Nikà ¡ià(Cyrillic: ÃÂøúÃÂøÃÂ, ), is Montenegro's second-largest city, with an urban population of 66,700 as of the 2023 census. It lies in the western region of the country, at the heart of the expansive Nikà ¡iàfield, nestled at the base of Trebjesa Hill.
Nikà ¡iàserves as the administrative center of the Nikà ¡iàMunicipality, which encompasses a population of 65,705 and spans the largest area among all Montenegrin municipalities. By territory, it was also the largest municipality in the former Yugoslavia. The city plays a key role as a hub for industry, education, and culture in the country.
In classical antiquity, the area of Nikà ¡iàwas the site of the settlement of the Illyrian tribe of the Endirudini and was known in sources of the time as Anderba or Enderon. The Roman Empire built a military camp (castrum Anderba) in the 4th century AD, which was known as the Ostrogothic fortress Anagastum (after 459. AD). After Slavic settlement in the region, Anagastum became Slavic Onogoà ¡t, which was the name of the town and à ¾upa (county) in the Middle Ages. Onogoà ¡t was renamed as Nikà ¡iàin the middle of 15th century after the Nikà ¡iÃÂi, a Montenegrin tribe.
The region formed one of the core areas of the Illyrian kingdom with its capital in Rhizon. It was inhabited by the Endirudini, who figure in the list of tribes which surrendered to Octavian in 33 BC. The Endirudini were one of the tribes who were included in the administrative reorganization of the tribal units in the early Roman Empire and became part of the Docleatae with Doclea as their administrative center.
During the Early Middle Ages, it was located within the South Slavic (Sklavenoi) tribal provinces of Travunia or Duklja (which were under the authority of the Serbian Principality of the Vlastimiroviàdynasty). With the fall of the VlastimiroviÃÂi and the hinterland regions in the second half of the 10th century, Doclea was resurrected with Stefan Vojislav and his Vojislavljeviàdynasty, succeeded by Stefan Nemanja and his Nemanjiàdynasty, at which time the Onogoà ¡t à ¾upa existed. With the fall of the Serbian Empire, Onogoà ¡t came under the rule of Kingdom of Bosnia in 1373, and was under the rule of the KosaÃÂa noble family, which held territory in Herzegovina from 1448 until Herzegovina fell to the Ottomans.
The Ottoman Empire took control of Onogoà ¡t in 1465, and it stayed under control of the Turks for more than four hundred years, as a part of Herzegovina Province. Onogoà ¡t was first referred to as "Nikà ¡iÃÂ" in a document titled Radonia Pribisalich de Nichsich printed in 1518. Evliya ÃÂelebi mentioned Serbs who live in the villages around Nikà ¡iÃÂ. The name "Nikà ¡iÃÂ" was used alongside Onogoà ¡t until 1767, when the name Nikà ¡iàwas officially implemented after an ayan council, a high-profile meeting of Ottoman feudal lords which was relatively common at the time. During the later years of Ottoman occupation, the town served as a significant fortified military stronghold. During the course of Ottoman rule, a total of four mosques were built in Nikà ¡iÃÂ. The first one, Donjogradska, was constructed between 1695 and 1703. A second mosque called Hadà ¾idanuà ¡a was constructed sometime in the early 1700s by an Ottoman military captain, Hadà ¾i-Husejin DaneviÃÂ; it was colloquially known as the "short mosque" because it had no minarets. A third mosque, known simply as "Pasha's mosque", was the largest in Nikà ¡iÃÂ. It was said to be architecturally similar to Jashar Pasha Mosque in Pristina. A fourth mosque called Hadà ¾i-Ismail's mosque was erected in 1807, and was the only mosque to survive the departure of the Ottoman Empire from Nikà ¡iàlater that century.
Under the influence of the First Serbian Uprising, in the summer of 1805, the movement of Herzegovinian Serbs wanting to start an uprising appeared in Nikà ¡iÃÂ. The people of Nikà ¡iàrelied on and cooperated with the harambaà ¡as from Popovo Polje, Trebinje and Trebinje à  uma, (), and calculated that 19,000 Serbs could rise up in revolt, while weapons were to arrive from Russia, via Greece. The Turks reacted to that by sending 10,000 soldiers led by pasha Kauzlariàto quell the rebellion. After the suppression of the uprising by the Turks, in which local Slavic Muslims probably took part, there was no more mention of the wider rebellion in historical sources.
