Cepure
Presidential birthplace—Čepure's 825 residents farm the Pomoravlje, producing Serbia's 2004 president while facing typical rural demographic decline.
Čepure exists because the Pomoravlje District needed villages between the rivers—and because this one produced a president. This settlement of 825 in Paraćin municipality sits in the Morava valley of central Serbia, where agricultural land sustains villages that feed regional markets. Paraćin itself traces to Roman times; surrounding villages like Čepure are younger, emerging during the medieval and Ottoman periods as agricultural dependencies.
The village's most famous native, Predrag Marković, served as President of Serbia in 2004, demonstrating how rural Serbian villages occasionally produce national figures. But such exceptions don't change the demographic trajectory: like most villages in the Pomoravlje, Čepure faces population decline as agricultural mechanization reduces labor needs and urban opportunities draw young people away.
The Paraćin municipality context offers modest advantages. The town has some industry (glass, textiles, food processing), and the E75 highway provides transportation links that benefit nearby villages. By 2026, Čepure's future depends on whether proximity to Paraćin's employment base can sustain a commuter population, or whether the village continues the slow contraction that affects much of rural Serbia.