Smederevo

Smederevo is a city and the administrative center of the Podunavlje District in eastern Serbia. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube, about downstream of the Serbian capital, Belgrade.
According to the 2022 census, the city has a population of 59,261, with 97,930 people living in its administrative area.
Its history starts in the 1st century BC, after the conquest of the Roman Empire, when there existed a settlement by the name of Vinceia. The modern city traces its roots back to the Late Middle Ages when it was the capital of the last independent Serbian state before Ottoman conquest.
Smederevo is said to be the city of iron and grapes.

Names

In Serbian, the city is known as Smederevo, in Latin, Italian, Romanian and Greek as Semendria, in Hungarian as Szendrő or Vég-Szendrő, and in Turkish as Semendire.
The name of Smederevo was first recorded in the Charter of the Byzantine Emperor Basil II from 1019, in the part related to the Eparchy of Braničevo. Another written record is found in the Charter of Duke Lazar of Serbia from 1381, by which he bestowed the Monastery of Ravanica and villages and properties 'to the Great Bogosav with the commune and heritage'’.
The Latin-Italian name also occurs in Belogradum et Semendria and Belgrado e Semendria, two of the short-lived 20th-century synonyms of the Latin titular bishopric of Belgrade, which was suppressed in 1948 in favor of the residential Latin Archdiocese of Belgrade and 'newly' established titular bishopric of Alba Marittima.
Linguist Petar Skok suggests that the name derives from that of Saint Demetrius. Alternatively, it has been suggested that the name comes from the medieval Serbian personal name Smender, or from the words smet and Old Serbian drevo.

Coat of arms

Smederevo Coat of Arms uses two shades of blue, which deviates from the heraldic principles. Also, the bar with the year 1430 is placed over the shield. Emblem elements are six white discs arranged 3 + 2 + 1, which represents grapes, Smederevo Fortress, dark blue and white horizontal lines.

History

Early

During the 7th millennium BC, the Starčevo culture thrived for millennia, followed by the 6th millennium BC Vinča culture which also flourished in the region. The Paleo-Balkan tribes of Dacians and Thracians emerged in the area during the 2nd millennium BC, with the Celtic Scordisci raiding the Balkans in the 3rd century BC.
In the 1st century BC, the Roman Empire conquered Vinceia. Subsequently, it was incorporated into Moesia, later becoming part of Moesia Superior. During the administrative reforms of Diocletian, it was included in the Diocese of Moesia, and later in the Diocese of Dacia. Vinceia held significance as a principal town of Moesia Superior, situated near the confluence of the Margus and Brongus rivers.

Middle Ages

The modern founder of the city was the Serbian despot Đurađ Branković in the 15th century, who built Smederevo Fortress in 1430 as the new Serbian capital. According to the Greek historian Theodore Spandounes, the fortress was constructed by George Kantakouzenos, Branković's brother-in-law through his consort the Byzantine princess Irene. Smederevo was the residence of the Branković house and the capital of the Serbian Despotate from 1430 until 1439, when it was conquered by the Ottoman Empire after a siege lasting two months.

Sanjak of Smederevo

In 1444, in accordance with the terms of the Peace of Szeged between the Kingdom of Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, the Sultan returned Smederevo to Đurađ Branković, who was allied to the Hungarian commander John Hunyadi. On 22 August 1444 the Serb prince peacefully took possession of the evacuated town. When Hunyadi broke the peace treaty, Đurađ Branković remained neutral. Serbia became a battleground between the Kingdom of Hungary and the Ottomans, and the angry Branković captured Hunyadi after his defeat at the Second Battle of Kosovo in 1448. Hunyadi was imprisoned in Smederevo Fortress for a short time.
In 1454 Sultan Mehmed II besieged Smederevo and devastated Serbia. The town was liberated by Hunyadi. In 1459 Smederevo was again captured by the Ottomans after the death of Branković. The town became a Turkish border-fortress and played an important part in Ottoman–Hungarian Wars until 1526. Due to its strategic location, Smederevo was gradually rebuilt and enlarged. For a long period, the town was the capital of the Sanjak of Smederevo.
In autumn 1476, a joint army of Hungarians and Serbs tried to capture the fortress from the Ottomans. They built three wooden counter-fortresses, but after months of siege, Sultan Mehmed II himself came to drive them away. After fierce fighting the Hungarians agreed to withdraw. In 1494 Pál Kinizsi tried to capture Smederevo from the Ottomans. In 1512 the Hungarian commander John Zápolya unsuccessfully laid siege to the town.

