Morava Valley

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Pomoravlje (region)
)
Not to be confused with Lower Morava Valley and Upper Morava Valley, the geomorphological regions of the Czech Republic.
For other uses, see Morava (disambiguation) and Pomoravlje (disambiguation).

Great Morava flow

The Morava Valley

Aegean sea
.

Čačak
Kraljevo
Kruševac

West Morava Valley

Location

The West Morava Valley (

Stari Vlah
.

Geography

The West Morava Valley is a composite valley, which means it consists of a sequence of valleys (depressions) and gorges. Sections include:

Sub-regions

The West Morava Valley comprises several historical and geographical regions of Serbia, which are its own geographical sub-regions. From west to east, they are:

Population

The West Morava Valley had a population of 531,978 inhabitants by the 2002 census of population, which gives an average population density of 102 inhabitants per square kilometer. The largest is in the area of Čačak (184 per km2) and the smallest in the neighboring area of Lučani (54 per km2). Despite large urban centers, population has been depopulating for almost two decades. The population of the Morava Valley by the official censuses of population:

  • 1948 – 375,798
  • 1953 – 417,667
  • 1961 – 448,393
  • 1971 – 493,905
  • 1981 – 541,428
  • 1991 – 551,871
  • 2002 – 531,978

Largest settlements of the West Morava Valley in 2002 were:

Economy

The West Morava Valley is economically the most developed of all three Morava river valleys. Being a large floodplain, frequently flooded by the West Morava due to the extreme fluctuation of its discharge, The West Morava Valley was always an agricultural area, but in the second half of 20th century industry also developed in all major towns along the river.

Agriculture

Fertile land in the valley is best for grains and orchards. Corn is being cultivated in the Čačak-Kraljevo depression, while wheat is being grown in the Kruševac depression. Dragačevo region is known for the potato production. Čačak area is known for the plum growing, Požega is known for the apples ("budimka" brand) and Župa region around Aleksandrovac is famous for white grapes and wine production. The reservoir Parmenac near Čačak is created for the purpose of irrigation and further fertilization of the land. Also, out of all three sections of the Morava Valley, the West Morava Valley is the most forested one.

Mining and industry

The West Morava Valley is rich in

hard coal, asbestos, magnesite, chromium
, etc. As a result, the industry is very developed with a string of heavily industrialized towns: Požega, Čačak, Kraljevo, Trstenik and Kruševac. With the valley of the Ibar, the West Morava has a huge potential in electricity production. Hydroelectric power plants Ovčar (6 MW) and Međuvršje (7 MW) with artificial lakes are built near Čačak, in the Ovčar-Kablar gorge, so as the lakes Parmenac (also on Morava) and Ćelije (on Rasina).

Transportation and tourism

The entire river valley is a natural route for both roads and railways connecting eastern, central and western Serbia, so traffic is also important for the economy of the region. Tourism is almost entirely based on mineral spas, as the West Morava Valley is dubbed "First spa region of Serbia". Best known spas include Vrnjačka Banja, Mataruška Banja,

Tara and Zlatibor
, are marking the eastern border of the region.

South Morava Valley

Location

The South Morava Valley (Serbian: Јужно Поморавље / Južno Pomoravlje) is the valley of the South Morava. It is the southernmost region of Serbia, bordering North Macedonia. It is meridionally elongated, in the south-to-north direction. In the narrower sense, as a valley of the South Morava, it occupies an area of 4,800 km2, of which 1,660 km2 on Kosovo and the rest in Central Serbia. In wider sense, the South Morava Valley is identified with southern Serbia in general and covers the entire watershed of the South Morava (15,469 km2).

