Ethnic groups of Vojvodina
Ethnic groups of Vojvodina |
Ethnic map of Vojvodina according to the 2002 census based on the municipality data |
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Ethnic map of Vojvodina according to the 2002 census based on the settlement data |
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Serbs " Serbs constitute an absolute majority of people in
Vojvodina. According to the
2002 census, there were 1,321,807 Serbs in Vojvodina or 65.05% of the population. Serbs also make up an absolute majority in most of the municipalities and large cities of Vojvodina, except in
Subotica (second largest city), which has a mixed population with no absolute majority of any nation (but the Serbian language is dominant in Subotica). Large cities with a Serb ethnic majority are:
Novi Sad (75.50%),
Sombor (61.48%),
Sremska Mitrovica (87.31%),
Kikinda (76.43%),
Zrenjanin (74.81%),
Pančevo (76.38%),
Vršac (72.50%),
Ruma (86.58%),
Bačka Palanka (78.59%),
Inđija (84.87%),
Kula (52.01%),
Apatin (61.60%), and
Temerin (64.20%). Other municipalities with a Serb ethnic majority are:
Nova Crnja (70.31%),
Novi Bečej (69.94%),
Sečanj (70.87%),
Žitište (61.90%),
Novi Kneževac (59.53%),
Alibunar (59.59%),
Bela Crkva (76.85%),
Kovin (76.75%),
Opovo (86.30%),
Plandište (56.36%),
Odžaci (82.84%),
Beočin (68.17%),
Srbobran (67.00%),
Sremski Karlovci (75.39%),
Titel (84.93%),
Žabalj (86.25%),
Irig (79.49%),
Pećinci (92.49%),
Stara Pazova (81.16%), and
Šid (77.62%). Serbs are also the largest ethnic group in
Vrbas (47.77%) and
Bač (46.69%).
Serbian is one of six official languages of Vojvodina, and it is also a dominant language.
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Hungarians " Hungarians mostly live in northern Vojvodina (northern
Bačka and northern
Banat). They constitute an absolute majority in 6 municipalities:
Kanjiža (86.52%),
Senta (80.51%),
Ada (76.64%),
Bačka Topola (58.94%),
Mali Iđoš (55.92%) and
Čoka (51.56%). There are also 2 ethnically mixed municipalities, with no absolute majority held by any nation, in which ethnic Hungarians constitute the largest percent of the population:
Bečej (48.83%) and
Subotica (38.47%). About 60% of all Hungarians in Vojvodina live in these 8 municipalities. There are 290,207 Hungarians in Vojvodina or 14.28% of the population and they are the second largest ethnic group in the region.
Hungarian is one of six official languages of Vojvodina.
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Slovaks " Slovaks are the third largest ethnic group in Vojvodina. They constitute an absolute majority in
Bački Petrovac municipality (66.41%) and they also constitute the largest percent of the population in
Kovačica municipality (41.07%). There are 56,637 Slovaks in Vojvodina or 2.79% of population.
Slovak is one of six official languages of Vojvodina.
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Croats " There are 56,546 Croats in Vojvodina or 2.78% of the population.
Croatian is one of six official languages of Vojvodina. The largest concentration of Croats could be found in the municipalities of
Apatin (11.47%) and
Subotica (11.24%). Many of the
Bunjevci and
Šokci of Vojvodina also declare themselves as Croats in censa.
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Yugoslavs " There are 49,881 Yugoslavs in Vojvodina or 2.45% of the population. They mostly speak
Serbian. According to the 2002 census there were 80,721 Yugoslavs in
Serbia, of which 49,881 were in
Vojvodina and 30,840 in
Central Serbia. The largest concentration of Yugoslavs could be found in the municipalities of
Subotica (5.76%),
Beočin (5.35%), and
Sombor (5.24%).
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Montenegrins " There are 35,513 Montenegrins in Vojvodina or 1.75% of the population. They mostly speak Serbian. The largest concentration of Montenegrins could be found in the municipalities of
Vrbas (24.79%),
Mali Iđoš (20.83%), and
Kula (16.34%). Settlements in Vojvodina with Montenegrin majority are:
Lovćenac (
Mali Iđoš municipality),
Kruščić (
Kula municipality), and
Savino Selo (
Vrbas municipality).
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Romanians " There are 30,419 Romanians in Vojvodina or 1.50% of the population.
Romanian is one of six official languages of Vojvodina. The largest concentration of Romanians could be found in the municipalities of
Alibunar (26.47%) and
Vršac (10.87%).
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Roma (Gypsy) " There are 29,057 Roma in Vojvodina or 1.43% of the population. The
Roma language is not official in Vojvodina, but there are TV programs and other publications in the Roma language. The largest concentration of Roma could be found in the municipalities of
Nova Crnja (6.83%),
Beočin (6.51%), and
Novi Kneževac (5.04%).
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Bunjevci " Bunjevci are small ethnic group whose members mostly live in northern Vojvodina. There are 19,766 Bunjevci in Vojvodina. They speak a specific ikavian/
shtokavian dialect of the former
Serbo-Croatian language, thought they mostly declared that their language is Serbian on the 2002 census. The largest concentration of Bunjevci could be found in the municipalities of
Subotica (10.95%) and
Sombor (2.8%).