In 1807, armed forces led by Petar I PetroviÃÂ-Njegoà ¡ along with 1,000 Russian troops attempted to take Nikà ¡iÃÂ, but Ottoman forces prevailed. On 18 July 1876 the Principality of Montenegro defeated Ottoman forces in the Battle of VuÃÂji Do in the western edge of the municipality of Nikà ¡iÃÂ. On 27 August 1877, the rest of Nikà ¡iàwas taken by the Montenegrin Army under the command of Vojvoda Maà ¡o Vrbica after a 47-day siege against the Ottoman authorities. English archaeologist Arthur Evans witnessed the negotiations between Nicholas I of Montenegro (Nikola I) and the remaining Bosniaks (Muslims) after the siege, and subsequently wrote about them in his diary:
Nikà ¡iàwas officially recognized as a part of the Principality of Montenegro in the Treaty of Berlin. The small Ottoman hamlet began to transform into a modern urban settlement. The first urban plan was adopted in 1883, commissioned by King Nikola, who appointed Croatian architect Josip Slade to develop the city planning. In addition to designing contemporary Nikà ¡iÃÂ, he also designed the monumental Carev Most nearby.
The ousting of King Nikola and the context of the transition to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes resulted in considerable tension and even violence in Nikà ¡iÃÂ. On 23 December 1918 Nikà ¡iàwas the site of a skirmish between Montenegrin Greens and Serbian troops under the command of Dragan MilutinoviÃÂ. The Greens had launched an attack on Nikà ¡iàduring the Christmas Uprising, although Serbian forces prevailed. Even after the Christmas Uprising ended, some Montenegrin Greens continued resisting the Yugoslav government for many years. On 28 December 1923, 11 Montenegrin "Komiti" who continued guerilla activities after the Christmas Uprising were executed in Nikà ¡iàby the Serbian Gendarmery.
Nikà ¡iàsaw the establishment of rail transport during the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. On 12 July 1938, after thirteen years of intermittent construction, the first train arrived from BileÃÂa at the newly-constructed railway station in Nikà ¡iÃÂ. A gate was decorated in front of the new station, on which a portrait of King Petar II was installed with "Long Live Yugoslavia!" written under the portrait. Approximately 5,000 people waited for the first train to arrive, even when its arrival was delayed by two hours on a hot day. During the delay, much of the public was reportedly impatient, with two war veterans leading a kolo dance on the railroad tracks before the train arrived.
During World War II, Nikà ¡iàwas first occupied by the Italian governorate in Montenegro. The occupation resulted in several insurrections, with one of the earliest started by the Yugoslav Partisans. The first Partisan advances were violently repressed, as Nikà ¡iàbecame the site of a large number of public executions, including those of notable communists Ljubo ÃÂupiàand 16-year old Joka BaletiÃÂ.
Over the course of 7âÂÂ8 April 1944, Nikà ¡iàwas bombed by the Royal Air Force, using Vickers Wellington long-range bombers. One of the Yugoslav Partisans' commanders in Montenegro, Peko DapÃÂeviÃÂ, requested to Josip Broz Tito that allied forces bomb Nikà ¡iàin order to force out the Nazi occupation. The recorded number of casualties from the bombing raid vary depending on different sources, ranging from approximately 200 to 500 killed.
After the end of World War II, Nikà ¡iàbecame the site of unprecedented industrial and political developments. On 24 September 1948, six unmarked Supermarine Spitfire aircraft landed at Kapino Polje Airport, where they were retrofitted and delivered to the Israeli Air Force in a secret operation. During the operation, the airport was quarantined from the public by Yugoslavia's State Security Administration. The unmarked aircraft were flown by pilots from the Israeli Air Force, and three of them were used in the 1948 ArabâÂÂIsraeli War less than a month later.
One of the biggest changes in Nikà ¡iàwere the construction of new factories, particularly the metal processing plant "Boris KidriÃÂ", which Josip Broz Tito first visited in May 1959. Tito visited the Boris Kidriàplant again on 12 May 1969, after it was reported that the plant recorded a positive net revenue for the previous quarter-year for the first time since its establishment. During his second visit to Nikà ¡iÃÂ, Tito insisted that negative business results be addressed by modernizing machinery in the factory, as opposed to placing responsibility solely on workers. By 1985, the Boris Kidriàmetal works employed over 6,500 workers, although that year two strikes took place. Chronic inflation of the Yugoslav dinar had already begun, and the metal works were dependent on imports in order to produce. This added pressure to raise prices of steel products, which in turn made them less competitive with steel from western Europe.
