 2002):
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