Bujanovac | |
|---|---|
Town andmunicipality | |
 Building in the center  Bujanovac Mosque  Sezai Suroi Gymnasium .jpg) Railway station | |
 Coat of arms | |
 Location of the municipality of Bujanovac within Serbia | |
| Coordinates:42°28′N21°46′E / 42.467°N 21.767°E /42.467; 21.767 | |
| Country |  Serbia |
| Region | Southern and Eastern Serbia |
| District | Pčinja |
| Settlements | 59 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Nagip Arifi (PD) |
| Area | |
| • Town | 8.95 km2 (3.46 sq mi) |
| • Municipality | 461 km2 (178 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 384 m (1,260 ft) |
| Population (2022 census)[3] | |
| • Town | 11,468 |
| • Town density | 1,300/km2 (3,300/sq mi) |
| • Municipality | 41,068 |
| • Municipality density | 89/km2 (230/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 17520 |
| Area code | +381(0)17 |
| Car plates | BU |
| Website | www |
Bujanovac (Serbian Cyrillic:Бујановац,pronounced[bǔjanɔvats];Albanian:Bujanoc) is atown andmunicipality located in thePčinja District of southernSerbia. As of the 2022 census, the municipality has a population of 41,068.[4]
Situated in theSouth Morava basin, it is located in the geographical area known asPreševo Valley. It is also known for its source of mineral water and spa townBujanovačka banja. Ethnically,Serbs are the largest ethnic group in the town, while the largest ethnic group in the municipality areAlbanians.
Kale-Krševica, located south ofRistovac, is an archaeological site of a 5th-century BC Ancient city ofMacedon, thought to beDamastion. TheThracianTriballi andPaeonianAgrianes dwelled in the region, with theScordisci settling here after theGallic invasion of the Balkans in 279 BC. The region was conquered by theRomans after 75 BC. It became part of the Roman propraetorial provinceMoesia in 29 BC (imperial from 27 BC). In 87 AD the region was re-organized into theMoesia Superior, which was a province of theRoman Empire.
Medieval Serbian state like theKingdom of Serbia or theSerbian Empire included part of this region in the 12th century and most of it until the 14th century. Since the 15th century, the region was under Ottoman administration.
It became part ofRumelia, as a historical term describing the area now referred to as theBalkans or theBalkan Peninsula when it was administered by theOttoman Empire.
After theBerlin agreement, signed in 1878, there were some administrative changes in theOttoman Empire. Bujanovac – thenBuyanofça – 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 theBalkan Wars, the area belonged to Kumanovo District of theKingdom of Serbia.
After the establishment of theKingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians, in 1918, Bujanovac became part of Vranje Oblast, which was formed in 1921 after theVidovdan Constitution. With administrative changes in 1929, it became part ofVardar Banovina, with the town ofSkopje as capital. With the forming ofDemocratic Federal Yugoslavia, it was part ofSocialist Republic of Serbia from 1943 to 1992. AfterWorld War II, in 1947, Bujanovac was established as one of 117 municipalities ofCentral Serbia, under its own name.[5]
From 1945 until 1992 Bujanovac was part ofSocialist Republic of Serbia, withinSFR Yugoslavia.
In 1992, theAlbanians in the area organized areferendum in which they voted that Bujanovac,Preševo andMedveđa should join the self-declared assembly of theRepublic of Kosova. However, no major events happened until the end of the 1990s.
Following thebreakup of Yugoslavia, and nearbyKosovo War which lasted until 1999, between 1999 and 2001, an ethnic Albanianparamilitary separatist organization, theUÇPMB, raised an armedinsurgency in the Preševo Valley, in the region mostly inhabited by Albanians, with a goal to occupy these three municipalities from Serbia and join them to the self-proclaimedRepublic of Kosova.
Unlike in the case of Kosovo, western countries condemned the attacks and described it as the "extremism" and use of "illegal terrorist actions" by the group.[6] Following theoverthrow of Slobodan Milošević, the new Yugoslav government suppressed the violence by 2001 and defeated the separatists.NATO troops also helped the Yugoslav government by ensuring that the rebels do not import the conflicts back into Kosovo.[7] Thereafter, the situation has stabilized even though large number of forces exist in this small municipality.
In 2009, Serbia opened a military baseCepotina five kilometers south of Bujanovac, to further stabilize the area.[8]
Today, Bujanovac is located in thePčinja District of southern Serbia.
