Novi Pazar
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Novi Pazar (Нови Пазар) is a city located in Serbia and Montenegro at 43.15° North, 20.52"° East.
Its name means "new marketplace" in Bosnian and Serbian. In 2003 the city had a total population of 54800.
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Geography
Novi Pazar is an economic and culture center of Sanjak of Novibazar, located in the vallyes of the Josanica, Raska, Dezevska, and Ljudsa Rivers, at the elevation of 496m. It's surrounded by the high lands of Golija and Rogozna mountains, as well as the Pester Plateau. The total area of about 100 settlements is 742km2.
History
Novi Pazar was founded by Isa-beg Isakovic, the same person who founded the city of Sarajevo. The first written document referencing the name of Novi Pazar dates back to 15th century, and describes the decision of Dubrovnik's Council to appoint its Consul in this town. That reinforces the idea that the town was already developed back then, thanks to its outstanding geographic position, as it was at the intersection of important roads leading to Dubrovnik, Nis, Sofija, Istanbul, Solun, Sarajevo, Belgrade, and Budapest. While many authors wrote about Novi Pazar, Evliya Celebi noted that it was one of the biggest towns in the Balkans in the 17th century.
The city was the capital of the Ottoman sanjak of Novibazar that existed between the 15th and the 19th century.
The name Novi Pazar (Novibazar) entered the world encyclopaedias as a synonim for Sandžak from 1878, the year when the Congress of Berlin designated the entire region as "corpus separatum" named Sanjak of Novibazar. After World War I, the future of the sanjak becomes uncertain, and the town of Novi Pazar rapidly loses its importance.
Population
Based on the Census of 2002, the population of Novi Pazar municipality stands at 85,996, of which 67,690, or 78.7%, are Bosniaks. According to the data of Red Cross and NGOs, the town hosts about 6,000 refugees from Kosovo, Macedonia, Bosnia, and Croatia.
Surroundings
The old Serb Orthodox monastery Sopoćani, located west of Novi Pazar, is a World Heritage Site since 1979.
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