Autonomous Province of Vojvodina Аутономна Покрајина Војводина
Vajdaság Autonóm Tartomány(hu) Autonómna Pokrajina Vojvodina(sk) Provincia Autonomă Voivodina(ro) Autonomna Pokrajina Vojvodina(hr) Автономна Покраїна Войводина(rsk)
Vojvodina (Serbian:Војводина,IPA:[vǒjvodina],VOY-və-DEE-nə), officially theAutonomous Province of Vojvodina (Serbian:Аутономна Покрајина Војводина,romanized: Autonomna Pokrajina Vojvodina), is anautonomous province in northernSerbia. It encompasses the historical and geographical regions ofBačka,Banat,Syrmia, and northernmost part ofMačva, lying to the north of the national capitalBelgrade and theSava andDanube rivers. Vojvodina has 1.7 million inhabitants, about a quarter of the country's population, and its administrative centre,Novi Sad, is the second largest city in Serbia.
Vojvodina is the Serbian word forvoivodeship, a type ofduchy overseen by avoivode. Its original historical name wasSerbian Vojvodina ("Serbian Voivodeship"), a short-lived self-proclaimed autonomous province within the Austrian Empire. TheSerbian Voivodeship, a precursor to modern Vojvodina, was an Austrian province from 1849 to 1860. The Serbian language uses two more varieties of the wordVojvodina. These varieties areVojvodovina (Војводовина), andVojvodstvo (Војводство), the latter being an equivalent to the Polish word for province,województwo (voivodeship).
The official name, the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, in the province's six official languages is:
In the Neolithic period, two important archaeological cultures flourished in this area: theStarčevo culture and theVinča culture.Indo-European peoples first settled in the territory of present-day Vojvodina in 3200 BC. During theEneolithic period, theBronze Age and theIron Age, several Indo-European archaeological cultures were centered in or around Vojvodina, including theVučedol culture, theVatin culture, and theBosut culture, among others.
Roman rule lasted until the 5th century, after which the region came into the possession of various peoples and states. WhileBanat was a part of the Roman province ofDacia,Syrmia belonged to the Roman province ofPannonia.Bačka was not part of the Roman Empire and was populated and ruled by SarmatianIazyges.
After the Romans were driven away from this region, various Indo-European and Turkic peoples and states ruled in the area. These peoples included Goths, Sarmatians, Huns, Gepids, and Avars. For regional history, the largest in importance was a Gepid state, which had its capital in Sirmium. According to the 7th-centuryMiracles of Saint Demetrius,Avars gave the region of Syrmia to aBulgar leader namedKuber circa 680. The Bulgars of Kuber moved south with Maurus to Macedonia where they co-operated withTervel in the 8th century.Slavs settled today's Vojvodina in the 6th and 7th centuries, before some of them crossed the rivers Sava and Danube and settled in the Balkans.[5] Slavic tribes that lived in the territory of present-day Vojvodina includedObotrites,Severians,Braničevci, andTimočani.
In the 9th century, after the fall of the Avar state, the first forms of Slavic statehood emerged in this area. The first Slavic states that ruled over this region included the Bulgarian Empire,Great Moravia and Ljudevit's Pannonian Duchy. During the Bulgarian administration (9th century), local Bulgarian dukes,Salan andGlad, ruled over the region. Salan's residence was Titel, while that of Glad was possibly in the rumoured rampart of Galad or perhaps in the modern-dayKladovo (Gladovo) in eastern Serbia. Glad's descendant was the dukeAjtony, another local ruler from the 11th century who opposed the establishment of Hungarian rule over the region.[citation needed]
In the village ofČelarevo archaeologists have also found graves of people who practised theJudaism, containing skulls with Mongolian features (possibly Avars or Bulgars, while some attribute them to theKabars) and Judaic symbols, to the late 8th and 9th centuries.
Following territorial disputes with Byzantine and Bulgarian states, most of Vojvodina became part of theKingdom of Hungary between the 10th and 12th century and remained under Hungarian administration until the 16th century.
The regional demographic balance started changing in the 11th century whenHungarians began to replace the local Slavic population. But from the 14th century, the balance changed again in favour of the Slavs when Serbian refugees fleeing from territories conquered by the Ottoman army settled in the area. Most of the Hungarians left the region during the Ottoman conquest and early period of Ottoman administration, so the population of Vojvodina in Ottoman times was predominantly Serbs, with significant presence of Muslims of various ethnic backgrounds.[6]
After the defeat of theKingdom of Hungary atMohács by theOttoman Empire, the region fell into a period of anarchy and civil wars. In 1526,Jovan Nenad, a leader of Serb mercenaries, established his rule inBačka, northernBanat, and a small part ofSyrmia. He created an ephemeral independent state, withSubotica as its capital.
