Bujanovac

Bujanovac (Serbian Cyrillic: Бујановац, pronounced [bǔjanɔvats]; Albanian: Bujanoc) is a town and municipality in Pčinja District of southern Serbia, located at the South Morava basin. It is known for its source of mineral water, so it is also known as Bujanovačka banja.

The municipality was the battleground in an insurgency in 1999–2001, following the Kosovo War. It is located in the geographical area known as Preševo Valley. According to the 2002 census, the largest ethnic group in the town were Serbs, while the largest ethnic group in the municipality were Albanians. The current population of the town and municipality is unknown due to a boycott of the 2011 census by the local Albanian population. Officially, there are 18,067 inhabitants, but the estimations goes more than 40,000.

History

Ancient history

Kale-Krševica, located south of Ristovac, is an archaeological site of a 5th-century BC Ancient Greek city of Macedon), thought to be Damastion. The Thracian Triballi and Paeonian Agrianes dwelled in the region, with the Scordisci settling here after the Gallic invasion of the Balkans in 279 BC. The region was conquered by the Romans after 75 BC. It became part of the Roman propraetoral province Moesia in 29 BC (imperial from 27 BC). In 87 AD the region was re-organized into the Moesia Superior, which was a province of the Roman Empire.