Geography

Niš

Sub-regions

Sub-regions which partially make up the South Morava Valley include:

  • Jablanica
  • Pusta Reka

Population

The South Morava Valley had a population of 680,176 inhabitants by the official 2018 estimate by the State Statistical Office, with an average population density of 217 inhabitants per square kilometer, but the area's density is in general smaller, average density being enlarged by the large centers like the city of Niš (430 per km2) and Leskovac. The South Morava Valley has been known for rural depopulation and stagnation almost for the last five decades while the cities grew larger. The population of the Morava Valley by the official censuses of population and latest estimates (including the valley in narrower sense: municipalities of Preševo, Bujanovac, Vladičin Han, Vlasotince, Doljevac, Merošina, Gadžin Han, Aleksinac and Ražanj, and cities of Vranje, Leskovac and Niš):[4][5][6]

  • 1948 – 540,864
  • 1953 – 577,081
  • 1961 – 624,225
  • 1971 – 691,293
  • 1981 – 753,336
  • 1991 – 771,545
  • 2002 – 732,185
  • 2011 – 716,688
  • 2018 – 680,176 (official estimate)

The largest settlements of the South Morava Valley (2011 census; * denotes 2002 data):

Economy

Agriculture

The South Morava Valley is fertile and thus is the major fruit and vegetable growing area in Serbia, especially the areas of Vranje, which is specialized in the production of peppers, and Leskovac, important tomato producing region, but other early vegetables as well. Vranje is also known for

semi-arid
.

Mining and industry

The mountains surrounding the region are rich in minerals and ores. The mountain of Besna Kobila has findings of zinc, lead and silver. Other findings include chromium, antimony, graphite, lithium and tungsten. Oil shales are found near Leskovac and Aleksinac. Aleksinac is also part of a large Aleksinac coal basin, while lignite is abundant in the area. Though South Morava has a significant potential for electricity production, it has not been dammed, though some parts of its watershed on the east (Vlasina, Vrla) have a series of hydro electrical plants (Vrla I, II, III and IV). Area is rich in mineral springs with many spas: Vranjska Banja, Bujanovčaka Banja, Ribarska Banja, Kulinska Banja, Klokot Banja, etc. There are several large industrial centers in the region, some of the largest in Serbia (Niš, Leskovac, Vranje). Secondary centers are Aleksinac, Vlasotince and Preševo.

Transportation

Along with the Great Morava Valley, its natural continuation, the South Morava Valley is an important European transportation route and Niš is a major crossroads. It makes a section of the Belgrade-

Peć-Prahovo
, etc.

Great Morava Valley

Location

The Great Morava Valley (Serbian: Велико Поморавље / Veliko Pomoravlje) is the valley of the Great Morava. It is often referred to only as the Morava Valley (Serbian: Поморавље / Pomoravlje; Pomoravlje District is located in the southern area of the Great Morava Valley). At the beginning, it is bounded by the mountains of Juhor on the west and Kučaj on the east. In the later section, the Morava Valley gets much wider, with only smaller hills bounding it and opens widely to the Danube and Banat region, across the river. It covers an area of 4,360 square milometers, which is over 70% of the entire Great Morava watershed.

Geography

Požarevac
Smederevo

The Great Morava Valley is a valley region of the middle, Peripannonic Serbia. In the Neogene, it was a deep bay ("Morava Bay") of the inner

Đerdap
gorge 600,000 years ago. As the sea withdrew, the Great Morava cut in its flow through the drained bay, almost for 500 meters. The region is 120 kilometers long and up to 40 kilometers wide. Altitudes vary from 75 meters on the north to 130 meters on the south. It has a tempered continental climate with not much rainfall but frequent floods. Composite valley of the Great Morava has three main sections.

