Novi Sad (Serbian Cyrillic: , pronounced [ni sd] ( listen); see below for other names) is the second

d largest city in Serbia, the administrative seat of Vojvodina,[2] and the administrative center of the South Baka District. According to the 2011 census, the city has a population of 231,798, while the urban area of Novi Sad (with adjacent urban settlements of Petrovaradin, Sremska Kamenica, and Futog included) has 277,522 inhabitants, and the population of the metropolitan area (the administrative area of the city) stands at 341,625 people.[1] It is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain, on the border of the Baka and Srem regions, on the banks of the Danube river and Danube-TisaDanube Canal, facing the northern slopes of Fruka Gora mountain. The city was founded in 1694, when Serb merchants formed a colony across the Danube from the Petrovaradin fortress, a Habsburg strategic military post. In the 18th and 19th centuries, it became an important trading and manufacturing centre, as well as a centre of Serbian culture of that period, earning the nickname Serbian Athens.[3][4] The city was heavily devastated in the1848 Revolution, but it was subsequently restored. Today, Novi Sad is an industrial and financial centre of the Serbian economy, as well as a major cultural center. The name Novi Sad means "New Plantation" (noun) in Serbian. Its Latin name, stemming from establishment of city rights, is "Neoplanta". The official names of Novi Sad used by the local administration are:

Serbian: , Novi Sad Hungarian: jvidk Slovak: Nov Sad Rusyn: (transliterated: Novi Sad)

In both Croatian and Romanian, which are official in the provincial administration, the city is called "Novi Sad". Historically, it was also called "Neusatz" in German. In its wider meaning, the name Grad Novi Sad refers to the "City of Novi Sad", which is one of the city-level administrative units of Serbia. Novi Sad could also refer strictly to the urban part of the City of Novi Sad (including "Novi Sad proper", and towns of Sremska Kamenica and Petrovaradin), as well as only to the historical core on the left Danube bank, i.e. "Novi Sad proper" (excluding Sremska Kamenica and Petrovaradin).

Human dwelling on the territory of present-day Novi Sad has been traced as far back as the Stone Age (about 4500 BC). Several settlements and necropoleis were unearthed during the construction of a new boulevard in Avijaticarsko Naselje, and were dated to 5000 BC.[5] A settlement was located on the right bank of the river Danube in the territory of presentdayPetrovaradin. In antiquity, the region was inhabited by Illyrian, Thracian and Celtic tribes,

especially by the Scordisci. Celts were present in the area since the 4th century BC and founded the first fortress on the right bank of the Danube. Later, in the 1st century BC, the region was conquered by the Romans. During Roman rule, a larger fortress was built in the 1st century with the name Cusum and was included in the Roman province of Pannonia. In the 5th century, Cusum was devastated by the invasion of the Huns. By the end of the 5th century, Byzantines had reconstructed the town and called it by the names Petrikon or Petrikov(Greek: ) after St. Peter. Slavic tribes like the Severians, Obotrites and Serbs with its subgroup tribes Branievci and Timoani, settled today's region about Novi Sad mainly in the 6th and 7th centuries.[6][unreliable source?] The Serbs absorbed the aforementioned Slavs as well as the Paleo-Balkanic[disambiguation needed] peoples in the region.[6] In the Middle Ages, the area was subsequently controlled by the Ostrogoths, Gepids, Avars, Franks, Great Moravia, Bulgaria, again by Byzantines, and finally by the Hungarians. It was included into the medieval Kingdom of Hungary between the 11th and 12th century, and Hungarians then began to settle in the area, which before that time was mostly populated by Slavs, and the place was mentioned first time under the Hungarian variant Peturwarad or Ptervrad (Serbian: Petrovaradin / ), which derived from the Byzantine variant, in documents from 1237. In the same year, several other settlements were mentioned to exist in the territory of modern urban area of Novi Sad. From 13th to 16th century, the following settlements existed in the territory of modern urban area of Novi Sad:[7][8]

on the right bank of the Danube: Ptervrad (Serbian: Petrovaradin) and Kamanc (Serbian: Kamenica). on the left bank of the Danube: Baksa or Baksafalva (Serbian: Baka, Baki), Kszentmrton (Serbian: Sent Marton), Bivalyos or Bivalo (Serbian: Bivaljo, Bivalo), Vsrosvrad or Vrad (Serbian: Vaaro Varad, Varadinci), Zajol I (Serbian:Sajlovo I, Gornje Sajlovo, Gornje Isailovo), Zajol II (Serbian: Sajlovo II, Donje Sajlovo, Donje Isailovo), Bistritz (Serbian: Bistrica).

