Bujanovac


Bujanovac is a town and municipality located in the Pčinja District of southern Serbia. 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.
According to the 2011 census, due to the boycott of Albanians. the largest ethnic group in the town were Serbs, while the largest ethnic group in the municipality were Albanians.

History

Ancient history

, 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. In 87 AD the region was re-organized into the Moesia Superior, which was a province of the Roman Empire.

Medieval Serbian era

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 administrated by the Ottoman Empire.
After the Berlin agreement, signed in 1878, there were some administrative changes in the Ottoman Empire. Bujanovac 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.
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. 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. 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.

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.

Settlements

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

Ethnic groups

The majority of the municipality population are Albanians, encompassing more than 55% 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		Population
1953		Population
1961		Population
1971		Population
1981		Population
1991		Population
2002		Population
2011
Albanians27,17428,65316,61821,20925,84829,58823,681244
Serbs25,14327,68120,03318,84015,91414,66014,78212,989
Romani2,838-112,7494,1304,4083,8674,576
Macedonians29544055105-3647
Bulgarians923----3323
Gorani------1060
Montenegrins23168232444719
Muslims314-13481121133615
Yugoslavs-911,08115967523
Others4086,2861,14755045133087891
Total55,93862,80439,06443,52246,68949,23843,30218,067

Culture and society

Sports

Bujanovac has a football teams called BSK Bujanovac and K.F BESA.

Economy

The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity :
ActivityTotal
Agriculture, forestry and fishing35
Mining and quarrying22
Manufacturing1,228
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply24
Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities199
Construction227
Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles739
Transportation and storage268
Accommodation and food services261
Information and communication36
Financial and insurance activities31
Real estate activities2
Professional, scientific and technical activities151
Administrative and support service activities52
Public administration and defense; compulsory social security658
Education775
Human health and social work activities456
Arts, entertainment and recreation123
Other service activities109
Individual agricultural workers178
Total5,575

Gallery

International cooperation