Svrljig is situated on the river Svrljiški Timok, 30 km east from Niš, the third largest city in Serbia.

It is mentioned (for the first time) in the geographical list of counties and cities in the 1019–20 charters of Byzantine Emperor Basil II.

[7] An evangelion manuscript written in Svrljig in the Serbian redaction of Old Slavic dating to 1279 is preserved in fragments.

[8] After the fall of Braničevo under the Serbian king Stefan Milutin in 1290s Svrljig became a border region.

The ethnic composition of the municipality is:[15] The following table gives a preview of total number of employed people per their core activity (as of 2017):[16]