Banatska Palanka () is a village in

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. It is situated in the Bela Crkva municipality,

South Banat District The South Banat District (, ) is one of administrative districts of Serbia. It lies in the geographical region of Banat. According to the 2022 census, the South Banat District has a population of 260,244 inhabitants. The administrative center ...

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...

province. The population of the village is 837 (2002 census), of whom 752 (89.84%) are ethnic

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...

Name

In Serbian the village is known as ''Banatska Palanka'' (; Банатска Паланка); in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

as ''Palank'' or ''Neu-Palanka''; in Hungarian as ''Palánk''; and in Turkish as ''Haram''.

Geography

Banatska Palanka is located in south-eastern part of the Serbian

Banat Banat ( , ; ; ; ) is a geographical and Historical regions of Central Europe, historical region located in the Pannonian Basin that straddles Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It is divided among three countries: the eastern part lie ...

, near the border with

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. West of the village are the Danube's island Čibuklija and the special nature reserve and a Ramsar site Labudovo okno. The region is known for the powerful košava wind. As the košava exits from the Danube's

Iron Gates The Iron Gates (; ; ; Hungarian: ''Vaskapu-szoros'') is a gorge on the river Danube. It forms part of the boundary between Serbia (to the south) and Romania (north). In the broad sense it encompasses a route of ; in the narrow sense it only ...

Gorge, it becomes much stronger in the wide lowlands of the

and Stig regions. Here the wind splits in two direction, one to

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

on the west and one, which is the strongest, to

Vršac Vršac ( sr-Cyrl, Вршац, ) is a city in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. As of 2022, the city urban area had a population of 31,946, while the city administrative area had 45,462 inhabitants. It is located in the geographical ...

on the north.

Stara Palanka

There are in fact two settlements in this area - Banatska Palanka and Stara Palanka ("Old Palanka"). Stara Palanka is not officially regarded as a separate settlement, but as part of Banatska Palanka. The

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

is located south of Banatska Palanka, on the Danube's left bank, stretching between the mouths of its two tributaries: Nera on the east, and channeled

Karaš The Karaš (in Serbian, also Cyrillic: Караш) or Caraș (in Romanian) is a long river in the Banat region of Vojvodina, Serbia and Romania and a left tributary of the Danube. The Karaš drains an area of and although it has been channele ...

(part of the

Danube–Tisa–Danube Canal Danube–Tisza, Tisa–Danube Canal (DTD) () is a canal system in Serbia. It is a unique hydro-engineering system for flood control and hydrotechnical management, amelioration, forestry, water supply, waste water evacuation, navigation, touri ...

), on the west. The Romanian border is just to the east. Right across the Danube are the medieval

Ram Fortress The Ram Fortress () is a 15th century fort situated on a steep slope on the right bank of the Danube, in the village of Ram, Serbia, Ram, municipality of Veliko Gradište, eastern Serbia. The fortress is located on a rock, which is from the north ...

and the village of

Ram Ram, ram, or RAM most commonly refers to: * A male sheep * Random-access memory, computer memory * Ram Trucks, US, since 2009 ** List of vehicles named Dodge Ram, trucks and vans ** Ram Pickup, produced by Ram Trucks Ram, ram, or RAM may also ref ...

, to which Stara Palanka is connected by the ferry. The hamlet is small, consisting of one street (''Dunavska'') and a total of 11 houses of which 5 were inhabited, as of April 2018. There are some additional 80 summer houses, mostly built by the townsfolk from Vršac. Still, there are 5 fish restaurants. The river is rich in

sterlet The sterlet (''Huso ruthenus'') is a relatively small species of sturgeon from Eurasia native to large rivers that flow into the Black Sea, Azov Sea, and Caspian Sea, as well as rivers in Siberia as far east as Yenisei River, Yenisei. Population ...

common carp The common carp (''Cyprinus carpio''), also known as European carp, Eurasian carp, or simply carp, is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia.Fishbase''Cyprinus carpio'' Linnaeus, 1758/ref>Ark ...

common bream The common bream (''Abramis brama''), also known as the freshwater bream, bream, bronze bream, carp bream or sweaty bream, is a European species of freshwater fish in the family Leuciscidae. It is now considered to be the monotypic, only speci ...

and

zander The zander (''Sander lucioperca''), sander or pikeperch, is a species of ray-finned fish from the Family (biology), family Percidae, which also includes perch, Gymnocephalus, ruffe and Darter (fish), darter. It is found in freshwater and brackis ...

. In the early 2000s a project of building a marina in Stara Palanka was developed, but as of 2018 it hasn't been built.

History

Banatska Palanka is an old settlement, existing at this spot since the 17th century, although the oldest settlement was on the place of today's Stara Palanka. Archaeological findings show that Stara Palanka was inhabited at least since the 1st century BC. At the beginning of the 19th century Banatska Palanka was an important Danube port. The settlement has a continuous decrease of population. By the latest census from 2011, Banatska Palanka, together with Stara Palanka, had 682 inhabitants. Before World War II it was officially called just Palanka.

Economy and features

The economy of Banatska Palanka is mostly agricultural, although not exclusively. The entirety of Stara Palanka is designated for social recreation centres (including hotels, resorts, restaurants, sport playgrounds, performance venues, etc.) as well as for flats and vacation homes. Banatska Palanka lies on the route between Bela Crkva-

Kovin Kovin (, ) is a town and municipality located in the South Banat District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town has a population of 11,623, while the municipality has 28,141 inhabitants (2022 census). Other names In Rom ...

and Stara Palanka-Ram. It also possesses a ferry-boat, which is the shortest way of traveling from this part of

Požarevac Požarevac ( sr-cyr, Пожаревац, ) is a list of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative centre of the Braničevo District in eastern Serbia. It is located between three rivers: Danube, Great Morava and Mlava and below the hill Čač ...

and

Central Serbia Central Serbia (), also referred to as Serbia proper (), is the region of Serbia lying outside the autonomous province of Vojvodina to the north and the disputed Kosovo region to the south. Central Serbia is a term of convenience, not an administ ...

References

Sources

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