Novi Kneževac

Novi Kneževac Нови Кнежевац Törökkanizsa
—  Municipality and Town  —
The Orthodox church
Coat of arms
Location of the municipality of Novi Kneževac within Serbia
Coordinates: 46°03′N 20°06′E / 46.05°N 20.1°E / 46.05; 20.1
Country	Serbia
District	North Banat
Settlements	9
Government
– Mayor	Dragan Babić (Democratic party, DS)
Area[1]
– Municipality	305 km2 (117.8 sq mi)
Population (2011 census)[2]
– Town	7,581
– Municipality	12,975
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
– Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code
Area code	+381 230
Car plates	KI
Website	www.noviknezevac.info

The Saint George Martyr Catholic Church

Map of Novi Kneževac municipality

Novi Kneževac (Serbian Cyrillic: Нови Кнежевац, pronounced [nɔ̂ʋiː knɛ̌ːʒɛʋats]) is a town and municipality in the North Banat District of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town has a population of 7,567, while the Novi Kneževac municipality has 12,952 inhabitants (2002 census).

Name

The name of the town originates in the Serbian word "knez" ("prince" in English), and the full meaning of the name is "the prince's new place" in English.

The city's name in various languages include Serbian: Novi Kneževac or Нови Кнежевац, Hungarian: Törökkanizsa, Romanian: Noul Cnezat, Croatian: Novi Kneževac, and German: Neu-Kanischa.

The older Serbian names used for the town were Turska Kanjiža (Турска Кањижа), Mala Kanjiža (Мала Кањижа) and Nova Kanjiža (Нова Кањижа).

The Serbian and Hungarian languages are officially used by the municipal authorities.

History

People inhabited this area as early as the Neolithic era as well. Historically, the region was populated by Sarmatians, Gepids, Huns, Avars and Slavs. The first written record of Novi Kneževac was made in the 9th century, mentioning under the name "Kneža". In the next century, it was mentioned as "Kanjiša". Until the arrival of the Ottomans, it was under the administration of Hungarian feudal landlords. In the 16th century, during the Ottoman administration, it was populated by Serbs, its name became known as "Turska Kanjiža" and there were already 30-40 houses in the settlement at the beginning of the 18th century

In the 18th century, it became part of the Habsburg Monarchy, and in 1752, in the vicinity of Turska Kanjiža, a new settlement was built by Serbs coming from Pomorišje, who settled here after the Military Frontier had been abolished in that region.^[3] The name of the newly built settlement in the neighborhood was Jozefovo or Jozefsdorf (later known as Obilićevo) and in 1945, the two settlements became one.

In the 18th century, the economic and cultural life of Turska Kanjiža started thriving; Marko Servijski founded an association whose name was "Stipendarius Servijski" or "Platoneum", which was the largest stipendist foundation among Serbs and Cincars at that time. Interestingly, by this association, a regular allowance was allocated to the reformer of the Serbian language, Lukijan Mušicki. In 1885, a pontoon bridge was opened between Turska Kanjiža and Stara Kanjiža. In the 18th century, both settlements, Turska Kanjiža and Jozefovo were populated mainly by Serbs, however, 1910 census already recorded that the Hungarian speakers exceeded in number the Serbian ones in both settlements. As for the territory of present-day Novi Kneževac municipality, 1910 census recorded 18,513 inhabitants in the area, of which 9,295 (50.21%) spoke Serbian and 8,823 (47.66%) Hungarian^[4] (Note that this data is calculated on the present-day territory of Novi Kneževac municipality, not on the territory of historical municipality, which included a much larger territory than the modern one in 1910 and in which the Hungarian speakers were more numerous than the Serbian ones).

As of 1918, it is part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later renamed to Yugoslavia). In 1922, the name "Nova Kanjiža" was officially adopted which was altered to "Novi Kneževac" in 1935 and in 1932, it was the site of the first football match illuminated by electric lanterns in Yugoslavia.^[5] Until 1981, the largest ethnic group in the town were Hungarians but with a different demographic trend. The proportion of Serbs increased, while the proportion of Hungarians fell, and as of 1981 evinced by all the following censuses, Serbs became the most numerous ethnic group. Nonetheless, there has been a permanent ethnic Serb majority in the territory of present-day Novi Kneževac municipality for several centuries.

Inhabited places

The Novi Kneževac municipality includes the town of Novi Kneževac, which is situated along the river bank of Tisa, and eight villages. The villages are:

• Banatsko Aranđelovo
• Đala
• Filić
• Majdan (Hungarian: Magyarmajdány)
• Podlokanj
• Rabe (Hungarian: Rábé)
• Siget
• Srpski Krstur

Note: The Hungarian names are also mentioned at those places where there is a Hungarian ethnic majority.

Demographics (2002 census)

Ethnic groups in the municipality

The population of the Novi Kneževac municipality is composed of:

• Serbs = 7,725 (59.53%)
• Hungarians = 3,864 (29.78%)
• Roma = 655 (5.04%)
• Yugoslavs = 207 (1.59%)
• Others.

Settlements with an ethnic majority

The places where there is a Serb ethnic majority are Novi Kneževac, Banatsko Aranđelovo, Siget, Filić, Srpski Krstur, Đala, and Podlokanj and there are two villages Majdan and Rabe with a Hungarian ethnic majority. The names of the settlements where there is a Hungarian population of more than 20% are Novi Kneževac, Filić, Banatsko Aranđelovo, and Siget.

Ethnic groups in the town

The population of the Novi Kneževac town is composed of:

• Serbs = 4,369 (57.63%)
• Hungarians = 2,657 (35.05%)
• Yugoslavs = 131 (1.73%)
• Roma = 107 (1.41%)
• Others.

Politics

2004 elections

Seats in the municipal parliament won in Novi Kneževac local elections, 2004: [1]

• Serbian Radical Party (9)
• Democratic Party (7)
• G17 Plus (2)
• Socialist Party of Serbia (2)
• Serbian Strength Movement (2)
• Groups of citizens - Pensioners (2)
• Democratic Party of Serbia (2)
• Groups of citizens - Better tomorrow for municipality of Novi Kneževac (2)
• League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina (2)
• Groups of citizens - For our birthplace (1)

2008 elections

Results of 2008 local elections in Novi Kneževac municipality: [2]

• For a European Novi Kneževac (27.18%)
• Serbian Radical Party (22.46%)
• Hungarian Coalition (17.63%)
• New Serbia (7.29%)
• Socialist Party of Serbia (6.21%)
• Democratic Party of Serbia (5.88%)

See also

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

References

1. ^ "Municipalities of Serbia, 2006". Statistical Office of Serbia. http://webrzs.stat.gov.rs/axd/en/Zip/OG2006webE.zip. Retrieved 2010-11-28. 
2. ^ "2011 Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in the Republic of Serbia – FIRST RESULTS". Bulletin (Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia) 540. 2011. ISSN 0354-3641. http://media.popis2011.stat.rs/2011/prvi_rezultati.pdf. Retrieved 2011-11-21. 
3. ^ Dr Slobodan Ćurčić, Naselja Banata - geografske karakteristike, Novi Sad, 2004, page 209.
4. ^ http://adatbazis.mtaki.hungary.com/
5. ^ Source: Stevan Kovačević, Gradovi Srbije u slici i reči, Beograd, 2010.

External links

• Website of the town of Novi Kneževac
• Photo gallery - real time
• The City of Novi Kneževac
• Tisa River - Novi Kneževac, Serbia
• Statistički podaci za opštinu Novi Kneževac (in Serbian)
• Novi Kneževac Photo Gallery (in English)
• History of Novi Kneževac (Hungarian)