Novi Pazar


Novi Pazar is a city located in the Raška District of southwestern Serbia. As of the 2011 census, the urban area has 66,527 inhabitants, while the city administrative area has 100,410 inhabitants. The city is the cultural center of the Bosniaks in Serbia and the region of Sandžak. A multicultural area of Muslims and Orthodox Christians, many monuments of both religions, like the Altun-Alem Mosque and the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, are found in the region.

Name

During the 14th century under the old Serbian fortress of Stari Ras, an important market-place named Trgovište started to develop. By the middle of the 15th century, in the time of the final Ottoman Empire conquest of Old Serbia, another market-place was developing some 11 km to the east. The older place became known as Staro Trgovište and the younger as Novo Trgovište. The latter developed into the modern city of Novi Pazar.
The name Novi Pazar was derived from the Serbian name Novo Trgovište, via the Turkish name Yeni Pazar, which is itself derived from bazaar. It is still known as Yeni Pazar in modern-day Turkey.

Geography

Novi Pazar is located in the valleys of the Jošanica, Raška, Deževska, and Ljudska rivers. It lies at an elevation of 496m, in the southeast Raška region. The city is surrounded by the Golija and Rogozna mountains, and the Pešter plateau lies to the west. The total area of the city administrative area is 742 km². It contains 100 settlements, mostly small and spread over hills and mountains surrounding the city. The largest village is Mur, with over 3000 residents.

Climate

Novi Pazar has a humid continental climate typical of the hilly Raška region, though significantly warmer than the neighboring town of Sjenica.

History

One of the oldest monuments of the area is the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul first built in the Roman era. The capital city of the Principality of Serbia, Ras, which was ruled by the Vlastimirović dynasty from 768 to 980, was near the modern city and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In the next centuries, the region of modern Novi Pazar served as the principal province of the Serbian realm. It was an administrative division, usually under the direct rule of the monarch and sometimes as an appanage. It was the crownland, seat or appanage of various Serbian states throughout the Middle Ages, including the Serbian Kingdom and the Serbian Empire. In 1427, the region and the remnant of Ras, as part of the Serbian Despotate, was ruled by Serbian despot Đurađ Branković. One of the markets was called "despotov trg". In 1439, the region was captured by the Ottoman Empire, but was reconquered by the Serbian Despotate in 1444. In the summer of 1455, the Ottomans conquered the region again, and named the settlement of Trgovište Eski Bazar. Novi Pazar was formally founded as a city in its own right in 1461 by Ottoman general Isa-Beg Ishaković, the Bosnian governor of the district who also founded Sarajevo. Ishaković decided to establish a new town on the area of Trgovište as an urban center between Raška and Jošanica, where at first he built a mosque, a public bath, a marketplace, a hostel, and a compound.
It was the chief town of the Ras province until its disestablishment in 1463, when it became part of the Jeleč Vilayet. The first written document which mentions Novi Pazar dates from the 15th century, and describes the decision of the Republic of Ragusa to appoint a consul there. The town was well developed by this time, being at the intersection of important routes leading to Dubrovnik, Niš, Sofia, Constantinople, Salonica, Sarajevo, Belgrade and Budapest. The town also remained the capital of the Sanjak of Novi Pazar, which continued until the 20th century as a constitutive unit of Bosnia Eyalet. The sanjak was occupied and administered by Austria-Hungary from 1878. In 1908 it was returned to the Ottoman Empire as part of the Kosovo Vilayet, but taken over by the Kingdom of Serbia in 1912, during the First Balkan War.
The area has traditionally had a large number of Albanians and Muslim Slavs with a different culture from the Orthodox Serbs. A contemporary report stated that when the Serb forces entered the Sandjak of Novi Pazar, they "pacified" the Albanians. In 1913, Novi Pazar officially became part of the Kingdom of Serbia, and as such, became part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1918. From 1929 to 1941, Novi Pazar was part of the Zeta Banovina of the Yugoslavia.
In the Battle for Novi Pazar, fought at the end of 1941 during the Second World War, the Chetniks, initially supported by the Partisans, unsuccessfully tried to capture the city. Following the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević on 5 October 2000, newly elected Prime Minister of Serbia Zoran Đinđić made considerable efforts to help economically the whole area of Novi Pazar. Also, with the help of Đinđić, the International University of Novi Pazar was founded in 2002. He made close relations with the leaders of Bosniaks, as part of his wider plan to reform Serbia. Twelve years following his assassination, the Novi Pazar Assembly decided to rename one street in his name.

Demographics

According to the last official census done in 2011, the municipality of Novi Pazar has 100,410 inhabitants, while the city itself has 68,749 inhabitants. A total of 68.47% of population live in urban area of the city. The population density is 135.32 inhabitants per square kilometer.
Novi Pazar has 23,022 households with 4,36 members on average; the number of homes is 28,688.
Religion structure in the city of Novi Pazar is predominantly Muslim, with Serbian Orthodox, Atheists, Catholics, and other minority groups. Most of the population speaks either Bosnian or Serbian.
The composition of population by sex and average age:
A total of 33,583 citizens have secondary education, while the 7,351 citizens have higher education. Of those with higher education, 5,005 have university education.

