Soljani () are 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 ...

Cvelferija Cvelferija is a geographic region in Croatian part of Slavonia, in eastern Croatia. Villages in the region are Gunja, Croatia, Gunja, Vrbanja, Croatia, Vrbanja, Soljani, Strošinci, Đurići, Račinovci, Rajevo Selo, Posavski Podgajci and Drenovc ...

in the southernmost part of

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 ...

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

Name

The name of the village in Croatian 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 In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

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

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

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 province of Serbia. First mentioned in the 4th century BC and originally inhabited by Illyrians ...

(

Sremska Mitrovica Sremska Mitrovica (; sr-Cyrl, Сремска Митровица, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city in Serbia. It is situated on the left bank of the Sava, Sava river. , the city has a total population of 36,764 inhabitants, while its adminis ...

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

Slovaks The Slovaks ( (historical Sloveni ), singular: ''Slovák'' (historical: ''Sloven'' ), feminine: ''Slovenka'' , plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history ...

from

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 ...

and

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, 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 west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

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

Geography

It is located 25 km southeast of

Županja Županja (, , ) 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 Sava river opposite Bosnia and He ...

, 18 km east of

Brčko Brčko ) 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, the Brčko District b ...

(

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

Demographics

Slovaks in Soljani

Slovaks settled in the village in the 1830s and 1840s, with an increase in settlement from the 1860s and with the 20th-century settlement of Vojvodina Slovaks from

Kisač Kisač ( sr-cyr, Кисач; Slovak: Kysáč) is a suburban settlement of the city of Novi Sad, Serbia. The settlement has a Slovak ethnic majority. Name In Serbian and Croatian the village is known as ''Kisač'' (Кисач); in Slovak as ...

Selenča Selenča (, , ) is a village in Serbia. It is situated in the Bač, Serbia, Bač municipality, South Bačka District, Vojvodina province. The village had a population of 2,996 according to the 2011 census, with an overwhelming Slovaks, Slovak ethn ...

, and Pivnice. Since some of the first settlers were predominantly

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, 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 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 the oldest Slovakia, Slovak national, Culture, cultural and scientific organization. The headquarters of Slovak Matica is the town of Martin, Slovakia as the center of the national culture of Slovak ...

in Soljani was established on 17 October 1993. Alongside cultural links with other Slovaks in Croatia and Serbia, over the years local community developed links with Krnča municipality of the

Nitra Region The Nitra Region (, ; ) 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 () and 354 municipalities, from which 16 have a town status. T ...

References

External links

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