Vlasina is a mountainous
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...
of southeastern
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...
. It is a border area to
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
, a region of the
Rhodopian Serbia, with old rocks and mountains. Its most prominent landforms are eponymous
Vlasina River and
Vlasina Lake
Vlasina Lake ( sr, Власинско језеро, Vlasinsko jezero) is a semi-artificial lake in Southeast Serbia. Lying at an altitude of , with an area of , it is the highest and largest artificial lake in Serbia. It was created in 1947–51 w ...
. It corresponds to the territories of municipalities of
Crna Trava
Crna Trava ( sr-Cyr, Црна Трава, ) is a village and municipality located in the Jablanica District of southern Serbia. According to 2011 census, the population of the village is 434 inhabitants, while population of the municipality is 1,6 ...
,
Vlasotince and
Surdulica
Surdulica ( sr-cyr, Сурдулица) is a town and municipality located in the Pčinja District of southern Serbia. As of 2011, the population of the town is 11,400, while the municipality has 20,319 inhabitants.
History
Historically, the tow ...
.
The region consists of fours smaller, micro-regions:
Crna Trava
Crna Trava ( sr-Cyr, Црна Трава, ) is a village and municipality located in the Jablanica District of southern Serbia. According to 2011 census, the population of the village is 434 inhabitants, while population of the municipality is 1,6 ...
,
Znepolje, Lužnica and
Vlasotince. Near Vlasotince, remains of the ancient
volcanic
A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plat ...
eruptions are quite visible.
Economy
The largest center of the whole region is the town of
Vlasotince, but in general, the area is one of the least developed in Serbia, very poor and extremely depopulating. For example, population of Crna Trava municipality decreased from around 14,000 in 1953 to mere 2,500 in 2002. Accordingly, density also plunged, from 43 per km² in 1953 to only 8 per km² in 2002.
A circular freeway connects the valleys of the Vlasina and Južna Morava rivers.
In 2005 Hellenic Bottling Co., a subsidiary of The Coca-Cola Company, bought the local water factory ("Rosa" is a trademark for this water) which is located close to the Vlasina source thus causing potests of the local environmentalists. Activists from the "Eco base South" (Eko baza Jug) were afraid of
overexploitation
Overexploitation, also called overharvesting, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to replenish. The term ap ...
drying out the sources of the river.
Wildlife
In 2018 it was announced that
European free-tailed bat, previously unrecorded in Serbia, was discovered living in Vlasina region. It is a 31st species of bat which inhabits the country and the one with the largest wingspan.
References
Sources
* Jovan Đ. Marković (1990): ''Enciklopedijski geografski leksikon Jugoslavije''; Svjetlost-Sarajevo;
* Veliborka Staletovic, Environmentalists Against Exploitation of Potable Water, 23 February 2005, published a
* Valentina Zlatković (2007-06-22
Biser juga pod zaštitom države Politika
''Politika'' ( sr-Cyrl, Политика; ''Politics'') is a Serbian daily newspaper, published in Belgrade. Founded in 1904 by Vladislav F. Ribnikar, it is the oldest daily newspaper still in circulation in the Balkans.
Publishing and owners ...
{{Coord missing, Serbia
Geographical regions of Serbia
Geography of Southern and Eastern Serbia
Ramsar sites in Serbia