Krajina (Serbo-Croatian:[krâjina]) is aSlavictoponym, meaning 'country' or 'march'. The term is related tokraj orkrai, originally meaningsland,country oredge^[1] and today denoting a region or province, usually remote from urban centers.

TheSerbo-Croatian wordkrajina derives fromProto-Slavic *krajina, derived from *krajь, related to *krojiti 'to cut';^[1][2] the original meaning ofkrajina thus seems to have been 'place at an edge, fringe, borderland', as reflected in the meanings ofChurch Slavonicкраина,kraina.^[2]

InOld East Slavic: Ѹкраина/Ꙋкраина, romanized: Oukraina [uˈkrɑjinɑ]) appears in the Hypatian Codex of c. 1425 under the year 1187 in reference to a part of the territory ofKievan Rus',^[3] meaning specifically region or land itself rather than borderland.

In mostSlavic languages (including theChakavian andKajkavian dialects of Serbo-Croatian), the root krajina is found and meanscountry:^[2] inPolish (kraj),Slovak (krajina),Czech,Ukrainian (країна, romanised krayina),Belarusian (краіна, romanised kraina) andSorbian. Though, inSlovenian, this word meansland andmarch. To these languages, the wordkrajina was derived from Proto-Slavic*krajь, just like inSerbo-Croatian.

Thename of Ukraine derives fromOld East Slavic украина (ukraina) 'boundary, outskirts, borderland', a compound of оу (u) 'beside, at' + краи (krai) 'land, edge' + -ина (-ina), a suffix creating a feminine noun. TheProto-Slavic word *krajь generally meant "edge",^[4] related to the verb *krojiti "to cut (out)",^[5] in the sense of "division", either "at the edge, division line", or "a division, region".^[6] In modern Slavic languages variations ofkraj orkrai mean a wide array thing, such as "edge, country, land, end, region, bank, shore, side, rim, piece (of wood), area."^[7]

In someSouth Slavic languages, including Serbo-Croatian andSlovene, the wordkrajina or its cognate still refers primarily to aborder,fringe, orborderland of a country (sometimes with an established military defense), and secondarily to a region, area, or landscape.^[2][8] Krajina is also a surname, mostly among South Slavic language speakers. The wordkraj can today mean an end, extremity, region, land or area.

• Bosanska Krajina sits in a triangle roughly betweenBanja Luka,Prijedor andBihać, and encompasses a larger area westwards from theVrbas river toUna and toward theSava on the north; while on the south it is bordered by theUnac. Inmedieval Bosnia the region was known asDonji Kraji.
• Cazinska Krajina is the borderland ofBosnia adjacent toCroatia around the city ofCazin. Today it constitutesUna-Sana Canton.

• Krajina, medieval name for the region(s) inCentral Dalmatia inCroatia, including parts ofLower Neretva and westernHerzegovina in today'sBosnia and Herzegovina. It extended in the east-west direction from the lower course of the riverNeretva in the east to the riverCetina in the west, and in the south-north direction from the riversVrljika andTrebižat and the mountainsDinara,Mosor andBiokovo in the north to theAdriatic Sea.
  • Neretvanska krajina, historical area west of the riverNeretva and southwest ofImotski;^[9] including a part of the peri-littoral area nearMakarska in Croatia is called Krajina;
  • Omiška krajina, region in the hinterland ofOmiš, inZagora in southern Croatia, west of Cetinska krajina;
  • Vrgoračka krajina, area inZagora, in southernCroatia, around the city ofVrgorac, southwest ofHerzegovina and west of theNeretva valley, east ofImotska krajina;
  • Vrlička krajina, area inZagora, in southernCroatia, around the city ofVrlika, west ofLivanjski kraj, northwest of Cetinska krajina (sometimes considered as part of Cetinska krajina);
  • Imotska krajina, area around the city ofImotski, inZagora in southernCroatia, constituted mostly byImotsko polje;
  • Cetinska krajina, area along the valley of the riverCetina in southern Croatia, inZagora, west of the border withHerzegovina, constituted mostly bySinjsko polje.

