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Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; see below for other names) is the second largest city in
Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
and the capital of the autonomous province of
Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...
. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannonian Plain on the border of the
Bačka Bačka ( sr-Cyrl, Бачка, ) or Bácska (), is a geographical and historical area within the Pannonian Plain bordered by the river Danube to the west and south, and by the river Tisza to the east. It is divided between Serbia and Hungary. ...
and
Syrmia Syrmia (Ekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srem, Срем, separator=" / " or Ijekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srijem, Сријем, label=none, separator=" / ") is a region of the southern Pannonian Plain, which lies between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is div ...
geographical regions. Lying on the banks of the
Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...
river, the city faces the northern slopes of
Fruška Gora Fruška gora ( sr-Cyrl, Фрушка гора) is a mountain in Syrmia, with most of the mountain being part of Serbia and its westernmost edge extending into eastern Croatia. The Serbian part of the mountain forms the country's oldest National p ...
and it is the fifth largest of all cities on the river Danube. It is the largest Danube city that is not the capital of an independent state. , the population of the city proper area totals 260,438 while its urban area (including the adjacent settlements of Petrovaradin and Sremska Kamenica) comprises 306,702 inhabitants. According to the city's Informatika Agency, Novi Sad had 415,712 residents in 2025. Novi Sad was founded in 1694, when Serb merchants formed a colony across the Danube from the Petrovaradin Fortress, a strategic
Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...
military post. In subsequent centuries, it became an important trading, manufacturing and cultural centre, and has historically been dubbed ''the Serbian Athens''. The city was heavily devastated in the 1848 Revolution, but was subsequently rebuilt and restored. Today, along with the Serbian capital city of Belgrade, Novi Sad is an industrial and financial center important to the Serbian economy. Novi Sad was the European Youth Capital in 2019 and the
European Capital of Culture A European Capital of Culture is a city designated by the European Union (EU) for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong pan-European dimension. Being a European Capital of Culture can ...
in 2022. It became a
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
Creative City of Media Arts in 2023.


Name

The name ''Novi Sad'' means "new plantation" in
Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian ( / ), also known as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS), is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutually i ...
. Its Latin name, stemming from the establishment of Habsburg city rights, is ''Neoplanta''. The official names of Novi Sad in local administration are: * / * * * In both Croatian and Romanian, which are official in provincial administration, the city is called ''Novi Sad''. Historically, the city was called ''Neusatz'' and ''Neusatz an der Donau'' (translated as 'Novi Sad on the Danube') in German. In its wider meaning, the name ''new plantation'' refers to the "City of Novi Sad", one of the city-level administrative units of
Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
, which includes Novi Sad proper on the left bank of the Danube, the towns of Sremska Kamenica and Petrovaradin on the right bank and the extensive suburbs of the left bank. ''Novi Sad'' can also refer
strictly In mathematical writing, the term strict refers to the property of excluding equality and equivalence and often occurs in the context of inequality and monotonic functions. It is often attached to a technical term to indicate that the exclusiv ...
to only the urban areas of the city (Novi Sad proper and the towns of Sremska Kamenica and Petrovaradin), or only to the historical core on the left bank, i.e. Novi Sad proper excluding Sremska Kamenica and Petrovaradin.


History


Older settlements

Human habitation in the territory of present-day Novi Sad has been traced as far back as the
Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...
. Several settlements and necropolises dating to 5000 BC were unearthed during the construction of a new boulevard in Avijatičarsko Naselje. A settlement was also identified on the right bank of the river
Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...
in present-day Petrovaradin. In antiquity, the region was inhabited by
Celtic tribes This is a list of ancient Celts, Celtic peoples and tribes. Continental Celts Continental Celts were the Celtic peoples that inhabited mainland Europe and Anatolia (also known as Asia Minor). In the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, Celts inhabited a la ...
, most notably the Scordisci. Celts had been present in the area since the 4th century BC and founded the first fortress on the right bank of the Danube. Later, in the 1st century BC, the region was conquered by the Romans. During Roman rule, a larger fortress was built in the 1st century, named ''Cusum'', and included in the
Roman province The Roman provinces (, pl. ) were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...
of
Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, on the west by Noricum and upper Roman Italy, Italy, and on the southward by Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia and upper Moesia. It ...
. In the 5th century, Cusum was devastated by Hunnic invasions. By the end of the century, the Byzantines had rebuilt the town and called it ''Petrikon'' or ''Petrikov'' () after
Saint Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the Jewish Christian#Jerusalem ekklēsia, e ...
. Slavic tribes such as the Severians, the Obotrites and the
Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...
(including the subtribes of the Braničevci and the
Timočani The Timočani (also Timochani, or Timochans; Serbian and Bulgarian: Тимочани) were a medieval South Slavic tribe that lived in the territory of present-day eastern Serbia, west of the Timok River, as well as in the regions of Banat, Sy ...
) settled the region around Novi Sad, mainly in the 6th and 7th centuries.Sava S. Vujić – Bogdan M. Basarić, ''Severni Srbi (ne)zaboravljeni narod,'' Beograd, 1998, pg. 36 The Serbs absorbed the aforementioned Slavic groups as well as the Paleo-Balkanic peoples of the region. In the Middle Ages, the area was controlled by the
Ostrogoths The Ostrogoths () were a Roman-era Germanic peoples, Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Goths, Gothic kingdoms within the Western Roman Empire, drawing upon the large Gothic populatio ...
,
Gepids The Gepids (; ) were an East Germanic tribes, East Germanic tribe who lived in the area of modern Romania, Hungary, and Serbia, roughly between the Tisza, Sava, and Carpathian Mountains. They were said to share the religion and language of the G ...
, Avars,
Franks file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...
, West Slavic groups, again by the Byzantines, and finally by the
Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...
. It was a part of the medieval
Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...
from its foundation in 1000 until the Ottoman invasion in the 16th century. Hungarians began to settle in the area, which before that time had been mostly populated by Slavs. The earliest known mention was as the Hungarian variant ''Peturwarad'' or ''Pétervárad'' (Serbian: ''Petrovaradin''/Петроварадин), derived from the Byzantine variant, found in documents from 1237. That year, several other settlements were mentioned as existing in the territory of modern-day urban Novi Sad. From the 13th century to the 16th century, the following settlements existed in the urban territory of the modern-day Novi Sad:Branko Ćurčin, Slana Bara nekad i sad, Novi Sad, 2002.Borovszky Samu: Magyarország vármegyéi és városai, Bács-Bodrog vármegye I.-II. kötet, Apolló Irodalmi és Nyomdai Részvénytársaság, 1909. *on the right bank of the Danube: ''Pétervárad'' () and ''Kamanc'' (). *on the left bank of the Danube: ''Baksa'' or ''Baksafalva'' (), ''Kűszentmárton'' (), ''Bivalyos'' or ''Bivalo'' (), ''Vásárosvárad'' or ''Várad'' (), ''Zajol I'' (), ''Zajol II'' (), ''Bistritz'' (). Some other settlements existed in the suburbs of Novi Sad: ''Mortályos'' (Serbian: ''Mrtvaljoš''), ''Csenei'' (), ''Keménd'' (), ''Rév'' (). An etymology of settlement names reveals that some designations are of Slavic origin, which indicates that the areas were initially inhabited by Slavs, particularly the West Slavs. For example, Bivalo (Bivaljoš) had a large Slavic settlement dating from the 5th–6th centuries. Other names are of Hungarian origin (for example Bélakút, Kűszentmárton, Vásárosvárad, Rév), indicating that the settlements were inhabited by Hungarians before the Ottoman invasion in the 16th century. Some settlement names are of uncertain origin. Tax records from 1522 show a mix of Hungarian and Slavic names among the inhabitants of these villages, including Slavic names like Bozso (Božo), Radovan, Radonya (Radonja), Ivo, etc. Following the Ottoman invasion in the 16th–17th centuries, some of these settlements were destroyed. Most of the surviving Hungarian inhabitants retreated from the area. Some of the settlements persisted under Ottoman rule and were populated by ethnic Serbs. Between 1526 and 1687, the region was under Ottoman rule. In 1590, the population of all villages in the territory of present-day Novi Sad numbered 105 houses, inhabited exclusively by Serbs. Ottoman records mention only those who paid taxes, so the number of Serbs who lived in the area (for example, those that served in the
Ottoman army The Military of the Ottoman Empire () was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. It was founded in 1299 and dissolved in 1922. Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the years ...
) was likely larger than was recorded.


