The Autonomous Province of Vojvodina (Serbian: Аутономна Покрајина Војводина or Autonomna Pokrajina Vojvodina) is one of the two autonomous provinces in Serbia. It is located in the northern part of the country, in the Pannonian plain. Its capital and the largest city is Novi Sad and the second largest city is Subotica.

Vojvodina is ethnically, culturally and linguistically diverse, with more than 26 different ethnic groups and six official languages.

Name

The name "Vojvodina" in the Serbian language simply means "voivodship" (a type of duchy). Its original historical name (from 1848) was the "Serbian Voivodship" (Serbian Vojvodina), but since Vojvodina is now a part of Serbia, there is no need for the prefix "Serbian" anymore. The Serbian language uses (but rarely) two more varieties of the word Vojvodina. These varieties are Vojvodovina and Vojvodstvo, which is equivalent to the Polish word for province, województwo (voivodship).

The full official names of the province in all official languages of Vojvodina are:

History

Main article: History of Vojvodina

Throughout history the territory of present day Vojvodina has been a part of Dacia, the Roman Empire, the Hun Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Gepid Kingdom, the Avar Khanate, the Frankish Kingdom, the Pannonian Croatia, the Great Moravia, the Bulgarian Empire, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, the Habsburg Monarchy, the Austrian Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and Serbia and Montenegro. Since 2006, Vojvodina is part of an independent Serbia (It should be noted that historical name of Vojvodina between 1849 and 1860 was Voivodship of Serbia and Tamiš Banat. Vojvodina in 1918 united with the Kingdom of Serbia, and in 1945 with the People's Republic of Serbia).

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. The city was also a capital of several Roman administrative units, i.e. the Lower Pannonia, the Pannonia Secunda, the Diocese of Pannonia, and the Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum. Roman rule lasted until the 4th century, after which the region came into possession of the various peoples and states.

Voivodship (duchy) of Salan, 9th century

Slavs (including Serbs) settled today's Vojvodina in the 6th and 7th centuries. In the 9th century Salan and Glad, Bulgarian dukes (voivods), ruled over the region. The residence of Salan was Titel. The important local voivods were also Ahtum and Sermon, who ruled over the region in the 11th century. After Bulgarian dukes were defeated, parts of the region (Bačka and Banat) were included into the medieval Kingdom of Hungary, while Syrmia was ruled by the Byzantine Empire, until the 12th century, when it was too included into the Kingdom of Hungary.

Between 1282 and 1316, the Serbian King Stefan Dragutin ruled the Kingdom of Syrmia, which consisted of the northern parts of Serbia, Mačva, Usora and Soli, and his residence was in the city of Debrc. His Kingdom of Syrmia was located in the Lower Syrmia (present day Mačva), while another local ruler, Ugrin Čak, ruled over Upper Syrmia (present day Syrmia), Slavonija, and Bačka with residence in Ilok. At first, Stefan Dragutin was a vassal of the Hungarian king, but since the central power in the Kingdom of Hungary collapsed, both, Stefan Dragutin and Ugrin Čak were de facto independent rulers. Stefan Dragutin died in 1316, and was succeeded by his son, King Vladislav II (1316-1325), while Ugrin Čak died in 1311. Vladislav II was defeated by the king of Serbia, Stefan Dečanski, in 1324, and after this, Lower Syrmia became a subject of dispute between the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Hungary.

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 Syrmia.

Monument to Emperor Jovan Nenad in Subotica

After the defeat of the Hungarian Kingdom at Mohács by the Ottoman Empire, the region fell into a period of anarchy and civil wars. In 1526 Jovan Nenad, a leader of the Serb mercenaries, established his rule in Bačka, northern Banat and a small part of Syrmia. 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. Few decades later, the region was included into the Ottoman Empire, which ruled over it until the end of the 17th and the first half of the 18th century, when it was included into Habsburg Monarchy. At the beginning of the Habsburg rule, most of the region was incorporated into the Habsburg Military Frontier district, while western parts of Bačka were put under civil administration within Bač county. Later, the civil administration was expanded to other (mostly northern) parts of the region, while southern parts remained under military administration.

Proclaimed borders of the Serbian Voivodship in 1848

Voivodship of Serbia and Tamiš Banat and Principality of Serbia in 1849

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

In November 1849, by a decision of the Austrian emperor, this Serbian region was transformed into the new Austrian crown land known as Voivodship of Serbia and Tamiš Banat. It consisted of Banat, Bačka and Syrmia, excluding southern parts of these regions which were part of the Military Frontier. An Austrian governor seated in Temeschwar ruled the area, and the title of voivod belonged to the emperor himself. The full title of the emperor was "Grand Voivod of the Voivodship of Serbia" (German: Großwoiwode der Woiwodschaft Serbien). The province was abolished in 1860, and from 1867 was located within the Hungarian part of Austria-Hungary.

