Baranya (region)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Baranya (Hungarian: Baranya, Croatian: Baranja, Serbian: Baranja or Барања, German: Branau) is a geographical region between the Danube and the Drava rivers. Its territory is mostly divided between Hungary and Croatia, with a small uninhabited pocket of land on the right bank of Danube which belong to Serbia, but it`s under Croatian control from 1997 (see disputes of Croatia and Serbia). In Hungary, the region is included into Baranya county, while in Croatia, it is included into Osijek-Baranja county.
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[edit] Name
The name of the region come from the Slavic word 'bara', which means 'swamp', thus the name of Baranya means 'a swamp land'. Even today large parts of the region are swamps, such as the natural reservation Kopački Rit in its southeast. Another theory states that the name of the region come from the Hungarian word 'bárány', which means 'lamb'.
[edit] History
The region of Baranya was settled by the Slavs in the 6th century, while Hungarians arrived in the 9th century.
Baranya county arose as one of the first comitatus of the Kingdom of Hungary, in the 11th century.
In the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire conquered Baranya, and included it into the sanjak of Mohács, an Ottoman administrative unit, with the seat in the city of Mohács.
In the end of the 17th century, Baranya was captured by Habsburg Empire, and was included into Habsburg Hungary.
In 1848, the proclaimed borders of Serbian Vojvodina included Baranya, but the Serbian troops did not manage to take control of the region.
In 1918, the entire Baranya region was captured by Serbian troops and was administered by the newly created Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
By the Treaty of Trianon (part of the Versailles peace) in 1920, the Baranya region was formally divided between Hungary and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, but de facto remained under the administration of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (the later Yugoslavia) until 1921.
On August 14, 1921, the Serb-Hungarian Baranya-Baja Republic was proclaimed. It included Baranya and northern part of Bačka region, and was led by the President of the Executive Committee (14 August 1921 - 25 August 1921 Petar Dobrović, born 1890 - died 1942). On August 21-25, 1921, the territory of the Republic was divided between Hungary (represented by Hungarian Commissioner Károly Soós Bádoki) and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, as was previously decided by the Treaty of Trianon (June 4, 1920, one of the Versailles peace treaties after World War I, concerning Habsburg's former Hungarian lands).
The northern part of Baranya in Hungary was included into Baranya county. The southern part of the region was part of Bačka county between 1918 and 1922, part of Bačka oblast between 1922 and 1929, and in 1929 it was included into the Danube Banovina, a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In 1941, the Yugoslav Baranya was occupied by Hungary, but it was returned to Yugoslavia in 1944.
Since 1945, Yugoslav Baranya was part of the Socialist Republic of Croatia. In 1991 it became a part of the SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Srem. Between 1991 and 1995, the region was part of the Republic of Serbian Krajina, between 1995 and 1997 was part of Srem-Baranja Oblast under the administration of the United Nations, while in 1997 it was included into Croatia. Today, it is part of that republic's Osijek-Baranja county.
[edit] Geography
[edit] Hungarian Baranya
Some of the important cities and towns in the Hungarian Baranya (with population figures from 2001 census):
- Pécs (158,942)
- Komló (27,462)
- Mohács (19,085)
- Szigetvár (11,492)
- Siklós (10,384)
- Szentlőrinc (7,265)
- Pécsvárad (4,104)
- Bóly (3,715)
- Sásd (3,570)
- Harkány (3,519)
- Sellye (3,248)
- Villány (2,793)
[edit] Croatian Baranja
Municipalities in Croatian Baranja:
The main settlement in the Croatian Baranja is Beli Manastir with a population of 8,671 (2001 census). Most of the municipalities in Croatian Baranja has a Croat ethnic majority. The municipality of Jagodnjak has a Serb ethnic majority and the municipality of Kneževi Vinogradi has a Hungarian ethnic majority.
[edit] See also
- Baranya (historic county)
- Baranya (county)
- Osijek-Baranja county
- Srem-Baranja Oblast
- Baranya-Baja Republic
