Bujanovac
Town and municipality
Native name
[1]
Coordinates42°28′N 21°46′E
CountrySerbia
RegionSouthern and Eastern Serbia
DistrictPčinja
Parts stylepara
P 159
MayorArber Pajaziti
Leader partyAPN
Area blank 18.95 km²
Area blank 2461 km²
Elevation384 m
Population as of2022 census
Town11,468
Municipality41,068
Time zoneCET (UTC+1)
Time zone (DST)CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code17520
Area code+381(0)17
Car platesBU
Websitewww.bujanovac.rs/en
Official languagesSerbian together with Albanian[1]

Bujanovac (Sr-cyr: Бујановац, bǔjanɔvats; Albanian: Bujanoc) 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.[2]

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 1945 to 1992. After World War II, in 1947, Bujanovac was established as one of 117 municipalities of Central Serbia, under its own name.[3]

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.[4] 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.[5] 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.[6]

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.[7]

Settlements

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

Demographics

Historical population
YearPop.±%
194834,472—
195336,810+6.8%
196139,064+6.1%
197143,522+11.4%
198146,689+7.3%
199149,238+5.5%
200243,302−12.1%
201118,067−58.3%
202241,068+127.3%

[8][9]

According to the 2022 census, the municipality of Bujanovac had a population of 41,068 people. Most of the municipality population live in rural areas, with only 28% living in the urban parts. The municipality of Bujanovac has 59 inhabited places.[10]

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 groupPopulation
1948[11]		Population
1953[12]		Population
1961[13]		Population
1971[14]		Population
1981[15]		Population
1991[16]		Population
2002[17]		Population
2011[18]		2022 Census
Population%
Albanians27,17428,65316,61821,20925,84829,58823,68124425,46562
Serbs25,14327,68120,03318,84015,91414,66014,78212,98910,46725.5
Romani2,838-112,7494,1304,4083,8674,5763,5328.6
Macedonians29544055105-3647160.3
Bulgarians923----332311
Gorani------106087
Montenegrins23168232444719-
Muslims314-1348112113361515
Yugoslavs-911,081159675232
Others4086,2861,147550451330878911,4733.6
Total55,93862,80439,06443,52246,68949,23843,30218,06741,068100

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 groupCensus 2022[19]
Population%
Islam28,25468.8
Orthodoxy10,20324.8
Other Christian4231
Others40.0
Undeclared3400.8
Unknown1,8444.5
Total41,068

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 2022):[20]

ActivityTotal
Agriculture, forestry and fishing32
Mining and quarrying16
Manufacturing1,291
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply8
Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities180
Construction265
Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles685
Transportation and storage328
Accommodation and food services249
Information and communication27
Financial and insurance activities35
Real estate activities2
Professional, scientific and technical activities129
Administrative and support service activities31
Public administration and defense; compulsory social security609
Education780
Human health and social work activities369
Arts, entertainment and recreation135
Other service activities131
Individual agricultural workers100
Total5,401

International cooperation

Notable people

See also

References

  1. ^ "Statut Opštine Bujanovac" [Municipality of Bujanovac Statute] (PDF) (in Serbian). Municipality of Bujanovac. Retrieved 22 March 2025.
  2. ^ "2022 Census of Population, Households and Dwellings". Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  3. ^ "SCIndeks - Članak". Archived from the original on 26 August 2011. Retrieved 2010-11-15.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ Lobjakas, Ahto. "NATO: Yugoslav Officials Discuss Presevo Valley". rferl.org. Radio Free Europe / Liberty. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  6. ^ "Otvorena baza na jugu Srbije" (in Serbian). b92.net. Beta. 23 November 2009. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  7. ^ "Musliu: Albanski predsednik Bujar Nišani posetiće 7. marta Bujanovac i Preševo" (in Serbian). blic.rs. Beta. 3 March 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  8. ^ "2011 Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in the Republic of Serbia". st.gov.rs. Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  9. ^ "Prvi rezultati Popisa stanovništva, domaćinstava i stanova 2022." (in Serbian). stat.gov.rs. 21 December 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2023. d
  10. ^ "НАЦИОНАЛНА ПРИПАДНОСТ Подаци по општинама и градовима 2022. у Републици Србији". stat.gov.rs. Republički zavod za statistiku.
  11. ^ "STALNO STANOVNISTVO PO NARODNOSTI". stat.gov.rs. Republički zavod za statistiku. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  12. ^ "UKUPNO STANOVNIŠTVO PO NARODNOSTI (1953)". stat.gov.rs. Republički zavod za statistiku. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  13. ^ "Knjiga III: Nacionalni sastav stanovništva FNR Jugoslavije (1961)" (in Serbian). stat.gov.rs. Republički zavod za statistiku. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  14. ^ "Knjiga III: Nacionalni sastav stanovništva FNR Jugoslavije (1971)" (in Serbian). stat.gov.rs. Republički zavod za statistiku. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  15. ^ "Nacionalni sastav stanovništva SFR Jugoslavije (1981)". stat.gov.rs. Republički zavod za statistiku. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  16. ^ "STANOVNIŠTVO PREMA NACIONALNOJ PRIPADNOSTI (1991)". stat.gov.rs. Republički zavod za statistiku. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  17. ^ "Popis stanovnistva, domacinstava i stanova u 2002" (in Serbian). stat.gov.rs. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  18. ^ "Попис становништва, домаћинстава и станова 2011. у Републици Србији". stat.gov.rs. Republički zavod za statistiku. Archived from the original on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  19. ^ "Претрага дисеминационе базе". data.stat.gov.rs. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  20. ^ "MUNICIPALITIES AND REGIONS OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA, 2023.". stat.gov.rs. Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia. Retrieved 20 September 2024.

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.