Vojvodina

Autonomna Pokrajina Vojvodina
Аутономна Покрајина Војводина
Autonomous Province of Vojvodina

Flag of Vojvodina

Coat of Arms of Vojvodina
Coat of Arms of Vojvodina

Map showing Vojvodina within the state union

Template:Serbia and Montenegro 2

Official languages

Serbian, Hungarian, Slovak, Romanian, Croatian, Rusin¹

Capital

Novi Sad

Area
– Total
– % water

21,500 km²
n/a

Population
– Total (2002)
– Density

2,031,992
94.51/km²

Ethnic groups
(2002)

Serbs: 65.05%
Hungarians: 14.28%
Slovaks: 2.79%
Croats: 2.78%
Others: 15.1%

Time zone

UTC +1

¹ All of the national languages are used in the provincial government, Serbian is used by all municipal authorities, while others are used in selected municipalities accordingly, and the remaining minority languages are used privately but freely.

The Autonomous Province of Vojvodina (Serbian: Аутономна Покрајина Војводина/Autonomna Pokrajina Vojvodina, Hungarian: Vajdaság Autonóm Tartomány, Slovak: Autonómna Provincia Vojvodina, Romanian: Provincia Autonomă Voivodina, Croatian: Autonomna Pokrajina Vojvodina, Rusin: Автономна Покраїна Войводина) is Serbia's northern province, situated in Serbia and Montenegro. Its capital is Novi Sad and the second largest city is Subotica.

Vojvodina is ethnically diverse: there are more than 26 declared nationalities, and no fewer than six national languages enjoy a varying degree of officialdom which reflects the region's cultural and linguistic diversity. The Executive Council of Vojvodina is the founder of several newspapers and magazines in Vojvodina's national languages: "Дневник" (Daily news) in Serbian and "Magyar Szó" (Hungarian Word) in Hungarian are daily newspapers, and weekly magazines are "Hrvatska riječ" (Croatian Word) in Croatian, "Hlas Ľudu" (The Voice of the People) in Slovak, "Libertatea" (Freedom) in Romanian and "Руске слово" (Rusin Word) in Rusin.

Vojvodina is one of two autonomous provinces of Serbia, the other being Kosovo and Metohija. Vojvodina is also part of the Danube-Criş-Mureş-Tisa euroregion.

Name

The name "Vojvodina" in the Serbian language simply means "dukedom" or "voivodship". Its historical name was "Serbian Dukedom", but since Vojvodina is now part of Serbia, there is no need for the prefix "Serbian" anymore. The Serbian language uses two more varieties of the word Vojvodina. These varieties are Vojvodovina and Vojvodstvo, which is equivalent to the Polish word wojewodztwo (province).

History

Main article: History of Vojvodina

Throughout history the territory of present day Vojvodina had been a part of Dacia, the Roman Empire, the Hun Empire, the Avar Khanate, the Gepid Kingdom, the Frankish Kingdom, the Byzantine Empire, Bulgaria, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, the Austrian Empire, and Austria-Hungary; the most recent chapter begins with the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, Yugoslavia, and presently Serbia and Montenegro.

During the Roman rule, Sirmium (today Sremska Mitrovica) was one of the four capital cities of Roman Empire and six Roman Emperors were born in this city or in its surroundings.

Dukedom of Salan (Vojvodina of Salan), 9th century

Slavs (including Serbs) settled today's Vojvodina in the 6th and 7th centuries. In the 9th century, Salan and Glad, a Bulgarian dukes (voivods), ruled over the region. The residence of Salan was Titel. The important local rulers were also Ahtum and Sermon, who ruled over the region in the 11th century.

Some historical sources claim that part of present day Vojvodina was under the rule of Serbian king Stefan Dragutin (1282-1316), and his son, king Vladislav II (1316-1325). After the Ottoman Empire conquered Serbia (in 1459), Serbian despots ruled in parts of Vojvodina as vassals of the Hungarian kings. The residence of the despots was Kupinik (today Kupinovo) in Srem.