  • The Upper Great Morava or Ćuprija Depression (Gornjovelikomoravska or Ćuprijska kotlina) – southern half of the Great Morava Valley, located between the mountains of Juhor (east) and Kučaj (west). After the Neogene phase, in which the depression was the southernmost extension of the Pannonian Sea, the Great Morava cut through from the relative elevation of 350 meters ("Five Morava Plateaus"). It has three larger (Paraćin, Ćuprija and Jagodina) and two towns (Varvarin, Ćićevac), so as several large villages. In this section, the Great Morava receives the tributaries of Kalenićka Reka, Lugomir, Belica (from the left), Crnica and Ravanica (from the right).
  • The Bagrdan Gorge (Bagrdanska klisura) – wide gorge, epigynously cut in the nearby hills. It is 17 kilometers long and it is the final gorge of the entire Morava course. It was named after the village of Bagrdan. River Osanica flows into the Great Morava from the left in the gorge. In the 1980s, the gorge was planned for the hydro electrical dam construction and creation of a reservoire.
  • The Lower Great Morava or Požarevac Depression (Donjovelikomoravska or Požarevačka kotlina) – northern half, ending section of the entire Morava river system, where it finally empties into the Danube. Very wide and open to the north (
    Pannonian Plain), with two larger cities, Smederevo and Požarevac
    .

Sub-regions

Regions, which partially or completely make the Great Morava Valley, include Jasenica, Lepenica, Resava and Temnić. Because the Great Morava and West Morava are considered the eastern and southern borders, respectively, of the super-region of Šumadija, they largely overlap with it in these areas.

Population

The South Morava Valley had a population of 545,517 inhabitants by the 2002 census of population, with an average population density of 125 inhabitants per square kilometer. Extremes include Smederevo, with 230 per km2, and Despotovac, with 41 per km2. Despite being developed as an agricultural and industrial region, it has been depopulating for the last few decades. The population of the Morava Valley by the official censuses of population:

  • 1948 – 495,903
  • 1953 – 530,335
  • 1961 – 565,584
  • 1971 – 594,934
  • 1981 – 632,984
    During World War I, most of the Morava Valley was occupied by the Kingdom of Bulgaria
  • 1991 – 586,033
  • 2002 – 545,517

In the 1980s plans were made to join towns of Jagodina, Paraćin and Ćuprija into the first planned conurbation in Yugoslavia, including inter-city tramway lines, etc., but the idea was dropped later. The largest settlements of the Great Morava Valley in 2002 were:

Economy

Agriculture

With very fertile arable land, almost endless gardens, orchards and vineyards and its intensive agriculture, the Great Morava Valley is the granary of Central Serbia. The Great Morava agricultural region covers much larger area than the Great Morava Valley or even the watershed of the Great Morava: regions of Mlava and

beans in Serbia. Horse stud farm Ljubičevo
is located near Požarevac. In the past centuries the Great Morava Valley was famous for its vast forest, but today it is almost entirely turned into an arable land.

Mining and industry

Unlike the West Morava Valley and South Morava Valley, the Great Morava Valley has almost no ores or minerals, except for the

MW) is located near Svilajnac. One of three Serbian cement plants is located in Popovac (formerly "Novi Popovac", in 2002 bought by one of the Swiss cement company Holcim
).

Transportation

The Great Morava Valley was always an important traffic route. In Roman times, it was the location of Via Militaris, while in the medieval period Constantinople road ran through. Today, it makes a section of the European route E75 (Belgrade-Niš highway) which continues into the South Morava Valley. It also a route for the Belgrade-Niš railway. In past times, the Great Morava used to be navigable, but due to the huge amounts of materials which are brought by the South Morava, as a result of extreme erosion in its watershed, the river bed of the Great Morava is literally being covered up so the river is not navigable today. Only some 3 kilometers near its mouth into the Danube can be used for navigation.

See also

References

  1. ^ Hall, Richard C. 2002. The Balkan Wars 1912–1913: Prelude to the First World War. New York: Routledge, p. 45.
  2. ^ Kantowicz, Edward R. 1999. The Rage of Nations. Grand Rapids, MI: W. B. Eerdmans, p. 84.
  3. ^ Mitchell, Laurence. 2013. Serbia. Bucks, UK: Brant Travel Guides, p. 3.
  4. ISBN 978-86-6161-109-4
    .
  5. ISSN 0354-4206
    .
  6. ISSN 0354-4206
    .

Sources

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