Dimitrovgrad ( sr-cyr, Димитровград) alternatively Caribrod ( bg, Цариброд, Tsaribrod) is a town and municipality located in the

Pirot District The Pirot District ( sr, Пиротски Округ, Pirotski Okrug, ) is one of nine administrative districts of Southern and Eastern Serbia. It expands to the south-eastern parts of Serbia. According to the 2011 census results, it has a popul ...

of southeastern Serbia. According to 2011 census, the municipality of Dimitrovgrad has a population of 10,118 people and the town 6,278.

Name

Since 1950, the official name of the town has been ''Dimitrovgrad'' ( sr-Cyrl, Димитровград), but the name ''Caribrod'' ( sr-Cyrl, links=no, Цариброд) is also used. In

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

, the name ''Tsaribrod'' () is preferred because there is another Dimitrovgrad on the

Maritsa Maritsa or Maritza ( bg, Марица ), also known as Meriç ( tr, Meriç ) and Evros ( ell, Έβρος ), is a river that runs through the Balkans in Southeast Europe. With a length of ,Georgi Dimitrov, a Bulgarian Communist leader who advocated a union between the

Bulgarians Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe. Etymology Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely unders ...

and remaining Yugoslav nations to form the

Balkan Federation The Balkan Federation project was a left-wing political movement to create a country in the Balkans by combining Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey. The concept of a Balkan federation emerged in the late 19th century ...

. The idea was abandoned when Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito failed to reach agreements with

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

(

Tito–Stalin split The Tito–Stalin split or the Yugoslav–Soviet split was the culmination of a conflict between the political leaderships of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, under Josip Broz Tito and Joseph Stalin, respectively, in the years following World W ...

); however, Dimitrov himself did not become unpopular in Yugoslavia from the breakdown and subsequently, the name of the town continued to be in honour of him despite many citizens themselves having preferred ''Caribrod''. There have been attempts to return the old name, ''Caribrod'', but all had less than 50% turnout and most of them were in favor of keeping the name ''Dimitrovgrad''. In 2019, local government decided to add tables with name ''Caribrod'' on several municipality's objects in order to please the needs of people who like the former name. In October 2019 municipal assembly decided to return the old name to the municipality. The document is sent to

Ministry of Public Administration The Ministry of Public Administration () (abbreviated as MoPa) is primarily responsible for management of public administration in Bangladesh. Present minister is Sheikh Hasina Wazed and Minister of State is Farhad Hossain. Present Senior secre ...

for further procedures.

Geography

Climate

Dimitrovgrad has a oceanic climate (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

: ''Cfb'').

History

The Roman road

Via Militaris Via Militaris or Via Diagonalis was an ancient Roman road, starting from Singidunum (today the Serbian capital Belgrade), passing by Danube coast to Viminacium (modern Požarevac), through Naissus (modern Niš), Serdica (modern Sofia), Philippo ...

was built in the 1st century AD and went through the town. In May 2010, well-preserved remains of the road were excavated during the work on Corridor 10. An Ottoman military base operated in the west of Dimitrovgrad prior to the Balkan nations full independence. During the

Serbo-Bulgarian War The Serbo-Bulgarian War or the Serbian–Bulgarian War ( bg, Сръбско-българска война, ''Srăbsko-bălgarska voyna'', sr, Српско-бугарски рат, ''Srpsko-bugarski rat'') was a war between the Kingdom of Ser ...

, two battles were fought here, the 1st Battle of Caribrod and the 2nd Battle of Caribrod. The Serbian and Bulgarian Prime ministers met at the then Tsaribrod in 1912 to discuss the disputed territories in Macedonia. The

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

gained parts of the Principality of Bulgaria (known in Bulgaria as

Western Outlands The Western (Bulgarian) Outlands () is a term used by Bulgarians to describe several regions located in southeastern Serbia. The territories in question were ceded by Bulgaria to the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1920 as a resul ...

) which included Tsaribrod following the

Treaty of Neuilly The Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine (french: Traité de Neuilly-sur-Seine) required Bulgaria to cede various territories, after Bulgaria had been one of the Central Powers defeated in World War I. The treaty was signed on 27 November 1919 at Neuilly ...

, signed on November 27, 1919. From 1929 to 1941, Caribrod was part of the

Morava Banovina The Morava Banovina or Morava Banate ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Моравска бановина, Moravska banovina), was a province ( banovina) of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1929 and 1941. This province consisted of parts of prese ...

of the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 ...

. It was occupied by

Kingdom of Bulgaria The Tsardom of Bulgaria ( bg, Царство България, translit=Tsarstvo Balgariya), also referred to as the Third Bulgarian Tsardom ( bg, Трето Българско Царство, translit=Treto Balgarsko Tsarstvo, links=no), someti ...

between 1941 and 1944 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Demographics

According to the 2011 census results, the municipality has 10,118 inhabitants.

Ethnic groups

Regardless of ethnic self-identification, most of the town's population speaks a South Slavic dialect usually called ''

Torlak Torlakian, or Torlak is a group of South Slavic dialects of southeastern Serbia, Kosovo, northeastern North Macedonia, and northwestern Bulgaria. Torlakian, together with Bulgarian and Macedonian, falls into the Balkan Slavic linguistic ar ...

'' which includes linguistic features of both Serbian (especially phonology) and

(postposed

definite article An article is any member of a class of dedicated words that are used with noun phrases to mark the identifiability of the referents of the noun phrases. The category of articles constitutes a part of speech. In English, both "the" and "a(n)" a ...

s and lack of the

infinitive Infinitive (abbreviated ) is a linguistics term for certain verb forms existing in many languages, most often used as non-finite verbs. As with many linguistic concepts, there is not a single definition applicable to all languages. The word is deri ...

verb form), as well as some entirely unique

vocabulary A vocabulary is a set of familiar words within a person's language. A vocabulary, usually developed with age, serves as a useful and fundamental tool for communication and acquiring knowledge. Acquiring an extensive vocabulary is one of the la ...

. Ethnic composition of the municipality:

Economy

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

Gallery

File:Dimitrovgrad Town Hall - Serbia.jpg, ''Dimitrovgrad Town Hall'' File:Dimitrovgrad City Centre.JPG, ''Town center'' File:Cultural centre - Dimitrovgrad - Serbia.jpg, ''The cultural center on the main square'' File:Poganovo manastir.jpg, '' Poganovo Monastery''

References

External links

* {{Authority control Populated places in Pirot District Municipalities and cities of Southern and Eastern Serbia Bulgarian communities in Serbia Bulgaria–Serbia border crossings Georgi Dimitrov