• kъrainu (Krajina), medievalGlagolitic name of a Croatian province on theBaška tablet (c. 1100).
• municipality of Krajina, a former municipality located betweenSplit andImotski in southern Croatia, existed from 1912–1945;
• also the name of the soccer club from Imotski.
• Drniška krajina, area around the city ofDrniš, inZagora in southern Croatia.
• Istarska krajina, historical region in western Croatia, central area ofIstria.
• Kninska Krajina, region aroundKnin in southern Croatia, north of Drniška krajina and northeast of Cetinska krajina.
• Sinjska krajina, area inZagora in southernCroatia around the city ofSinj, west ofLivanjski kraj, southeast of Vrlička krajina (sometimes considered as part of Cetinska krajina).

• Skadarska Krajina, region north ofBar andUlcinj, across the mountain. It bordersSkadar Lake on its northern edge.

• Krajna, historical region on the border betweenGreater Poland andPomerania.

• Timok Valley (Serbian:Тимочка Крајина,romanized: Timočka Krajina), border region of Serbia adjacent toBulgaria, around theTimok River.
  • Negotin Valley (Serbian:Неготинска Крајина,romanized: Negotinska Krajina), a part of the Timok Valley around the city ofNegotin.
• Koča's krajina, an area liberated during the eighthAustrian-Turkish war.

• White Carniola (Slovene:Bela krajina), borderland of Slovenia adjacent to Croatia.

Subdivisions ofAustria-Hungary:

• Military Frontier (Serbo-Croatian:Vojna krajina,German:Militärgrenze), borderland ofAustrian Empire against theOttoman Empire. It was further divided into:
  • Banat Krajina (on the Serbian-Romanian border);
  • Croatian Krajina (on the border of western Croatia and Bosnia);
  • Slavonian Krajina (on the border of Serbia and eastern Croatia with Bosnia).

Political units formed by rebel Serbs at the beginning of theCroatian War of Independence (1991–95):

• Republic of Serbian Krajina (1991–95)
• SAO Krajina
• SAO Kninska Krajina, used by some since theYugoslav Wars to signify two regions,Knin and its surroundings, and to a larger extent Krajina proper (the main portion of the Republic of Serb Krajina).
• SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia, sometimes calledPodunavska Krajina

Political unit formed by Serbs in the prelude (1991) to theBosnian War (1992–95):

• SAO Bosanska Krajina

Where the termSerbian Krajina orKrajina alone is used, it most often refers to the former Republic of Serbian Krajina.

InRussia:

• InRussian,kray (край) is the word for theterritories of Russia, a second-level subdivision.

InSlovakia:

• InSlovak,kraj is used for theregions of Slovakia, a first-level subdivision.

In theCzech Republic:

• InCzech,kraj is used for theregions of the Czech Republic, a first-level subdivision.

InUkraine:

• InUkrainian,krajina (країна) means 'country, land', whileUkrajina is the country's name. See also:Name of Ukraine.

• Krajina Belojević, a 9th-century Serbian duke in thePrincipality of Serbia

• Krain
• Kraj
• Ukraine
• Semasiological map for *krajь

• Derksen, Rick (2008).Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon(PDF). Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series. Leiden; Boston: Brill. p. 737.ISBN 978-90-04-15504-6.OCLC 179104910. Archived fromthe original on 31 October 2013.
• Karlo Jurišić, Lepantska pobjeda i makarska Krajina,Adriatica maritima, sv. I, (Lepantska bitka, Udio hrvatskih pomoraca u Lepantskoj bitki 1571. godine), Institut JAZU u Zadru, Zadar, 1974., str. 217., 222., (reference fromMorsko prase)
• Pivtorak, Hryhoriy Petrovych (2001).Походження українців, росіян, білорусів та їхніх мов Pochodžennja ukrajinciv, rosijan, bilorusiv ta jichnich mov [The Origin of Ukrainians, Belarusians, Russians and their languages] (in Ukrainian).Kyiv: Akademia.ISBN 966-580-082-5.

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