Stanovništvo Prokuplja - Rudić, Vujadin; Pantelić, Nikola (Etnografski institut SANU, 1992)
Geographical position of Prokuplje varied, depending on the importance of the region in a particular historic period. At the time of the Roman Empire Prokuplje was situated on the road connecting Lješ and Niš. A fortress (castellum) manned with soldiers securing peace and order, and protecting transportation of commodities and armies in the area was arected on the nearby hill Hisar. During the Turkish reign Prokuplje was again located on the important communication way between Dubrovnik and Istanbul, and this is the reason why between Dubrovnik and Istanbul, and this is the reason why some of the most significant Dubrovnik colonies were concentrated in Prokuplje and in Novi Pazar. Once the railways Doljevac-Prokuplje in 1925 and Prokuplje-Kuršumlija-Priština in 1948 were constructed its position continued to gain in importance.
It should be added that a motor road connecting Niš and Pristina passes through Prokuplje and that Prokuplje and the adjacent towns are all connected ba a network of modem roads. Its favorable geographical position has had a definite impact on its demographic development. Archeological investigations in the region confirm that it was populated already in the prehistoric times. Its first inhabitants were members of the Illyrian tribe Dardanians followed by the Celtic tribe Scordisci. At the time of the Roman conquest severe battles were fought with the Celtic inhabitants and those who remained were resettled in Pannonia. Slavic settling in the area was completed by the seventh century. Serbs remained to live there in peace and in war with Byzantium all the way up to the Ottoman conquest in 1454. The region played an active and important part at the time of Stefan Nemanja as well, which may be deduced from the fact that his palace was located in Kuršumlija.
The oppressed Serbian population, taking advantage of each and every opportunity, frequently rose up against Turkish slavery. Massive Serbian uprisings against the Turkish rulers took place at the time of Austrian-Turkish wars in 1690 and 1737. After these wars, fearing Turkish revenge, the Serbs, emigrated to the lands north of the Sava and the Danube, leaving behind their centuries-lond homeland. A powerful and successful uprising took place in 1876-1878 when the Toplica region was finally liberated and joined to the state of Serbia. After the liberation from the Turkish reign Prokuplje, finally free, became a strong immigrant point of attraction once again. Prokuplje and its environs were this time populated by immigrants from Montenegro, Herzegovina, Kossovo, Metohia, Kopaonik, environs of Užice, the Vojvodina, Crna Trava and other regions.
The result of these migrations was the extremely heterogeneous population structure of Prokuplje, namely its members originated from many different regions. Demographic and socioeconomic development of Prokuplje was disrupted by the 1912-1918, and 1941-1945 wars. These wars had extremely negative effects on population and household growths in Prokuplje. After the Second World War an accelerated development of urban settlements continued in general and this was also true for Prokuplje. These processes invoked the rural-urban migrations because peasants could rather easily find employment in towns. This process was so pronounced in Prokuplje that 60% of its population are the rural immigrants. Prokuplje became the center of daily commuters: workers and pupils.
The existence of so many commuters is conditioned by various factors: traffic development in Toplica, underdeveloped economy so that workers have to engage themselves in agricultural production as well, housing shortages in the town and so on. After the Second World War immigration of Serbian inhabitants from Kossovo and Metohia became more intensive. These migrations were provoked by the actions of Albanian separatists and nationalists, further by the bad policy of the Yugoslav League of Communists leadership, and by the failures of the state agencies and institutions. Population and household increase in Prokuplje after the liberation from the Turkish reign was the result of the influx of Serbian population from various directions, while after 1960 rural-urban migrations were the chief factor in population growth. Population increase due to birth rates is extremely modest, the average rate being 9% for the period of the last ten years.