Founding of Novi Sad

Habsburg rule was aligned with the Roman Catholic doctrine and, as it took over this area near the end of the 17th century, the government prohibited people of Orthodox faith from residing in Petrovaradin. Unable to build homes there, the Serbs of the area founded a new settlement in 1694 on the left bank of the Danube. They initially called it the 'Serb city' (, ). Another name used for the settlement was Petrovaradinski Šanac. In 1718, the inhabitants of the village of Almaš were resettled to Petrovaradinski Šanac, where they founded Almaški Kraj ('the Almaš quarter'). According to 1720 data, the population of Ratzen Stadt was composed of 112 Serbian, 14 German, and 5 Hungarian houses. The settlement officially gained the present names ''Novi Sad'' and ''Újvidék'' (''Neoplanta'' in Latin) in 1748 when it became a 'free royal city', in German language it was called Neusatz. The edict that made Novi Sad a 'free royal city' was proclaimed on 1 February 1748. The edict reads: In the 18th century, the Habsburg monarchy recruited Germans from the southern principalities of the Holy Roman Empire to relocate to the Danube valley. They wanted both to increase the population and to redevelop the river valley for agriculture, which had declined markedly under the Ottomans. To encourage such settlement, the government ensured that the German communities could practice their religion (mostly Catholicism) and use their original German dialect.


Habsburg monarchy

For much of the 18th and 19th centuries, Novi Sad remained the largest city inhabited by Serbs. The reformer of the Serbian language, Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, wrote in 1817 that Novi Sad was the 'largest Serb municipality in the world'. It was a cultural and political centre for Serbs (see also Serbian Revival), who did not have their own national state at the time. Due to its cultural and political influence, the city became known as the 'Serbian
Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
' (''Srpska Atina'' in Serbian). According to 1843 data, Novi Sad had 17,332 inhabitants, of whom 9,675 were Orthodox Christians, 5,724
Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
, 1,032
Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
, 727 Jews, and 30 adherents of the Armenian church. The largest
ethnic group An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...
in the city were Serbs, and the second largest were
Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...
. During the Revolution of 1848–49, Novi Sad was part of
Serbian Vojvodina The Serbian Vojvodina () was a short-lived self-proclaimed autonomous province within the Austrian Empire during the Revolutions of 1848, which existed until 1849 when it was transformed into the new (official) Austrian province named Voivodes ...
, a Serbian
autonomous region An autonomous administrative division (also referred to as an autonomous area, zone, entity, unit, region, subdivision, province, or territory) is a subnational administrative division or territory, internal territory of a sovereign state that has ...
within the Austrian Empire. In 1849, the Hungarian garrison, located at the Petrovaradin Fortress, bombarded and devastated the city, which lost much of its population. According to the 1850 census, there were only 7,182 citizens left in the city, compared to 17,332 in 1843. Marija Trandafil and her husband paid for some of the rebuilding including two churches. Between 1849 and 1860, Novi Sad was part of a separate Austrian crownland known as the Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar. After the abolishment of this province, the city was included into the Batsch-Bodrog County. The post office was opened in 1853. Following the compromise of 1867, Novi Sad was located within the
Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...
, the '' Transleithania'', which comprised half of the new Austro-Hungarian Empire. During this time, the Magyarization policy of the Hungarian government drastically altered the demographic structure of the city as the formerly predominantly Serbian population became one with a more mixed character. In 1880, 41.2% of the city's inhabitants used the
Serbian language Serbian (, ) is the standard language, standardized Variety (linguistics)#Standard varieties, variety of the Serbo-Croatian language mainly used by Serbs. It is the official and national language of Serbia, one of the three official languages of ...
most frequently and 25.9% employed Hungarian. In the following decades, the percentage of Serbian-speakers decreased, while the number of Hungarian-speakers increased. According to the 1910 census, the city had 33,590 residents, of whom 13,343 (39.72%) spoke Hungarian, 11,594 (34.52%) Serbian, 5,918 (17.62%) German and 1,453 (4.33%) Slovak. It is not certain whether Hungarians or Serbs were the larger ethnic group in the city in 1910, since the various ethnic groups (
Bunjevci Bunjevci ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Bunjevci, Буњевци, ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, label=, separator=" / ", Bunjevac, Буњевац, sh-Latn-Cyrl, label=, separator=" / ", Bunjevka, Буњевка) are a South Slavs, South Slavic sub-ethnic ...
, Romani, Jews, other South Slavic people, etc.) were classified in census results only according to the language they spoke. Similar demographic changes can be seen in the religious structure: in 1870, the population of Novi Sad included 8,134 Orthodox Christians, 6,684 Catholics, 1,725 Calvinists, 1,343 Lutherans, and others. In 1910, the population included 13,383
Roman Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
and 11,553 Orthodox Christians, while 3,089 declared themselves as
Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
, 2,751 as
Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...
, and 2,326 as Jewish.


