| Native Name Lang: | sr |
| Official Name: | Bačka Palanka |
| Settlement Type: | Town and municipality |
| Pushpin Map: | Serbia |
| Coordinates: | 45.25°N 43°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  Serbia |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Type2: | Region |
| Subdivision Name2: | Bačka (Podunavlje) |
| Subdivision Type3: | District |
| Subdivision Name3: | South Bačka |
| Subdivision Type4: | Municipality |
| Subdivision Name4: | Bačka Palanka |
| Parts Type: | Settlements |
| Parts Style: | para |
| P1: | 14 |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | Branislav Šušnica (SNS) |
| Area Blank1 Title: | Town |
| Area Blank1 Km2: | 130.42 |
| Area Blank2 Title: | Municipality |
| Area Blank2 Km2: | 589.84 |
| Elevation M: | 83 |
| Population As Of: | 2011 census |
| Population Blank1 Title: | Town |
| Population Blank1: | 28239 |
| Population Density Blank1 Km2: | auto |
| Population Blank2 Title: | Municipality |
| Population Blank2: | 55528 |
| Population Density Blank2 Km2: | auto |
| Population Demonym: | Palančanin (♂) Palančanka (♀) (per grammatical gender) |
| Timezone: | CET |
| Utc Offset: | +1 |
| Timezone Dst: | CEST |
| Utc Offset Dst: | +2 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Postal Code: | 21400 |
| Blank Name: | Car plates |
| Blank Info: | BP |
| Area Code: | +381 21 |
| Area Code Type: | Area code |
Bačka Palanka (Serbian: Бачка Паланка, pronounced as /bâːtʃkaː pǎlaːnka/; Hungarian: Palánka) is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It is situated on the left bank of the Danube. In 2011 the town had a total population of 28,239, while Bačka Palanka municipality had 55,528 inhabitants.
In Serbian, the town is known as Бачка Паланка or Bačka Palanka, in Slovak as Báčska Palanka, in Croatian as Bačka Palanka, in Hungarian as Bácspalánka, in German as Plankenburg and in Turkish as Küçük Hisar.
Its name means "a town in Bačka" in Serbian. The word "palanka" itself originates from Turkish language. This word was also adopted by Serbs and it is used in the Serbian language with the same meaning. Older Serbian names for this town were Palanka (Паланка), Stara Palanka (Стара Паланка), Nova Palanka (Нова Паланка) and Nemačka Palanka (Немачка Паланка).
Archeologists have proved that people have lived in the area for centuries. There are many archaeological objects from the Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman period.
In the 11th century, this area was populated by Hungarians and Serbs.[1] Bačka Palanka is first mentioned as a settlement in 1486, as a suburb of Ilok called Iločka. Until the 16th century, this area was administered by the Kingdom of Hungary.
At the beginning of the 16th century, the village was the property of a landowner Laurence of Ilok, a duke of Syrmia. It was destroyed by the Ottomans after The Battle of Mohács in 1526, but was then rebuilt as a small Ottoman fortress named Palanka. During the Ottoman administration (16th-17th century), Palanka was mostly populated by ethnic Serbs.[2]
In 1687 Palanka was absorbed into the Habsburg monarchy and more Orthodox Serbs settled here. Palanka was then mentioned as a small town with 167 houses, all of which were Serb (1720 census data).[3] Later, Germans, Slovaks and Hungarians settled here as well.[1]
It was part of the Habsburg Military Frontier from 1702 to 1744. Nova Palanka (New Palanka) was founded between 1765 and 1770, 2 kilometers away from the original Palanka (which then became known as Stara Palanka - Old Palanka) and Nemačka Palanka (German Palanka) was founded by Danube Germans in 1783. Those three towns became one city, Bačka Palanka, in the 20th century.
Palanka's industrial development started in 1765, when a brick plant was built. It got its first post office in 1828. In 1875, one of the first libraries in Vojvodina was opened. In 1884 the Sintelon company was founded. In 1886, the first state school started functioning. By 1894, a railway was built from Bačka Palanka to Feketić and a first phone call was made to Novi Sad.
