Kosjeric
Encyclopedia
Kosjerić is a town and municipality in Western Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

. The municipality has 12,873 inhabitants, but the town itself has 3,970. The municipality's area is 359 square kilometers, with 26 villages mostly placed in the river valleys, though there are also some settlements in the mountains at altitudes of more than 1000 meters.

Geography

The town is situated on the road between Vojvodina
Vojvodina
Vojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...

 and Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...

 on one end and the Adriatic Sea
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...

 on the other. The town is near the mountain tourist centers: Divčibare
Divcibare
Divčibare is a mountain resort situated on the mountain Maljen in western Serbia, south-east of Valjevo, at the altitude of 980 metres above sea level...

 and Zlatibor
Zlatibor
Zlatibor is a mountain region situated in the western part of Serbia, a part of the Dinaric Alps.The mountain range spreads over an area of 300 km², 27 miles in length, southeast to northwest, and up to 23 miles in width. The highest peak is Tornik at 1496 m...

. It lies at the foothill of Drmanovina
Drmanovina
Drmanovina is a mountain in western Serbia, near the town of Kosjerić. Its highest peak Grad has an altitude of 1022 meters above sea level....

 and Crnokosa
Crnokosa
Crnokosa is a mountain in western Serbia, near the town of Kosjerić. Its highest peak has an altitude of 809 meters above sea level. It runs around 9 km along the Skrapež river, steeply closing its southern valley, while its southern slopes are milder....

 mountains.

History

The exact date of the town's founding is unclear. Near the town archaeologists have found Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 and Serbian medieval relics, but it is believed that mass immigration occurred before the Serbian Revolution at the beginning of the nineteenth century with people from Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...

, East Bosnia
Bosnia (region)
Bosnia is a eponomous region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It lies mainly in the Dinaric Alps, ranging to the southern borders of the Pannonian plain, with the rivers Sava and Drina marking its northern and eastern borders. The other eponomous region, the southern, other half of the country is...

 and the Western Serbian mountains Zlatibor and Tara
Tara Mountain
Tara , is a mountain located in western Serbia. It is part of Dinaric Alps and stands at 1,000-1,500 metres above sea level. The mountain's slopes are clad in dense forests with numerous high-altitude clearings and meadows, steep cliffs, deep ravines carved by the nearby Drina River and many karst,...

.

This part of Serbia was under the rule of the Nemanjić dynasty until the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 ceased control of the country in 1463. During the next two centuries roads were built and major development began linking the Adriatic Sea
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...

 to western Serbia and to the east. Wars between Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...

 and the Turks took a toll on the population numbers in Kosjerić.

It is thought that the oldest inhabitants of the town were from the family Kosijer. From legends it is said that Antonije Kosjer came from Kosijer in Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...

 and brought his three sons along with him. After that Jovan Baronim came from the village Bare and his sister accompanied him with seven sons. It is recorded that there was migration from the village of Divci and from Montenegrin Kolašin
Kolašin
Kolašin , is a town in northern Montenegro. It has a population of 2,989 .Kolašin is the centre of the municipality and unofficial centre of Morača region, named after Morača River....

.

Rapid development began in 1882, but it was suppressed by the faster growing communities of nearby bigger towns, Valjevo
Valjevo
Valjevo is a city and municipality located in western Serbia. It is the center of the Kolubara District, which includes five other smaller municipalities with a total population of almost 180,000 people...

 and Požega
Požega, Serbia
Požega is a town and municipality located in the Zlatibor District of Serbia. In 2011, the population of the town is 12,957, while population of the municipality is 29,488.-Municipality:...

. Kosjerić reached the status of the town in 1966 and economic development after the completion of the Belgrade-Bar railway in 1972.

Economy

Today Kosjerić is the town with the highest economic standard in Western Serbia. It has a cement factory that is one of the most successful companies in Serbia. After the fall of socialism Kosjerić soon became the town with the highest part of private capital in whole country.

Cement factory

One of the most famed cement factories is located in Kosjerić and has helped boost the economic prosperity not only for the town but for the whole region.

On January 30, 2002, TITAN Group and the Serbian Privatisation Agency signed an agreement for the transfer of 70% of the share capital of the Kosjerić Cement Company. The acquisition cost amounts to $35.5 million. The production capacity of the Kosjerić cement plant is 600.000 ton
Ton
The ton is a unit of measure. It has a long history and has acquired a number of meanings and uses over the years. It is used principally as a unit of weight, and as a unit of volume. It can also be used as a measure of energy, for truck classification, or as a colloquial term.It is derived from...

s. The Agreement with the Serbian Government includes a mandatory investment program of $ 28.5 million, which will increase the factory's production capacity to more than 800.000 tons. Many of the town citizens are employed at the factory.

Production

Due to its location and climate Kosjerić has a strong production of fruit and vegetables. Serbia is known for its production of plums and raspberries
Raspberry
The raspberry or hindberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus Rubus, most of which are in the subgenus Idaeobatus; the name also applies to these plants themselves...

around the world and in Kosjerić they are widely grown. The area is well known for its plum brandy, 40-45% ABV ("ljuta rakija"). Kosjerić also has a factory for concrete pipelines production "Pim-Grad", a factory for the manufacture of electric equipment "Elkok" http://www.elkok.co.rs/, and factories for the manufacture of concrete elements called "Kofeniks" and "Povlen".

Tourism

Kosjerić is trying to create a strong tourism industry, which is supported by the "Serbian village tourist board". Kosjerić has attracted many people from central Serbia for its famed "Shepard festival" which is held every July.

Also, every year in Kosjeric an NGO called K-Town Group organize an International art camp Kosjeric which includes different art workshops with 50 participants from around the world.

The development and reconstruction of the Hotel Skrapež has also further helped increase tourist numbers.

Features

Kosjerić and the surrounding area are known for their fresh air and beautiful nature. High mountains, fields, wood and water wells surround the town and it is famous for country tourism and the production of healthy food. Fresh air and nice climate are very appropriate for different sports; hence Kosjerić became a famous sport centre equipped with different types of sport fields on 40,000 square metres, sports hall with 700 places, Olympic pool and several football, basketball and handball playgrounds.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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