Vrbas, Serbia

Its name stems from the word "Willow" in the Serbian language. During the SFRY period, the town was renamed Titov Vrbas (meaning "the Vrbas of Tito"), after Josip Broz Tito. Like all other towns in Socialist Yugoslavia named after Tito, the first part was dropped once the new states were formed during the early 1990s.

In Rusyn, the town is known as Вербас, in Hungarian as Verbász, in Croatian as Vrbas, in German as Werbass, and in Turkish as Verbas.

NEU-VERBASZ in the Empire of Austria in 1859

Vrbas was mentioned first in 1213 during the administration of the Kingdom of Hungary. According to other sources, it was mentioned first in 1387.[3] In the 16th century it became a part of the Ottoman Empire. During Ottoman administration it was populated by ethnic Serbs.[4]

Since the Treaty of Passarowitz (1718), Vrbas and the Banat were placed under administration of the Habsburg Monarchy. According to the 1720 census, it was populated exclusively by Serbs (about 250 families[5]).[6]

After 1784 many Germans settled in the town founding a new settlement named Novi Vrbas (Neu-Verbasz) near the old Serb settlement, which then became known as Stari Vrbas (Old Vrbas).

In 1910, population of Novi Vrbas was mostly composed of ethnic Germans, while population of Stari Vrbas was ethnically mixed and was mainly composed of Serbs and Germans.[7]

In 1918, Vrbas became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which was later renamed to Yugoslavia. The town was under Axis occupation in 1941–1944, and during that time it was attached to Horthy's Hungary. As a consequence of the World War II events in Yugoslavia, the German population fled from the town after this war. At the same time, many settlers from Montenegro came to Vrbas and other neighboring places.

Vrbas municipality includes the city of Vrbas and the following villages:

• Bačko Dobro Polje
• Zmajevo
• Kosančić
• Kucura
• Ravno Selo
• Savino Selo

Map of Vrbas municipality

According to the 2011 census results, the municipality has 42,092 inhabitants.

Ethnic groups

See also: Serbs in Vojvodina, Montenegrins of Serbia, Pannonian Rusyns, Hungarians of Serbia, Croats of Serbia, Serbian lands, and List of Hungarian communities in Vojvodina

Churches in Vrbas.

Settlements with Serb ethnic majority are: Bačko Dobro Polje, Zmajevo, Kosančić, Ravno Selo and Vrbas. Ethnically mixed settlements are: Kucura (with relative Rusyn majority) and Savino Selo (with relative Montenegrin majority).

The ethnic composition of the municipality:[9]

Ethnic group	Population	%
Serbs	23,251	55.24%
Montenegrins	7,353	17.47%
Rusyns	3,375	8.02%
Hungarians	2,464	5.85%
Ukrainians	836	1.99%
Croats	549	1.30%
Roma	355	0.84%
Slovaks	286	0.68%
Yugoslavs	170	0.40%
Macedonians	149	0.35%
Germans	121	0.29%
Muslims	112	0.27%
Albanians	48	0.11%
Others	3,023	7.18%
Total	42,092

The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2018):[10]

• Molter Károly, writer (1890–1981)
• Vida Ognjenović, writer and director (b. 1941)
• Desanka Pešut, sports shooter (b. 1941)
• Lazar Ristovski, actor (b. 1952)
• Radoman Božović, politician and former Prime Minister of Serbia (b. 1953)
• Miodrag Kostić, businessman (b. 1959)
• Svetozar Šapurić, footballer (b. 1960)
• Igor Marojević, Serbian writer (b. 1968)
• Milorad Mažić, football referee (b. 1973)
• Magdolna Rúzsa, singer (b. 1985)
• Slobodan Vuković, footballer (b. 1986)
• Nikola Komazec, footballer (b. 1987)
• Ljubomir Fejsa, footballer (b. 1988)
• Bianka Buša, volleyball player (b. 1994)

• 
  The Calvinist church.
• 
  The Evangelical church.
• 
  The Immaculate Conception of Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church.
• 
  The Methodist church.

• Municipalities of Serbia
• South Bačka District
• Bačka
• List of places in Serbia
• List of cities, towns and villages in Vojvodina

• Slobodan Ćurčić, Broj stanovnika Vojvodine, Novi Sad, 1996.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vrbas.

• www.vrbas.net
• Vrbas
• Vrbas