Sister cities of Berane

Berane (pronounced [bɛ̂ranɛ], Montenegrin and Serbian Cyrillic: Беране) is one of the biggest towns of northeastern Montenegro and a former administrative centre of the Ivangrad District. It is a seat of one of many multi-ethnic and multi-religious municipalities in Montenegro. The town is located on the Lim river, being part of Sandžak region. Its name is derived from the Turkish word meaning "One house". The town has a population of over 11 thousand, whereas its municipality area reaches 34 thousand people, making it one of the largest centres of Polimlje area.

During the medieval period the land of Berane was known as Budimlja. It was of great holistic, political and economic importance in the Serbian state of Raska. Until 1455, when Turks took the city, it was part of the Medieval Serbian state. Since the first Serbian Uprising until its final liberation, fights against Turks were constant. Famous battles occurred from 1825 to 1862 when the most important Rudes battle was fought on 7 April in which the Montenegrin rebels won. Berane was finally liberated in 1912. The town shared the destiny with its country being damaged in both World Wars. From 1949 until 1992 it was named as Ivangrad (Иванград) in honour to people's hero Ivan Milutinovic. As Ivangrad, the town was meeting with prosperity and population growth being of one the Yugoslav industrial centres. Although the Civil War in Yugoslavia did not reach Montenegro, the city suffered from it as the industry collapsed and the people started to leave it. Nowadays, Berane is one of the poorest settlements in Montenegro so most of the population lives in difficult conditions. Despite that, the town remains an important educational, medical, religious and sporting centre, having produced many successful individuals in those categories.

Berane is administrative centre of municipality of the same name. There are 13 elementary schools, four high schools and four institutions of higher education. Having a solid sport infrastructure, the most successful sport collectives in the town are handball club and table tennis club. Berane is connected with rest of the country by two-lane motorways. It also has an airport which hasn’t been used for a while. In 2012, Berane was to celebrate 150 years since its official foundation.