Jagodina

Infobox Serbia municipality
native_name = Јагодина|official_name=Jagodina
common_name = Jagodina
image_shield = Jagodina.pngdistrict = Pomoravlje
mayor = Dragan Marković (US)
area_km2 = 470
population_total = 35589 | mpop=70894
latd = 43| latm = 58|longd = 21| longm= 15
code = 35
settlements = 53
plates = JA
postal_code = 35000
website = www.sojagodina.org

Jagodina (Serbian Cyrillic: Јагодина, Audio|Jagodina.ogg|listen, Romanian : Iagodină) is a town and municipality located in central Serbia at 43.98° North, 21.26° East, 136 km south of Belgrade, on the banks of the river Belica. Its name stems from the word for strawberry in Serbian. It is the administrative center of the Pomoravlje District of Serbia.

History

Early history

The town was first mentioned in 1399 as "Jagodna". From 1946 to 1992 the town was renamed "Svetozarevo" (Светозарево) after a 19th century Serb socialist Svetozar Marković. When Serbs began their uprising against centuries-long Ottoman rule, Jagodina was a scene of numerous battles, given the town's strategic importance within the Serbia proper. Following the Ottoman defeat and re-establishment of the Kingdom of Serbia, Jagodina experienced a period of relative industrial and civic development. Following the World War II, Jagodina was heavily industrialized and underwent a period of planned expansion and growth within communist Yugoslavia.

Bombing of Jagodina

During NATO's bombardment of Yugoslavia which lasted 78 days, suburbs of Jagodina were heavily bombed. Industrial companies in Jagodina were also hit which meant loss of jobs for many citizens. Thankfully no one was hurt in Jagodina during the bombing and the Serbian Government reconstructed factories damaged during the bombing.

Municipality

Municipality of Jagodina include following settlements:
*Jagodina
*Bagrdan
*Belica
*Bresje
*Bukovče
*Bunar
*Vinorača
*Voljavče
*Vranovac
*Vrba
*Glavinci
*Glogovac
*Gornje Štiplje
*Gornji Račnik
*Deonica
*Dobra Voda
*Donje Štiplje
*Donji Račnik
*Dragocvet
*Dragoševac
*Dražmirovac
*Duboka
*Ivkovački Prnjavor
*Jošanički Prnjavor
*Kalenovac
*Kovačevac, Jagodina
*Kolare
*Končarevo
*Kočino Selo
*Lovci
*Lozovik
*Lukar
*Majur
*Mali Popović
*Medojevac
*Međureč
*Miloševo
*Mišević
*Novo Lanište
*Rajkinac
*Rakitovo
*Ribare
*Ribnik
*Siokovac
*Slatina
*Staro Lanište
*Staro Selo
*Strižilo
*Topola
*Trnava
*Crnče
*Šantarovac
*Šuljkovac

Demographics

According to the 2002 census, ethnic groups in the Jagodina municipality include 68,851 Serbs, 521 Roma, 230 Montenegrins, 230 Romanians, 120 Yugoslavs, and others.

In the aftermath of the regained Serbian independence from the Turks in the early 19th century, Turkish families were moving out of Jagodina. The last Turkish family left Jagodina in 1832, and the town is ethnicly homogenous (Serb) ever since. By the 1837 Jagodina had 5,220 inhabitants, while Serbia proper had a population of 41,374. In the 1866 census, there were 4,429 citizens. In 1876 Jagodina was still agricultural town with 91.88% of the population being in some way associated with agriculture.

By the 1930s Jagodina had 6,950 citizens, and by the 1960s the town had 19,769 inhabitants. By 1971 the number grew to 27,500. In the previous census held in 1991 Jagodina municipality had 77,000 citizens while the town itself had 36,000. In the last census from 2002, Jagodina municipality had 70,894 residents and Jagodina town 35,589. The next census will be held after 2010.

Administration

Dragan Marković is the current mayor of Jagodina, re-elected in May 2008. Dragan Marković is the leader of United Serbia party. Marković is friend to Svetlana Ceca Ražnatović and other Serbian etno-singer-stars.

