Kumarevo
Leskovac village (~825 pop.) in Jablanica District textile zone; South Morava agricultural satellite; name possibly from 'kumar' (spinning rod); 2026 faces typical Southern Serbia demographic contraction.
Kumarevo exists because the South Morava valley around Leskovac produced agricultural surplus requiring settlement networks. The village sits in the Jablanica District, historically part of Serbia's textile manufacturing zone. Leskovac earned its nickname 'Serbian Manchester' for industrial production that has since largely collapsed—the cities contracted, but villages like Kumarevo persist.
Two Serbian villages share this name: one in Leskovac municipality (approximately 825 residents, 2002 census) and another in Vranje municipality (283 residents). The toponym may derive from 'kumar' (spinning rod)—suggesting textile craft origins—or from personal names common in the region. The Leskovac version is larger, positioned in terrain that supported both agriculture and cottage industry feeding the urban textile mills.
The Jablanica District's demographic trajectory reveals Southern Serbia's challenges. Population peaked in the socialist period when state-directed industrialization created urban employment; post-1990 deindustrialization reversed the flow. Villages like Kumarevo now supply labor to surviving enterprises while younger residents migrate to Niš, Belgrade, or Western Europe.
In 2026, Kumarevo's trajectory follows the South Morava pattern: gradual population decline as agriculture mechanizes and industrial employment contracts. The village will likely persist with an aging population maintaining family plots, functioning as residential address rather than economic unit—a name on administrative maps marking where people sleep between trips to cities where actual opportunities exist.