# Vrbas, Serbia

Vrbas (Serbian Cyrillic: Врбас) is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. As of 2022, the town has a population of 20,892, while the municipality has 36,601 inhabitants.

## Name

Its name stems from the word for 'willow' in Serbian. During the SFRY period, the town was renamed Titov Vrbas (meaning 'Tito's Vrbas'), after Josip Broz Tito. Like all other towns in communist 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.

## History

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

## Inhabited places

Vrbas municipality includes the city of Vrbas and the following villages:
* Bačko Dobro Polje
* Zmajevo
* Kosančić
* Kucura
* Ravno Selo
* Savino Selo

## Demographics

According to the 2022 census results, the municipality has 36,601 inhabitants.

### Ethnic groups

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:
| Ethnic group | Population | % |
| Serbs | 22,739 | 62.13% |
| Montenegrins | 4,264 | 11.65% |
| Rusyns | 2,833 | 7.74% |
| Hungarians | 1,949 | 5.32% |
| Ukrainians | 626 | 1.71% |
| Croats | 379 | 1.04% |
| Roma | 336 | 0.92% |
| Slovaks | 256 | 0.70% |
| Yugoslavs | 151 | 0.41% |
| Macedonians | 119 | 0.33% |
| Muslims | 112 | 0.31% |
| Others | 2,837 | 7.75% |
| Total | 36,601 | |

## Economy

The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2018):
| Activity | Total |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 385 |
| Mining and quarrying | - |
| Manufacturing | 2,710 |
| Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply | 91 |
| Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities | 193 |
| Construction | 188 |
| Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles | 1,326 |
| Transportation and storage | 806 |
| Accommodation and food services | 259 |
| Information and communication | 74 |
| Financial and insurance activities | 125 |
| Real estate activities | 12 |
| Professional, scientific and technical activities | 249 |
| Administrative and support service activities | 516 |
| Public administration and defense; compulsory social security | 547 |
| Education | 661 |
| Human health and social work activities | 1,081 |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 191 |
| Other service activities | 117 |
| Individual agricultural workers | 270 |
| Total | 9,802 |

## Notable citizens

* 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)
* Ivan Kostić, politician (b. 1975)
* Magdolna Rúzsa, singer (b. 1985)
* Nikola Komazec, footballer (b. 1987)
* Ljubomir Fejsa, footballer (b. 1988)
* Bianka Buša, volleyball player (b. 1994)
* Maša Janković, basketball player (b. 2000)
* Milos Kerkez, Hungarian football player (b. 2003)

## Gallery

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