Potisje

Potisje (Потисје) is the name of the Tisa river basin parts located in Serbia, in the autonomous province of Vojvodina. The river Tisa flow between Banat and Bačka regions.

Municipalities in Potisje

Municipalities in Bačka:
*Kanjiža
*Senta
*Ada
*Bečej
*Žabalj
*Titel

Municipalities in Banat:
*Novi Kneževac
*Čoka
*Kikinda
*Novi Bečej
*Zrenjanin

History

In the 1st century, ancient author Plinius used name "Pathissus" to describe a surroundings of the river Tisa. Because of the similarity of this name with modern Slavic name "Potisje" (meaning approximatelly "a land around river Tisa" in Slavic), which is a typical Slavic name used for surroundings of the rivers (like Podunavlje, Pomoravlje, etc), name mentioned by Plinius might indicate an early Slavic presence in the area. [Oleg Trubačov, Etnogeneza i kultura drevnih Slovena, Beograd, 2005. (page 50)]

Between 1702 and 1751, western part of Potisje (in the region of Bačka) belonged to the Tisa-Mureş (Potisje-Pomorišje) section of the Habsburg Military Frontier. Potisje segment of the Frontier included towns near river Tisa: Bečej, Ada, Senta and Kanjiža (in present-day Serbia), Szeged (in present-day Hungary), as well as other places in Bačka, including Subotica, Sombor and Sentomaš (Srbobran). After the abolishment of this part of the Frontier in 1751, many Serbs that lived in the region emigrated to Russia (notably to New Serbia and Slavo-Serbia). To prevent this emigration, the Habsburg authorities formed autonomous District of Potisje with seat in Bečej. District of Potisje existed between 1751 and 1848. The three privilegies were given to the district in 1759, 1774, and 1800. First privilege of the District defined its autonomous status, while the second one allowed to ethnic Hungarians to settle in the district. In the following period many Hungarians settled in Potisje and they replaced Serbs as a dominant nation in parts of the region.

Ethnic groups

The municipalities with Serb ethnic majority are: Žabalj (86%), Titel (85%), Novi Kneževac (59%), Kikinda (76%), Novi Bečej (69%), and Zrenjanin (74%).

The municipalities with Hungarian ethnic majority are: Kanjiža (86%), Senta (81%), Ada (77%), and Čoka (52%).

The Bečej municipality is ethnically mixed with 49% Hungarians and 41% Serbs.

Gallery

References

#Potiska i Pomoriška vojna granica (1702-1751), Muzej Vojvodine, Novi Sad, 2003.
#Dr. Dušan J. Popović, Srbi u Vojvodini, knjige 1-3, Novi Sad, 1990.

Notes

ee also

*Bačka
*Banat
*Vojvodina
*Geographical regions in Serbia
*District of Potisje
*Pomorišje