Some other settlements existed in the suburban area of Novi Sad: Mortlyos (Serbian: Mrtvaljo), Csenei (Serbian: enej), Kemnd (Serbian: Kamendin), R v (Serbian: Rivica). Etymology of the settlement names show that some of them are of Slavic origin, which indicate that they were initially inhabited by Slavs. For example, Bivalo (Bivaljo) was a large Slavic settlement dating to the 5th-6th century.[7] Some other settlement names are of Hungarian origin (for example Blakt, Kszentmrton, Vsrosvrad, Rv), which indicate that they were inhabited by Hungarians before the Ottoman invasion in the 16th century.[8] Some settlement names are of uncertain origin.

Tax records from 1522 showed a mix of Hungarian and Slavic names among inhabitants of these villages, including Slavic names like Bozso (Boo), Radovan, Radonya (Radonja), Ivo, etc. Following the Ottoman invasion in the 16th-17th century, some of these settlements were destroyed and most Hungarian inhabitants have left this area. Some of the settlements also existed during the Ottoman rule, and were populated by ethnic Serbs. Between 1526 and 1687, the region was under Ottoman rule. In the year 1590, population of all villages that existed in the territory of present-day Novi Sad numbered 105 houses inhabited exclusively by Serbs. However, Ottoman records mention only those inhabitants that paid taxes, thus the number of Serbs that lived in the area (for example those that served in the Ottoman army) was larger.[9]

Founding of Novi Sad[edit]

At the outset of Habsburg rule, near the end of the 17th century, people of Orthodox faith were forbidden from residing in Petrovaradin, thus Serbs were largely unable to build homes there. Because of this, a new settlement was founded in 1694 on the left bank of the Danube. The initial name of this settlement was Serb City (Ratzen Stadt). Another name used for the settlement was Petrovaradinski anac. In 1718, the inhabitants of the village of Alma were resettled to Petrovaradinski anac, where they founded Almaki Kraj ("the Alma quarter"). According to 1720 data, the population of Ratzen Stadt was composed of 112 Serbian, 14 German, and 5 Hungarian houses. The settlement officially gained the present names Novi Sad and jvidk(Neoplanta in Latin) in 1748 when it became a "free royal city". The edict that made Novi Sad a "free royal city" was proclaimed on 1 February 1748. The edict reads: We, Maria Theresa, by the grace of God Holy Roman Empress, Queen of Hungary, Bohemia, Moravia, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Rama, Serbia, Galicia, Lodomeria, Carinthia, [...] cast this proclamation to anyone, whom it might concern...so that the renowned Petrovaradinski anac, which lies on the other side of the Danube in the Baka province on the Sajlovo land, by the might of our divine royal power and prestige...make this town a Free Royal City and to fortify, accept and acknowledge it as one of the free royal cities of our Kingdom of Hungary and other territories, by abolishing its previous name of Petrovaradinski anac, renaming it Neoplantae (Latin), j-Vidgh (Hungarian), Neusatz (German) and Novi Sad (Serbian).

Austrian KK 9 kreuzer issue 1850, cancelled Neusatz (Novi Sad), Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar, Austrian Empire.