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Rusyns " There are 15,626 Rusyns in Vojvodina and the Rusyn language is one of six official languages of Vojvodina. The
Rusyn language is spoken mostly in Vojvodina and it is classified as western
Slavic, thought it shares many similarities with
Slovak. There is also a
Rusyn language in
Ukraine, but it is a different language classified as eastern Slavic. The largest concentration of Rusyns could be found in the municipalities of
Kula (11.16%),
Vrbas (8.21%), and
Žabalj (5.11%).
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Macedonians " There are 11,785 Macedonians in Vojvodina. They mostly speak
Macedonian. The largest concentration of Macedonians could be found in the municipalities of
Plandište (9.69%) and
Pančevo (4.14%).
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Ukrainians " There are 4,635 Ukrainians in Vojvodina. They mostly speak
Ukrainian. The largest concentration of Ukrainians could be found in the municipalities of
Kula (3.00%) and
Vrbas (2.12%).
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Muslims by nationality " There are 3,634 declared Muslims by nationality in Vojvodina. They mostly speak the Serbian language. According to the 2002 census there were 19,503 Muslims by nationality in Serbia in total, of which 15,869 live in Central Serbia and 3,634 in Vojvodina. The largest concentration of Muslims by nationality could be found in the municipality of
Bač (1.32%). The number of
Muslims in the sense of followers of
Islam is significantly higher.
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Germans " There are 3,154 Germans or
Danube Swabians in Vojvodina. They are part of a group that came in a couple waves mostly in the 18th century. The older ones mostly speak a form of
Swabian German, with all of the children now fluent in
Serbian, and often knowing
High German (for economic reasons). The German population of Vojvodina was more numerous in the past (about 350,000 before the
World War II). As a consequence of the World War II events in Yugoslavia, most of the German community fled afore the Soviet
Red Army and
Yugoslav Partisans, and went to
Germany and other countries. Before this war, the largest concentrations of Germans were in the municipalities of
Odžaci (68.9%),
Vrbas (61.1%), and
Apatin (60.3%).
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Slovenians " There are 2,005 Slovenians or Slovenes in Vojvodina. They mostly speak
Slovenian.
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Albanians " There are 1,695 Albanians in Vojvodina. They mostly speak
Albanian.
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Bulgarians (mostly
Banat Bulgarians) " There are 1,658 Bulgarians in Vojvodina. They mostly speak
Bulgarian.
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Czechs " There are 1,648 Czechs in Vojvodina. They mostly speak
Czech. The largest concentration of Czechs could be found in the municipality of
Bela Crkva (3.99%). The only settlement in Vojvodina with Czech majority is
Češko Selo in the
Bela Crkva municipality.
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Russians " There are 940 Russians in Vojvodina. They mostly speak
Russian.
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Gorani " There are 606 Gorani in Vojvodina. Ethnic Gorani mostly live in
Kosovo and they speak the Serbian language.
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Bosniaks " There are 417 Bosniaks in Vojvodina. They mostly speak
Bosnian.
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Vlachs " There are 101 Vlachs in Vojvodina. The ethnic Vlachs of
Serbia as a whole mostly live in
Central Serbia and they speak a dialect of
Romanian, thought they call their language
Vlach.
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Šokci (Shokci) " Šokci are small ethnic group, which live in western part of Vojvodina. According to the 1991 census, there were 1,922 Šokci in Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (mostly in Vojvodina). Šokci mostly speak the Serbian language. The Šokci population was much greater in the past (more than 20,000 in the
19th century).
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Jews " There were 206 ethnic Jews in
Novi Sad city according to the
2002 census. The Jewish population of Vojvodina was quite large in the past (about 19,000 before the World War II), but most of these Jews were killed or deported during the
Axis occupation in World War II. The language of Vojvodina Jews was
Yiddish,
German or
Hungarian, with many families bilingual (or even trilingual).
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Ashkali (Ashkaliye, Aškalije) " There were 287 ethnic Ashkali in Novi Sad city according to the 2002 census. Ashkali previously were regarded as part of
Roma nationality, but now they are a separate ethnic group. Ashkali mostly live in
Kosovo and speak
Albanian. They are descendants of Roma who are said to have come to the
Balkans from
Palestine (their name deriving from
Ashkelon, a city in
Israel).
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Egyptians (Kosovo Egyptians) " There were 201 ethnic Egyptians in Novi Sad city according to the 2002 census. Egyptians previously were regarded as part of the Roma nationality, but now they are a separate ethnic group. Egyptians mostly live in Kosovo and speak Albanian. They are descendants of Roma who claim to have come to the Balkans from
Egypt.
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Greeks " There were 191 ethnic Greeks in Novi Sad city according to the 2002 census.
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Poles " There were 103 ethnic Poles in Novi Sad city according to the 2002 census.
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Chinese " Officially there were only 27 Chinese in Novi Sad city according to the 2002 census, but these numbers are thought to greatly undercount the actual presence of this group. Thought the Chinese are recent immigrants to Vojvodina, there are many Chinese shops and restaurants in Novi Sad and other cities of the region.
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Vojvodina*
Demographic history of Vojvodina*
Serbs in Vojvodina*
Hungarians in Vojvodina*
Székelys of Bukovina*
Slovaks in Vojvodina*
Banat Bulgarians*
Banat Swabians*
Danube Swabians*
Romanians of Serbia