On 7 March 2017, thePresident of AlbaniaBujar Nishani made a historical visit to the municipalities of Bujanovac and Preševo, in whichAlbanians form the ethnic majority.[9]
Aside from the town of Bujanovac, the municipality includes the following settlements:
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1948 | 34,472 | — |
| 1953 | 36,810 | +1.32% |
| 1961 | 39,064 | +0.75% |
| 1971 | 43,522 | +1.09% |
| 1981 | 46,689 | +0.70% |
| 1991 | 49,238 | +0.53% |
| 2002 | 43,302 | −1.16% |
| 2011[b] | 18,067 | −9.26% |
| 2022 | 41,068 | +7.75% |
| Source:[10][3] | ||
According to the 2002 census, the municipality of Bujanovac had a population of 43,302 people. Most of the municipality population live in rural areas, with only 27.74% living in the urban parts. The municipality of Bujanovac has 59 inhabited places. As of 2022 census, the municipality has 41,068 inhabitants.[11]
The majority of the municipality population according to the 2022 census areAlbanians, encompassing 62% of the total population. During the 2011 census, undercounting of the census units, owing to the boycott by most of the members of the Albanian ethnic community in the municipality of Bujanovac, was reported. The ethnic composition of the municipality is as follows:
| Ethnic group | Population 1948[12][a] | Population 1953[13][a] | Population 1961[14] | Population 1971[15] | Population 1981[16] | Population 1991[17] | Population 2002[18] | Population 2011[19][b] | Census2022[11] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | % | |||||||||
| Albanians | 27,174 | 28,653 | 16,618 | 21,209 | 25,848 | 29,588 | 23,681 | 244 | 25,465 | 62.01 |
| Serbs | 25,143 | 27,681 | 20,033 | 18,840 | 15,914 | 14,660 | 14,782 | 12,989 | 10,467 | 25.49 |
| Romani | 2,838 | - | 11 | 2,749 | 4,130 | 4,408 | 3,867 | 4,576 | 3,532 | 8.60 |
| Macedonians | 29 | 54 | 40 | 55 | 105 | - | 36 | 47 | 16 | 0.32 |
| Bulgarians | 9 | 23 | - | - | - | - | 33 | 23 | 11 | |
| Gorani | - | - | - | - | - | - | 10 | 60 | 87 | |
| Montenegrins | 23 | 16 | 8 | 23 | 24 | 44 | 7 | 19 | - | |
| Muslims | 314 | - | 134 | 81 | 121 | 133 | 6 | 15 | 15 | |
| Yugoslavs | - | 91 | 1,081 | 15 | 96 | 75 | 2 | 3 | 2 | |
| Others | 408 | 6,286 | 1,147 | 550 | 451 | 330 | 878 | 91 | 1,473 | 3.59 |
| Total | 55,938 | 62,804 | 39,064 | 43,522 | 46,689 | 49,238 | 43,302 | 18,067 | 41,068 | 100 |
Based on the census results from 2022, the Bujanovac Municipality has 68.8% of Muslims majority and substantial 24.8% Christian Orthodox minority.
| Religious group | Census 2022[20] | |
|---|---|---|
| Population | % | |
| Islam | 28,254 | 68.80 |
| Orthodoxy | 10,203 | 24.84 |
| Other Christian | 423 | 1.03 |
| Others | 4 | 0.01 |
| Undeclared | 340 | 0.83 |
| Unknown | 1,844 | 4.49 |
| Total | 41,068 | |
Bujanovac has a number offootball teams, the most notable being BSK Bujanovac, Kf Tërnoci and KF Besa.
The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2022):[21]
| Activity | Total |
|---|---|
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 32 |
| Mining and quarrying | 16 |
| Manufacturing | 1,291 |
| Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply | 8 |
| Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities | 180 |
| Construction | 265 |
| Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles | 685 |
| Transportation and storage | 328 |
| Accommodation and food services | 249 |
| Information and communication | 27 |
| Financial and insurance activities | 35 |
| Real estate activities | 2 |
| Professional, scientific and technical activities | 129 |
| Administrative and support service activities | 31 |
| Public administration and defense; compulsory social security | 609 |
| Education | 780 |
| Human health and social work activities | 369 |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 135 |
| Other service activities | 131 |
| Individual agricultural workers | 100 |
| Total | 5,401 |
d
| a. | ^ At the time, today's municipality of Preševo was a part of Bujanovac. |
| b. | ^ In the municipality of Bujanovac there was undercoverage of the census units owing to the boycott by most of the members of the Albanian ethnic community. |
| International | |
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| National | |