Modern

During the First Serbian Uprising in 1806, the city became the temporary capital of Serbia, as well as the seat of the Praviteljstvujušči sovjet, a government headed by Dositej Obradović. The first basic school was founded in 1806. During World War II, the city was occupied by German forces, who stored ammunition in the fortress. On 5 June 1941, a catastrophic explosion severely damaged the fortress, killing nearly 2,000 residents.
After World War II, Smederevo became an industrial and cultural center of Podunavlje District. Under the overall industrial development of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the city received a boost in infrastructure. Due to the ideal geographical position of Smederevo, the socialist government supported the building of roads, apartment buildings and dozens of factories.
Some of the most notable factories built and renewed in period between 1950s until the end of 1980s were Zelvoz, renewed in 1966, and a new steel plant built on outskirts of Smederevo at that time, Sartid, which was completely operational in 1971.

Settlements

Besides the city of Smederevo, the administrative area includes the following 27 settlements :

As of the 2022 census, the population of Smederevo was 59,261.

Ethnic groups

The ethnic composition of the municipality:

Ethnic group	Population	%
Serbs	89,054	90.94%
Roma	2,317	2.37%
Macedonians	183
Yugoslavs	144
Croats	99
Montenegrins	99
Hungarians	62
Albanians	46
Romanians	40
Russians	38
Muslims	27
Bulgarians	22
Slovaks	20
Germans	15
Vlachs	14
Ukrainians	13
Slovenes	11
Bosniaks	8
Bunjevci	1
Others	131
Regional affiliation	17
Did not declare	879
Unknown	4,690
Total	97,930

Economy

Smederevo has a recent history of heavy industry and manufacturing, which is a result of intense industrialization of the region during the 1950s-1960s era. Previously, this entire geographical region had a heavy focus on agricultural production.
The city is home to the only operating steel mill in the country, Železara Smederevo, previously known as Sartid, which is situated in the suburb of Radinac. This was privatized and sold to U.S. Steel in 2003 for $33 million. Following the global economic crisis, U.S. Steel sold the plant to the government of Serbia for a symbolic $1 to avoid closing the plant. The plant was renamed Železara Smederevo and at the time employed 5,400 workers. In 2016, the Serbian government managed to strike a deal with a Chinese conglomerate Hesteel Group, which purchased the effective assets for $46 million.
The "Milan Blagojević" home appliance factory is the second largest industry company in the city. Smederevo is also an agricultural area, with significant production of fruit and vines. However, the large agricultural combine "Godomin" has been in financial difficulty since the 1990s and is almost defunct as of 2005. The grape variety known as Smederevka is named after the city. The "Ishrana" factory is an important supplier of bakery products in northern and eastern Serbia.
A U.S.-Dutch consortium, Comico Oil, planned to build a $250 million oil refinery in the industrial zone of the city in 2012. However, the consortium lost its permit to build the refinery after it failed to meet payment deadlines for the land lease a year later.
As of September 2017, Smederevo has one of 14 free economic zones established in Serbia.
The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity :

Activity	Total
Agriculture, forestry and fishing	229
Mining and quarrying	7
Manufacturing	12,481
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply	223
Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities	636
Construction	933
Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles	4,306
Transportation and storage	1,492
Accommodation and food services	614
Information and communication	305
Financial and insurance activities	373
Real estate activities	48
Professional, scientific and technical activities	751
Administrative and support service activities	442
Public administration and defense; compulsory social security	1,304
Education	1,878
Human health and social work activities	1,616
Arts, entertainment and recreation	332
Other service activities	455
Individual agricultural workers	678
Total	29,102