The Raška District ( sr, / , ) is one of eight administrative districts of

Šumadija and Western Serbia Šumadija (, sr-Cyrl, Шумадија) is a geographical region in the central part of Serbia. The area used to be heavily covered with forests, hence the name (from ''šuma'' 'forest'). The city of Kragujevac is the administrative center of th ...

. It expands to the south-western part of the country. According to the 2011 census results, it has a population of 309,258 inhabitants. The administrative center of the Raška district is

Kraljevo Kraljevo ( sr-cyr, Краљево, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Raška District in central Serbia. It is situated on the confluence of West Morava and Ibar, in the geographical region of Šumadija, between the mountains of K ...

Municipalities

The district encompasses the municipalities of: *

Vrnjačka Banja Vrnjačka Banja ( sr-cyr, Врњачка Бања) is a town and municipality located in the Raška District of central Serbia. The population of the town is 10,065 inhabitants, while the population of the municipality is 27,527 inhabitants. Vrnja ...

* Raška *

Novi Pazar Novi Pazar ( sr-cyr, Нови Пазар, lit. "New Bazaar"; ) is a city located in the Raška District of southwestern Serbia. As of the 2011 census, the urban area has 66,527 inhabitants, while the city administrative area has 100,410 inhabit ...

Tutin Tutin may refer to: Places *Tutin, Serbia, town in Serbia Surname *Arthur Tutin (1907–1961), English footballer *Dorothy Tutin (1930–2001), English actress *Mary Tutin, maiden name of Mary Gillick (1881–1965), English sculptor *Tom Tutin (1 ...

Demographics

According to the last official census done in 2011, the Raška District has 309,258 inhabitants. 53.2% of the population lives in the urban areas. Ethnic composition of the district:

Society and culture

Culture

At the outskirts of Kraljevo stands the

Žiča The Žiča Monastery ( sr, Манастир Жича, Manastir Žiča, or ) is an early 13th-century Serbian Orthodox monastery near Kraljevo, Serbia. The monastery, together with the Church of the Holy Dormition, was built by the first King o ...

monastery. This spiritual center of the Serbian medieval state was built around 1220, to become also the center of newly founded Serbian Arch-episcopacy. The

Studenica monastery The Studenica Monastery ( sr, / ), ) is a 12th-century Serbian Orthodox monastery situated southwest of Kraljevo and east of Ivanjica, in central Serbia. It is one of the largest and richest Serb Orthodox monasteries. Stefan Nemanja, the foun ...

was built in the late twelfth century, as the endowment of the Serb ruler

Stefan Nemanja Stefan Nemanja (Serbian Cyrillic: , ; – 13 February 1199) was the Grand Prince ( Veliki Župan) of the Serbian Grand Principality (also known as Raška, lat. ) from 1166 to 1196. A member of the Vukanović dynasty, Nemanja founded the Nemanji ...

, who endowed it richly with the icons and books. After he had become a monk and left for Serbian Hilandar on the Mt. Athos, his older son Stefan, later named the "First-Crowned", took his place in taking care over the monastery. In the vicinity of Novi Pazar stands the

Sopoćani ) , other_names = , image = Manastir Sopocani 2.jpg , caption = Overview of the Sopoćani , order = Serbian Orthodox , established = 1259 - 1270 , disestablished = 1689 , reestablished = 1926 , ...

monastery, built around 1260 as the endowment of King

Stefan Uros I Stefan may refer to: * Stefan (given name) * Stefan (surname) * Ștefan, a Romanian given name and a surname * Štefan, a Slavic given name and surname * Stefan (footballer) (born 1988), Brazilian footballer * Stefan Heym, pseudonym of German writ ...

, the son of King Stephen the First-Crowned. The primary and major value of the Sopoćani monastery are its frescoes, by which it ranks among the best examples of the European medieval painting.

Education

There are three universities located in the Raška District: ;Public * State University of Novi Pazar, founded in 2006 *

University of Kragujevac The University of Kragujevac ( sr, Универзитет у Крагујевцу, Univerzitet u Kragujevcu) is a public university in Kragujevac, Serbia. It is the oldest and the largest higher education institution in Šumadija and Western Ser ...

- there are two faculties of the university that are located in the municipalities of

and

**Faculty of Mechanical and Civil Engineering in Kraljevo **Faculty of Hotel Management and Tourism in Vrnjačka Banja ;Private *

International University of Novi Pazar The International University of Novi Pazar ( sr, Интернационални Универзитет у Новом Пазару, Internacionalni Univerzitet u Novom Pazaru) is a Serbian private university which was founded in 2002 with support of ...

, founded in 2002

References

Note: ''All official material made by Government of Serbia is public by law. Information was taken from .''

External links

* {{Authority control Districts of Šumadija and Western Serbia