Serbia and Yugoslavia

On 25 November 1918, the Assembly of Serbs, Bunjevci and other Slavs of Vojvodina in Novi Sad proclaimed the union of the region of Vojvodina with the
Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Principality was ruled by the Obrenović dynast ...
. From 1 December 1918, Novi Sad was part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes; and in 1929, it became the capital of the Danube Banovina, a province of the newly named Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In 1921, the population of Novi Sad numbered 39,122 inhabitants, 16,293 of whom spoke the Serbian language, 12,991 Hungarian, 6,373 German, 1,117 Slovak, etc. In 1941, Yugoslavia was invaded and partitioned by the
Axis powers The Axis powers, originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis and also Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, was the military coalition which initiated World War II and fought against the Allies of World War II, Allies. Its principal members were Nazi Ge ...
, and its northern parts, including Novi Sad, were annexed by
Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
. 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 ...
, about 5,000 citizens were murdered and many others were resettled. During the three days of the Novi Sad raid (21–23 January 1942) alone, Hungarian police killed 1,246 citizens, among them more than 800 Jews, and threw their corpses into the icy waters of the Danube. The total death toll of the raid was around 2,500. Citizens of all nationalities—Serbs, Hungarians, Slovaks, and others—fought together against the Axis authorities. In 1975 the whole city was awarded the title People's Hero of Yugoslavia. The
Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...
of
Syrmia Syrmia (Ekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srem, Срем, separator=" / " or Ijekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srijem, Сријем, label=none, separator=" / ") is a region of the southern Pannonian Plain, which lies between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is div ...
and
Bačka Bačka ( sr-Cyrl, Бачка, ) or Bácska (), is a geographical and historical area within the Pannonian Plain bordered by the river Danube to the west and south, and by the river Tisza to the east. It is divided between Serbia and Hungary. ...
entered the city on 23 October 1944. During the military administration of
Banat, Bačka and Baranja Banat, Bačka and Baranya ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Banat, Bačka i Baranja, Банат, Бачка и Барања) was a province of the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes between November 1918 and 1922. It ...
(17 October 1944 – 27 January 1945), the Partisans killed tens of thousands, mostly Serbs, Germans, and Hungarians, who were perceived as opponents to the new regime. Novi Sad became part of the new
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...
. Since 1945, Novi Sad has been the capital of
Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...
, a province of the Republic of Serbia. The city went through rapid industrialization and its population more than doubled in the period between World War II and the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. After 1992, Novi Sad became a part of the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...
. Devastated by NATO bombardment during the
Kosovo War The Kosovo War (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Косовски рат, Kosovski rat) was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It ...
of 1999, Novi Sad was left without any of its three Danube bridges ( Žeželj Bridge, Varadin Bridge and Liberty Bridge), communications, water, and electricity. Residential areas were cluster-bombed several times while the
oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial processes, industrial process Factory, plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refining, refined into products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, Bitumen, asphalt base, ...
was bombarded daily, causing severe pollution and widespread ecological damage. In 2003, FR Yugoslavia was transformed into the state union of
Serbia and Montenegro The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...
. These two states separated in June 2006 (following the May 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum), leaving Novi Sad part of the Republic of Serbia. On 1 November 2024, the canopy of the main railway station in Novi Sad collapsed, killing sixteen people. The incident sparked a series of mass protests against government corruption.


Geography

The city lies on the
meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the Channel (geography), channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erosion, erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank (cut bank, cut bank or river cl ...
of the river Danube, which is only 350 meters wide beneath the marking stones of Petrovaradin. A section of the Danube-Tisza-Danube Canal marks the northern edge of the wider city centre. The main part of the city lies on the left bank of the Danube in the region of
Bačka Bačka ( sr-Cyrl, Бачка, ) or Bácska (), is a geographical and historical area within the Pannonian Plain bordered by the river Danube to the west and south, and by the river Tisza to the east. It is divided between Serbia and Hungary. ...
, while the smaller settlements of Petrovaradin and Sremska Kamenica lie on the right bank, in the region of Srem (Syrmia). The section situated on the left bank of the river lies on one of the southernmost and lowest parts of the Pannonian Plain, while
Fruška Gora Fruška gora ( sr-Cyrl, Фрушка гора) is a mountain in Syrmia, with most of the mountain being part of Serbia and its westernmost edge extending into eastern Croatia. The Serbian part of the mountain forms the country's oldest National p ...
on the right bank is a horst mountain.
Alluvial plain An alluvial plain is a plain (an essentially flat landform) created by the deposition of sediment over a long period by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms. A ''floodplain'' is part of the process, bei ...
s along the Danube are well-formed, especially on the left bank, and in some parts from the river. A large part of Novi Sad lies on a
fluvial terrace Fluvial terraces are elongated Terrace (geology), terraces that flank the sides of floodplains and fluvial valleys all over the world. They consist of a relatively level strip of land, called a "tread", separated from either an adjacent floodplai ...
with an elevation of between . The northern part of Fruška Gora is composed of massive
landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides ...
zones, although they are largely inactive with the exception of the Ribnjak neighbourhood between Sremska Kamenica and Petrovaradin Fortress.Завод за урбанизам: "Еколошки Атлас Новог Сада" ("Ecological Atlas of Novi Sad"), page 14-15, 1994.
The total land area of the city is , while its urban area spans .


Climate

Novi Sad has a
humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...
(
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 ...
: ''Cfa'') closely bordering on
humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...
(''Dfa'') with a January mean of . The city experiences four distinct seasons. Autumn is drier than spring, with long sunny and warm periods. Winter is not so severe, with an average of 22 days of complete sub-zero temperature, and averages 22 days of snowfall. January is the coldest month, with an average low of . Spring is usually short and rainy, while summer arrives abruptly. The coldest temperature ever recorded in Novi Sad was on 24 January 1963, and the hottest temperature ever recorded was on 24 July 2007. The east-southeasterly wind, known as Košava, blows from the
Carpathians The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains ...
and brings clear and dry weather. It mostly blows in autumn and winter, in 2 to 3-day intervals. The
average speed In kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a non-negative scalar quantity. Intro ...
of Košava is , but gusts can sometimes reach up to . In wintertime, accompanied by snow storms, the winds can cause large snow-drifts.