For much of the 18th and 19th centuries, Novi Sad was the largest city in the world populated by ethnic Serbs. The reformer of the Serbian language, Vuk Stefanovi Karadi, wrote in 1817 that Novi Sad is the "largest Serb municipality in the world". It was a cultural and political centre of Serbs, who did not have their own national state at the time. Because of its cultural and political influence, Novi Sad became known as the Serbian Athens (Srpska Atina in Serbian). According to 1843 data, Novi Sad had 17,332 inhabitants, of whom 9,675 wereOrthodox Christians, 5,724 Catholics, 1,032 Protestants, 727 Jews, and 30 adherents of the Armenian church. The largest ethnic group in the city were Serbs, and the second largest were Germans. During the Revolution of 1848-1849, Novi Sad was part of Serbian Vojvodina, a Serbian autonomous region within the Austrian Empire. In 1849, the Hungarian garrison located on the Petrovaradin Fortress bombarded and devastated the city, which lost much of its population. According to an 1850 census, there were only 7,182 citizens in the city, compared with 17,332 in 1843. Between 1849 and 1860, the city was part of a separate Austrian crownland known as the Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar. After the abolishment of this province, the city was included into Batsch-Bodrog County. The post-office was opened in 1853. After the compromise of 1867, Novi Sad was located within the Kingdom of Hungary or Transleithania, one of two parts of Austria-Hungary. During this time, the Magyarization policy of the Hungarian government drastically altered the demographic structure of the city, i.e. from the predominantly Serbian, the population of the city became ethnically mixed. In 1880 41.2% of the city's inhabitants used Serbian language most frequently and 25.9% used Hungarian. In the following decades, percentual participation of speakers of Serbian decreased, while percentual participation of speakers of Hungarian increased. According to the 1910 census, the city had 33,590 residents, of whom 13,343 (39.72%) spoke Hungarian, 11,594 (34.52%) Serbian, 5,918 (17.62%) German and 1,453 (4.33%) Slovak. It is not certain whether Hungarians or Serbs were largest ethnic group in the city in 1910, since the various ethnic groups (Bunjevci, Romani, Jews, other South Slavic people, etc.) were classified in census results according to the language they spoke.[10] Similar demographic change can be seen in the religious structure: in 1870, population of Novi Sad included 8,134 Orthodox Christians, 6,684 Catholics, 1,725 Calvinists, 1,343 Lutherans, and others.[11] In 1910, population included 13,383 Roman Catholics and 11,553 Orthodox Christians, while 3,089 declared themselves as Lutheran, 2,751 as Calvinist, and 2,326 as Jewish.[12]

On 25 November 1918, the Assembly of Serbs, Bunjevci and other Slavs of Vojvodina in Novi Sad proclaimed the union of Vojvodina region with the Kingdom of Serbia. Since 1 December 1918, Novi Sad was part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes; and in 1929, it became the capital of the Danube Banovina, a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In 1921, population of Novi Sad numbered 39,122 inhabitants, of whom 16,293 spoke Serbian language, 12,991 Hungarian, 6,373 German, 1,117 Slovak, etc.[13] In 1941, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was invaded and partitioned by the Axis powers, and its northern parts, including Novi Sad, were annexed by Hungary. During World War II, about 5,000 citizens were murdered and many others were resettled. In three days of Novi Sad raid (2123 January 1942) alone, Hungarian police killed 1,246 citizens, among them more than 800 Jews, and threw their corpses into the icy waters of the Danube, while the total death toll of the raid was around 2,500.[14][15] Citizens of all nationalities - Serbs, Hungarians, Slovaks, and others fought together against the Axis authorities.[15] In 1975 the whole city was awarded the title People's Hero of Yugoslavia. The communist partisans from Syrmia and Baka entered the city on 23 October 1944. During the Military administration in Banat, Baka and Baranja (October 17, 1944 - January 27, 1945), the partisanskilled a number of citizens who were perceived as Axis collaborators or a threat to the new regime. According to article in Veernje novosti from June 9, 2009, most of the people killed by the partisans in Novi Sad were ethnic Serbs.[16]

Novi Sad became part of the new socialist Yugoslavia. Since 1945, Novi Sad has been the capital of Vojvodina, a province of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Serbia. The city went through rapid industrialization and its population more than doubled in the period between World War II and the breakup of Yugoslavia. After 1992, Novi Sad was part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which, in 2003, was transformed into the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. Since 2006, Novi Sad is part of an independent Serbia. Devastated by NATO bombardment, during the Kosovo War of 1999, Novi Sad was left without all of its three Danube bridges, communications, water, and electricity. Residential areas were cluster bombed several times while its oil refinery was bombarded daily, causing severe pollution and widespread ecological damage.

