Sonta

Sonta (Serbian: "Сонта", Hungarian: "Szond") is a village located in the Apatin municipality, in the West Bačka District of Serbia. It is situated in the autonomous province of Vojvodina. The village has a Croat (from the group of Šokac) ethnic majority and its population numbering 4,992 people (2002 census).

Name

According to some sources, inhabitants of Sonta originating from Herzegovina and they came to this village under the leadership of Sonda Vidaković, thus the name of Sonta derived from the name of this person.

History

It was first mentioned in the 12th century under name "Zund". In Ottoman records, Sonta was mentioned as a settlement with 36 families, while in 1898, its population numbered 4,972 inhabitants and 650 houses. During 1920s, the village was moved 3km to the north from its original location because of the large floods of the river Danube.

On the session of the Municipality of Apatin in June 2006, Croatian language gain the status of the official language in Sonta. Until then, Serbian language was the sole official language in this village [hr icon [http://www.zvonik.org.yu/arhiva/141/subisk.html Zvonik br. 141] Hrvatski u službenoj uporabi u Sonti, July 2006 ] , although Croats comprised majority in the village since the country of Serbia and Montenegro was established.

Ethnic groups (2002 census)

*Croats = 2,966 (59.42%)
*Serbs = 975 (19.53%)
*Hungarians = 267 (5.35%)
*Romanians = 211 (4.23%)
*Roma = 138 (2.76%)
*others.

Historical population

*1961: 6,821
*1971: 6,508
*1981: 6,313
*1991: 5,990
*2002: 4,992

References

*Slobodan Ćurčić, Broj stanovnika Vojvodine, Novi Sad, 1996.

ee also

*List of places in Serbia
*List of cities, towns and villages in Vojvodina

External links

* [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/YI/2/Sonta.html Sonta]
*sr icon [http://www.sonta.co.yu Sonta.co.yu]