At the end of World War I, the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed. On October 29, 1918, Syrmia has become a part of State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. On October 31, 1918, Banat Republic was proclaimed in Temeschwar, 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 (The assembly numbered 757 deputies, of which 578 were Serbs, 84 Bunjevci, 62 Slovaks, 21 Rusyns, 6 Germans, 3 Šokci, 2 Croats, and 1 Hungarian). One day before this, on November 24, the Assembly of Syrmia also proclaimed the union of Syrmia with Serbia. Since December 1, 1918, Vojvodina is part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

Between 1929 and 1941, the region was known as the Danube Banovina, a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The capital city was Novi Sad. The Banovina consisted of Syrmia, Bačka, Banat, Baranja, Šumadija, and Braničevo regions.

The World War II Axis Powers occupied the region between 1941 and 1944. Bačka and Baranja were attached to Hungary, while Syrmia was attached to the Independent State of Croatia. A smaller Danube Banovina (including Banat, Šumadija, and Braničevo) 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.

Vojvodina within Serbia in 1945

The Axis occupation ended in 1944 and the region was politically restored in 1945 as autonomous province of Serbia (incorporating Syrmia, Banat, and Bačka). Instead of the previous name (Danube Banovina), the region regained its historical name of Vojvodina, while its capital city remained Novi Sad.

At first, the province enjoyed only the small level of autonomy within Serbia, but gained extensive rights of self-rule under the 1974 constitution, which defined Vojvodina as one of the subjects of the Yugoslav federation, and also gave it voting rights equivalent to Serbia itself on the country's collective presidency.

Under the rule of the Serbian president Slobodan Milošević, Vojvodina and Kosovo lost most of their autonomy in September 1990. After this, the Vojvodina was no longer a subject of the Yugoslav federation, but again only the autonomous province of Serbia, with the small level of autonomy.

The fall of Milošević in 2000 created a new climate for reform in Vojvodina. Following talks between the parties, the level of the province's autonomy was increased by the omnibus law in 2002.

Geography

Main article: Geography of Vojvodina

Vojvodina map

Districts in Vojvodina

Vojvodina is situated in the northern part of Serbia. The region is traditionally divided by the Danube and Tisa rivers into: Bačka in the northwest, Banat in the east and Syrmia (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 Syrmia 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). Vojvodina is also part of the Danube-Kris-Mures-Tisa euroregion.

Districts

Vojvodina is divided into 7 districts (district in Serbian is okrug). The districts are further divided into 46 municipalities. The districts are:

Cities

Largest cities of Vojvodina (with population figures):

Also see: List of cities, towns and villages in Vojvodina

Demographics

Main article: Demographic history of Vojvodina

Ethnic map of Vojvodina based on the 2002 municipality data

Ethnic map of Vojvodina based on the 2002 settlement data

Language map of Vojvodina based on the 2002 municipality data

Population by national or ethnic groups:^[1]

Population by mother tongue:

Population by religion:

Population by gender:

Population by age groups:

Source: Republic Statistical Office of Serbia

Politics

The current ruling coalition in the Vojvodina parliament is composed of the following political parties: Democratic Party, United for Vojvodina (the coalition of several regionalist political parties lead by League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina), Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians, and Political movement “Force of Serbia”.

Current president of Vojvodinian government is Bojan Pajtić (Democratic Party), while president of Vojvodinian parliament is Bojan Kostreš (League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina).

Culture

Also see: Music of Vojvodina, Religion in Vojvodina, EXIT (festival)

The Executive Council of Vojvodina is founder of several newspapers and magazines in Vojvodina's official languages: "Дневник" ^[1] (Daily news) in Serbian and "Magyar Szó" ^[2] (Hungarian Word) in Hungarian are daily newspapers, and weekly magazines are "Hrvatska riječ"^[3] (Croatian Word) in Croatian, "Hlas Ľudu" ^[4] (The Voice of the People) in Slovak, "Libertatea" ^[5] (Freedom) in Romanian, and "Руске слово"^[6] (Rusyn Word) in Rusyn. There are also "Bunjevačke novine" (Bunjevac newspaper) in Bunjevac.

Gallery

See also

External links

References

1. ^ (December 24 2002) “3. Population by national or ethnic groups by Census 2002, by municipalities”, Zoran Jančić Issue LII, No. 295, Final Results of the Census 2002, Communication, Belgrade: Republic Statistical Office of Serbia. YU ISSN 0353-9555 SRB 295 SN31 241202, 6-7.