| Vlasina | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
| Country | Serbia |
| Designated | 13 October 2007 |
| Reference no. | 1738[1] |
Vlasina is a mountainousregion of southeasternSerbia. It is a border area toBulgaria, a region of theRhodopian Serbia, with old rocks and mountains. Its most prominent landforms are eponymousVlasina River andVlasina Lake. It corresponds to the territories of municipalities ofCrna Trava,Vlasotince andSurdulica.
The region consists of fours smaller micro-regions:Crna Trava, Znepolje,Lužnica andVlasotince. Near Vlasotince, the remains of ancientvolcanic eruptions are particularly visible.
The largest center of the whole region is the town ofVlasotince, but in general, the area is one of the least developed in Serbia, very poor and extremely depopulating. For example, the population of theCrna Trava municipality decreased from around 14,000 in 1953 to only 2,500 in 2002. Accordingly, the density also dropped from 43 per km² in 1953 to only 8 per km² in 2002.
A circular freeway connects the valleys of the Vlasina and Južna Morava rivers.
In 2005 Hellenic Bottling Co., a subsidiary of The Coca-Cola Company, bought the local water factory ("Rosa" is a trademark for this water) which is located close to the Vlasina source thus causing protests of the local environmentalists. Activists from the "Eco base South" (Eko baza Jug) were afraid ofoverexploitation drying out the sources of the river.
In 2018 it was announced thatEuropean free-tailed bat, previously unrecorded in Serbia, was discovered living in Vlasina region. It is a 31st species of bat which inhabits the country and the one with the largest wingspan.[2]