At the peak of his power, Jovan Nenad proclaimed himself Serbian Emperor. 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 1527. Jovan Nenad was assassinated and his state collapsed. After the fall of his state, the supreme military commander of Jovan Nenad's army,Radoslav Čelnik, established his own temporary state in the region of Syrmia, where he ruled as Ottoman vassal.
A few decades later, the whole region was added to the Ottoman Empire, which ruled over it until the end of the 17th and the first half of the 18th century, when it was incorporated into theHabsburg monarchy. TheTreaty of Karlowitz of 1699, betweenHoly League andOttoman Empire, marked the withdrawal of the Ottoman forces fromCentral Europe, and the supremacy of the Habsburg monarchy in that part of the European continent. According to the treaty, the western part of Vojvodina passed to Habsburgs while the eastern part (eastern Syrmia andTemeşvar Eyalet) remained in Ottoman hands until Austrian conquest in 1716. This new border change was ratified by theTreaty of Passarowitz in 1718.
Great Migration of the Serbs from Ottoman territories to the Habsburg monarchy at the end of the 17th century;Migration of the Serbs, 1896 painting byPaja Jovanović
During theGreat Migrations of the Serbs, Serbs from Ottoman territories settled in the Habsburg monarchy at the end of the 17th century.[7] Most settled in what is now Hungary, with the rest settling in present-day Serbian part of Bačka. All Serbs in the Habsburg monarchy gained the status of a recognized nation with extensive rights, in exchange for providing a border militia (in theMilitary Frontier) that could be mobilized against Ottoman invaders from the south, as well as in case of civil unrest in theHabsburg Kingdom of Hungary. Wallachian Rights became the point of reference in the 18th century for military settlement in lowland region. The Vlachs who settled there were actually mainly Serbs, although there were alsoRomanians, whileAromanians lived in the urban areas.[8]
At the beginning of Habsburg rule, most of the region was integrated into the Military Frontier, while the western parts of Bačka were put under civil administration within the County of Bač. Later, the civil administration was expanded to other (mostly northern) parts of the region, while southern parts remained under military administration. The eastern part of this area was held again by theOttoman Empire between 1787 and 1788, during theRusso-Turkish War. In 1716,Vienna temporarily forbade settlement by Hungarians and Jews in the area, while large numbers ofGermans were settled in the region fromSwabia andBavaria, to repopulate it and develop agriculture. From 1782,Protestant Hungarians and Germans started settling in larger numbers.[citation needed]
Following the Habsburg-Russian and Serb victory over the Hungarians in 1849, a new administrative territory was created in the region, in accordance with a decision made by theEmperor of Austria. By this decision, the Serbian autonomous region created in 1848 was transformed into the new Austriancrown land known asVoivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar. It consisted of Banat, Bačka, and Syrmia, excluding the southern parts of these regions, which were part of the Military Frontier with significant Serbian populations.[10][11] An Austrian governor seated inTemeschwar ruled the area, while the title of Voivod belonged to theemperor himself. The full title of theemperor was "Grand Voivod of the Voivodship of Serbia". German and Serbian were the official languages of the crown land.
Vojvodina remained Austrian Crown land until 1860, when EmperorFranz Joseph decided that it would be Hungarian Crown land again.[12] After 1867, the Kingdom of Hungary became one of two self-governing parts ofAustria-Hungary, and the territory was returned again to Hungarian administration.
In 1867, a new county system was introduced. This territory was organized amongBács-Bodrog,Torontál, andTemes counties. The era following theAustro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 was a period of economic flourishing. TheLands of the Crown of Saint Stephen had the second-fastest growing economy in Europe between 1867 and 1913, but ethnic relations were strained. According to the 1910 census, the last census conducted in Austria-Hungary, the population of Vojvodina consisted of 34% Serbs, 28% Hungarians, and 21% Germans.[13]
By the end of the 19th century, on the territory of present-day Vojvodina there were up to 800 Serbian Orthodox churches, 28 monasteries, and a theological college.[14]
Between 1929 and 1941, the region was part of theDanube Banovina, a province of theKingdom of Yugoslavia, with administrative center in Novi Sad.[17] Apart from the core territories of Vojvodina and Baranya, it included significant parts ofŠumadija andBraničevo regions south of the Danube, but not thecapital city of Belgrade itself.
