Smederevo

1. Smederevo Smederevo is a city and municipality in Serbia, on the right bank of the Danube, about 40 km downstream of the capital Belgrade. According to official results of the 2011 census, the city has a population of 107,528. It is the administrative center of the Podunavlje District. Its history starts in the 1st century BC, with the conquerings of the Roman Empire, when a town called Vinceia existed. The modern city traces its roots back to the late Middle Ages when it was the capital (1430–1439 and 1444–1459) of the last independent Serbian state before the Ottoman conquest.

2. History • In the 7th millennium BC, the Starčevo culture existed, succeeded by the 6th millennium BC Vinča culture that prospered in the region. • The Paleo-Balkan tribes of Dacians and Thracians emerged in the area in the 2nd millennium BC, with the CelticScordisci raiding the Balkans in the 3rd century BC. • The Roman Empire conquered Vinceia in the 1st century BC. It was organized into Moesia, later Moesia Superior,[3] and in the administrative reforms of Diocletian (244–311) it was part of the Diocese of Moesia, then the Diocese of Dacia. It was a principal town of Moesia Superior, near the confluence of Margus and Brongus (Morava rivers, between Mons Aureus and Margum • The modern founder of the city was the Serbian prince Đurađ Branković in the 15th century. He built Smederevo Fortress in 1430 as the new Serbian capital. When he became lord of Tokaj in Hungary, he planted vines from Smederevo on his estates there; from these came the famous Tokaji white wine. • Smederevo was the residence of Branković and the capital of Serbia from 1430 until 1439 when it was conquered by the Ottoman Empireafter a siege lasting two months. In 1512 John Zápolya unsuccessfully laid siege to the town.

3. Economy Smederevo is an industrial city, and the center of Serbia's steel industry. The factory previously known as Sartid was purchased by U.S. Steel in 2003; The factory employs over 7,000 workers. The "Milan Blagojević" home appliance factory is the second most important factory in the city. Smederevo is also an agricultural area, with significant production of fruit and vines. However, the large agricultural combine "Godomin" has been in financial difficulty since the 1990s and is almost defunct as of 2005. The grape variety known as Smederevka is named after the city. The "Ishrana" factory is an important supplier of bakery products in northern and eastern Serbia. Company Comico Oil announced its plans for oil refinery erection by 2013 in industrial zone of the city. However, building works should begin just after the local assembly's permission.

4. Demographics • In the 2002 census, there was 109,809 residents in the municipality, of which 104,755 were Serbs. The city had population of 77,808, of which 94.47% are ethnic Serbs. The population increased between 2002 and 2008. This increase is most likely because of the large number of Serb refugees and internally displaced persons from Kosovo and Metohija (in 2003, that number was 7,152, not including those who moved permanently to Smederevo since the last census, and those who came to live with their relatives). They settled mostly in urban parts of Smederevo, but also in some suburban settlements such as Radinac, Lipe, Vucak and Petrijevo. The population of three other suburban settlements (Salinac, Seone, and Udovice) has also risen but that increase has been less substantial than in the above-mentioned settlements. • The latest estimates of internally displaced persons made after 2004 claim that the number of such persons in Smederevo grew from 7,152 to 8,194 in the period of just one year. This happened due to the exodus of the Serb and Roma population from Kosovo following 17 March 2004. Some other estimates claim that the number of these persons is around 10,000.