{{Infobox Ort in Serbien
  |Bild                 = Leskovacspomenpark.jpg
  |NameLateinisch       = Leskovac
  |NameKyrillisch       = Лесковац
  |Wappen               = Wappen Gemeinde Leskovac.jpg
  |lat_deg  = 42 | lat_min = 59 | lat_sec = 54
  |lon_deg  = 21 | lon_min = 57 | lon_sec = 18
  |Beschriftung         = left
  |Bezirk               = Jablanica
  |Gemeindeart          = Stadt
  |Höhe                 = 225
  |Fläche               = 1025
  |Gliederung           = 
  |Einwohner            = 63683
  |Agglomeration        = 160000
  |EinwohnerStand       = 2002
  |Postleitzahl         = 16000
  |Telefonvorwahl       = (0)16
  |Kfz-Kennzeichen      = LE
  |Bürgermeister        = Vladan Marinković
  |BürgermeisterStand   = 
  |Partei               = DS
  |AnschriftStraße      = 
  |AnschriftOrt         = 
  |Webpräsenz           = www.usluznicentar.com
  |Schutzpatron         = 
  |Stadtfest            = ''Roštiljijada''
}}

'''Leskovac''' (serbisch /Leskovac) ist eine Stadt im südlichen serbischen Bezirk Jablanica. Sie ist auch der Hauptverwaltungssitz des Bezirks und hat laut der Volkszählung von 2002 64.000 Einwohner.

Die Stadt liegt am Fuß des Berges Hisar in der Meereshöhe von 225 Metern, die Entfernung (Luftlinie) von Belgrad beträgt 290 km. Die Jahresdurchschnittstemperatur erreicht 11,3 °C.

Mit den 144 Dörfern in ihrer Umgebung zählt die Gemeinde Leskovac rund 162.000 Einwohner. Sie ist damit die Gemeinde mit der höchsten Anzahl an Dörfern in Serbien. Die Bevölkerungsdichte beträgt 152 Einwohner pro km², wobei der Bevölkerungszuwachs in den letzten Jahren abgenommen hat.

== Geschichte ==
Die ältesten Funde die in der Stadt und der Umgebung gefunden wurden, stammen aus dem 2. Jahrtausend vor Christus. Es wird vermutet, dass sie vom illyrischen Stamm der Dardaner stammen. Slawische Funde stammen aus dem 6. und 7. Jahrhundert. 

Nach wissenschaftlicher Meinung können handfeste geschichtlichen Tatsachen über die Stadt erst ab 12. Jahrhundert bestimmt werden, als byzantinischen Kaiser diese Region zum Geschenk bekam. Damals hieß die Stadt ''Dubočica''. Das erste Mal wird Leskovac in einem Dokument aus dem 14. Jahrhundert als ein großes Dorf namentlich erwähnt.

Eine Legende aus dieser Zeit besagt, dass es beim Berg Hisar in der nähe der Stadt einen See gab. Als er austrocknete, wuchs dort die Pflanze Leska. Nach ihr soll die Stadt den Namen Leskovac vor 600 Jahren bekommen haben. Während der osmanischen Herrschaft wurde dieser Name nicht verwendet. Die Türken nannten die Stadt und den Berg Hisar, was Burg oder Festung bedeutet.

{{Infobox Serbia municipality|
native_name = Лесковац|official_name=Leskovac|
image_shield=Leskovac7.jpg|
image_flag=
|
district = Jablanica|
image_map =Leskovac.JPG |
mayor = Vladan Marinković (DS)|
area_km2 = 1025|
population_total = 63185| mpop=156252  |
latd = 43| latm = 00|longd = 21| longm = 57|
code =   16|
settlements = 144  |
plates = LE|
postal_code = 16000|
website = www.usluznicentar.com|
}}
thumb|255px|Downtown Leskovac
'''Leskovac''' (Serbian Cyrillic: Лесковац, ) is a city and municipality located in southern Serbia at 43.00° North, 21.95° East. It is the administrative center of the Jablanica District of Serbia. Leskovac is accessible from Belgrade by the E75 motorway to Thessaloniki in Greece.

