Administrative districts
Управни окрузи
Upravni okruzi
Map of present-day districts of Serbia
CategoryUnitary state
Location Serbia
Number24 Districts (29 including Kosovo) + City of Belgrade
Populations77,341 (Toplica) – 1,681,405 (Belgrade)
Areas1,248 km2 (482 sq mi) (Podunavlje) – 6,140 km2 (2,370 sq mi) (Zlatibor)
Government
Subdivisions

An administrative district (Serbian: управни округ, upravni okrug) of Serbia is the country's first-level administrative division. The term okrug (pl. okruzi) means "circuit" and corresponds (in literal meaning) to Bezirk in German language. It can be translated as "county", though it is generally rendered by the Serbian government as "district". Prior to a 2006 decree, the administrative districts were named simply districts.

The Serbian local government reforms of 1992, going into effect the following year, created 29 districts,[1] with the City of Belgrade having similar status. Following the 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, the districts created by the UNMIK-Administration were adopted by Kosovo. The Serbian government does not recognize these districts.

The districts of Serbia are generally named after historical and geographical regions, though some, such as the Pčinja District and the Nišava District, are named after local rivers. Their areas and populations vary, ranging from the relatively-small Podunavlje District to the much larger Zlatibor District.

As they are mere designations of territorial remit of regional administrative centres through which the central government exercises its power within a hierarchical order, the districts are distinctly not units of regional self-governance, and as such they do not have flags. Still, they are each run by a commissioner as well as cooperating municipal leaders. Rather than being further divisible into municipalities, each district overlaps with its corresponding cluster of municipalities (which are units of local self-governance).

Definition

Administrative districts were first defined by the Government of Serbia's Decree of 29 January 1992, which specifies that Ministries and other national-level agencies shall conduct their affairs outside their headquarters (i.e. outside the seat of government) via regional offices that they may establish per the designated clusters of municipalities (named only "districts"), also designating the administrative seat of each district ("regional center of state administration").[2] The 2005 Law on Public Administration provided a legal definition of a district, under the term "administrative district".[3]

An administrative district shall be established for the execution of state administration tasks outside the headquarters of the state administration authority.
...
The Government shall establish administrative districts by its regulation, by which it shall also determine areas and seats of administrative districts.

In 2006, the Government enacted the Decree on Administrative Districts, which renamed the districts into administrative districts.[4]

The territorial organisation of Serbia is regulated by the Law on Territorial Organization, adopted by the National Assembly on 29 December 2007.[5] According to the Law, the territorial organization of the republic comprises municipalities and cities, the City of Belgrade with special status, and autonomous provinces. Districts are not mentioned in this law.

List of districts

Serbia is divided into 29 districts (8 in Šumadija and Western Serbia, 9 in Southern and Eastern Serbia, 7 in Vojvodina and 5 in Kosovo and Metohija), plus the City of Belgrade. The City of Belgrade is not part of any district, but has a special status very similar to that of a district.

Šumadija and Western Serbia

DistrictSeatArea
in km2		Population

2022

 Population
per km2		Municipalities and citiesSettlements
Kolubara District
(Kolubarski okrug)
 Valjevo 2,474 154,497 62.4 218
Mačva District
(Mačvanski okrug)
 Šabac 3,268 265,377 81.2 228
Moravica District
(Moravički okrug)
 Čačak 3,016 189,281 62.8 206
Pomoravlje District
(Pomoravski okrug)
 Jagodina 2,614 182,047 69.6 191
Rasina District
(Rasinski okrug)
 Kruševac 2,667 207,197 77.7 296
Raška District
(Raški okrug)
 Kraljevo 3,918 296,532 75.7 359
Šumadija District
(Šumadijski okrug)
 Kragujevac 2,387 269,728 113.0 174
Zlatibor District
(Zlatiborski okrug)
 Užice 6,140 254,659 41.5 438

Southern and Eastern Serbia

DistrictSeatArea
in km2		Population 2022Population
per km2		Municipalities and citiesSettlements
Bor District
(Borski okrug)
 Bor 3,507 101,100 28.8 90
Braničevo District
(Braničevski okrug)
 Požarevac 3,865 156,367 40.5 189
Jablanica District
(Jablanički okrug)
 Leskovac 2,769 184,502 66.6 336
Nišava District
(Nišavski okrug)
 Niš 2,729 343,950 126.0 285
Pčinja District
(Pčinjski okrug)
 Vranje 3,520 193,802 55.1 363
Pirot District
(Pirotski okrug)
 Pirot 2,761 76,700 27.8 214
Podunavlje District
(Podunavski okrug)
 Smederevo 1,248 175,573 140.7 58
Toplica District
(Toplički okrug)
 Prokuplje 2,231 77,341 34.7 267
Zaječar District
(Zaječarski okrug)
 Zaječar 3,623 96,715 26.7 173

Vojvodina

DistrictSeatArea
in km2		Population 2022Population
per km2		Municipalities and citiesSettlements
Central Banat District
(Srednjebanatski okrug)
Zrenjanin 3,256 157,711 48.4 55
North Bačka District
(Severnobački okrug)
 Subotica 1,784 160,163 89.8 45
North Banat District
(Severnobanatski okrug)
 Kikinda 2,329 117,896 50.6 50
South Bačka District
(Južnobački okrug)
 Novi Sad 4,016 607,178 151.2 77
South Banat District
(Južnobanatski okrug)
 Pančevo 4,245 260,244 61.3 94
Srem District
(Sremski okrug)
 Sremska Mitrovica 3,486 282,547 81.1 109
West Bačka District
(Zapadnobački okrug)
 Sombor 2,420 154,491 63.8 37

Kosovo

Serbian laws treat Kosovo as integral part of Serbia (Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija). The 1992 Decree defines five districts on the territory of Kosovo.[5] But, from 1999, following the Kosovo War, Kosovo was governed under the United Nations' administration of UNMIK. In 2000, the UNMIK administration changed the territorial organisation on the territory of Kosovo. All five districts were abolished, and seven new districts were created, which were later adopted by Kosovo after the 2008 declaration of Independence. The Serbian government does not recognize this move, and claims the pre-2000 five districts as following:

DistrictSeatArea
in km2		Population 2023Population
per km2		Municipalities and cities
Kosovo District
(Kosovski okrug)
 Pristina 3,310 570,835 172.5
Kosovo-Pomoravlje District
(Kosovsko-Pomoravski okrug)
 Gnjilane 1,389 184,864 133.1
Kosovska Mitrovica District
(Kosovskomitrovički okrug)
 Kosovska Mitrovica 2,053 234,262 114.1
Peć District
(Pećki okrug)
 Peć 2,459 351,680 143.2
Prizren District
(Prizrenski okrug)
 Prizren 2,196 319,330 145.4

See also

Notes and references

Notes

    References

    1. ↑ "Facts about Serbia". Government of Serbia. Retrieved 2008-09-29.
    2. ↑ "Uredba o načinu vršenja poslova ministarstava i posebnih organizacija van njihovog sedišta" [Decree on the manner of carrying out the work of ministries and special organizations outside of their seat] (PDF). arhiva.drzavnauprava.gov.rs. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-07-24. Retrieved 2023-02-26.
    3. ↑ "Law on State Administration" (PDF). Military Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-08-08. Retrieved 2023-02-26.
    4. ↑ "Uredba o upravnim okruzima — Викизворник". sr.wikisource.org (in Serbian (Latin script)). Retrieved 2023-02-26.
    5. 1 2 "Zakon o teritorijalnoj organizaciji Srbije" (in Serbian). Parliament of Serbia.

    Sources

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