Ethnic composition

From the 15th century to the Balkan Wars, Novi Pazar was the capital of the sanjak of Novi Pazar. Typically, like other centres of the wider area, its composition was multiethnic, with Albanians, Serbs and Slavic-speaking Muslims as the main communities. The Ottoman travel writer Evliya Celebi noted that it was one of the most populated towns in the Balkans in the 17th century. Jews also lived in the city until WWII. The entire Serb population of Novi Pazar - 521 individuals, were imprisoned, sent to the concentration camp Staro Sajmište and killed during the rule of Balli Kombëtar.
The ethnic composition of the city administrative area:
Ethnic groupPopulation
1953		Population
1961		Population
1971		Population
1981		Population
1991		Population
2002		Population
2011
Bosniaks-----65,59377,443
Serbs25,17727,93325,07621,83419,06417,59916,234
Muslims-23,25037,14049,76964,2511,5994,102
Roma-3721044433469566
Gorani-----15246
Albanians144126307233209129202
Montenegrins17454335929523210944
Yugoslavs13,5641,26118393170013667
Turks11,009------
Others2635,6271,0574944597471,506
Total50,33158,77764,32674,00085,24985,996100,410

Ethnic composition of the urban area of the city:
Ethnic groupPopulation
1948		Population
1953		Population
1981		Population
1991		Population
2002		Population
2011
Bosniaks/Muslims1,085-32,79843,77447,24358,252
Serbs10,6783,4666,6896,6986,7246,576
Gorani-----240
Albanians-134208172120162
Yugoslavs-5,94484857010564
Turks-4,280----
Montenegrins-1452461909339
Others2291353103451,5413,410
Total11,99214,10441,09951,74954,60468,749

Settlements

Aside from the urban area of Novi Pazar, the city administrative area includes the following settlements, with population from the 2002 census:
Novi Pazar is governed by a city assembly composed of 47 councillors, a mayor and vice-mayor. After the last legislative election held in 2012, the local assembly is composed of the following groups:
Lying on crossroads between numerous old and new states, Novi Pazar has always been a strong trade center. Along with the trade, the city developed manufacturing tradition. During the 20th century, it became a center of textile industry.
Paradoxically, during the turbulent 1990s and, Novi Pazar prospered, even during the UN sanctions, boosted by the strong private initiative in textile industry. Jeans of Novi Pazar, first of forged trademarks, and later on its own labels, became famous throughout the region. However, during the relative economic prosperity in Serbia of the 2000s, the Novi Pazar economy collapsed, with demise of large textile combines in mismanaged privatization, and incoming competition from the import.
;Economic figures
The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity :
ActivityTotal
Agriculture, forestry and fishing60
Mining and quarrying55
Manufacturing3,887
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply148
Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities454
Construction2,042
Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles3,855
Transportation and storage1,443
Accommodation and food services849
Information and communication253
Financial and insurance activities214
Real estate activities7
Professional, scientific and technical activities542
Administrative and support service activities279
Public administration and defense; compulsory social security1,347
Education2,517
Human health and social work activities1,580
Arts, entertainment and recreation281
Other service activities635
Individual agricultural workers592
Total21,038

Society and culture

Monuments

The old Serbian Orthodox monastery of Sopoćani, the foundation of St King Uroš I, built in the second half of the 13th century and located west of Novi Pazar, is a World Heritage Site since 1979 accompanying with Stari Ras, a medieval capital of the Serbian great župan Stefan Nemanja.
The city also houses the oldest intact church in Serbia and one of the oldest ones in the region which dates from the 9th-century, the Church of St Peter. The church's walls were defaced with graffiti on 6 April 2008. The police have not officially concluded why the incident occurred.
On a hilltop overlooking Novi Pazar is the 12th century monastery of Đurđevi stupovi, long left in ruin, but recently restored and with a monastic community using it, with plate glass to keep out the weather and preserve the fine frescos. The main mosque of the city, the Altun-Alem Mosque, was built in the first half of the 16th century by architect Abdul Gani.
There are various other historic Ottoman buildings, such as the 17th-century Amir-agin Han, a 15th-century Hammam, and the 15th-century Turkish fortress.

Education

Novi Pazar is home to two universities, the International University of Novi Pazar and the State University of Novi Pazar.

Sport

The city's football club FK Novi Pazar was founded in 1928, under the name "FK Sandžak", which later changed to "FK Deževa". The club has played under its current name since 1962, when Deževa and another local football club, FK Ras, unified under this name. The club was a SFRJ amateur champion, and a member of the Yugoslav Second League. FK Novi Pazar qualified for a promotional play-off twice, but lost both times. FK Novi Pazar finally promoted to Serbian SuperLiga in 2011-12 season. FK Novi Pazar is the oldest second-league team in Serbia. Football is still an extremely popular sport in Novi Pazar and the city stadium is always full.
Volleyball clubs in the city are OK Novi Pazar and OK Koteks.
The Handball club is in the second league and used to have the name "Ras" but it was changed to RK Novi Pazar in 2004.
The Basketball club of the city is OKK Novi Pazar.
Famous athletes from the city include Turkish basketball national team player Mirsad Jahović Türkcan, former football player of Besiktas Sead Halilagić, handball-player Mirsad Terzić and young football players Adem Ljajić, Ediz Bahtiyaroğlu, Armin Đerlek and alpinist Basar Čarovac who climbed all seven continents' highest peaks.

International cooperation

List of Novi Pazar's sister and twin cities:
Other friendships and cooperations, protocols, memorandums:

Notable residents