== History ==
In 1860, ''Leskovac'' was the second largest city (after Principality secured the removal of Ottoman army garrisons from the cities, acquiring sovereingty, which was internationally recognised at the Ottoman Balkans the trade impact was initially negative. However, by the end of the 19th century, the town of Leskovac was famous across the Balkans for its workshops which turned hemp into rope. Leskovac was known as Leskofça during Ottman rule and was bounded to Niş sanjak until 1878.

Soon there were three watermill-driven lace producers in the region. In 1896, the founders of these companies pooled their resources and bought factory equipment for the production of woollen cloth from the German Empire. This was the first factory on the outskirts of the town. In 1903, a factory for hemp processing was built on the riverbank north of the old town centre. In 1922, the Teokarevic family opened a wool cloth factory in the small town of Vucje near Leskovac. By 1938, the private textile factories of Leskovac town employed 2,560 workers
In the 1870s, there were thousands of hemp-processors in Leskovac, producing up to 150,000 cartloads per year.

thumb|left|180px|Monument of Liberty ''WWI''

The city, initially known as Dubočica, was once known as "Little Manchester", because of its 19th century textile industry which was second only to that of Manchester, England. The city continued to be a major textile center until the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, but due to the economic isolation of Serbia resulting from ethnic wars, its remote location, and failure to privatize the mills, the industry collapsed resulting in depression of the economy in the area. <ref>"A Serbian Region Unravels With Its Textile Industry", article by Nicholas Wood in the New York Times, January 29, 2007</ref>

During World War II, the city was part of Nedić's Serbia. It was heavily bombed by the Allies in 1944, with estimates of civilian casualties varying from over a thousand to six thousand.<ref>[http://pansionperla.com/hotel/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=35&Itemid=56 History of Leskovac]</ref><ref>[http://www.glas-javnosti.co.yu/clanak/glas-javnosti-17-01-2008/nepotrebna-i-besmislena-bombardovanja Needless and thoughtless bombing]</ref>

=== Kosovo Conflict ===
On 12 April 1999, during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia a bridge near Leskovac (Grdelička klisura) was destroyed by a NATO aircraft as a passenger train was crossing. The act was highly condemned with the bridge being struck twice (the train itself having been bombed from the first attack).

==Demographics==

thumb|400|left|Leskovac Memorial Park
===Demographics of the municipality===
Ethnic groups in the municipality (2002 census):
*Serbs = 147,414
*Roma = 6,989

===Demographics of the town===
In 2002 the town's population was 63,185 of whom the majority are primarily Serbs (57,661). Other significant ethnic groups are Roma (4,327), Montenegrins (223), Macedonians (168), Yugoslavs (108), and others (including Greeks, Bulgarians, etc). In January 2007, there were an estimated 300 persons of Chinese origin living in Leskovac. <ref>"Discussion Paper: The cost of non-Europe. Textile towns and the future of Serbia," European Stability Initiative, January 18, 2007, at http://www.esiweb.org/index.php?lang=en&id=156&document_ID=83</ref>

At one time the second largest city in Serbia, today Leskovac is blighted by economic problems with many working age people migrating out of the area. <ref>"A Serbian Region Unravels With Its Textile Industry", article by Nicholas Wood in the New York Times, January 29, 2007</ref>

== Population through history ==

*1900: 13,641
*1905: 13,647
*1910: 14,266
*1921: 15,250
*1931: 17,632
*1941: 20,500 (estimate)
*1948: 20,913
*1953: 24,553
*1961: 34,396
*1971: 45,478
*1981: 56,110
*1991: 61,487
*2002: 63,185
*2007: ''67,948'' (estimate)