Novi Sad

Novi Sad (Serbian: Нови Сад, pronounced [nôʋiː sâːd] ; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the administrative center of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannonian Plain on the border of the Bačka and Syrmia geographical regions, lying on the banks of the Danube river, and facing the northern slopes of Fruška Gora. According to the 2022 census, the population of Novi Sad city proper stands at 260,438, its contiguous urban area has 325,511 inhabitants, and the population of its administrative area totals 372,136 people. It is the fifth largest city on the Danube river and the largest that is not a national capital.

Novi Sad was founded in 1694, when Serb merchants formed a colony across the Danube from the Petrovaradin Fortress, a strategic Habsburg military post. In subsequent centuries, it became an important trading, manufacturing and cultural centre, and has historically been dubbed the Serbian Athens. The city was heavily devastated in the 1848 Revolution, but was subsequently rebuilt and restored. Today, along with the Serbian capital city of Belgrade, Novi Sad is an industrial and financial center important to the Serbian economy.