The occupying powers committed numerous attrocities against the civilian population; the Jewish population of Vojvodina was almost completely killed or deported. In total,Axis occupational authorities killed about 50,000 people in Vojvodina (mostly Serbs,Jews, andRoma) while more than 280,000 people were interned, arrested, or tortured.[18] In 1942, in theNovi Sad Raid, a military operation carried out by theRoyal Hungarian Army, resulted in the deaths of 3,000–4,000 civilians. Under the Hungarian authority, 19,573 people were killed in Bačka, of which the majority of victims were of Serbs, Jews, and Roma.
During the war,Yugoslav Partisans established a strong presence inFruška Gora and fought against the division of Vojvodina between the occupying forces, advocating for the post-war multicultural autonomous Vojvodina within socialist Yugoslavia.[19]
In 1944, vast majority of ethnic Germans (about 200,000) fled the region, together with the retreating German army.[20] Those ethnic Germans who remained in the region (about 150,000) were sent to some of the villages cordoned off as prisons or camps where 8,049 people died from disease, hunger, malnutrition, mistreatment, and cold.[21][22] It has also been estimated that post-war Yugoslav communist authorities killed some 15,000–20,000 Hungarians.[23][24] In addition to that, 23,000–24,000 Serbs were killed as well, duringpost-war communist purges.[25]
The region was politically restored in 1944 (incorporating Syrmia, Banat, Bačka, and Baranya) and became anautonomous province of Serbia in 1945. Instead of the previous name (Danube Banovina), the region regained its historical name of Vojvodina, while its administrative center remained Novi Sad. When the final borders of Vojvodina were defined, Baranya was assigned to Croatia, while the northern part of the Mačva region was assigned to Vojvodina.[citation needed]
Up until the 1970s, the province enjoyed a limited level of autonomy within theSocialist Republic of Serbia. Under the1974 Yugoslav constitution, it gained extensive rights of self-rule, as both Kosovo and Vojvodina were givende facto veto power as changes to their status could not be made without the consent of the provincial assemblies.[26] It represented the peak of the decentralization within Serbia while the late 1980santi-bureaucratic revolution, initiated bySlobodan Milošević, made the sharp turn in the direction of the renewed centralization embodied in numerous constitutional amendments reaffirming and strengthening the link of the province with Serbia.[26] The motivation for the change was the widespread perception among the Serbian political elite that such high level of provincial autonomy put Serbia in unequal position compared to other Yugoslav constituent republics.[19] Following the1990 Serbian constitutional referendum, Serbia adopted a new constitution which led to the promulgation of the new provincial statute in 1991, which stripped provincial bodies of any original or delegated powers and competencies.[27]
Although Vojvodina was spared direct armed conflict, it felt the indirect effects as large influxes of Serb refugees fromCroatia andBosnia and Herzegovina, settled in Vojvodina (primarily Syrmia and southern Bačka) significantly altering the demographic and social makeup of the province. At the same time, significant number of ethnic minorities, primarily Croats and Hungarians, emigrated. Hungarians emigrated to Hungary due to economic and political challenges, including disproportionate conscription into the Yugoslav People's Army during theCroatian War of Independence, prompting many young Hungarians to emigrate to Hungary to avoid being drafted.[28] Thepersecution of Croats in 1991 and 1992, resulted in more than 10,000 Croats leaving the province for Croatia, exchanging their property for the property of Serb refugees from Croatia.[29] All these migrations altered the ethnic composition of the province, with the share of Serb population increasing from 57% in 1991 to 65% by 2002, and share of ethnic minorities falling correspondingly.
Following theoverthrow of Slobodan Milošević in 2000, Vojvodina’s autonomy was partially restored, although the scope of autonomy remains fairly limited.
In the last two decades, regional economy grew considerably solidifying its role as Serbia’s economic engine, driven traditionally by agriculture, but also from industrial diversification and a growing IT industry, with corresponding big foreign investments made by major multinational companies.
Vojvodina is situated in the southeast part of thePannonian Plain, theplain that remained when thePliocenePannonian Sea dried out. As a consequence of this, Vojvodina is rich in fertileloamyloesssoil, covered with a layer ofchernozem. The region is divided by theDanube andTisza rivers into:Bačka in the northwest,Banat in the east, andSyrmia in the southwest.[30] A small part of theMačva region is also located in Vojvodina south of theSava river.
The relief is mostly flat with two exceptions:Fruška Gora in northern Syrmia, andVršac Mountains in southeastern Banat, with its Gudurički Vrh, the highest peak in Vojvodina, at an altitude of 641 meters above sea level.[30]
The climate of the area is moderate continental, including cold winters and hot and humid summers. It is, however, characterized by a very irregular rainfall distribution per month.[31]
TheBanovina Palace, seat of the Government of Vojvodina and Assembly of Vojvodina
The competencies of Vojvodina provincial bodies are rather limited, focused primarily on executive power without any substantive legislative and judicial jurisdiction.
