Sonta ( sr-cyr, Сонта) is a village located in the municipality of

Apatin Apatin ( sr-cyrl, Апатин, hu, Apatin, hr, Apatin) is a town and municipality located in the West Bačka District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. As of 2011 census, the population of the town is 17,411, while the municipali ...

West Bačka District The West Bačka District ( sr, Западнобачки округ, Zapadnobački okrug, ; hu, Nyugat-bácskai körzet) is one of seven administrative districts of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It lies in the geographical region o ...

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 ...

, Serbia. The village has a

Croat The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, Ge ...

ethnic majority and its population numbering 4,238 people (2011 census).

Name

According to some sources, inhabitants of Sonta originating from Herzegovina and they came to this village under the leadership of Sonda Vidaković, thus the name of Sonta derived from the name of this person. In

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet ( sr, / , ) is a variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language, updated in 1818 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić. It is one of the two alphabets used to write standard modern Serbian, t ...

the village is known as Сонта, in Croatian as ''Sonta'', in Hungarian as ''Szond'', and in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

as ''Waldau''.

History

It was first mentioned in the 12th century under name ''Zund''. In Ottoman records, Sonta was mentioned as a settlement with 36 families, while in 1898, its population numbered 4,972 inhabitants and 650 houses. During the 1920s, the village was moved 3 km to the north from its original location because of the large floods of the river

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...

. On the session of the Municipality of Apatin in June 2006, Croatian language gain the status of the official language in Sonta. Until then, Serbian language was the sole official language in this village,Zvonik br. 141
Hrvatski u službenoj uporabi u Sonti, July 2006 although Croats comprised majority in the village since the country of Serbia and Montenegro was established.

Culture

*Grožđe bal, Annual grape festival

Demographics

;Ethnic groups (2002 census) *

Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, ...

= 2,966 (59.42%) *

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

= 975 (19.53%) *

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...

= 267 (5.35%) *

Romanians The Romanians ( ro, români, ; dated exonym '' Vlachs'') are a Romance-speaking ethnic group. Sharing a common Romanian culture and ancestry, and speaking the Romanian language, they live primarily in Romania and Moldova. The 2011 Roman ...

= 211 (4.23%) *

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

= 138 (2.76%) *others. ;Historical population *1961: 6,821 *1971: 6,508 *1981: 6,313 *1991: 5,990 *2002: 4,992 *2011: 4,238

References

* Slobodan Ćurčić, Broj stanovnika Vojvodine, Novi Sad, 1996.

External links