Settlements

Novi Sad is a typical Central European town in terms of its architecture. The Town Hall and the Court House were built by Emmerich Kitzweger (1868–1917). The city was almost completely destroyed during the 1848/1849 revolution, so architecture from the 19th century dominates the
city centre A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...
. Small, older houses used to surround the centre of town, but they are now being replaced by modern, multi-story buildings. During the socialist period, new city blocks with wide streets and multi-story buildings were constructed around the city core. However, not many communist-style high-rise buildings were erected. The total number of
apartment building An apartment (American English, Canadian English), flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), tenement ( Scots English), or unit (Australian English) is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) ...
s, with ten or more floors, remained at about 50, the rest having mostly three to six floors. From 1962 to 1964, a new boulevard, today called ''Bulevar oslobođenja'', was cut through the older neighbourhoods, establishing major communication lines. Several more boulevards were subsequently built in a similar manner, creating an
orthogonal In mathematics, orthogonality (mathematics), orthogonality is the generalization of the geometric notion of ''perpendicularity''. Although many authors use the two terms ''perpendicular'' and ''orthogonal'' interchangeably, the term ''perpendic ...
network which replaced the primarily radial structure of the old town. These interventions paved the way for a relatively unhampered growth of the city, which has almost tripled in population since the 1950s. Despite a huge increase in car ownership,
traffic congestion Traffic congestion is a condition in transport that is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. Traffic congestion on urban road networks has increased substantially since the 1950s, resulting in m ...
is still relatively mild, apart from a few major arteries.


Neighbourhoods

Some of the oldest neighbourhoods in the city are Stari Grad (Old Town), Rotkvarija, Podbara, and Salajka. The areas of Sremska Kamenica and Petrovaradin, located on the right bank of the Danube, were separate towns in the past, but today belong to the urban area of Novi Sad. Liman, as well as Bistrica, are neighbourhoods built during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, with contemporary style buildings and wide boulevards ( Liman was divided into four sections, numbered I–IV). New neighbourhoods, like Liman, Detelinara and Bistrica, emerged from the fields and forests surrounding the city. Following World War II, tall residential buildings were constructed to house the huge influx of people leaving the country side. Many old houses in the city centre, from the Rotkvarija and Bulevar neighbourhoods, were torn down in the 1950s and 1960s, to be replaced by multi-story buildings. Since the city has experienced a major construction boom in the last 10 years, some neighbourhoods like Adamovićevo Naselje have completely been transformed. Neighbourhoods with single-family homes are mostly located away from the city centre.
Telep Telep ( sr-cyr, Телеп) is an urban neighborhood of the city of Novi Sad, Serbia. Name The word "telep" () means "settlement" in Hungarian language, Hungarian. The first name of this neighborhood was ''Darányi-telep'' (Serbian: ''Daranjije ...
, situated in the southwest, and Klisa, in the north, are the oldest such districts. Adice and Veternik, both located west of the downtown area, have significantly expanded during the last 15 years, partly due to the influx of Serbian refugees fleeing the
Yugoslav wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place from 1991 to 2001 in what had been the Socialist Federal Republic of ...
.


Suburbs

While Novi Sad's urban municipalities, which include Petrovaradin, Sremska Kamenica and Novi Sad proper, have a combined population of about 277,000, its suburban areas have approximately 65,000 inhabitants. Some 23.7% of the administrative city's total population resides in the suburbs, which consist of 12 settlements and 1 town. The largest numbers live in Futog (pop. 20,000) and in Veternik (pop. 17,000) to the west. Both places have grown bigger over the years, especially during the 1990s, and have physically merged with the city. Suburbs like Futog are officially classified as an '''urban settlement''' (town), while other suburbs are mostly considered to be '''rural (village). Ledinci, Stari Ledinci and Bukovac are all villages located on
Fruška Gora Fruška gora ( sr-Cyrl, Фрушка гора) is a mountain in Syrmia, with most of the mountain being part of Serbia and its westernmost edge extending into eastern Croatia. The Serbian part of the mountain forms the country's oldest National p ...
's slopes, with the last two having only one paved road. Stari Ledinci is the most isolated and least populated village belonging to Novi Sad's suburban areas. Towns and villages in the adjacent municipalities of
Sremski Karlovci Sremski Karlovci ( sr-Cyrl, Сремски Карловци, ) is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka Districtautonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It is situated on the banks of the Danube, from Novi Sad. According to the 202 ...
, Temerin and
Beočin Beočin ( sr-Cyrl, Беочин, ; ) is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The population of the town is 7,274, whilst Beočin's municipality population is 13,875 (2022 ce ...
share the same public transportation system and are economically tied to Novi Sad.


Demographics

Novi Sad is the second largest city in Serbia (after
Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
), and the largest city in
Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...
. Since its founding, the population of the city has been constantly increasing. According to the 1991 census, 56.2% of the people who came to Novi Sad from 1961 to 1991 were from Vojvodina, while 15.3% came from
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
and 11.7% from rest of Serbia. In the 1990s and 2000s, the city experienced significant population growth. According to the 2022 census, the city's population is 306,702, while in its urban area (including adjacent settlements of Petrovaradin and Sremska Kamenica) there are 368,967 inhabitants.


Ethnic groups

The ethnic composition in the city administrative area (last three censuses): All of the inhabited places in the municipalities have an ethnic Serb majority, while the village of Kisač has an ethnic Slovak majority.


Religion

According to the 2011 census, the population of the administrative area of Novi Sad (comprising both municipalities) included 270,831 Orthodox Christians, 21,530
Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
, 8,499
Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
, 4,760
Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
, 84 Jews, and others. The city is the seat of the
Serbian Orthodox The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches. The majority of the populat ...
Eparchy of Bačka, the seat of the Bishop of the Slovak Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Serbia and of the Muftiship of Novi Sad of the Islamic Community in Serbia.