The political landscape of the province is dominated by pan-national political parties and, to a lesser degree, parties of the ethnic minorities. Once significant regionalist parties, that advocate more autonomy for the province, have not gained significant traction of votes in recent elections and are currently not represented in the Assembly of Vojvodina. Since 2012, theSerbian Progressive Party has been the dominant power in the provincial politics.
BesidesSerbian, official language in Serbia, there are five languages of ethnic minorities (Hungarian,Slovak,Romanian,Croatian, andRusyn) that are in official use by the provincial administration. There is a daily newspaper,Magyar Szó, published in Hungarian. Monthly and weekly publications in languages of ethnic minorities includeHlas Ľudu in Slovak,Libertatea in Romanian,Hrvatska riječ in Croatian, andRuske slovo in Rusyn. The provincial public broadcaster,Radio Television of Vojvodina, on its television RTV2 channel broadcasts programming on languages of ethnic minorities, as well as on its two radio frequencies: Radio Novi Sad 2 (in Hungarian) and Radio Novi Sad 3 (other languages).[36]
According to the 2022 census, the linguistic structure of the population is as follows:
Vojvodina is one of Serbia’s most developed regions, second only to Belgrade region in economic output. It accounts for more than a quarter of country’s GDP, though its relative contribution has declined in recent decades. However, economic disparities persist, with many areas lagging behind economic strongholds such as south Bačka (centered around Novi Sad), south Banat (centered around Pančevo, and to a lesser degree, Vršac), and Syrmia (with towns of Inđija, Sremska Mitrovica, Ruma).
Vojvodina is often referred to as the "breadbasket of Serbia" due to its rich soil and flat terrain ideal for large-scale farming. Region's richchernozem soils cover much of its 1.65 million hectares of arable land, equivalent to the combined arable land of Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. This makes it Serbia’s agricultural heartland, producing much of the nation’swheat,maize,sugar beets,sunflowers, and oilseeds. In addition,Fruška Gora andVršac Mountains, are one of most importantviticulture regions in Serbia.[38]
Relatively significant deposits ofoil andnatural gas are located in Banat, and their extraction satisfies some 20% of Serbia's needs. The Pančevo Oil Refinery, with annual capacity of 4.8 million tonnes, is one of the most modern oil-refineries in Europe.[39] Vojvodina plays a vital role for energy transport in a wider region as is traversed with several major pipelines:TurkStream natural gas pipeline (capacity of 16 billion cu m),Adria crude oil pipeline, and currently ongoing project of crude oil pipeline betweenAlgyő and Novi Sad (capacity of 5 million TOE, due to be completed by 2028).[40] Bulk of Serbia's renewable energy generated fromwind power comes from southern Banat as some large scale wind farm projects have been developed in the area in the last decade.
Key industrial sectors includefood processing, metal and machinery production, as well as chemical and pharmaceutical industry. The IT industry has seen notable growth, driven by foreign investments and a skilled workforce, particularly in Novi Sad, which is a tech hub of Serbia.
Severalpan-European transport corridors run through Vojvodina: corridor X (as theA1 motorway and theA3 motorway, respectively; as well as a double-trackhigh-speed rail from Belgrade to Subotica) and corridor VII (theDanube river waterway). The three largest rivers in Vojvodina are navigable stream: Danube with a length of 588 kilometers and its tributariesTisza (168 km),Sava (206 km), andBega (75 km). Among them was dug extensive network of irrigation canals, drainage and transport, with a total length of 939 km (583 mi), of which 673 km (418 mi) navigable.
Vojvodina’s cultural identity stems from centuries of interaction among Slavic, Hungarian, German, and other communities. The region was a significant cultural hub for Serbs under Habsburg rule, with Novi Sad earning the nickname “Serbian Athens” for its role in preserving Serbian culture during the 19th century, with cultural institutions likeMatica srpska (the oldestmatica in the world, founded 1826) and theSerbian National Theatre (1861).[41]
The Fruška Gora mountain hosts 17 Serbian Orthodox monasteries, dating back centuries, such asKrušedol andNovo Hopovo. Baroque town ofSremski Karlovci was for a long time center of Serbian Orthodox culture. Archaeological sites of theStarčevo culture (Neolithic period), highlight Vojvodina’s ancient heritage.
^abPopović, Aleksandar; Arđelan, Zoltan (2019).Vojvođanski mozaik - crtice iz kulture nacionalnih zajednica Vojvodine. Novi Sad: Pokrajinski sekretarijat za obrazovanje, propise, upravu i nacionalne manjine - nacionalne zajednice.
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