In the second half of the 19th century, the German population became more numerous than the Serbian.[4] According to the 1910 census, the population of Stara Palanka was mostly Serb, while populations of Nova Palanka and Nemačka Palanka were mostly German (Donauschwaben). A large number of them immigrated to North America both before and after World War II. Trenton, New Jersey was the most popular settling place for these German Palankaers.[5]
The city was under Habsburg administration until 1918, when it became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later renamed as Yugoslavia). During the World War II (from 1941 to 1944), it was under Axis (Horty Hungary) occupation. In 1944, one part of Bačka Palanka's citizens of German ethnicity left the city, together with the defeated German army. As a consequence of the war, the site of a post-World War II work camp for the remaining ethnic Germans (Donauschwaben) was formed here under a new communist administration. After the work camps were dissolved (in 1948), the remaining German population was expelled from Yugoslavia in an ethnic cleansing. To replace the Germans, 3,609 (mostly Serb) colonists were settled in the town after World War II. Most of them originated from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
During the 1990s, about 5,000 refugees from Croatia and Bosnia moved to Bačka Palanka because of the Yugoslav wars. During the NATO bombing in 1999, Bačka Palanka was bombed by NATO twice, on 2 and 27 April. On both occasions the target was the Ilok–Bačka Palanka Bridge. It was only damaged, but not destroyed.
In 2002, 4 tons of fish stew were cooked at Kaloš Čarda at the Bager Lake in Bačka Palanka and it entered the Guinness Book of Records.
The Bačka Palanka municipality includes the city of Bačka Palanka and several villages.
Villages on the northern bank of the river Danube, in the region of Bačka:
Villages on the southern bank of the river Danube, in the region of Syrmia:
According to the last official census done in 2011, the municipality of Bačka Palanka has 55,528 inhabitants.
Ethnic composition of the town and municipality:
| Ethnic group | Population (town) | Population (municipality) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serbs | 23,155 | 43,843 | |
| Slovaks | 1,055 | 5,047 | |
| Hungarians | 1,003 | 1,356 | |
| Roma | 262 | 1,064 | |
| Croats | 520 | 819 | |
| Yugoslavs | 117 | 160 | |
| Montenegrins | 73 | 133 | |
| Germans | 74 | 105 | |
| Others | 1,980 | 3,001 | |
| Total | 28,239 | 55,528 |
Tourism is developed in Bačka Palanka. The city is famous for Tikvara, a natural monument. Tikvara is a Danube lake. Tikvara covers an area of 5km². The Tikvara Resort complex is built along the lake for practicing various sports, recreational and entertaining activities. There are 33 archeological sites in the municipality. It is also known for Karađorđevo, which has a hunting ground and horse farm. People enjoy racing derbies in Karađorđevo. At the time of Serbia's emancipation, engraver Marko Vujatović worked on the intricate iconostasis of the Serbian Orthodox Church of St. John the Baptist. Bačka Palanka's Serbian church is one of the oldest churches in Vojvodina some built on foundations of temples of even earlier times. The north of the town is the Bagremara forest.
Industry in Bačka Palanka started developing in the 18th century. The first companies were built in the second half of the 18th century. A brick plant was opened in 1765, and a tobacco storehouse was opened a year later. In 1974 the Bridge of Youth was built to connect Bačka Palanka and Ilok in Croatia. Today, Bačka Palanka falls among the ten most developed municipalities in Vojvodina. Bačka Palanka municipality is an agricultural and industrial center. The main industries are food, metallurgy, textiles, electronic and machine industry. The most famous factories are Enia, Sintelon, Tarkett, Nectar, Dunavprevoz, AD Bačka, Carlsberg, Marina, Majevica, Plattner, Žitoprodukt, Budućnost and others.
The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2018):[6]
| Activity | Total | |
|---|---|---|
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 677 | |
| Mining and quarrying | align="right" | - |
| Manufacturing | 5,341 | |
| Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply | 40 | |
| Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities | 504 | |
| Construction | 334 | |
| Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles | 1,881 | |
| Transportation and storage | 1,047 | |
| Accommodation and food services | 380 | |
| Information and communication | 69 | |
| Financial and insurance activities | 190 | |
| Real estate activities | 19 | |
| Professional, scientific and technical activities | 297 | |
| Administrative and support service activities | 444 | |
| Public administration and defense; compulsory social security | 639 | |
| Education | 762 | |
| Human health and social work activities | 610 | |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 172 | |
| Other service activities | 176 | |
| Individual agricultural workers | 822 | |
| Total | 14,405 |
Sport is very popular in Bačka Palanka. People enjoy swimming in Lake Tikvara and cycling down the banks of The Danube. Sports include handball, football (soccer), basketball and karate. There is a chess tournament every year, Bačka Palanka Open.
The most famous sport clubs in Bačka Palanka are:
Seats in the municipality parliament won in the 2004 local elections:[7]
Seats in the municipality parliament after 2008 elections:[8]
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Serbia.
Bačka Palanka is twinned with:
Otradny, Russia
Kalush, Ukraine
Liptovský Mikuláš, Slovakia