The city population was increased tenfold, and Nikà ¡iàbecame the heart of Montenegrin industrial complex. During the socialist republic era, the city flourished, as steel and iron works, bauxite mines, electricity production, brewery and wood processing industries were set up in and around the city.
With the breakup of Yugoslavia, Nikà ¡iàwas hit hard with the hyperinflation of the Yugoslav dinar, international sanctions, and overall decline throughout Yugoslavia during the 1990s. Nikà ¡iàhad a large amount of reservists in the Yugoslav People's Army. Between 62 and 77 JNA soldiers killed in the Yugoslav Wars were from Nikà ¡iàalone. Political tension in Nikà ¡iàwas polarized between Serbian nationalist and Montenegrin secessionist groups. Although Nikà ¡iàdid not experience violence from the war in neighboring Bosnia, there were some extraordinary incidents. In the fall of 1992, Vojislav à  eà ¡elj planned to hold a Serbian Radical Party rally in Nikà ¡iÃÂ. However, a local criminal named Brano MiÃÂunoviàplotted to assassinate à  eà ¡elj outside of a tunnel upon entering Nikà ¡iÃÂ, and à  eà ¡elj ultimately cancelled the meeting after hearing about the plot. In June 1993, Hadà ¾i-Ismail's mosque was destroyed during unrest.
Years of wartime tension and widespread poverty took a toll on the city. In 1996, Nikà ¡iàrecorded the second-most suicides out of any city in Yugoslavia. After a period of twenty days during which six suicides and two murders took place, clergymen in Nikà ¡iàdecided to start an annual public liturgy, or Litija, which was attended by tens of thousands of worshipers who walked all the way from Ostrog Monastery in May 1996.
Mayor of Nikà ¡iàis the head of the town and municipality of Nikà ¡iÃÂ. He acts on behalf of the town, and performs an executive function in the municipality of Nikà ¡iÃÂ. Current mayor is Marko KovaÃÂeviÃÂ, member of the right-wing Democratic Front.
List of Mayors since introduction of multi-party system (1990âÂÂpresent):
Nikà ¡iàis situated in north-central Montenegro. It is located at the centre of the spacious Nikà ¡iàfield (Nikà ¡iÃÂko polje), a karst plain with an area of 48 km<sup>2</sup>, and an elevation of 640 m AMSL. The plain is surrounded by inhospitable rocky mountainous terrain, a typical landscape of western Montenegro. The city itself is located at the foot of the Trebjesa hill.
Zeta river originates in the Nikà ¡iàfield, and flows near the city of Nikà ¡iÃÂ, before it becomes a subterranean river south of the city. The river caused frequent flooding of the plain, until the construction of Hydroelectric power plant PeruÃÂica in 1960. The construction of the power plant resulted in creation of three large artificial lakes near the city - Krupac Lake, Slano Lake and Vrtac Lake. Today, the lakes are a popular recreation and relaxation retreats for the citizens of Nikà ¡iÃÂ.
Under the Köppen climate classification, Nikà ¡iàhas an oceanic climate (Cfb), which is influenced by the Mediterranean climate drying trend during summer. The average temperature in January is , while in July it is . Average humidity amounts to 69%. Nikà ¡iàreceives 2,238 hours of sunshine per year, with warm and moderately wet summers, and cool and rainy winters. On average, there are 19 days per year with snowfall.
Although Nikà ¡iàarea has seen human settlements since antiquity, most of the modern Nikà ¡iàis a planned city. Very little remains of the Ottoman architectural heritage, despite the long presence of Ottoman Empire in the area. The city layout visible today still follows the 1883 urban plan commissioned by King Nicholas and designed by Croatian architect Josip Slade.
According to this plan, the streets of Nikà ¡iàradiate to the north and east from the central city square (today a roundabout), locally known as Skver. The radial streets are intersected by circumferential streets and avenues, thus creating a half-spider web-like street layout.
