Nijemci (, ) is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

and a municipality in the

Vukovar-Syrmia County Vukovar-Srijem County (), Vukovar-Sirmium County or Vukovar-Syrmia County, named after the eponymous town of Vukovar and the region of Syrmia, is the easternmost Croatian Counties of Croatia, county. It includes the eastern parts of the region of ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. In the 2011 census, there were 4,705 inhabitants in the municipality, 87.78% of which were

Croats The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

. The second largest ethnic group are

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 ...

who live mainly in two villages in the north of the municipality. There are only 0.06% aforementioned Germans living in this municipality.

Languages and names

The village's name means "

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

" in Croatian. The root of the word "" means "mute", and is a known Slavonic ethnonym for the name of the Germans. Before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

there was a substantial

Danube Swabian The Danube Swabians ( ) is a collective term for the ethnic German-speaking population who lived in the Kingdom of Hungary in east-central Europe, especially in the Danube River valley, first in the 12th century, and in greater numbers in the 17 ...

minority resident here. They were expelled from Yugoslavia along with other ethnic Germans after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In villages

Šidski Banovci Banovci (, sr-Cyrl, Бановци / Шидски Бановци, ), also known as Šidski Banovci, is a village located in the Vukovar-Syrmia County of Croatia, near the Serbian border. The village had a population of 256 as of the 2021 census. ...

and

Vinkovački Banovci Vinkovački Banovci ( sr-Cyrl, Винковачки Бановци, ) is a village in Croatia in the region of Syrmia. The village is a part of the Nijemci Municipality. Serbian community constitute majority of the local population. The word Vin ...

, along with Croatian which is official in the whole country, as a second official language has been introduced

Serbian language Serbian (, ) is the standard language, standardized Variety (linguistics)#Standard varieties, variety of the Serbo-Croatian language mainly used by Serbs. It is the official and national language of Serbia, one of the three official languages of ...

with

Cyrillic script The Cyrillic script ( ) is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic languages, Slavic, Turkic languages, Turkic, Mongolic languages, Mongolic, Uralic languages, Uralic, C ...

Geography

Municipality is located in the historical regions of

Syrmia Syrmia (Ekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srem, Срем, separator=" / " or Ijekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srijem, Сријем, label=none, separator=" / ") is a region of the southern Pannonian Plain, which lies between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is div ...

. Municipality's total area is 224.68 km². Rivers Spačva i

Bosut The Bosut ( sr-Cyrl, Босут) is a river in the Syrmia region of eastern Croatia and northwestern Serbia. It is a 186 km long, slow and meandering left tributary of the Sava river. The riverbed begins near the left embankment of the Sava ...

flows through the municipality. The village of Nijemci is connected with the rest of the country via the

D57 road D57 state road in the eastern part of Croatia connects the city of Vukovar to the state road network of Croatia, and to the A3 motorway in Lipovac interchange. The road is long. The route comprises some urban intersections, mostly in the cit ...

while other important transit routes in the municipality include A3 motorway, M104 railway and the D46 state road. The territory of the municipality is completely flat very fertile black soil.

Climate and weather

Nijemci municipality has a moderately warm and rainy

continental climate Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm to hot summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in central and eastern parts of the three northern-tier continents (North America, Europe, and Asia), typi ...

as defined by the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

. Due to the influence of

continentality Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm to hot summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in central and eastern parts of the three northern-tier continents (North America, Europe, and Asia), typi ...

temperature differences within one year are more pronounced than in the rest of country.

Population

Municipality of Nijemci have a 4705 inhabitants according to 2011 Census. 1605 were living in the village of Nijemci at that time.

Minority councils

Directly elected minority councils and representatives are tasked with consulting tasks for the local or regional authorities in which they are advocating for minority rights and interests, integration into public life and participation in the management of local affairs. At the

2023 Croatian national minorities councils and representatives elections The 2023 Croatian national minorities councils and representatives elections () were held on 7 May in certain regional (counties) and local administrative units (municipalities and towns & cities). Background Elections were announced in Nar ...

Serbs of Croatia The Serbs of Croatia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Срби у Хрватској, Srbi u Hrvatskoj) or Croatian Serbs ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Хрватски Срби, Hrvatski Srbi) constitute the largest national minority in C ...

fulfilled legal requirements to elect 10 members minority councils of the Nijemci Municipality yet only 7 members were elected in the end.

Economy

Nijemci is underdeveloped municipality which is statistically classified as the First Category Area of Special State Concern by the

Government of Croatia The Government of Croatia (), formally the Government of the Republic of Croatia (), commonly abbreviated to Croatian Government (), is the main executive branch of government in Croatia. It is led by the Prime Minister of Croatia, president o ...

Education

Local elementary school for the first eight grades operate in the village of Nijemci since the 1760.

Settlements

The following settlements comprise the Nijemci municipality:

Notable natives and residents

Mile Dedaković Mile Dedaković (born 4 July 1951) is a retired Croatian Army colonel. Also known by his ''nom de guerre'' Jastreb ("Hawk"), Dedaković is best known for commanding the 204th Vukovar Brigade and the city of Vukovar's defenses during the 1991 Ba ...

, retired

Croatian Army The Croatian Army ( or HKoV) is the land force branch of the Croatian Armed Forces. It is numerically the largest of the three branches of the Croatian Armed Forces. The HKoV is the main force for the defense of the country against external threa ...

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Nikica Valentić Nikica Valentić (; 24 November 1950 – 3 May 2023) was a Croatian entrepreneur, lawyer, and politician who served as Prime Minister of Croatia from 1993 to 1995. He is to date the youngest person to have served in that capacity, being 42 years ...

Prime Minister of Croatia The prime minister of Croatia, officially the president of the government of the Republic of Croatia (), is Croatia's head of government, and is ''de facto'' the most powerful and influential state officeholder in the Croatian system of governme ...

from 1993 to 1995 *

Slobodan Bajić Paja Slobodan Bajić Paja (1916–1943)
) was a Yugoslav Partisan and recipient of the Pe ...

, born in Banovci,

People's Hero of Yugoslavia The Order of the People's Hero or the Order of the National Hero ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Orden narodnog heroja, Oрден народног хероја; , ), was a Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav gallantry medal, the ...

* Günter Stock, born in Banovci, president of the

Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities The Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (), abbreviated BBAW, is the official academic society for the natural sciences and humanities for the German states of Berlin and Brandenburg. Housed in three locations in and around Ber ...

2006-2015, Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities 2008-2015, and the

All European Academies All European Academies (ALLEA) is the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities. It was founded in 1994, and brings together more than 50 Academies of Sciences and Learned Societies from over 40 member countries of the Council of ...

2012-2018)

References

External links

Official website of Nijemci
{{Authority control Municipalities of Croatia Populated places in Syrmia Populated places in Vukovar-Srijem County