Banjani
Spa-named agricultural village—Banjani's 1,124 residents preserve toponymic memory while feeding workers to Kolubara's lignite economy.
Banjani exists because spa settlements leave naming traces—and because the Ub municipality needed agricultural villages. This settlement of 1,124 takes its name from 'banja' (bath/spa), possibly referencing mineral springs in the area or migration from the historical Banjani tribe of Herzegovina. The toponymic connection to bathing suggests either a local spring tradition or settlers who brought the name from their homeland.
The historical Banjani tribe, first mentioned in 1319, were semi-nomadic herders in Old Herzegovina—summering in mountain pastures, wintering in lowland villages. Their katun (herder camp) system organized life around cattle and seasonal movement. Whether Serbian Banjani settlers brought this name or the village independently references local springs, the etymology preserves either geographical or migratory memory.
Today's Banjani sits in Ub municipality, part of the Kolubara District that includes Serbia's great lignite reserves. But Banjani itself is agricultural rather than industrial—corn, wheat, and livestock rather than coal. The 2011 census captured a relatively stable population by Serbian village standards: 1,124 is large enough to sustain a school and church, small enough to feel the pull of Belgrade 60 kilometers away. By 2026, Banjani's trajectory tracks the broader Kolubara pattern: villages feeding workers to mines and cities while maintaining subsistence agriculture at home.