Culture

In the 19th and early 20th century, Novi Sad was the capital of
Serbian culture Serbian culture is a term that encompasses the Serbian art, artistic, Serbian cuisine, culinary, Serbian literature, literary, Music of Serbia, musical, Politics of Serbia, political and Serb traditions, social elements that are representati ...
, earning it the nickname ''Serbian Athens''. During that time, many Serbian novelists, poets, jurists, and publishers had lived or worked in Novi Sad at some point in their career, including Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, Mika Antić,
Đura Jakšić Georgije "Đura" Jakšić (; 27 July 1832 – 16 November 1878) was a Serbian poet, painter, writer, dramatist and Bohemianism, bohemian. Biography Đura Jakšić was born as Georgije Jakšić in Srpska Crnja, Austrian Empire (present-day Serbi ...
and Jovan Jovanović Zmaj, among others. Matica srpska, the oldest cultural-scientific institution in Serbia, was moved from
Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
to Novi Sad in 1864, and now contains the second-largest library in the country, the Library of Matica srpska, with over 3.5 million volumes. The Serbian National Theatre, one of the oldest professional theatre among the
South Slavs South Slavs are Slavic people who speak South Slavic languages and inhabit a contiguous region of Southeast Europe comprising the eastern Alps and the Balkan Peninsula. Geographically separated from the West Slavs and East Slavs by Austria, ...
, was founded in Novi Sad in 1861. Today, Novi Sad is the second largest cultural centre in
Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
, after
Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
. Municipal officials have made the city more attractive with numerous cultural events and music concerts. Since 2000, Novi Sad is home to the EXIT festival, one of the biggest music summer festivals in Europe. Other important cultural events include the Sterijino pozorje theatre festival, Zmaj Children Games, International Novi Sad Literature Festival, Novi Sad Jazz Festival, and many others. Novi Sad also hosts a fashion show twice a year, attracting local and international designers. Called Serbia Fashion Week, the event also features the works of applied artists, musicians, interior decorators, multimedia experts and architects. In addition to the Serbian National Theatre, other prominent playhouses consist of the Novi Sad Theatre, Novi Sad Youth Theatre, and the Cultural Centre of Novi Sad. The Novi Sad Synagogue also houses many cultural events. Other cultural institutions include the Detachment of the Serbian Academy of Science and Art, Library of Matica Srpska, Novi Sad City Library and Azbukum. The city is also home to the Archive of Vojvodina, which has collected numerous documents from the
Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...
region dating back to 1565. Novi Sad has several folk song societies, which are known as ''kulturno-umetničko društvo'' or KUD. The best known societies in the city are: KUD Svetozar Marković, AKUD Sonja Marinković, SKUD Željezničar, FA Vila and the oldest SZPD Neven, established in 1892. National minorities express their own traditions, folklore and songs through various societies such as the Hungarian MKUD Petőfi Sándor, Slovak SKUD Pavel Jozef Šafárik, and Ruthenian RKC Novi Sad. Novi Sad was chosen to be the
European Capital of Culture A European Capital of Culture is a city designated by the European Union (EU) for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong pan-European dimension. Being a European Capital of Culture can ...
for 2021, however its mandate was moved to 2022 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. From this mandate, the industrial zone in Liman neighborhood was repurposed as an artist quarter known as ''Distrikt''. Due the continued efforts of local artists, the city became a
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
Creative City of Media Arts in 2023.


Cuisine

Typical Serbian food can be found in Novi Sad, including traditional dishes like ćevapi, burek, kajmak, kiseli kupus, kiflice and pasulj, as well as fish dishes, local cheeses and charcuterie. Restaurants and farmsteads offer fresh produce from local farmers and also regional vintages from Fruska Gora's wineries. Modern alternatives are available at some of the city's top restaurants, which prepare traditional fare with an updated twist. Pastry shops serve local specialties such as layered cakes made from ground nuts and cream, referred to as 'torta' in Serbian. Desserts also often include raspberries, one of the region's largest exports, and historic Dunavska Street is home to many ice cream parlors. Index sandwich, named after university student index books, is a popular local street food since the 1980s. It is made out of a bread roll stuffed with melted cheese, ham, mushrooms and lashings of sauce.


Museums

The city has several museums and galleries, both public and privately owned. The best known institution in the city is the Museum of Vojvodina, founded in 1847, which houses a permanent collection of
Serbian culture Serbian culture is a term that encompasses the Serbian art, artistic, Serbian cuisine, culinary, Serbian literature, literary, Music of Serbia, musical, Politics of Serbia, political and Serb traditions, social elements that are representati ...
and life in
Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...
since ancient times. The Museum of Novi Sad, located in the Petrovaradin Fortress, has a permanent collection featuring the history of the old fortress and the city. The Gallery of Matica Srpska is the largest and most respected exhibition space in the city, with two galleries in the city centre. Other museums include Museum of Contemporary Art of Vojvodina, The Gallery of Fine Arts – Gift Collection of Rajko Mamuzić and The Pavle Beljanski Memorial Collection, featuring one of the most extensive collections of Serbian art from the 1900s until the 1970s.


Tourism

Since 2000, the number of tourists visiting Novi Sad each year has steadily risen. During the annual EXIT music festival in July, the city is full of young people from all over Europe. In 2017, over 200,000 visitors from 60 countries came to the festival, attending about 35 concerts. Other events include shows and congresses organized by Novi Sad Fair, a local management company, bringing in many businesspersons and entrepreneurs to the city. Every May, Novi Sad is home to the largest
agricultural show An agricultural show is a public event exhibiting the equipment, animals, sports and recreation associated with agriculture and animal husbandry. The largest comprise a livestock show (a judged event or display in which selective breeding, bree ...
in the region, having attracted 600,000 attendees in 2005. The tourist port, near Varadin Bridge in the city centre, welcomes cruise boats from across Europe that travel the Danube. The most recognized structure in Novi Sad is the Petrovaradin Fortress, which dominates the skyline and also offers scenic views of the city. The nearby historic neighbourhood of Stari Grad has many monuments, museums, cafes, restaurants and shops. Also in the vicinity, is the
Fruška Gora Fruška gora ( sr-Cyrl, Фрушка гора) is a mountain in Syrmia, with most of the mountain being part of Serbia and its westernmost edge extending into eastern Croatia. The Serbian part of the mountain forms the country's oldest National p ...
National Park, approximately from the city centre. According to the data of the Republic Institute of Statistics of Serbia, a total of 234,708 tourist arrivals were realized in the territory of the City in 2023, which represents an increase compared to the same period in 2022 by 7.2 percent. Also, last year a total of 567,926 overnight stays were realized, which represents a growth of 1.2 percent.


