The covered area is situated in the southern part of the Republic of Serbia and is surrounded by Toplica, Nisava and Pirot district, the Republic of Macedonia in the south, and Kosovo in the west and the Republic of Bulgaria on the eastern border of our country.

As far as economic development is concerned, all municipalities of this area are far below the average of the Republic of Serbia, which could be witnessed from the comparative data on the national income per capita for 2000: Serbia - 16.211,00 din., the South Morava region- 10.945,00 din.    

The second general characteristic lies in the fact that in all of the municipalities the greatest share has agricultural population.When economy structure in question, it has been noted that agriculture represents basic economy sector in the entire area with special emphasis on the agriculture of individual sector.

Almost two thirds of the area is hills and valleys. The rest is flat, which, in broader sense, constitutes the so called Leskovac valley. The majority of land types are of medium-heavy mechanic content and medium porous. As per chemical content, the land is typically acid, while the content of humus is low, with a moderate share of physiologically active phosphorus and potassium. The climate is moderately-continental, with steplike characteristics. Inadequate precipitation as well as a low level of the total precipitation during a one year period (600- 800 L/m²) presents the most important condition for agricultural production.

In accordance with this fact, it could be concluded that the available water resources in this area are not enough to meet the needs of the population and the economy, as well as agriculture, so that it would be necessary to take good care of this in the forthcoming period.