Nova Varoš, Zlatibor District, Šumadija and Western Serbia Region, Serbia

🇷🇸 Nova Varoš (Нова Варош) is a town and municipality located in the Zlatibor District of south-western Serbia.

History Nova Varoš was founded in the middle of the 16th century. It is associated with the name of Skender Pasha of Genoa. When Skender-pasha, travelling from Bosnia to the Ottoman capital of Constantinople (1530), stopped with his entourage on the plateau below the mountain Zlatar and was delighted with the beauty of this wooded area and the intoxicating smell of pine, he ordered a town to be built there. Settlements soon sprang up on the site of today's Nova Varoš. It was called Skender-pašina palanka (Skender-pasha's Palanka). When it grew to close to 2,000 houses, "a fire broke out and burned the palace to the ground" (Evliya Çelebi). Most of the inhabitants stayed there and built a new town which they called Nova Kasaba, which in Serbian means Nova Varoš.

Geography Nova Varoš is located in south-west Serbia, the main road that connects the north of the country the Montenegrin coast. It is situated at 1000 meters above sea level, and below the northern slopes of mountain Zlatar. Nova Varoš is located in the Dinaric mountain range. North of town is mountain Murtenica, while the south mountain Zlatar.

Demographics According to the last official census done in 2022, the Municipality of Nova Varoš has 13,507 inhabitants. Population density on the territory of the municipality is 23 inhabitants per square kilometer.

Ethnic groups In 1991, the population of the municipality was composed of: Serbs and Montenegrins (89.20%), ethnic Muslims (8.51%) and others.

In 2002, the population of the municipality was composed of: Serbs (18,001) (90.09%), Bosniaks (1,028) (5.15%), ethnic Muslims (502) (2.51%) and others. Most of those who in 1991 census declared themselves as Muslims by ethnicity, in the next census in 2002 declared themselves as Bosniaks, while the smaller number of them still declare themselves as Muslims by ethnicity.

Settlements Aside from the town of Nova Varoš, the municipality includes the following settlements: • Akmačići • Amzići • Bistrica • Božetići • Brdo • Bukovik • Burađa • Vilovi • Vraneša • Gornje Trudovo • Debelja • Draglica • Draževići • Drmanovići • Jasenovo • Komarani • Kućani • Ljepojevići • Miševići • Negbina • Ojkovica • Radijevići • Radoinja • Rutoši • Seništa • Tisovica • Trudovo • Čelice • Štitkovo.