Žabalj ( sr-cyrl, Жабаљ, ) is a town and municipality located in the

South Bačka District The South Bačka District ( sr, Јужнобачки округ, Južnobački okrug, ; hu, Dél-bácskai körzet; ) is one of seven administrative districts of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. Geographically it lies in the southern ...

of the autonomous province of

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...

, Serbia. The town Žabalj has a population of 9,107 and the municipality Žabalj has a population of 25,777. It is located in southeastern part of

Bačka Bačka ( sr-cyrl, Бачка, ) or Bácska () is a geographical and historical area within the Pannonian Plain bordered by the river Danube to the west and south, and by the river Tisza to the east. It is divided between Serbia and Hunga ...

, known as

Šajkaška Šajkaška (Шајкашка) is a historical region in northern Serbia. It is southeastern part of Bačka, located in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. Territory of Šajkaška is divided among four municipalities: Titel, Žabalj, Novi Sad, ...

. All settlements in the municipality have an ethnic Serb majority.

Name

Its name came from the

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also * * * Old Serbian (disambiguation ...

word "žaba"/жаба ("frog" in English). In

, the town is known as ''Žabalj'' (Жабаљ), in Hungarian as ''Zsablya'' or ''Józseffalva'' (between 1886 and 1919), in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

as ''Josefdorf'', and in Croatian as ''Žabalj''.

History

Žabalj was first mentioned in 1514 as ''Zeble'', a fortress captured by

György Dózsa György Dózsa (or ''György Székely'',appears as "Georgius Zekel" in old texts ro, Gheorghe Doja; 1470 – 20 July 1514) was a Székely man-at-arms (and by some accounts, a nobleman) from Transylvania, Kingdom of Hungary who led a peasa ...

. During the Ottoman rule (16th-17th century), it was populated by ethnic

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

. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Žabalj was part of the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

Military Frontier ( Šajkaš Battalion). The first church in Žabalj was mentioned in 1720, but it was later razed. After 1763, the village was part of Šajkaš Battalion until the military administration was abolished in 1783. Present-day Orthodox churches dedicated to Saint Nicholas were built in 1835. In 1901, a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

church was built as well. It belonged to

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...

1920, when by the

Treaty of Trianon The Treaty of Trianon (french: Traité de Trianon, hu, Trianoni békeszerződés, it, Trattato del Trianon) was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference and was signed in the Grand Trianon château in Versailles on 4 June 1920. It forma ...

it became part of the

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

and subsequent South Slavic states. After the 1941 annexation of the town by Hungary, in a 1942 raid, 666 inhabitants of the town were murdered: 355 men, 141 women, 101 children, and 69 elderly people. Those who were liable, were convicted by Hungary in 1943. During the Communist purges in Serbia in 1944–45, about 1500, mostly civilian Hungarians and Germans were murdered. None of the perpetrators were convicted, and during the Communist regime, the topic of the genocide was suppressed in both Hungary and Yugoslavia.

Inhabited places

Žabalj municipality encompasses the town of Žabalj, and the following villages: * Gospođinci *

Đurđevo Đurđevo ( sr, label=Serbian Cyrillic, Ђурђево; rue, Дюрдьов; hu, Sajkásgyörgye) is a village located in the Žabalj municipality, in the South Bačka District of Serbia. It is situated in the autonomous province of Vojvodina ...

* Čurug

Demographics

Historical population of the town

*1961: 7,457 *1971: 7,851 *1981: 8,503 *1991: 8,766

Ethnic groups

The population of the Žabalj municipality: *

(86.25%) * Rusins (5.11%) *

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

(2.79%) *

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the ...

(1.1%)

Economy

The following table gives a preview of total number of employed people per their core activity (as of 2017):

Gallery

Image:Monument_of_the_1942_raid_victims_near_Žabalj.jpg, Monument of the 1942 raid victims near Žabalj Image:Catholic church in Žabalj, Vojvodina, Serbia 3.jpg, The Catholic Church

References

*Slobodan Ćurčić, Broj stanovnika Vojvodine, Novi Sad, 1996. *Zvonimir Golubović, Racija u južnoj Bačkoj 1942. godine, Novi Sad, 1991. *Dr Dušan J. Popović, Srbi u Vojvodini, knjiga 1, Novi Sad, 1990.

References

External links

Official presentation of Zabalj municipality
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zabalj Places in Bačka Populated places in South Bačka District Municipalities and cities of Vojvodina Towns in Serbia