Layers of different architectural styles and urban patterns are evident along the radial network of streets. Thus, closest to the central roundabout is the historical core of Nikà ¡iÃÂ, formed after the liberation from Ottoman Empire, and serving as a nucleus for Slade's urban plan. This area, on the foot of Trebjesa Hill, is home to King Nicholas Palace, City Park, and Freedom Square, main city square located along the central Njegoà ¡eva Street. The area is composed of mostly single or two storey row housing with basic designs, an architecture typical for late 19th and early 20th centuries Montenegro. The roundabout and the surrounding area is still the focal point of activities in the city, as bus and train stations, as well as commercial and civic services are located in the area.
Farther from the central roundabout, the historical core is encircled with a layer of mass residential blocks, built during the SFRY era. The building of the highrise residential blocks facilitated housing of the large population drawn to the city by rapid post-World War II industrialisation. The SFRY era apartment blocks are still home for the majority of residents of Nikà ¡iÃÂ.
Beyond the blocks, the city expanded in form of a suburban sprawl, that consists of detached housing. Close to the city blocks and major industrial areas, the lowrise single home suburbs are built with well executed urban plans, but farther away from the center, the city expanded in a chaotic and informal way. In addition, the rural areas south of Nikà ¡iàhave merged with the city, so low density suburbs extend from the city in every direction, covering much of the Nikà ¡iàField.
Although mostly perceived as an industrial center, Nikà ¡iàis also a city of rich cultural heritage. The most significant cultural institution in the city is Centar Za Kulturu (Cultural Center), which incorporates the city's major public cultural establishments:
The most significant cultural event in the city is Septembarski Dani Kulture (September days of Culture), that is one of the most recognizable cultural happenings in Montenegro. Other annual artistic events include Pjesnik na korzu (Poet on the promenade), MeÃÂunarodni festival glumca (International actors festival), MeÃÂunarodni festival kamerne muzike (International festival of chamber music), MeÃÂunarodni festival gitare (International guitar festival). Lake Fest rock festival, held annually at Krupac lake and Bedem Fest rock festival, held at Bedem Castle are gaining ground as one of the most recognizable music festivals in the former Yugoslav region.
Nikà ¡iàis known for its distinctive cultural atmosphere and bohemian art scene, with poet Vitomir Nikoliàand singers/songwriters like Miladin à  obiàor Marinko PaviÃÂeviàas prominent representatives of the Nikà ¡iàbohemian spirit. à ½ivko NikoliÃÂ, a native of Nikà ¡iÃÂ, is considered the most significant Montenegrin movie director.
Media scene of Nikà ¡iàis mostly confined to public broadcasters TV Nikà ¡iàand Radio Nikà ¡iÃÂ, and a number of commercial radio stations. Rijeàand LuÃÂa magazines, published by the Faculty of Philology and the Faculty of Philosophy respectively, as well as Poznanstva children magazine, are also a part of Nikà ¡iàcultural scene.
Nikà ¡iàis home to 40 educational institutions. Among those are 11 nurseries, 25 elementary schools of which one is elementary music school and 4 high schools, including the Stojan CeroviàGymnasium.
Nikà ¡iàis also home to three faculties of the University of Montenegro:
Nikà ¡iàis regarded as one of the centers of Montenegrin sport. The combat sports are particularly popular in Nikà ¡iÃÂ, with a strong tradition in judo, karate and boxing. Nikà ¡iàjudokas have been exceptionally successful at international competitions.
Sutjeska football club is the pillar of the city soccer tradition. The club has risen to the Yugoslav First League during the SFRY era, and is one of the most successful clubs since the Montenegrin First League was established in 2006. City Stadium is the club's home field. FK ÃÂelik is also becoming more prominent as it has reached the UEFA Europa League qualifying phase.
In basketball, not only has Nikà ¡iàproduced great players (Bojan Dubljevic or Ana Pocek for example), but the local team KK Sutjeska Nikà ¡iàbecame champions of the Montenegrin Basketball Cup in 2013.
Other team sports, particularly handball and volleyball, are also popular in Nikà ¡iÃÂ.
Besides City Stadium, other significant sporting venue is the Nikà ¡iàSports Center. This facility features a 3,000 seat indoor sports hall, olympic-size swimming pool, 6-lane bowling alley, sports shooting range, tennis and futsal courts, and various other facilities.
VuÃÂje ski resort is 18 km away from the city center, making winter sports a popular recreation among the citizens of Nikà ¡iÃÂ.
<div style="float:right; width:240px; text-align:center;"> Population (city)
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Nikà ¡iàis administrative centre of Nikà ¡iàMunicipality, which incorporates a densely populated fertile plain called "à ½upa", and has a population of 65,705 (2023. census).