Economy

Novi Sad is the economic centre of
Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...
, the most fertile agricultural region in
Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
. The city also represents one of the largest economic and cultural hubs in Serbia. Novi Sad had always been a developed city within the former
Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...
. In 1981, its GDP per capita was 172% of the Yugoslav average. During the 1990s, the city, like the rest of Serbia, was severely affected by an internationally imposed trade embargo and hyperinflation of the Yugoslav dinar. The embargo, along with economic mismanagement, led to a decay or demise of once important industrial combines, such as ''Novkabel'' (electric cable industry), ''Pobeda'' (metal industry), ''Jugoalat'' (tools), ''Albus'' and ''HINS'' (chemical industry). Practically the only viable large facilities remaining today are the oil refinery, located northeast of the city, and the thermal power plant. The economy of Novi Sad has mostly recovered from that period and grown strongly since 2001, shifting from an industry-driven economy to the tertiary sector. The processes involved in privatizing state and society-owned enterprises, as well as strong private incentives, have increased the share of privately owned companies to over 95% in the district, with small and medium-size enterprises dominating the city's
economic development In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...
. The significance of Novi Sad as a financial centre is already proven, by being home to the national headquarters of numerous banks, such as Erste Bank, Vojvođanska banka, and Crédit Agricole; as well as the third largest insurance company in Serbia, DDOR Novi Sad. Furthermore, the city is home to major energy companies like
Naftna Industrija Srbije Naftna Industrija Srbije ( sr-Cyrl, Нафтна Индустрија Србије, lit=Petroleum Industry of Serbia; abbr. NIS / НИС) is a Serbian multinational oil and gas company with headquarters in NIS building, Novi Sad, Serbia. NIS ...
oil company and Srbijagas gas company. It is also the seat of many farms for wheat production and
trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cr ...
. Novi Sad is also a growing information technology centre within Serbia, second only to
Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
. As many as 900 IT companies operate in Novi Sad out of a total of 2,500 registered in the territory of the Republic of Serbia with over 11,500 employees. As of September 2017, Novi Sad has one of 14
free economic zone A free-trade zone (FTZ) is a class of special economic zone. It is a geographic area where goods may be imported, stored, handled, manufactured, or reconfigured and re- exported under specific customs regulation and generally not subjec ...
s established in Serbia. The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2022):


Politics

Novi Sad is the administrative centre of the Autonomous Province of
Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...
, and as such, home to Vojvodina's
Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
and Provincial Assembly. The city's administrative bodies include the city assembly as the representative body, as well as the mayor and
city government A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
defining the executive bodies. The mayor and city assembly members are chosen through direct elections. The city assembly has 78 seats, while the city government consists of 11 members. The mayor and members of the city's assembly are elected to four-year terms. The city government is elected by the city assembly at the proposal of the mayor. As of 2025, the mayor of Novi Sad is Žarko Mićin of the
Serbian Progressive Party The Serbian Progressive Party (, SNS) is a major populist, catch-all party, catch-all List of political parties in Serbia, political party in Serbia. It has been the Ruling party, ruling party since 2012. Miloš Vučević, the former prime mi ...
. While his party holds the majority of seats in the city assembly, the Socialist Party of Serbia, the Democratic Party of Serbia, as well as other parties and groups, are also represented. The city of Novi Sad is divided into 47 local communities within two city municipalities, Novi Sad and Petrovaradin, which are separated by the Danube. ;City holidays The city commemorates the year 1694, when it was established. ;Coat of arms The design consists of three white towers placed in the centre, set against a blue sky. A white dove holding an olive branch flies above the larger middle tower. All three structures have rooftops with crenellations, as well as opened windows and closed gates. Below the towers lies a green background, with a wavy white line depicting the river
Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...
.


Society


Education

Novi Sad is one of the most important centres of higher education and research in Serbia, with four universities overall and numerous professional, technical, and private colleges and
research institute A research institute, research centre, or research organization is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often implies natural ...
s, including a law school with its own publication. The largest educational institution in the city is the University of Novi Sad, a public school established in 1960. , it has 14 faculties, 9 of which are located on the main university campus. It is attended by more than 50,000 students and has a total staff of nearly 5,000. Business Academy University and EducoNS University are private schools also located in the city. Other educational institutions include Novi Sad Open University, offering professional courses in adult education, and the Protestant Theological Seminary. , there are 37 elementary schools (33 public and 4 private) with about 26,000 students. The
secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
system consists of 25 vocational schools (12 public and 13 private) and 4 gymnasiums with almost 18,000 students.


Media

Novi Sad has one major daily newspaper, '' Dnevnik'', and among the periodicals, the monthly magazine '' Vojvodjanski magazin'' stands out. The city is also home to the headquarters of regional public broadcaster, '' Radio Television of Vojvodina (RTV)'', and municipal public broadcaster, ''Novosadska televizija'', as well as a few commercial TV stations such as ''Kanal 9'', ''Panonija'' and ''RTV Most''. Major local commercial radio stations include '' Radio AS FM'' and '' Radio 021''. Novi Sad is also known as a publishing centre. The most important publishing houses are ''Matica srpska'', ''Stilos'' and ''Prometej''. Well-known journals, in literature and art, include '' Letopis Matice srpske'', the oldest Serbian Journal, ''Polja'', which is issued by the Cultural centre of Novi Sad, and ''Zlatna greda'', published by the Association of Writers of Vojvodina. The city hosts an annual literature conference, Book Talk.


Sports

Founded in 1790, the '''City Marksmen Association became the first sporting organization in Novi Sad. Founded on 28 March 1885, VK Danubius 1885 is the oldest rowing club in former Yugoslavia. A more widespread interest in competitive sports developed after the ''Municipal Association of Physical Culture'' was created in 1959 and when the Spens Sports center was built in 1981. Today, about 220 sports organizations are active in Novi Sad. Professional sports in Novi Sad mostly revolve around the
Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...
multi-sport association. Having won two championships in 1966 and 1989, the FK Vojvodina football club represents the 3rd all-time best team in Serbia, right behind its two Belgrade rivals,
Red Star A red star, five-pointed and filled, is a symbol that has often historically been associated with communist ideology, particularly in combination with the hammer and sickle, but is also used as a purely socialist symbol in the 21st century. ...
and Partizan. With 13 championship titles, OK Vojvodina is the top volleyball team in the country. As for handball,
RK Vojvodina RK Vojvodina () is a Serbian professional handball club based in Novi Sad. They compete in the Serbian Handball Super League. History Founded in 1948, the club won the Serbia and Montenegro Handball Super League and Serbia and Montenegro Han ...
has won the national championship on multiple occasions. Athletes from Novi Sad had the honour of participating in the first
Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...
in Athens. The largest number of Novi Sad competitors, to participate in the Olympics, was at the Atlanta Games. Eleven athletes won 6 medals there. Three also competed at the 1980 Moscow Games, while two participated in the 1976 Montreal Games and the 1956 Melbourne Games. Many national and international competitions are held in the city. Novi Sad played host to the European and World Championships in
table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...
in 1981 and the 29th Chess Olympiad in 1990. It also welcomed the European and World Championships in sambo, the Balkan and European Championships in
judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...
, the 1987 final match of the Saporta Cup in European basketball, and the final tournament of the European volleyball cup. Furthermore, Novi Sad co-hosted the 2005 European Basketball Championship, as well as hosting the 2017 Volleyball World League matches. The year 2018 saw the city welcome the Senior European Fencing Championships and the European Senior Karate Championships. The city also holds traditional sporting events such as the Novi Sad marathon, international swimming competitions and many other events. The very first 'MTB Petrovaradin Fortress Cup' took place in 2018, allowing national and regional cyclists to compete. It is also the first mountain bike competition to be held in Serbia.