Culture

Festivals

* [http://www.jagodina.autentik.net/dani_komedije/dani_komedije.php Days of comedy]
* Musical fall (Jagodina)
* [http://www.jagodina.autentik.net/susreti_sela/susreti_sela.php Meeting of the village]
* Etno fest

Theatres

* [http://www.pozoristejagodina.com/ National theatre Jagodina]
* Amateur theatre Jagodina
* Children's theatre Jagodina

Museums

* Museum of Jagodina
* Museum of Naïve and Marginal Art

Movie theatres

Jagodina has two smaller movie theatres, with one movie theatre that doubling as a theatre with some 500 seats.

Zoo

Jagodina opened its zoo on July 10, 2006, with the cost of 30 million Serbian Dinars. The Municipality invested 40% and the donators provided 60% of the costs while the biggest donator has been Belgrade Zoo. The zoo is settled in the complex of the City Park "Đurđevo brdo", a designated nature park, with a surface of 20,074 square meters. It has pedestrian zones for children, old and disabled persons, and generally high-quality infrastructure.

The Jagodina zoo is the third-largest in Serbia, next to Belgrade and Palić. It currently homes some 100 different species of animals.

Aqua Park

Jagodina recently opened an [http://www.jagodina.autentik.net/aquapark/aquapark.php Aqua Park] on July 24, 2007. It's opening attracted many people from Belgrade and other larger cities. Musical performers attend the opening date.

Education

The first primary school in Jagodina was opened in 1806.Other cultural centres are:
* Pedagogism academy Jagodina
* High School Jagodina
* School centre Jagodina
* Jagodina music school

ports

The FK Jagodina stadium now holds 15,000 people, and the expansion of the stadium has started in 2008, and it is planned to instal reflectors by September. The FK Jagodina now competites the Meridian Super Liga, and has brought 2 players from Ghana and 1 from Nigeria (Arthur Alfred,Solomon Oladele and Asomon Keneth).

Industry

Jagodina was heavily industrialized following the World War II. The biggest factory in Jagodina is the cables factory. Cable Factory Jagodina (FKS) was founded in 1947 and regular production started in 1955. In addition to cables, FKS produces connectors and similar cable products. FKS employes about 8,000 workers, and it is the biggest Serbian cable factory. 50% of the total Serbian production of cable industry is produced in Jagodina. FKS is one of the biggest Serbian exporters of cable products. About 2/3 of its production is placed on the foreign market, representing more than 60% of total export of the Serbian cable industry.

Other factories include:
* Glass factory
* Jagodina Brewery
* "Minel"
* "Juhor"
* "Budućnost"
* "Resava"
* "Novi put"
* Pomoravlje

Important dates in Jagodina

* 1737 - Proclamation of war against the Turks
* 1814 - First primary school opened in Jagodina
* 1846 - Glass factory opened in Jagodina called "Avramovac". It is the first factory of glass in Serbia. The same year the first railway station was built in Jagodina.
* 1999 - Jagodina bombed by NATO forces

ister cities

*flagicon|Czech Republic Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
*flagicon|Greece Corinth, Greece
*flagicon|Slovenia Novo Mesto, Slovenia

ee also

* List of places in Serbia
* Šumadija
* Pomoravlje

External links

* [http://www.sojagodina.org/ Jagodina Municipal Council]
* [http://www.jagodina.autentik.net Jagodina kao na dlanu]
* [http://www.jagodina.biz/ Jagodina Biznis portal]
* [http://www.pomoravski-okrug.com/ Officijalni sajt Pomoravlja]
* [http://www.pomoravlje.co.yu/ Pomoravlje - portal]
* [http://www.jagodina.freeservers.com/ City of Jagodina]
* [http://www.fks.co.yu/fkse/sadrzaj.htm Jagodina cable industry]
* [http://www.naiveart.org.yu/ Muzej naivne i marginalne umetnosti]
* [http://www.jabooka.org.yu/ Narodna Biblioteka u Jagodini]
* [http://www.pozoristejagodina.com/ Gradsko Pozoriste Jagodina]
* [http://www.gambit.co.yu/ Izdavacka kuca Gambit]
* [http://www.jagodinagrad.com/ Jagodina grad]
* [http://stara-jagodina.blogspot.com/ Stara Jagodina]
* [http://www.noviput.autentik.net/ Novi put Jagodina]
* [http://www.zitomlin.autentik.net/ Zitomlin Jagodina]
* [http://www.zeljkoljubanic.com/ Advokat mr Zeljko Ljubanic Jagodina]
* [http://www.cdoa.autentik.net/ Center for Development of Organic Agriculture]
* [http://www.dealmakermed.com/ Mediterranean Dealmaker]