Medveđa

Etymology

The name is derived from the Serbian word medved (медвед), "bear", hence meaning "the place of the bears".

History

During the Roman period, there was a town (mansia) with the name Idimum located in the cadastral area of the modern town. Architectural debris dating to the 4th century AD lay at various locations of the town, as it was a transitory zone of Upper Moesia; travel and postal stations are among the finds.

Toponyms such as Arbanaška and Đjake shows an Albanian presence in the Toplica and Southern Morava regions (located north-east of contemporary Kosovo) before the expulsion of Albanians during 1877–1878 period. The rural parts of Jablanica valley and adjoining semi-mountainous interior was inhabited by compact Muslim Albanian population while Serbs in those areas lived near the river mouths and mountain slopes and both peoples inhabited other regions of the South Morava river basin. As the wider Jabllanica region, Medveđa also had an Albanian majority. These Albanians were expelled by Serbian forces in a way that today would be characterized as ethnic cleansing. Due to depopulation and economic considerations some small numbers of Albanians were allowed to stay and return though not to their previous settlements and instead were designated concentrated village clusters in the Toplica, Masurica and Jablanica areas. Of those only in the Jablanica valley centered around the town of Medveđa have small numbers of Albanians and their descendants remained. This was due to a local Ottoman Albanian commander Shahid Pasha from the Jablanica area negotiating on good terms with Prince Milan and thereby guaranteeing their presence.

The World War II hit the town in 1941. Yugoslav Partisans killed approximately 200 people in Medveđa after taking the town back in 1944. From 1945 until 1992, the municipality of Medveđa was part of SFR Yugoslavia.

Breakup of Yugoslavia (1991–99)

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

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 (future independent) Kosovo. The insurgency was less present in Medveđa than in other two municipalities, due to a small number of ethnic Albanians and minor importance.

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 Serbian government suppressed the violence by 2001 and defeated the separatists. NATO troops also helped the Serbian 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 5 kilometers south of Bujanovac, to further stabilize the area.

Modern

Today, Medveđa is located in the Jablanica District of southern Serbia.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census results, the municipality of Medveđa has a population of 7,438 inhabitants. It saw a great depopulation in the past 50 years, having nearly 25,000 inhabitants in 1961.

Ethnic groups

The majority of municipality's population are Serbs, numbering more than 85%. Other ethnic groups include Albanians which numbered 32% in 1981 and 26.2% in 2002 census. In 2011 they numbered only 7.1%. This was partially because of the boycott of Albanians in Serbia and from the economic or security situation in the 1990s and 2000s.

There are other small minorities of Montenegrins and Roma people. Also, 43.5% of inhabitants live in urban areas. The ethnic composition of the municipality:

Settlements

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

Economic trends

The municipality of Medveđa is one of the least developed municipalities in Serbia. It has many natural advantages for tourism development, because it is near the spa resort with dozens of mineral springs in Sijarinska Spa, and Tulare.

On its territory there are mineral resources for mining, semi-precious stones and marble-onyx. The most promising branch of industry is mining, having mine and flotation "Lece", within the Group Farmakom. It has also solid prospects for development in agriculture and industries such as livestock (sheep, goats, cows) and fruit (plums, pears, apples, quince), also the timber industry and processing.

Politics

Seats in the municipality parliament won in the 2012 local elections:

Notable People