Southern and Eastern Serbia

The Southern and Eastern Serbia (Serbian: Јужна и источна Србија, romanized: Južna i istočna Srbija) is one of five statistical regions of Serbia. It is also a level-2 statistical region according to the European NUTS. It was formed in 2010. As of 2022 census, the region has a total of 1,406,050 inhabitants.[2]

Southern and Eastern Serbia
Јужна и источна Србија
Južna i istočna Srbija
Statistical region of Serbia
   Location of Southern and Eastern Serbia in Serbia
Country Serbia
FoundedMay 2010
Largest cityNiš
Area
[1]
 • Total26,245 km2 (10,133 sq mi)
 • Rank2nd
Population
 (2022 census)
 • Total1,406,050
 • Density54/km2 (140/sq mi)
 Preliminary results[2]
Nationality
(2011)
 • Serbs89.11%
 • Romani3.66%
 • Vlachs2.1%
 • Bulgarians0.99%
 • Others4.14%
Districts9
Settlements1,973
HDI (2019)0.797[3]
high · 4th in Serbia

Formation

In July 2009, the Serbian parliament adopted a law which divided Serbia into seven statistical regions.[4] At first, it was decided that in the territory of current statistical region of Southern and Eastern Serbia there would be two statistical regions – Eastern Region (Serbian: Источни регион, romanized: Istočni region) and Southern Region (Serbian: Јужни регион, romanized: Južni region). However, in May 2010, the law was changed, thus the Eastern and Southern region were merged into a single statistical region named Southern and Eastern Serbia.

Districts

The statistical region of Southern and Eastern Serbia is composed of 9 administrative districts:

District Area (km²) Population
(2011 Census)		 Administrative
Capital
Podunavlje1,250199,395Smederevo
Braničevo3,865183,625Požarevac
Bor3,510124,992Bor
Zaječar3,623119,967Zaječar
Nišava2,727376,319Niš
Pirot2,76192,479Pirot
Toplica2,22991,754Prokuplje
Jablanica2,770216,304Leskovac
Pčinja3,520159,081Vranje
Source: Statistical Office of Serbia

Economy

Southern and Eastern Serbia region is the poorest in the country. Only Bor and Zaječar have GDP above the national average. The devastated areas include Babušnica, Bela Palanka, Bojnik, Bosilegrad, Vladičin Han, Golubac, Žagubica, Kuršumlija, Kučevo, Lebane, Medveđa, Svrljig, Surdulica, Trgovište and Crna Trava.[5]

Center of Niš, the financial center of Southeastern Serbia

The GDP of the region in 2017 was €6,640,000,000, or 13.8% of Serbia's GDP. The GDP per capita is €4,249.[6]

Cities and towns

The largest cities and towns of the region are:

City or town[7] Population

of city proper
(2011 Census)

 Municipal population

(2011 Census)

Niš187,544 260,237
Smederevo64,175 108,209
Leskovac60,288 144,206
Vranje55,138 83,524
Požarevac44,183 75,334
Pirot38,785 57,928
Zaječar38,165 59,461
Bor34,160 48,615
Prokuplje27,333 44,419
Smederevska Palanka23,601 50,284
Aleksinac16,685 51,863
Velika Plana16,088 40,902
Center of Leskovac
University Building, Niš

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, the population of Southern and Eastern Serbia is 1,563,916. The most populated city is Niš with around 260,000 people in metro area. Other urban centers are Smederevo, Leskovac, Zajecar and Vranje with more than 50,000 people living in city proper area. The region is heavily affected by depopulation. Most critical situation is in municipalities of Gadžin Han, Crna Trava, Ražanj, Trgovište, as well as Bulgarian populated places Dimitrovgrad and Bosilegrad. A good example of depopulation is Crna Trava that had 13,614 people in 1948, while in 2011 only 1,663 people were recorded.[8]

Albanians boycotted the 2011 census. It's estimated that 50,000 Albanians live in the municipalities of Preševo, Bujanovac and Medveđa. They are making up to 90% of population in Preševo, 50% in Bujanovac and 15% in Medveđa. These municipalities have a positive natural growth rate.

According to the census, only Niš had more people than in 2002.

Transport

Pan-European Corridor X is passing through Podunavlje, Nišava, Jablanica, Pčinja and Pirot District.

The construction of Niš-Merdare highway should start in the spring of 2020.[9]

Constantine the Great Airport is an international airport located in Niš. It connects the region with important European cities such as Berlin, Vienna, Ljubljana, Rome, Salzburg and others. Niš is also the location of Corridor X branching with one branch going to Sofia and another towards Skopje.

References
  1. "Региони у Републици Србији" (pdf). stat.gov.rs (in Serbian). Statistical Office of Serbia. 16 October 2019. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  2. "Први резултати Пописa становништва, домаћинстава и станова 2022". stat.gov.rs (in Serbian). Statistical Office of Serbia. 21 December 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  3. "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
  4. "Uvedeno sedam statističkih regiona". B92.net (in Serbian). Retrieved 2021-03-02.
  5. "23 devastated areas in Serbia". RTS. 19 July 2013.
  6. "Regional GDP" (PDF). 2016.
  7. "Serbia: Regions, Districts and Major Cities - Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather and Web Information". www.citypopulation.de. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
  8. "SANU: Jug Srbije sve prazniji, potrebne sistemske promene". Južne vesti. 25 March 2019.
  9. "Nis-Prisitina in 2020". N1. 12 September 2019.
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