Vojvodina

The Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is the northernmost part of the Republic of Serbia. It is situated in the Great Hungarian Plain and covers the area of 21,506 kilometres with about two million inhabitants. The capital city is Novi Sad.

Schools in Vojvodina work in five different mother tongues: Serbian, Hungarian, Romanian, Slovakian and Ruthenian and this is a region where many more ethnic minorities live. Living together, side by side for centuries, these people cherish brotherhood. Therefore, it is no wonder why even guests feel at home here.

The fertility of the soil in Vojvodina has always attracted many tribes and peoples since time immemorial. That is why Vojvodina represents a treasury of cultures the material and spiritual traits of which go back as far as 50,000 ago. Besides many archaeological sites, and the most famous of which are Gomolova near Hrtkovci and Sirmium in Sremska Mitrovica, special significance goes with the well preserved monasteries with medieval frescoes and military fortifications, of which the Petrovaradin Fortress near Novi Sad is the best preserved. Its construction started in 1692, and lasted about a hundred years. The present settlements mainly date from the 18th Century, but there are a number of them stemming from the Illyrians, Celts and the Romans when they were very important military, economic and cultural centres. Vojvodina has a long and rich literary, theatre, artistic and musical tradition. The Plain where two mountains spring up - Fruška Gora and Vršacki breg – is rich with waters and is one of the rare European oases with preserved nature. The largest rivers are the Danube, Tisa and the Sava, and of the ten-odd lakes the most famous are the lake Palić and Ludoš near Subotica, Rusanda near Melenci, Bela Crkva Lake and Borkovac Lake near Ruma. The navigable network of the Danube-Tisa-Danube hydro system is the longest in Europe, and more soil was dug out for it than for two Suez Canal. Obedska Bara is the largest sanctuary of migratory birds on their way from Europe towards the south. Deliblatska Peščara is not less important. They call it Little Sahara and is the only desert on our continent.

All over Vojvodina there are thermal and mineral springs. The well-known spas in Vojvodina are in Slankamen, Melenci, Kanjiža, Bezdan, Novi Sad, Vrdnik and radioactive mud in Jermenovci. The shortest ways from Central Europe to the Near East have always lead through Vojvodina.