Vrbas (town)

Vrbas Врбас
—  Municipality and Town  —
Churches in Vrbas
Flag Coat of arms
Location of the municipality of Vrbas within Serbia
Coordinates: 45°34′N 19°39′E / 45.567°N 19.65°E / 45.567; 19.65
Country	Serbia
District	South Bačka
Settlements	7
Government
– Mayor	Željko Vidović
Area[1]
– Municipality	376 km2 (145.2 sq mi)
Population (2011 census)[2]
– Town	25,907
– Municipality	45,852
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
– Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	21460
Area code	+381 21
Car plates	VS
Website	www.vrbas.net

The Orthodox church.

Map of Vrbas municipality

Vrbas Flag

Vrbas (Врбас) is a city and municipality located in Serbia at 45°34′N 19°39′E / 45.57°N 19.65°E / 45.57; 19.65, in the South Bačka District in the province of Vojvodina. In 2002 the city had a total population of 25,887, while the municipality had 45,839.

Name

Its name stems from the word "Willow" in the Serbian language. During the SFRY period, the town was renamed Titov Vrbas (meaning "the Vrbas of Tito"), after Josip Broz Tito. Like all other towns in Socialist Yugoslavia named after Tito, the first part was dropped once the new states were formed during the early 1990s.

In Rusyn, the town is known as Вербас, in Hungarian as Verbász, in Croatian as Vrbas, in German as Werbass, and in Turkish as Verbas.

History

Vrbas was mentioned first in 1213 as Orbaszpalota,^{[citation needed]} under the administration of the Kingdom of Hungary. According to other sources, it was mentioned first in 1387.^[3] In the 16th century it became a part of the Ottoman Empire. During Ottoman administration it was populated by ethnic Serbs.^[4] Since the end of the 17th century, Vrbas was under administration of the Habsburg Monarchy, and, according to 1720 census, it was populated exclusively by Serbs.^[5]

After 1784 many Germans settled in the town. Before settlement of Germans, the population of the town included about 250 Serb families.^[6] Germans founded a new settlement named Novi Vrbas (New Vrbas) near old (Serb) settlement which then became known as Stari Vrbas (Old Vrbas). In 1910, population of Novi Vrbas was mostly composed of ethnic Germans, while population of Stari Vrbas was ethnically mixed and was mainly composed of Serbs and Germans.^[7]

In 1918, Vrbas became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later renamed to Yugoslavia). The town was under Hungarian occupation between 1941 and 1944. As a consequence of the World War II events in Yugoslavia, the German population fled from the town after this war. In the same time, many settlers from Montenegro came to Vrbas and other neighboring places.

Inhabited places

Vrbas municipality includes the city of Vrbas and the following villages:

• Bačko Dobro Polje
• Zmajevo
• Kosančić
• Kucura
• Ravno Selo
• Savino Selo

Demographics (2002 census)

Ethnic groups in the Vrbas municipality

• Serbs (47.77%)
• Montenegrins (24.79%)
• Rusyns (8.21%)
• Hungarians (6.29%)
• Ukrainians (2.12%)
• Yugoslavs (1.47%)
• Croats (1.43%)

Settlements by ethnic majority

Settlements with Serb ethnic majority are: Bačko Dobro Polje, Zmajevo, Kosančić, and Ravno Selo. Ethnically mixed settlements are: Vrbas (with relative Serb majority), Kucura (with relative Rusyn majority), and Savino Selo (with relative Montenegrin majority).

Ethnic groups in the Vrbas town

• Serbs (41.19%)
• Montenegrins (30.05%)
• Hungarians (7.73%)
• Rusyns (5.71%)
• Ukrainians (2.88%)
• Yugoslavs (2.04%)
• Croats (1.65%)

Languages in the Vrbas municipality

According to the 2002 census, 85% of inhabitants of the Vrbas municipality speak Serbian as mother tongue. Other spoken languages include Rusyn (8%), Hungarian (4%) and Ukrainian (1%).

Historical population of the town

• 1961: 19,316
• 1971: 22,496
• 1981: 25,143
• 1991: 25,858

Politics

Seats in the municipal parliament won in the 2004 local elections: [1]

• Serbian Radical Party (14)
• Democratic Party (9)
• Socialist Party of Serbia (4)
• People's Democratic Party (2)
• Democratic Party of Serbia (2)
• New Social Democracy of Vojvodina (2)
• Serbian Strength Movement (2)
• G17 Plus (1)

Notable citizens

• Dušan Bajatović, vice president of SPS - Serbian Socialist Party.
• Radoman Božović, Serbian politician. He served as the Prime Minister of Serbia from 1991 to 1993.
• The Hungarian writer, Molter Károly.
• Vladimir Kolarić of the band Veliki Prezir was born in Vrbas.
• Milan Komnenić, poet.
• Vida Ognjenović, writer and director.
• Painter Jozef Pehan (1875–1922) lived and died in Vrbas.
• Mitar Pešikan, linguist.
• Lazar Ristovski, actor.
• The Hungarian singer Magdolna Rúzsa was born in Vrbas. She won Megasztár, Hungary's version of Pop Idol in 2006. Rúzsa represented Hungary at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki, Finland.
• Sava Vukoslavović, ethnomusicologist and composer.
• German writer Johannes Weidenheim was born in Vrbas.

• 

  The Calvinist church.

• 

  The Evangelical church.

• 

  The Immaculate Conception of Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church.

• 

  The Methodist church.

See also

• South Bačka District
• Bačka
• List of places in Serbia
• List of cities, towns and villages in Vojvodina

References

• Slobodan Ćurčić, Broj stanovnika Vojvodine, Novi Sad, 1996.

1. ^ "Municipalities of Serbia, 2006". Statistical Office of Serbia. http://webrzs.stat.gov.rs/axd/en/Zip/OG2006webE.zip. Retrieved 2010-11-28. 
2. ^ "2011 Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in the Republic of Serbia – FIRST RESULTS". Bulletin (Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia) 540. 2011. ISSN 0354-3641. http://media.popis2011.stat.rs/2011/prvi_rezultati.pdf. Retrieved 2011-11-21. 
3. ^ Dr Slobodan Ćurčić, Naselja Bačke - geografske karakteristike, Novi Sad, 2007, page 220.
4. ^ Dr Slobodan Ćurčić, Naselja Bačke - geografske karakteristike, Novi Sad, 2007, page 220.
5. ^ Ivan Jakšić, Iz popisa stanovništva Ugarske početkom XVIII veka, Novi Sad, 1966.
6. ^ Dr Slobodan Ćurčić, Naselja Bačke - geografske karakteristike, Novi Sad, 2007, page 220.
7. ^ http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/3899/vojvodina1910.png

External links

• www.vrbas.net
• Vrbas
• Vrbas
• History of Vrbas (Hungarian)