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The town of Užice represents the geographic, economic and cultural centre of Uzice Region. It is located in the valley of the Djetinja river at the altitude of 411 m. Uzice is also located at the crossroads of important traffic lines leading towards Belgrade, Montenegro coast, Valjevo, Čačak, Višegrad, Bajina Bašta and Ivanjica.
Užice is the seat of the municipality which has 41 inhabited settlements. The municipality covers the area of 667 km2 and there are about 83,000 inhabitants living in it.
The rapid industrial development which had happened in the middle of this century influenced the expansion of the town in all directions. Former villages, hamlets and picnic resorts in the vicinity of Užice, have been turned into suburbs, such as: Sevojno, Krčagovo, Turica, Bela zemlja, etc. Industrial facilities, the hospital, trading companies and crafts shops, catering facilities, servicing facilities, warehouses, filling stations and a large number of residential buildings are located there.
The archaeological sites, discovered in Užice and at many other places in its vicinity, give evidence about the traces of human life in the ancient past, about the existence of a settlement at the location of today's Užice.
From 1459 to 1862 Užice was under Turkish reign. It was the administrative seat of the region and district, with many merchants and craftsmen. Only at the end of 19th century, it has started developing as an industrial town. Therefore, a small factory manufacturing blankets and homespun felt started operating in Užice in 1868, and a leather factory was founded in 1880.
At the end of the last century a joint stock company which funded the construction of a hydroelectric power plant on the Đetinja river was founded. The hydroelectric power plant was commenced in 1899. Owing to this Užice was among the first towns in Serbia that got electric light and modern energy for the development of industry. Due to this, the Cotton mill started running in Užice in 1903 and that was the first real industrial plant in this town. Later on, the factory producing weapons and ammunition was transferred from Slovenia to Užice where it started running in 1929. From that factory, the industrial works "Prvi partizan" was developed. The fast industrial development of this municipality took place only after World War II. The construction of Copper rolling mill in Sevojno was started in 1950. Sevojno was a suburb and in time it was turned into a modern industrial zone with new industrial facilities.
Today, industry is the heart of Užice municipality economic development. The production of copper and aluminium semi-finished products and products with special purposes represents the most important production in the metal industry. Besides industry some other economic and non-economic activities have been developed such as: civil engineering, agriculture, traffic, tourism, trade, catering, banking, health care, education, activities pertaining to culture and art, etc. important potentials in agriculture are live-stock breeding and fruit growing. Uzice region is recognized for its products with geographically protected brand origin (smoked meat products and natural brandy). The agricultural land takes 55% of the total municipality area and forests cover 36.4%. Uzice municipality has a well-developed traffic infrastructure, and the gas line construction is at its final stage and the Ponikve airport is being reconstructed at the moment.
Užice municipality has got a rich schooling history. The oldest elementary school was mentioned even in 1826 while the Grammar school was founded in 1839. Today, on the territory of Užice municipality there are several elementary schools and the following secondary schools: Economic, Technical, Traffic, Medical, Art and Music schools as well as the Technical college and the Teachers’ Faculty.
There are important cultural institutions in Užice such as: the National library which was founded in 1856 and has about 170,000 books today, the National theatre, and the National museum with archaeological, ethnographic and historical departments in which approximately 65,000 museum showpieces have been exhibited or kept. The Historical archive has about 2,400 meters of collected archive materials, and the Town gallery has got about 200 m2 of exhibition area.
The information activities have been developed in Užice which are realised through publication of newspapers and magazines and broadcasting of radio and TV stations by which the citizens are kept informed.
Užice municipality is abundant with valuable cultural-historical monuments and places of interest. Bela crkva (the White church) in Karan is one of the oldest cultural monuments dating back from 1342 in which the frescos showing the members of the Nemanjić's reigning descent are precious. There are two old churches in Užice: St. Marko's church which was built before 1828 and St. George's church which was built in 1844.
A special chapter in the stormy past of Užice refers to the Second World War from 1941 to 1945 and particularly the special period from 24 September 1941 to 29 November 1941. During that period, Užice was the centre of the liberated territory called "Užice Republic". At the time, the factories and workshops were running in Užice mainly producing the items for the military demand; railway and road traffic was functioning, the books and newspapers were printed, while at the same time the war was raging both in Yugoslavia and in the world.
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