In 1526 Jovan Nenad, a leader of Serbian mercenaries, established his rule in Bačka, northern Banat and a small part of Srem. He created an ephemeral independent state, with Subotica as its capital. At the pitch of his power, Jovan Nenad proclaimed himself "Serbian Emperor" in Subotica. Taking advantage of the extremely confused military and political situation, the Hungarian noblemen from the region joined forces against him and defeated the Serbian troops in the summer of 1527. "Emperor" Jovan Nenad was assassinated and his state collapsed.

At the May Assembly in Sremski Karlovci (May 13-15, 1848), Serbs declared the constitution of the Serbian Vojvodina (Serbian Dukedom), a Serbian autonomous region within Austrian Empire. The Serbian Dukedom consisted of Srem, Bačka, Banat, and Baranja. The metropolitan of Sremski Karlovci, Josif Rajačić, was elected for patriarch, while Stevan Šupljikac for the first duke.

File:Serbia.jpg

Southern and Northern Serbia (Vojvodina) in 1849

In November 1849, by a decision of the Austrian emperor, this Serbian region was recognized as legal Austrian crownland known as Vojvodina of Serbia and Tamiš Banat ( German: Woiwodschaft Serbien und Temescher Banat). It consisted of Banat, Bačka and Srem. An Austrian governor seated in Temišvar ruled the area, and the title of Duke belonged to the emperor himself. The full title of the emperor was "Great duke of Vojvodina of Serbia" (German: Großwoiwode der Woiwodschaft Serbien). The province was abolished in 1860, and since 1867, it was located within the Budapest part of Austria-Hungary.

At the end of World War I, the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed. On October 29, 1918, Srem has become a part of State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. On October 31, 1918, Banat Republic was proclaimed in Temišvar, and government of Hungary recognized its independence, but it was short-lived.

On November 25, 1918, the Assembly of Serbs, Bunjevci, and other nations of Vojvodina in Novi Sad proclaimed the union of Vojvodina (Banat, Bačka, and Baranja) with the Kingdom of Serbia. One day before this, on November 24, the Assembly of Srem also proclaimed the union of Srem with Serbia. Since December 1, 1918, Vojvodina is part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

Between 1929 and 1941, Dunavska banovina (the province of Danube) was a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The capital city was Novi Sad. Dunavska banovina consisted of Srem, Bačka, Banat, Baranja and Šumadija.

The Axis Powers occupied the region between 1941 and 1944. Bačka and Baranja were attached to Hungary, while Srem was attached to the Independent State of Croatia. A smaller Dunavska banovina (including Banat and Šumadija) existed as part of Serbia between 1941 and 1944. The administrative centre of this smaller province was Smederevo. However, Banat itself was a separate autonomous region ruled by its German minority.

The Axis occupation ended in 1944 and the region was politically restored in 1945 as autonomous province of Serbia (incorporating Srem, Banat, and Bačka). Instead of the previous name (Dunavska Banovina), the region regained its historical name of Vojvodina, while its capital city remained Novi Sad. Since 1945, the level of autonomy has changed several times, thought the omnibus law from 2002 regulated the current status of the province.

Geography

Main article: Geography of Vojvodina

File:Vmap.jpg

Vojvodina map

The region is traditionally divided by the Danube and Tisa rivers into: Bačka in the northwest, Banat in the east and Srem in the southwest. A small part of the Mačva region is also located in Vojvodina, in the Srem District. Today, the western part of Srem is in Croatia, the northern part of Bačka is in Hungary, the eastern part of Banat is in Romania (with a small piece in Hungary), while Baranja (which is between the Danube and the Drava) is in Hungary and Croatia. Vojvodina has a total surface area of 21,500 km² (8,299 mi²).

Districts

Vojvodina is divided into 7 districts. The districts are further divided into 45 municipalities. The districts are:

Cities

Largest cities of Vojvodina are: Novi Sad (215,659), Subotica (99,471), Zrenjanin (79,545), Pančevo (76,110), Sombor (50,950), Kikinda (41,825), Sremska Mitrovica (39,041), Vršac (36,001), Ruma (32,125), Bačka Palanka (29,431), Inđija (26,244), Vrbas (25,887), Bečej (25,703), Senta (20,363), Kula (19,293), Apatin (19,289), Temerin (19,143).