Svilajnac

Svilajnac Свилајнац
Town and municipality
Spomenik Mare Resavkinje (Statue of Mara of Resava)
Coat of arms
Location of the municipality of Svilajnac within Serbia
Coordinates: 44°13′N 21°12′E / 44.217°N 21.200°E / 44.217; 21.200Coordinates: 44°13′N 21°12′E / 44.217°N 21.200°E / 44.217; 21.200
Country	Serbia
Region	Šumadija and Western Serbia
District	Pomoravlje
Settlements	22
Government
• Mayor	(Predrag Milanović)
Area
• Municipality	326 km2 (126 sq mi)
Population (2011 census)
• Town	9,131
• Municipality	23,391
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	35210
Area code	+381 35
Car plates	SV
Website	www.svilajnac.rs

Svilajnac (pronounced /sviːlaɪnʌt͡s/; Serbian Cyrillic: Свилајнац) is a town and municipality located in the Pomoravlje District of the central Serbia. It is 100 km (62 mi) south-east of Belgrade, on the banks of the river Resava, and bordering the river Morava. Its name stems from the word for silk in Serbian. It is the de facto administrative center of the Resava region. The population of the town is 9,131 while municipality has 23,391.

Svilajnac was first mentioned in Ottoman records in 1467 as a village with a hundred households. The village, and later town, gained prominence through its silk production, from which it derives its name (svila, "silk"). Located in central Serbia, it flourished as a trading center, where silk, wool and livestock were traded.

Svilajnac is the birthplace of revolutionary Stevan Sinđelić; a statue in his honor was raised in the central square of Svilajnac.

From 1929 to 1941, Svilajnac was part of the Morava Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

One of only several bridges across the Morava is located in Svilajnac, giving it a unique strategic value. During the Second World War, the original bridge was destroyed by the retreating Yugoslav Army. After the war, the bridge was rebuilt with German war reparations.

On 3 September 2007 there was a Democratic Party initiative to depose the president of the municipality Dobrivoje Budimirovic "Bidža" (Serbian Radical Party). It failed, partially due to the opposition of the Democratic Party of Serbia.