The city lies on the S-shaped meander of the river Danube, which is only 350 meters wide beneath the Petrovaradin rock.[17] A section of the Danube-Tisa-Danube Canal marks the northern edge of wider city centre, and merges with the Danube. The main part of the city lies

on the left bank of the Danube, in Baka region, while smaller parts Petrovaradin and Sremska Kamenica lie on the right bank, in Srem (Syrmia) region. Baka side of the city lies on one of the southern lowest parts of Pannonian Plain, while Fruka Gora side (Syrmia) is a horst mountain. Alluvial plains along Danube are well-formed, especially on the left bank, in some parts 10 kilometres (6 miles) from the river. A large part of Novi Sad lies on a fluvial terrace with an elevation of 80 to 83 metres (262 to 272 feet). The northern part of Fruka Gora is composed of massive landslide zones, but they are not active, except in the Ribnjak neighborhood (between Sremska Kamenica and Petrovaradin Fortress).[18] The total land area of the city is 699 square kilometres (270 sq mi), while the urban area is 129.7 km2 (50 sq mi).[17] Novi Sad is a typical Central European town. There are only a few buildings dating before 19th century, because the city was almost totally destroyed during the 1848/1849 revolution, so the architecture from 19th century dominates the city centre. Around the center, old small houses used to dominate the cityscape, but they are being replaced by modern multi-story buildings. During the socialist period, new blocks with wide streets and multi-story buildings were built around the city core. However, not many communist-style high-rise buildings were built, and the total number of 10+ floor buildings remained at 40-50, most of the rest being 3-6 floor Apartment buildings. City's new boulevard (today's Bulevar osloboenja) was cut through the old housings in 1962-1964, establishing major communication lines. Several more boulevards were subsequently built in a similar manner, creating an orthogonal network over what used to be mostly radial structure of the old town. Those interventions paved the way for a relatively unhampered growth of the city, which almost tripled its population since the 1950s, and traffic congestions (except on a few critical points) are still relatively mild despite the huge boost of car numbers, especially in later years.

Some of the oldest neighbourhoods in the city are Stari Grad (Old Town), Rotkvarija, Podbara and Salajka. Sremska Kamenica and Petrovaradin, on the right bank of the Danube, were separate towns in the past, but today are parts of the urban area of Novi Sad. Liman (divided into four parts, numbered I-IV), as well as Novo Naselje are neighbourhoods built during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s with modern buildings and wide boulevards. New neighbourhoods, like Liman, Detelinara and Novo Naselje, with modern high residential buildings emerged from fields and forests surrounding the city to house the huge influx of people from the countryside following World War II. Many old houses in the city centre, Rotkvarija and Bulevar neighbourhoods were torn down in the 1950s and 1960s to be replaced with multi-story buildings, as the city experienced a major construction boom during the last 10 years; some neighbourhoods, like Grbavica have completely changed their face.

Neighbourhoods with individual housing are mostly located away from the city center; Telep in the southwest and Klisa on the north are the oldest such quarters, while Adice, Veternika Rampa and Veternikon the west significantly expanded during last 15 years, partly due to an influx of Serb refugees during the Yugoslav wars.

Besides the urban part of the city (which includes Novi Sad proper, with population of around 250,000, Petrovaradin (around 15,000) and Sremska Kamenica (around 12,000)), there are 12 more settlements and 1 town in Novi Sad's municipal area.[1] 23.7% of total city's population live in suburbs, the largest being Futog (20,000), and Veternik (17,000) to the West, which over the years, especially in the 1990s, have grown and physically merged to the city. The most isolated and the least populated village in the suburban area is Stari Ledinci. Ledinci, Stari Ledinci and Bukovac are located on Fruka Gora slopes and the last two have only one paved road, which connect them to other places. Besides the urban area of Novi Sad, the suburb of Futog is also officially classified as "urban settlement" (a town), while other suburbs are mostly "rural" (villages). Towns and villages in adjacent municipalities of Sremski Karlovci, Temerin and Beoin, share the same public transportation and are economically connected with Novi Sad.