It is situated in the central part of the Novi Beograd municipality, on the southern extension of the elongated, crescent-shaped yellow loess ridge of Bežanijska kosa.

Bežanija experienced a rapid growth of population after 1948 as it was almost immediately attached to the newly constructed city-within-the city of Novi Beograd.

As internal communal boundaries changed a lot since the 1970s, despite further expansion, censuses showed a reduced number of population as many border areas (entirely or partially) were detached from Bežanija (Bežanijska Kosa, blocks 61–65, etc.).

[3] In the book Kruševski pomenik from 1713, which was kept in the Dobrun monastery near Višegrad, settlement of Bežanija was mentioned for the first time under its present name as far as 1512, as a small village with 32 houses, populated by Serbs.

The Habsburg monarchy conquered it temporarily during the Great Turkish War (1689–1691), but it remained under Ottoman administration by the provisions of the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699, until 1718.

[4] In 1848-1849 it was part of the Serbian Vojvodina, an ethnic Serb autonomous region within the Austrian Empire, but in 1849 was again placed under administration of the Military Frontier.

[7] After dissolution of Austria-Hungary, in autumn of 1918, Bežanija became part of the newly formed State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs.

During World War II, from 1941 to 1944, the village was occupied by the Axis Powers and was attached to the Pavelić's Independent State of Croatia.

Some very important industrial facilities are located in the areas geographically, though not administratively, parts of Bežanija: IMT and FOM factories, section of the Belgrade's Waterwoks and Sewage, Minel, etc.

Commercial sector is developing recently, including a green market, several gas pumps, a stadium and several shopping malls (like Immo Idea).

The major transmission grid's substation for western Belgrade is located in Bežanija and was heavily damaged during the NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999.

Construction of the terminus in Bežanija was scheduled for 2023, and completion of the route, which will connect it to Mirijevo on the eastern outskirts of the city, is planned for 2030.

Adjacent to it, in the locality Belanović Hole (Belanovića rupa), there is a memorial cemetery, dedicated to the World War II victims.

[13] In January 2019 it was announced that the forested area in Block 51, south of the Belgrade-Novi Sad highway, is chosen as the location of the first Belgrade's pet cemetery.

[13] By 2023, residents living in the neighborhood began organizing protests against the animal crematorium in their vicinity, especially after it was leaked that the incinerator will be used for destruction of the medical waste, too.

[18] West of Bežanija and 2 km (1.2 mi) south of Zemun, between the village and the Sava river, is the location of the old Belgrade airport which was finished in March 1927.

In order to bust the sale of the shares, pilot Tadija Sondermajer decided to conduct the promotional flight Paris-Bombay-Belgrade.

With his colleague Leonid Bajdak [sr], he started the journey on 20 April 1927 from Paris, arriving back to Belgrade after 11 days and 14.800 km (9.196 mi), on 8 May.

The sale of the shares was boosted and in three months there were sufficient funds for the company, named Aeroput and established on 17 June 1927, to purchase its first 4 airplanes.

As the representative of the continual development of education in the 19th century, but also of the economic status and economy in general among the Serbian population of this area, it was declared a cultural monument in January 2019.

At the roundabout on the corner of Vojvođanska, Vinogradska, Surčinska and Dr Ivana Ribara streets, an obelisk was erected in 2012 to celebrate the 500 years of the first mention of Bežanija.

[4] On 31 March 2021 construction of the 7.9 km (4.9 mi) long, New Belgrade's direct connection to the Obrenovac-Surčin Bridge and Miloš the Great Motorway began.

[25] Northeastern extension of the Bežanija, along the loess ridge, is called Bežanijska Kosa (Serbian Cyrillic: Бежанијска Коса, lit.

It is crescent shaped, leaning on the western border of the urban area of Novi Beograd, stretching along the Tošin Bunar street to Zemun.

In 1883 Austrian general Laudon built a trench through the loess to make way for the railway, thus creating an artificial hill, known today as Bežanijska Kosa.

Laudon's trench, whose remnants still can be seen but are turned into an informal settlement, marked to border between the south Kalvarija and north Bežanijska Kosa.

Their number is constantly growing in the vicinity of Belgrade since the 2010s, and Bežanijska Kosa is on the outskirts of the city hence easily accessible to wild animals.

[31] However, the citizens organized in civil initiative "Bežanija stays, Kosa defies", and rejected such "megalomaniacal complex" in the mostly family oriented neighborhood.

[30] Citizens responded that the presented data are false, tailored for the area 50% smaller than the planned one, so that the infrastructure appears adequate.

[36] Envisioned by the former plan and reconfirmed in March 2023, it was announced that the existing FK BUSK stadium will be upgraded into the Center for Sports and Recreation for the students at the University of Belgrade.