Soljani ( sk, Soľany) are a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

in Cvelferija in the southernmost part of

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

. From the 2011 census the village had a population of 1241 inhabitants.

Name

The name of the village in

Croatian Croatian may refer to: * Croatia *Croatian language *Croatian people *Croatians (demonym) See also * * * Croatan (disambiguation) * Croatia (disambiguation) * Croatoan (disambiguation) * Hrvatski (disambiguation) * Hrvatsko (disambiguation) * S ...

is plural.

History

It was first mentioned in 1329 as ''“Sauly, Sali posessio”'', and since then the village name has been connected with the word ''“

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quanti ...

”'' (sol means salt in Croatian). During the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Medite ...

the village was plotted on the history maps as ''“Saldis”'', and one of the main Roman roads that lead to

Sirmium Sirmium was a city in the Roman province of Pannonia, located on the Sava river, on the site of modern Sremska Mitrovica in the Vojvodina autonomous provice of Serbia. First mentioned in the 4th century BC and originally inhabited by Illyrians an ...

(

Sremska Mitrovica Sremska Mitrovica (; sr-Cyrl, Сремска Митровица, hu, Szávaszentdemeter, la, Sirmium) is a city and the administrative center of the Srem District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It is situated on the left ban ...

) went via Saldis. The village's greatest development was during the 18th and the 19th century when the

Slovaks The Slovaks ( sk, Slováci, singular: ''Slovák'', feminine: ''Slovenka'', plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history and speak Slovak. In Slovakia, 4.4 ...

from

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 ...

and

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

settled there. Today their descendants are the biggest minority in the village.

Geography

It is located 25 km southeast of

Županja Županja (, hu, Zsupanya, german: Schaupanie) is a town in eastern Slavonia, Croatia, located 254 km east of Zagreb. It is administratively part of the Vukovar-Syrmia County. It is inhabited by 12,090 people (2011). Županja lies on the Sa ...

, 18 km east of

Brčko Brčko ( sr-cyrl, Брчко, ) is a city and the administrative seat of Brčko District, in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina. It lies on the banks of Sava river across from Croatia. As of 2013, it has a population of 39,893 inhabitants. De jure, ...

(

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

Demographics

Slovaks in Soljani

Slovak community settled in the village in 30s and 40s years of XIX century with increase in settlement from 1860s and XX century period settlement of Vojvodina Slovaks from Kisač,

Selenča Selenča ( sr, Селенча, sk, Selenča, hu, Bácsújfalu) is a village in Serbia. It is situated in the Bač municipality, South Bačka District, Vojvodina province. The village had a population of 2,996 according to the 2011 census, with ...

and Pivnice. Since some of the first settlers were predominantly

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

, just like the majority of the residents of the village, assimilation process was relatively easy and quick. Subsequent Slovak settlers from Vojvodina were mostly adherents of the Slovak Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession with majority of residents who today continually declare themselves as Slovaks belonging to the Evangelical Church. Local Slovak Evangelical parish has around 100 members. Before Soljani Evangelical parish gained its independence in 1911 religious services were provided by Slovak parish in

Bingula Bingula (, sk, Binguľa) is a village in Serbia. It is situated in the Šid municipality, in the Srem District, Vojvodina province. The village has a Serb ethnic majority out of the entire population of 906 residents (2002 census) and with sign ...

and by the Slovak Evangelical Church in Šid. The first Slovak reading room in the village was established in 1932 when the local Slovak football club ''Zora'' was established as well. Elementary school in Soljani at the time provided classes in Slovak for 30-40 pupils.

Matica slovenská Matica Slovenská (en. Slovak Matica) is a Slovak national, cultural and scientific organization headquartered in Martin, Slovakia. It was founded in 1863 and revived in 1919. The organisation has facilities in the Slovak Republic as well a ...

in Soljani was established on 17 October 1993. Alongside cultural links with other

Slovaks in Croatia Slovaks are one of the recognized autochthonous minorities of Croatia. According to 2011 census, there were 4,753 Slovaks in the country. History Slovaks mainly migrated to Croatia in the 19th century, and to a much lesser extent in the 20th ...

and Serbia, over the years local community developed links with

Krnča Krnča ( hu, Kerencs) is a municipality in the Topoľčany District of the Nitra Region, Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europ ...

municipality of the

Nitra Region The Nitra Region ( sk, Nitriansky kraj, ; hu, Nyitrai kerület) is one of the administrative regions of Slovakia. It was first established in 1923 and from 1996 exists in its present borders. It consists of seven districts ( sk, okres) and 354 ...

References

External links

Soljani
Populated places in Syrmia Populated places in Vukovar-Syrmia County {{VukovarSyrmia-geo-stub