The territorial organization of the Republic of Serbia is regulated by the Law on Territorial Organization[1], adopted in the Assembly of Serbia on 29 December 2007[2]. Under the Law, the units of the territorial organization are: municipalities, cities and autonomous provinces.[1]
Serbia is also divided into districts under the Government's Enactment of 29 January 1992.[3]
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Municipalities and cities
Serbia is divided into 150 municipalities and 24 gradovi (cities)[1], which are the basic units of local self-government.
Municipalities
Like in many other countries, municipalities are the basic entities of local self-government in Serbia: they have assemblies elected on local elections (held every 4 years), presidents (predsednici opština), property (including public service companies) and budget. Municipality usually have more than 10,000 inhabitants[1].
Municipalities comprise local communities (mesne zajednice), which mostly correspond to settlements (villages) in the rural areas (several small villages can comprise one local community, and large villages can contain several communities). Urban areas are also divided into local communities. Their roles include communication of elected municipal representatives with citizens, organization of citizen initiatives related with public service and communal issues. They are presided with councils (saveti), elected on semi-formal elections, whose members are basically volunteers. Role of local communities is far more important in rural areas; due to proximity to municipal centers, many urban local communities are defunct.
Cities
Cities are another type of local self-government. The territory with the "city" status usually have more than 100,000 inhabitants[1], but is othervise very similar to municipality. There are 23 cities (gradovi), each having an assembly and budget of its own. Only the cities have mayors (gradonačelnik), although the presidents of the municipalities are often referred to as "mayors" in everyday usage.
The city may and may not be divided into "city municipalities". The four largest cities, Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš and Kragujevac comprise several municipalities, divided into "urban" (in the city proper) and "other" (suburban). Competences of cities and their municipalities are divided. Of those, only Novi Sad did not undergo the full transformation, as the newly formed municipality of Petrovaradin exists pretty much only formally; thus, the Municipality of Novi Sad is largely equated to City of Novi Sad (and the single largest municipality in the country, with around 300,000 residents).
Autonomous provinces
Serbia has two autonomous provinces: Vojvodina in the north (which includes 39 municipalities and 6 cities) and Kosovo and Metohija[1] in the south (with 28 municipalities and 1 city). The Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija (or just Kosovo for short) has been transferred to the UN administration of UNMIK since June 1999. In February 2008, the Government of Kosovo declared its independence, a move recognized by a minority of countries (most of the European Union and USA) but not recognized by Serbia or the United nations.
Autonomous province has its own assembly and executive council (government). It enjoys autonomy on the certain meters like education and culture.
The part of Serbia that is outside Vojvodina and Kosovo is called Central Serbia. Central Serbia is not an administrative division (unlike the autonomous provinces), and it has no regional government of its own.
Districts
Municipalities and cities are gathered into districts (okruzi), which are regional centers of state authority, but have no assemblies of their own; they present purely administrative divisions, and host various state institutions such as funds, office branches and courts. Districts are not defined by the Low on Territorial Organisation, but are organised under the Government's Enactment of 29 January 1992.[3]
The Republic of Serbia is divided into 29 districts (17 in Central Serbia, 7 in Vojvodina and 5 in Kosovo), while the city of Belgrade presents a district of its own.
Subdivisions of Kosovo
Although the Serbian laws treat Kosovo as every other part of Serbia, and divide it into 5 districts, 28 municipalities and 1 city[1], the UNMIK administration adopted new territorial organisation of Kosovo in 2000. This move is not recognized by Serbia, but is recognized by the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo. According to the new subdivision, Kosovo is divided into 7 (new) districts and 37 municipalities (8 new municipalities were created: Mališevo, Đeneral Janković, Gračanica, Junik, Klokot-Vrbovac, Mamuša, Parteš and Ranilug)[4]. The "Serbian" districts function in the areas where Kosovo Serbs live, but are only recognized by Serbs, while the "UNMIK" districts, which function in all of Kosovo, are recognized only by Kosovo Albanians.
Statistical regions
In 2009, Serbian authorities adopted a law that formed seven new statistical regions in the territory of Serbia[5]. Names of the statistical regions are:
Serbian government will later define exact borders of the regions.[5]
Proposed administrative divisions
Before formation of statistical regions in Serbia in 2009, there was several proposal for creation of new administrative units in Serbia. Most notable proposals were made by the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina, Democratic Party of Serbia, League For Šumadija, Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians and Party of Democratic Action of Sandžak.[citation needed]
 Federalized Serbia proposed by the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina in 1999. |
 New regions in Serbia proposed by the Democratic Party of Serbia in 2002. |
 New subdivisions (regions) of Serbia, proposed by the League For Šumadija in 2004. |
See also
Notes and references
- ^ a b c d e f g Law on Territorial Organization and Local Self-Government, Parliament of Serbia (Serbian)
- ^ Lokalni i pokrajinski izbori u maju, b92, 29 December 2007 (Serbian)
- ^ a b Government of Serbia: Districts In Serbia
- ^ OSCE Mission in Kosovo: Municipal profiles
- ^ a b Uvedeno sedam statističkih regiona, B92, 8 July 2009 (Serbian)
- Opštine u Srbiji, 2005. Republički zavod za statistiku Srbije, Issued March 2006. ISSN 1450-9075 (Serbian)
- Republički zavod za statistiku Srbije, Administrativna podela Republike Srbije (Serbian)
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