Nikà ¡iàMunicipality can be viewed as a metropolitan area of the city of Nikà ¡iÃÂ.
There are 129 settlements in the municipality of Nikà ¡iàwith a total population of 65,705 (2023).
Source: Statistical Office of Montenegro - MONSTAT, Census 2011
Source: Statistical Office of Montenegro - MONSTAT, Census 2011
Nikà ¡iàis, alongside Podgorica, one of the biggest industrial centres of Montenegro. A steel mill (Nikà ¡iÃÂka à ½eljezara), bauxite mine, the Trebjesa brewery (Nikà ¡iÃÂka Pivara), and many more are concentrated in this city.
These big industries had struggled to survive the collapse of the socialist economy, but have since recovered. The process of privatization is either finished or still in progress for some of these industries.
Today those industry giants cannot employ as many workers as they could back in the days of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and the economy of Nikà ¡iàis slowly transforming into one that is more service-oriented. In 1981 Niksic's GDP per capita was 91% of the Yugoslav average.
Nikà ¡iÃÂ's main road connection is E762 highway, which connects Nikà ¡iàwith Podgorica to the southeast, and with Pluà ¾ine and on to the FoÃÂa and Sarajevo (Bosnia and Hercegovina) to the northwest. Another recently reconstructed north/south Montenegrin road corridor passes through Nikà ¡iÃÂ, the Risan/Trebinje-Nikà ¡iÃÂ-à  avnik-à ½abljak road. This road is the shortest connection Nikà ¡iàhas with Bay of Kotor and Montenegrin coast. Nikà ¡iàalso has the distinction of being one of the first Montenegrin towns to have a bypass road. The bypass, built during the SFRY era, has been upgraded in 2011, and now services every transit corridor of Nikà ¡iÃÂ, directing all transit traffic away from the urban core. Like many cities in the former Yugoslavia, Nikà ¡iàis the hub of multiple intercity bus companies, the largest of them being Gluà ¡ica Nikà ¡iàand 4 Decembar Nikà ¡iàwhich operate to destinations as far as Sarajevo and Belgrade.
Nikà ¡iàis the terminus of Nikà ¡iÃÂ-Podgorica railway, which is sole rail connection of the city. This railway line connects with Belgrade-Bar and PodgoricaâÂÂShkodër lines in Podgorica.
This rail link has been used mainly to transport bauxite from Nikà ¡iàbauxite mine to Podgorica Aluminium Plant. It is currently under reconstruction and electrification, and passenger service will be reintroduced once the reconstruction is completed. Three CAF Civity EMUs have been ordered by Railways of Montenegro specifically to serve this railway, cutting the travel time between Nikà ¡iàand Podgorica to only 50 minutes. The first of the new trains will go into service on 1 June 2013.
Nikà ¡iàobtained its narrow-gauge () railway connection with Bosnia and Herzegovina via BileÃÂa and Trebinje when the railway line was extended from BileÃÂa and opened in 1938. Not far from Trebinje, the narrow-gauge line used to branch off in three directions: towards ÃÂapljina in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zelenika in Bay of Kotor in Montenegro (a dead end), and Dubrovnik in Croatia (also a dead end). After reaching ÃÂapljina, the line used to run to the south, to the PloÃÂe harbour in Croatia, and to the north, to the rest of the world via Mostar and Sarajevo. The narrow-gauge extension from Nikà ¡iàto Titograd (Podgorica), built by youth work brigades, was opened in 1948. That extension was converted to standard gauge () in 1965. The narrow-gauge line from Nikà ¡iàto ÃÂapljina was closed down in 1976 and dismantled soon after.
Nikà ¡iàAirport is located on the western outskirts of the city. It is a small sport airport, that caters to needs of general aviation, and of local enthusiast aviation club. After significant reconstruction and expansion, the airport was chosen to be a host of 2010 FAI World Parachuting Championships. Scheduled passenger service has yet to be introduced.
Podgorica Airport is some away from Nikà ¡iÃÂ, and has regular flights to Belgrade, Sarajevo, Budapest, Zürich, Frankfurt, Ljubljana, Paris, Rome and Vienna. Both Tivat and Dubrovnik airports are some away, and offer regular services to major European destinations.
Nikà ¡iàis twinned with: