Dimitrovgrad () alternatively Caribrod () is a town and municipality located in the

Pirot District The Pirot District (, ) is one of administrative districts of Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , imag ...

of southeastern Serbia. According to 2022 census, the municipality has a population of 8,043 and the town has 5,188 inhabitants.

Name

Since 1950, the official name of the town has been ''Dimitrovgrad'' (), but the name ''Caribrod'' () is also used. In Bulgarian, the name ''Tsaribrod'' () is preferred because there is another Dimitrovgrad on the

Maritsa Maritsa or Maritza ( ), also known as Evros ( ) and Meriç ( ), is a river that runs through the Balkans in Southeast Europe. With a length of ,

river in Bulgaria and Tsaribrod was used before the town was named after

Georgi Dimitrov Georgi Dimitrov Mihaylov (; ) also known as Georgiy Mihaylovich Dimitrov (; 18 June 1882 – 2 July 1949), was a Bulgarian communist politician who served as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party from 1933 t ...

, a Bulgarian

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

leader who advocated a union between the

Bulgarians Bulgarians (, ) are a nation and South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and its neighbouring region, who share a common Bulgarian ancestry, culture, history and language. They form the majority of the population in Bulgaria, ...

and remaining Yugoslav nations to form the

Balkan Federation In late 19th and throughout the 20th century, the establishment of a Balkan Federation had been a recurrent suggestion of various political factions in the Balkans. The concept of a Balkan federation emerged in the late 19th century among left-w ...

. The idea was abandoned when Yugoslav leader

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito ( ; , ), was a Yugoslavia, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who served in various positions of national leadership from 1943 unti ...

failed to reach agreements with

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

(

Tito–Stalin split The Tito–Stalin split or the Soviet–Yugoslav split was the culmination of a conflict between the political leaderships of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, under Josip Broz Tito and Joseph Stalin, respectively, in the years following World W ...

); however, Dimitrov himself did not become unpopular in Yugoslavia from the breakdown and subsequently, the name of the town continued to be in honour of him despite many citizens themselves having preferred ''Caribrod''. There have been attempts to return the old name, ''Caribrod'', but all had less than 50% turnout and most of them were in favor of keeping the name ''Dimitrovgrad''. In 2019, local government decided to add tables with name ''Caribrod'' on several municipality's objects in order to please the needs of people who like the former name. In October 2019 municipal assembly decided to return the old name to the municipality. The document is sent to

Ministry of Public Administration The Ministry of Public Administration () (abbreviated as MOPA) is primarily responsible for management of public administration in Bangladesh. the current Senior Secretary is Dr. Mokhles Ur Rahman. Directorate * Bangladesh Employees Welfare Boar ...

for further procedures.

Geography

Climate

Dimitrovgrad has an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

: ''Dfb'').

History

The

Roman road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

Via Militaris Via Militaris or Via Diagonalis was an ancient Roman road, starting from Singidunum (today the Serbian capital Belgrade), passing by Danube coast to Viminacium (near modern Kostolac), through Naissus (modern Niš), Serdica (modern Sofia), Phil ...

was built in the 1st century AD and went through the town. In May 2010, well-preserved remains of the road were excavated during the work on Corridor 10. An Ottoman military base operated in the west of Dimitrovgrad prior to the Balkan nations full independence. During the

Serbo-Bulgarian War The Serbo-Bulgarian War or the Serbian–Bulgarian War (, ''Srăbsko-bălgarska voyna'', , ''Srpsko-bugarski rat''), a war between the Kingdom of Serbia and the Principality of Bulgaria, erupted on and lasted until . Despite Bulgaria's statu ...

, two battles were fought here, the 1st Battle of Caribrod and the 2nd Battle of Caribrod. The Serbian and Bulgarian Prime ministers met at the then Tsaribrod in 1912 to discuss the disputed territories in

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

. The

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () has been its colloq ...

gained parts of the

Principality of Bulgaria The Principality of Bulgaria () was a vassal state under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire. It was established by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. After the Russo-Turkish War ended with a Russian victory, the Treaty of San Stefano was signed ...

(known in Bulgaria as

Western Outlands The Western (Bulgarian) Outlands () is a term used in Bulgarian to denote several regions located in ex-Yugoslavia, today southeastern Serbia and southeastern North Macedonia, that were traditionally part of Bulgaria and which were predominant ...

) which included Tsaribrod following the

Treaty of Neuilly The Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine (; ) was a treaty between the victorious Allies of World War I on the one hand, and Bulgaria, one of the defeated Central Powers in World War I, on the other. The treaty required Bulgaria to cede various territor ...

, signed on November 27, 1919. From 1929 to 1941, Caribrod was part of the

Morava Banovina The Morava Banovina or Morava Banate ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Моравска бановина, Moravska banovina), was a province ( banovina) of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1929 and 1941. This province consisted of parts of prese ...

of the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

. It was occupied by

Kingdom of Bulgaria The Tsardom of Bulgaria (), also known as the Third Bulgarian Tsardom (), usually known in English as the Kingdom of Bulgaria, or simply Bulgaria, was a constitutional monarchy in Southeastern Europe, which was established on , when the Bulgaria ...

between 1941 and 1944 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Demographics

According to the 2022 census, the municipality of Dimitrovgrad has 8,043 inhabitants. Regardless of ethnic self-identification, most of the town's population speaks a South Slavic dialect usually called ''

Torlak Torlakian, or Torlak, is a group of transitional South Slavic dialects spoken across southeastern Serbia, southern and eastern Kosovo, northwestern and northeastern North Macedonia, and northwestern Bulgaria. Torlakian, together with Bulgar ...

'' which includes linguistic features of both

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...

(especially phonology) and Bulgarian (postposed

definite article In grammar, an article is any member of a class of dedicated words that are used with noun phrases to mark the identifiability of the referents of the noun phrases. The category of articles constitutes a part of speech. In English, both "the" ...

s and lack of the

infinitive Infinitive ( abbreviated ) is a linguistics term for certain verb forms existing in many languages, most often used as non-finite verbs that do not show a tense. As with many linguistic concepts, there is not a single definition applicable to all ...

verb form), as well as some

Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North Macedonia * Mac ...

language

vocabulary A vocabulary (also known as a lexicon) is a set of words, typically the set in a language or the set known to an individual. The word ''vocabulary'' originated from the Latin , meaning "a word, name". It forms an essential component of languag ...

. Ethnic composition of the municipality: Linguistic composition of the municipality:

Economy

The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2018):

Gallery

File:Dimitrovgrad Town Hall - Serbia.jpg, ''Dimitrovgrad Town Hall'' File:Dimitrovgrad City Centre.JPG, ''Town center'' File:Cultural centre - Dimitrovgrad - Serbia.jpg, ''The cultural center on the main square'' File:Poganovo manastir.jpg, ''

Poganovo Monastery The Poganovo Monastery () is a Serbian Orthodox monastery situated in the gorges of the river Jerma, near the village Poganovo, municipality of Dimitrovgrad, Serbia. According to some sources the frescoes were made by masters from Northern Gr ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Populated places in Pirot District Municipalities and cities of Southern and Eastern Serbia Bulgarian communities in Serbia Bulgaria–Serbia border crossings Georgi Dimitrov