Bujanovac

Bujanovac

Бујановац (Serbian)
Bujanoc (Albanian)
Bujanovac Бујановац (Serbian); Bujanoc (Albanian)
Town and municipality
	Building in the center Bujanovac Mosque Sezai Suroi Gymnasium Railway station
	Coat of arms
	Location of the municipality of Bujanovac within Serbia
	Coordinates: 42°28′N 21°46′E / 42.467°N 21.767°E
Country	Serbia
Region	Southern and Eastern Serbia
District	Pčinja
Settlements	59
Government
• Mayor	Nagip Arifi
Area
• Town	8.95 km2 (3.46 sq mi)
• Municipality	461 km2 (178 sq mi)
Elevation	384 m (1,260 ft)
Population (2022 census)
• 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.rs/en

Bujanovac (Serbian Cyrillic: Бујановац, pronounced [bǔjanɔvats]; Albanian: Bujanovc) is a town and municipality located in the Pčinja District of southern Serbia. As of the 2022 census, the municipality has a population of 41,068.^[4]

Situated in the South Morava basin, it is located in the geographical area known as Preševo Valley. It is also known for its source of mineral water and spa town Bujanovačka banja. Ethnically, Serbs are the largest ethnic group in the town, while the largest ethnic group in the municipality are Albanians.

History

Ancient history

Kale-Krševica, located south of Ristovac, is an archaeological site of a 5th-century BC Ancient city of Macedon, thought to be Damastion. The 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. It became part of the Roman propraetorial province Moesia in 29 BC (imperial from 27 BC). In 87 AD the region was re-organized into the Moesia Superior, which was a province of the Roman Empire.

Medieval Serbian era

Medieval Serbian state like the Kingdom of Serbia or the Serbian 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.

Ottoman era

It became part of Rumelia, as a historical term describing the area now referred to as the Balkans or the Balkan Peninsula when it was administered by the Ottoman Empire.

After the Berlin agreement, signed in 1878, there were some administrative changes in the Ottoman Empire. Bujanovac – then Buyanofça – 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 of the Kingdom of Serbia.

Yugoslavia (1918–92)

After the establishment of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians, in 1918, Bujanovac became part of Vranje Oblast, which was formed in 1921 after the Vidovdan Constitution. 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 from 1943 to 1992. After World War II, in 1947, Bujanovac was established as one of 117 municipalities of Central Serbia, under its own name.^[5]

From 1945 until 1992 Bujanovac was part of Socialist Republic of Serbia, within SFR Yugoslavia.

Breakup of Yugoslavia (1991–99)

In 1992, the Albanians in the area organized a referendum in which they voted that Bujanovac, Preševo and Medveđa should join the self-declared assembly of the Republic of Kosova. However, no major events happened until the end of the 1990s.

Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, and nearby Kosovo War which lasted until 1999, between 1999 and 2001, an ethnic Albanian paramilitary separatist organization, the UÇPMB, raised an armed insurgency 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-proclaimed Republic 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 the overthrow 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 base Cepotina five kilometers south of Bujanovac, to further stabilize the area.^[8]

Modern

Today, Bujanovac is located in the Pčinja District of southern Serbia.

On 7 March 2017, the President of Albania Bujar Nishani made a historical visit to the municipalities of Bujanovac and Preševo, in which Albanians form the ethnic majority.^[9]

Settlements

Aside from the town of Bujanovac, the municipality includes the following settlements:

Demographics

Historical population
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]

Ethnic groups

The majority of the municipality population according to the 2022 census are Albanians, 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]
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]	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

Religion

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]
Religious group	Population	%
Islam	28,254	68.80
Orthodoxy	10,203	24.84
Other christians	423	1.03
Others	4	0.01
Did not declare	340	0.83
Unknown	1,844	4.49
Total	41,068

Culture and society

Sports

Bujanovac has a number of football teams, the most notable being BSK Bujanovac, Kf Tërnoci and KF Besa.

