Podunavlje

In its wider meaning, the Croatian term refers to the area around the entire flow of the river Danube.

The province consisted of the geographical regions of Syrmia, Bačka, Banat, Baranya, Šumadija, and Braničevo.

The remaining rump Danube Banovina (including Banat, Šumadija, and Braničevo) existed as part of German-occupied Serbia until the end of 1941 with its capital at Smederevo.

Important rivers in Serbian Podunavlje that flowing into Danube are Tisa, Sava, Tamiš, and Morava.

Serbian Podunavlje is mainly populated by Serbs, while other smaller ethnic groups in the area are Slovaks, Hungarians, Croats, Rusyns, Romanians and Vlachs, Roma people, etc.

Slovaks forming the majority of population in the municipality of Bački Petrovac, which is located near the Danube, in Bačka.

Kingdom of Syrmia ruled by Serb king Stefan Dragutin (1284–1316) included southern Podunavlje and had its capitals in Debrc and Belgrade.

After the Treaty of Belgrade from 1739 which defined the Habsburg-Ottoman border in Podunavlje, the region, as well as the local Serb people, became divided between the two empires.

The two autonomous areas, however, did not have the same fate; while the northern voivodeship was abolished in 1860, the southern principality gained full independence in 1878 and was transformed into the Kingdom of Serbia in 1882.

On the north region bordering with Hungary and on west continues to Slavonia, Syrmia and Baranya and rest of Croatia.

[4] After the collapse of Yugoslavia, local government system in Croatia was significantly changed and today Croatian Podunavlje in widest sense can be described as a region that is overlapping with the territory of Vukovar-Syrmia and Osijek-Baranja counties.

Croats constitute an absolute majority of people in Podunavlje, while Serbs make up largest ethnic minority.

In period from 1991 till 1998 in Podunavlje there was self-proclaimed Eastern Slavonia, Baranya and Western Syrmia that was reintegrated into Croatia after signing of Erdut Agreement.

Region was declared by local Serbs who promoted survival of Yugoslavia, because of which they had support of Yugoslav People's Army.

Large part of Croats were forced to leave their homes in Eastern Slavonia, Baranya and Western Syrmia, and their property was looted and destroyed.

At the same time in Podunavlje came tens of thousands Serbian refugees fleeing from war in the rest of Croatia.

There are 40-odd fish species (pike, ide, tench, bream, carp, catfish, pike-perch, perch, etc.).