Recreation

The inhabitants of Novi Sad engage in a wide range of recreational and leisure activities. With regards to
team sport A team sport is a type of sport where the fundamental nature of the game or sport requires the participation of multiple individuals working together as a team, and it is inherently impossible or highly impractical to execute the sport as a s ...
s,
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
and
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
have the highest numbers of participants. Cycling is also popular due to the city's flat terrain and the extensive off-road network, found in nearby mountainous
Fruška Gora Fruška gora ( sr-Cyrl, Фрушка гора) is a mountain in Syrmia, with most of the mountain being part of Serbia and its westernmost edge extending into eastern Croatia. The Serbian part of the mountain forms the country's oldest National p ...
. Hundreds of commuters cycle the roads, bike lanes and bike paths daily. Proximity to the
Fruška Gora Fruška gora ( sr-Cyrl, Фрушка гора) is a mountain in Syrmia, with most of the mountain being part of Serbia and its westernmost edge extending into eastern Croatia. The Serbian part of the mountain forms the country's oldest National p ...
National Park attracts many city dwellers on the weekends. They enjoy the numerous hiking trails, restaurants and monasteries located in and around the mountain area. Occurring on the first weekend of every May, the '' Fruška Gora Marathon'' lets hikers, runners and cyclists take advantage of the many hiking trails. During the summer months, citizens from Novi Sad visit Lake Ledinci in Fruška Gora, as well as the numerous beaches situated along the
Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...
, the largest being Štrand in the Liman neighbourhood. There are also several recreational marinas bordering the river.


Transportation

;Air transport Novi Sad currently does not have its own civil airport. The city is roughly a one-hour drive from Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport, which connects it with capitals across Europe. The small Čenej Airfield to the north of the city is used for sporting and agricultural purposes. There are plans to upgrade it to serve for cargo and small-scale public transport, but the future of this initiative is uncertain. ;City transport The main public transportation system in Novi Sad consists of bus lines, operated by the public company JGSP Novi Sad. There are twenty-one urban lines and thirty-five suburban lines, with the main bus terminal being at the northern end of the Liberation Boulevard (Bulevar oslobođenja) next to the Novi Sad railway station, in addition to a smaller terminal in the town center. There are numerous taxi companies serving the city. The city used to have a tram system, but it was decommissioned in 1957. ;Rail and road transport Novi Sad lies on branch B of the Pan-European Corridor X. The A1 motorway connects the city with
Subotica Subotica (, ; , , ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city in Central Europe and the administrative center of the North Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. Formerly the largest city of Vojvodina region, contemporary Sub ...
and
Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
to the north and the capital city of
Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
to the south. It runs parallel to the Budapest–Belgrade railroad, which connects it to major European cities. On 19 March 2022 the "Soko" (meaning "falcon") high-speed line between Novi Sad and Belgrade opened and runs with 18 departures daily. Its maximum speed is 200 km/h and the 75 kilometres between Belgrade and Novi Sad are covered in 35 minutes. Between Belgrade and Novi Sad there are a total of 60 departures per day. There are three types of trains in total. "Intercity" (SOKO), "Regio-ekspres" and "Regio". Novi Sad is connected with
Zrenjanin Zrenjanin ( sr-Cyrl, Зрењанин, ; ; ; ; ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Central Banat District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The city urban area has a population of 67,129 inh ...
and
Timișoara Timișoara (, , ; , also or ; ; ; see #Etymology, other names) is the capital city of Timiș County, Banat, and the main economic, social and cultural center in Western Romania. Located on the Bega (Tisza), Bega River, Timișoara is consider ...
on the northeast and Ruma on south with a regional highway; there are plans to upgrade it to a motorway or an expressway, with a tunnel under the
Fruška Gora Fruška gora ( sr-Cyrl, Фрушка гора) is a mountain in Syrmia, with most of the mountain being part of Serbia and its westernmost edge extending into eastern Croatia. The Serbian part of the mountain forms the country's oldest National p ...
shortcutting the ''Iriški Venac'' mountain pass. Three bridges cross the Danube in Novi Sad (as of 2020): Liberty Bridge (Most Slobode) connects Sremska Kamenica with the city proper. Varadin Bridge (Varadinski most) and Žeželj Bridge (Žeželjev most), connects Petrovaradin with city centre, and used for railway and heavy truck traffic. Many bridges also span the Danube-Tisa-Danube canal, running north of the city centre. Currently, two bridges over the Danube are being built, along with two new railway bridges over the Danube-Tisa-Danube canal. ;Water transport The Port of Novi Sad is located on the outskirts of the city on
Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...
river. Since May 2019 it has been owned by DP WORLD from the UAE. With over a million tonnes of load turnover, it is the largest cargo port in Serbia.


International relations


Twin towns – sister cities

Novi Sad has relationships with several
twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two ...
towns and
twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two ...
cities. One of the main streets in its
city centre A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...
is named after
Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...
in Italy; and likewise Modena has named a park in its town centre Parco di Piazza d'Armi Novi Sad. A city square near the Varadin Bridge is named after
Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...
in Germany; and likewise Dortmund has named a city square Platz von Novi Sad. The Novi Sad Friendship Bridge in
Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...
, United Kingdom, by Buro Happold, was also named in honour of Novi Sad. As of October 2023, there plans to establish twin city cooperation with Klagenfurt and
Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...
. Novi Sad is twinned with: *
Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
, Egypt (2021) *
Budva Budva (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Будва, or ) is a town in the Coastal Montenegro, Coastal region of Montenegro. It had 27,445 inhabitants as of 2023, and is the centre of Budva Municipality. The coastal area around Budva, called the Budv ...
, Montenegro (1996) *
Changchun Changchun is the capital and largest city of Jilin, Jilin Province, China, on the Songliao Plain. Changchun is administered as a , comprising seven districts, one county and three county-level cities. At the 2020 census of China, Changchun ha ...
, China (1981) *
Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
, Ohio, United States (2023) *
Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...
,
Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
(2017) *
Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...
, Germany (1982) *
Gomel Gomel (, ) or Homyel (, ) is a city in south-eastern Belarus. It serves as the administrative centre of Gomel Region and Gomel District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it is the List of cities and largest ...
, Belarus (2013) *
Ilioupoli Ilioupoli (,  " Sun City") is a suburban municipality and a town in Central Athens regional unit and located in the central-southern part of the Athens agglomeration. Its name is the modern form of the ancient name of Heliopolis in Egypt ...
, Greece (1994) * Istočno Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (2021) *
Kumanovo Kumanovo ( ; , sq-definite, Kumanova; also known by other #Etymology, alternative names) is the second-largest city in North Macedonia after the capital Skopje and the seat of Kumanovo Municipality, the List of municipalities in the Republic ...
, North Macedonia (2019) *
Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...
, Italy (1964) *
Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət, t=Lower Newtown; colloquially shortened to Nizhny) is a city and the administrative centre of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast an ...
, Russia (2006) *
Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...
, England, United Kingdom (1989) *
Oryol Oryol ( rus, Орёл, , ɐˈrʲɵl, a=ru-Орёл.ogg, links=y, ), also transliterated as Orel or Oriol, is a Classification of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Oryol Oblast, Russia, situated on the Oka Rive ...
, Russia (2017) *
Pécs Pécs ( , ; ; Slovak language, Slovak: ''Päťkostolie''; also known by #Name, alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the c ...
, Hungary (2009) * Shiraz, Iran (2023) * Taverny, France (2020) *
Timișoara Timișoara (, , ; , also or ; ; ; see #Etymology, other names) is the capital city of Timiș County, Banat, and the main economic, social and cultural center in Western Romania. Located on the Bega (Tisza), Bega River, Timișoara is consider ...
, Romania (2005) * Tivat, Montenegro (2023) * Toluca, Mexico (2015)