Economy

The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2018):^[21]

Activity	Total
Agriculture, forestry and fishing	35
Mining and quarrying	22
Manufacturing	1,228
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply	24
Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities	199
Construction	227
Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles	739
Transportation and storage	268
Accommodation and food services	261
Information and communication	36
Financial and insurance activities	31
Real estate activities	2
Professional, scientific and technical activities	151
Administrative and support service activities	52
Public administration and defense; compulsory social security	658
Education	775
Human health and social work activities	456
Arts, entertainment and recreation	123
Other service activities	109
Individual agricultural workers	178
Total	5,575

Gallery

Bujanovac Grammar's School
Town Center Building
Bujanovac Bus Station
Ljiljance village panorama

International cooperation

Lillehammer, Norway
Valbonë, Albania

Notable people

Nexhat Daci, Kosovan politician
Gjelbrim Taipi, Albanian footballer
Berat Djimsiti, Albanian footballer
Shaip Kamberi, Politician
Lumir Abdixhiku, Kosovan politician
Arbnor Fejzullahu, Albanian footballer
Ajet Sopi Bllata, Albanian rebel

References

^ "Municipalities of Serbia, 2006". Statistical Office of Serbia. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
^ "Насеља општине Бујановац" (PDF). stat.gov.rs (in Serbian). Statistical Office of Serbia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 November 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
^ ^a ^b "Prvi rezultati Popisa stanovništva, domaćinstava i stanova 2022". stat.gov.rs (in Serbian). 21 December 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2023. d
^ "2022 Census of Population, Households and Dwellings" (PDF). Retrieved 7 December 2023.
^ "SCIndeks - Članak". Archived from the original on 26 August 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
^ European Centre for Minority Issues Staf (1 January 2003). European Yearbook of Minority Issues: 2001/2. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 652. ISBN 90-411-1956-6.
^ Lobjakas, Ahto. "NATO: Yugoslav Officials Discuss Presevo Valley". rferl.org. Radio Free Europe / Liberty. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
^ "Otvorena baza na jugu Srbije". b92.net (in Serbian). Beta. 23 November 2009. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
^ "Musliu: Albanski predsednik Bujar Nišani posetiće 7. marta Bujanovac i Preševo". blic.rs (in Serbian). Beta. 3 March 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
^ "2011 Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in the Republic of Serbia" (PDF). stat.gov.rs. Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
^ ^a ^b "НАЦИОНАЛНА ПРИПАДНОСТ Подаци по општинама и градовима 2022. у Републици Србији" (PDF). stat.gov.rs. Republički zavod za statistiku.
^ "STALNO STANOVNISTVO PO NARODNOSTI" (PDF). stat.gov.rs. Republički zavod za statistiku. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
^ "UKUPNO STANOVNIŠTVO PO NARODNOSTI (1953)" (PDF). stat.gov.rs. Republički zavod za statistiku. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
^ "Knjiga III: Nacionalni sastav stanovništva FNR Jugoslavije (1961)" (PDF). stat.gov.rs (in Serbian). Republički zavod za statistiku. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
^ "Knjiga III: Nacionalni sastav stanovništva FNR Jugoslavije (1971)" (PDF). stat.gov.rs (in Serbian). Republički zavod za statistiku. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
^ "Nacionalni sastav stanovništva SFR Jugoslavije (1981)" (PDF). stat.gov.rs. Republički zavod za statistiku. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
^ "STANOVNIŠTVO PREMA NACIONALNOJ PRIPADNOSTI (1991)" (PDF). stat.gov.rs. Republički zavod za statistiku. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
^ "Popis stanovnistva, domacinstava i stanova u 2002" (PDF). stat.gov.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 3 March 2015.
^ "Попис становништва, домаћинстава и станова 2011. у Републици Србији" (PDF). stat.gov.rs. Republički zavod za statistiku. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
^ "Претрага дисеминационе базе". data.stat.gov.rs. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
^ "MUNICIPALITIES AND REGIONS OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA, 2019" (PDF). stat.gov.rs. Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia. 25 December 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2019.

Notes

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.