Vrbas was mentioned first in 1213 during the administration of the
Kingdom of Hungary. According to other sources, it was mentioned first in 1387. In the 16th century it became a part of the
Ottoman Empire. During Ottoman administration it was populated by ethnic
Serbs. Since the
Treaty of Passarowitz (1718), Vrbas and the Banat were placed under administration of the
Habsburg monarchy. According to the 1720 census, it was populated exclusively by Serbs (about 250 families). After 1784 many
Germans settled in the town founding a new settlement named Novi Vrbas (
Neu-Verbasz) near the old Serb settlement, which then became known as Stari Vrbas (Old Vrbas). In 1910, population of Novi Vrbas was mostly composed of ethnic Germans, while population of Stari Vrbas was ethnically mixed and was mainly composed of Serbs and Germans. In 1918, Vrbas became part of the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which was later renamed to
Yugoslavia. The town was under
Axis occupation in 1941–1944, and during that time it was attached to
Horthy's Hungary. As a consequence of the
World War II events in Yugoslavia, the German population fled from the town after this war. At the same time, many settlers from
Montenegro came to Vrbas and other neighboring places. ==Inhabited places==