Partner cities

Most frequent cooperation is done with
Budva Budva (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Будва, or ) is a town in the Coastal Montenegro, Coastal region of Montenegro. It had 27,445 inhabitants as of 2023, and is the centre of Budva Municipality. The coastal area around Budva, called the Budv ...
,
Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...
, Taverny,
Timișoara Timișoara (, , ; , also or ; ; ; see #Etymology, other names) is the capital city of Timiș County, Banat, and the main economic, social and cultural center in Western Romania. Located on the Bega (Tisza), Bega River, Timișoara is consider ...
, Tivat and Ulm in the fields of culture, tourism and sports. Besides twin cities, Novi Sad has many signed agreements on joint cooperation with other cities, some of which could potential lead to twin city agreements. (''see also: Politics of Novi Sad#Twin cities, Politics of Novi Sad''). Novi Sad has signed agreements on joint cooperation with cities: * Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina (2006) * Enghien-les-Bains, France (2020) * Frunzensky District, Saint Petersburg, Frunzensky District, Russia (2003) * Gothenburg Municipality, Gothenburg, Sweden (2002) * Jinan, China (2025) * Kranj, Slovenia (2004) * Krasnodar, Russia * Lviv, Ukraine (1999) * Nant, Aveyron, Nant, France (2002) * Osijek, Croatia (2002) * Saint-Leu-la-Forêt, France (2020) * Szeged, Hungary (2001) * Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina (2002) * Ulm, Germany (2000) Novi Sad is an associate member of Eurocities.


See also

*List of people from Novi Sad *List of honorary citizens of Novi Sad *List of cities, towns and villages in Serbia (A-M), List of places in Serbia *List of cities, towns and villages in Vojvodina *List of cities and towns on the river Danube


References


Bibliography

*Agneš Ozer, ''Petrovaradinska tvrđava – vodič kroz vreme i prostor'', Novi Sad, 2002 *Agneš Ozer, ''Petrovaradin fortress – a guide through time and space'', Novi Sad, 2002 *Boško Petrović – Živan Milisavac, ''Novi Sad – monografija'', Novi Sad, 1987 *Branko Ćurčin, ''Slana Bara – nekad i sad'', Novi Sad, 2002 *Branko Ćurčin, ''Novosadsko naselje Šangaj – nekad i sad'', Novi Sad, 2004 *Đorđe Randelj, ''Novi Sad – slobodan grad'', Novi Sad, 1997 *Jovan Mirosavljević, ''Brevijar ulica Novog Sada 1745–2001'', Novi Sad, 2002 *Jovan Mirosavljević, ''Novi Sad – atlas ulica'', Novi Sad, 1998 *Milorad Grujić, ''Vodič kroz Novi Sad i okolinu'', Novi Sad, 2004 *Mirjana Džepina, ''Društveni i zabavni život starih Novosađana'', Novi Sad, 1982 *Petar Jonović, ''Knjižare Novog Sada 1790–1990'', Novi Sad, 1990 *Petar Jonović – Dr Milan Vranić – Dr Dušan Popov, ''Znameniti knjižari i izdavači Novog Sada'', Novi Sad, 1993 *Radenko Gajić, ''Petrovaradinska tvrđava – Gibraltar na Dunavu'', Novi Sad, 1994 *Veljko Milković, ''Petrovaradin kroz legendu i stvarnost'', Novi Sad, 2001 *Veljko Milković, ''Petrovaradin i Srem – misterija prošlosti'', Novi Sad, 2003 *Veljko Milković, ''Petrovaradinska tvrđava – podzemlje i nadzemlje'', Novi Sad, 2005 *Veljko Milković, ''Petrovaradinska tvrđava – kosmički lavirint otkrića'', Novi Sad, 2007 *Zoran Knežev, ''Novi Sad : Priče iz prošlosti'', Novi Sad, 2017 *Zoran Knežev, ''Vojvodina : Hronike i legende'', Novi Sad, 2018 *Zoran Knežev, ''Novi Sad : Kafanoloija i prostitucija'', Novi Sad, 2018 *Zoran Knežev, ''Novi Sad: Prošlost u pričama'', Novi Sad, 2019 *Zoran Knežev, ''Turistički vodič kroz stari Novi Sad'', Novi Sad, 2019 *Zoran Knežev, ''Vojvodina: Kazivanja i sećanja'', Novi Sad, 2021 *Zoran Rapajić, ''Novi Sad bez tajni'', Beograd, 2002 *Zvonimir Golubović, ''Racija u Južnoj Bačkoj 1942. godine'', Novi Sad, 1991 *''30 godina mesne zajednice "7. Juli" u Novom Sadu 1974–2004 – monografija'', Novi Sad, 2004 *''Enciklopedija Novog Sada'', sveske 1–26, Novi Sad, 1993–2005 *''Sveske za istoriju Novog Sada'', sveske 4–5, Novi Sad, 1993–1994 *''Ustav za čitaonicu srpsku u Novom Sadu'', Novi Sad, 1993


External links


Novi Sad
– official website
City assembly
– official website (archived)

.
Novi Sad 2022 – European Capital of Culture
– official website
Visit Distrikt Novi Sad
– official website {{Authority control Novi Sad, Populated places established in 1694 Populated places in Vojvodina Places in Bačka Municipalities and cities of Vojvodina Populated places on the Danube Port cities in Serbia South Bačka District 1694 establishments in Europe