Šumadija

Šumadija Шумадија
Geographic region of Serbia
Relief map
Country	Serbia
Largest city	Kragujevac
Population
• Total	cca. 850,000 (excl. Belgrade)

Šumadija (pronounced [ʃumǎdija], Serbian Cyrillic: 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 center of the region, and the administrative center of the Šumadija District in the Šumadija and Western Serbia statistical region.

The region is very fertile, and it is known for its extensive fruit production (apples, grapes, plums, etc.).

Šumadija received its name from the dense and impassable forests which covered the region, particularly in the 16th and 17th centuries. These forests were preserved until the early 19th century; they are mentioned in literature and tradition. Bertrandon de la Broquière (1400–1459) passed through Serbia, on the road from Palanka to Belgrade he "passed through very large forests". During the reign of Prince Miloš (1817–1839), Serbia was covered with dense forests, through which "no one could walk through, let alone with horse". When Alphonse de Lamartine took a trip to Serbia (1833), he described the forests as "like he was in the middle of the North American forests". In the Jasenica villages a tradition was maintained "that everywhere there were empty forests, and settlers called relatives to come and occupy the land how much they want ... the forests were in need of cutting down trees and burning for years ... it was so impassable, that one could walk for days through it, without seeing the sun".

The inhabitants of the region received the demonym, Šumadinci, which is used for the inhabitants between Morava in the east, Kolubara in the west, and the mountains of Crni Vrh, Kotlenik and Rudnik in the southeast, south and southwest. The inhabitants outside these border call this population Šumadinci.

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Wikipedia