Dimitrovgrad, Serbia Explained

Dimitrovgrad
Native Name:
Other Name:Tsaribrod
Settlement Type:Town and municipality
Coordinates:43.0167°N 69°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name: Serbia
Subdivision Type1:Region
Subdivision Name1:Southern and Eastern Serbia
Subdivision Type2:District
Subdivision Name2:Pirot
Parts Type:Settlements
Parts Style:para
P1:43
Leader Title:Mayor
Leader Party:SNS
Leader Name:Vladica Dimitrov
Area Footnotes:[1]
Area Blank1 Title:Town
Area Blank1 Km2:17.15
Area Blank2 Title:Municipality
Area Blank2 Km2:483
Elevation M:545
Population As Of:2022 census
Population Blank1 Title:Town
Population Blank1:5,188
Population Density Blank1 Km2:auto
Population Blank2 Title:Municipality
Population Blank2:8,043
Population Density Blank2 Km2:auto
Timezone:CET
Utc Offset:+1
Timezone Dst:CEST
Utc Offset Dst:+2
Postal Code Type:Postal code
Postal Code:18320
Area Code Type:Area code
Area Code:+381(0)10
Blank Name:Car plates
Blank Info:PI

Dimitrovgrad (Serbian: Димитровград) alternatively Caribrod (Bulgarian: Цариброд|Tsaribrod) is a town and municipality located in the Pirot District of southeastern Serbia. According to 2022 census, the municipality has a population of 8,043 and the town has 5,188 inhabitants.[2]

Name

Since 1950, the official name of the town has been Dimitrovgrad (Serbian: Димитровград), but the name Caribrod (Serbian: links=no|Цариброд) is also used. In Bulgarian, the name Tsaribrod (Bulgarian: Цариброд) is preferred because there is another Dimitrovgrad on the Maritsa river in Bulgaria and Tsaribrod was used before the town was named after Georgi Dimitrov, a Bulgarian Communist leader who advocated a union between the Bulgarians and remaining Yugoslav nations to form the Balkan Federation.

The idea was abandoned when Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito failed to reach agreements with Joseph Stalin (Tito–Stalin split); however, Dimitrov himself did not become unpopular in Yugoslavia from the breakdown and subsequently, the name of the town continued to be in honour of him despite many citizens themselves having preferred Caribrod.

There have been attempts to return the old name, Caribrod, but all had less than 50% turnout and most of them were in favor of keeping the name Dimitrovgrad.[3] In 2019, local government decided to add tables with name Caribrod on several municipality's objects in order to please the needs of people who like the former name. In October 2019 municipal assembly decided to return the old name to the municipality. The document is sent to Ministry of Public Administration for further procedures.[4]

Geography

Climate

Dimitrovgrad has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification: Dfb).

History

The Roman road Via Militaris was built in the 1st century AD and went through the town. In May 2010, well-preserved remains of the road were excavated during the work on Corridor 10.[5]

An Ottoman military base operated in the west of Dimitrovgrad prior to the Balkan nations full independence.

During the Serbo-Bulgarian War, two battles were fought here, the 1st Battle of Caribrod and the 2nd Battle of Caribrod.

The Serbian and Bulgarian Prime ministers met at the then Tsaribrod in 1912 to discuss the disputed territories in Macedonia. The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes gained parts of the Principality of Bulgaria (known in Bulgaria as Western Outlands) which included Tsaribrod following the Treaty of Neuilly, signed on November 27, 1919.

From 1929 to 1941, Caribrod was part of the Morava Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. It was occupied by Kingdom of Bulgaria between 1941 and 1944 during World War II.

Demographics

According to the 2022 census results, the municipality has 8,043 inhabitants.[2]

Ethnic groups

Regardless of ethnic self-identification, most of the town's population speaks a South Slavic dialect usually called Torlak which includes linguistic features of both Serbian (especially phonology) and Bulgarian (postposed definite articles and lack of the infinitive verb form), as well as some Macedonian language vocabulary.

Ethnic composition of the municipality:

Ethnic groupPopulation%
Bulgarians3,66945.62%
Serbs2,01625.07%
Romani841.04%
Yugoslavs420.52%
Macedonians300.37%
Croats20.02%
Others2,20027.35%
Total8,043

Economy

The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2018):[6]

ActivityTotal
Agriculture, forestry and fishing7
Mining and quarrying5
Manufacturing514
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply19
Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities182
Construction114
Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles250
Transportation and storage238
Accommodation and food services228
Information and communication19
Financial and insurance activities15
Real estate activitiesalign="right"-
Professional, scientific and technical activities58
Administrative and support service activities45
Public administration and defense; compulsory social security437
Education123
Human health and social work activities174
Arts, entertainment and recreation52
Other service activities71
Individual agricultural workers41
Total2,594

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Насеља општине Димитровград . stat.gov.rs . Statistical Office of Serbia . 24 October 2019 . sr . 26 January 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210126123053/https://webrzs.stat.gov.rs/axd/Registar/SlikeRegioni/Mapiranemape/CentralnaSrbija/ReDimitrovgrad.pdf . dead .
  2. Web site: 2022 Census of Population, Households and Dwellings . 2023-12-07.
  3. News: Jovićič . Branislav . I Dimitrovgrad i Caribrod . 16 June 2019 . rts.rs . 18 February 2019 . sr.
  4. Web site: Dimitrovgrad to return the old name - Caribrod. 021.
  5. Web site: Otkriveni ostaci antičkog puta Via militaris na Koridoru 10.
  6. Web site: MUNICIPALITIES AND REGIONS OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA, 2019.. stat.gov.rs. Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia. 25 December 2019. 28 December 2019.