Bar (city)

Bar Бар
Town and municipality
Views from the Vrsuta Mountains
Flag Coat of arms
Bar Location of Bar, Montenegro
Coordinates: 42°06′N 19°06′E / 42.10°N 19.10°E / 42.10; 19.10Coordinates: 42°06′N 19°06′E / 42.10°N 19.10°E / 42.10; 19.10
Country	Montenegro
Founded	6th century as Antipargal (assumed)
Settlements	83
Government
• Mayor	Zoran Srzentić (DPS)
Area
• Total	598 km2 (231 sq mi)
Population (2011 census)
• Total	17,727
• Density	67.0/km2 (174/sq mi)
• Municipality	42,068
Demonym(s)	Barani
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	85000
Area code	+382 30
ISO 3166-2 code	ME-02
Car plates	BR
Climate	Csa
Website	http://www.bar.me/

Bar (Montenegrin Cyrillic: Бар, pronounced [bâr]; Italian: Antivari; Albanian: Tivari or Tivar) is a coastal town and seaport in southern Montenegro. It is the capital of the Bar Municipality and a center for tourism. In 2011, its population was 40,037.

Bar is a shortened form of Antivari, which is derived from the town's location across the Adriatic Sea from Bari, Italy. Variations are in Italian, Antivari / Antibari; in Turkish, Bar; in Albanian, Tivari or Tivar; in Greek, Θηβάριον, Thivárion, Αντιβάριον, Antivárion; in Latin, Antibarium.

Local archaeological findings date to the Neolithic era. It is assumed that Bar was mentioned as the reconstructed Roman castle, Antipargal, in the 6th century. The name Antibarium was quoted for the first time in the 10th century.

In the 6th and 7th centuries, Slavs occupied the Balkans. Duklja, a Slavic, or Serbian state, was mentioned in the 10th century. Jovan Vladimir (ruler 1000 – 1016), of Skadarska Krajina is the first ruler of Duklja whose history is known. Stefan Vojislav (ruler 1018 – 1043), the eponymous founder of the Vojislavljević dynasty, defeated the Byzantines in a battle on a hill near Bar. He made Bar his seat of power. Vojislav then expanded the area under his rule. Mihailo I of Duklja (ruler 1050 – 1081), Vojislav's son, established the Archdiocese of Antivari. He continued to fight the Byzantines in order to secure the town's independence. This led to a union of states known as the Serbian Grand Principality. From 1101 to 1166, the principality was ruled by the Vukanović dynasty. However, for much of this time, Bar was under Byzantine rule. In 1183, Stefan Nemanja conquered Bar and it stayed under Serbian control under the Nemanjić dynasty and until the fall of Serbian Despotate in 1459.