Bački Petrovac

Bački Petrovac (Serbian Cyrillic: Бачки Петровац; Slovak: Báčsky Petrovec; Hungarian: Petrőc) is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town has a population of 5,227, while the municipality has 11,512 inhabitants.^[3]

Bački Petrovac Бачки Петровац (Serbian) Báčsky Petrovec (Slovak)[1]
Town and municipality
Bački Petrovac
Coat of arms
Location of Bački Petrovac within Serbia
Coordinates: 45°21′38″N 19°35′30″E
Country	Serbia
Province	Vojvodina
District	South Bačka
Government
• Mayor	Viera Krstovski (SNS)
Area
• Town	63.84 km2 (24.65 sq mi)
• Municipality	158.35 km2 (61.14 sq mi)
Elevation	86 m (282 ft)
Population  (2022 census)[2]
• Town	5,227
• Town density	82/km2 (210/sq mi)
• Municipality	11,512
• Municipality density	73/km2 (190/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	21470
Area code	+381(0)21
Official languages	Serbian together with Slovak[1]
Website	www.backipetrovac.rs

Name

In Serbian Cyrillic the town is known as Бачки Петровац, in Serbian Latin as Bački Petrovac, in Slovak as Petrovec or Báčsky Petrovec, in Hungarian as Petrőc, and in German as Petrovacz.

Bački Petrovac is the economical, cultural and administrative center of the municipality. It is a settlement of a town character, while the other three are villages of Pannonian type.

History

Being in south Bačka which according to special climatic and other conditions is one of the most fertile parts of Serbia, very suitable for settling down, here in this region people made their settlements very early. The first written records about Petrovac appears in the 13th century when Petrovac is mentioned as a church parish belonging to Bač County. Later that name is changed into Petrovac. Its first inhabitants were the Hungarians and Serbs. In the first half of the 18th century (1745) the Slovaks settled here.^[4] Since then Petrovac developed so that it represents cultural, economic, clerical and political center of the Slovaks in this region.

The first library was founded in Petrovac in 1845, and the first theater play was performed here in 1866. Slovak Gymnasium was established in Petrovac in 1919.^[5]

Inhabited places

Map of Bački Petrovac municipality

Bački Petrovac municipality includes the town of Bački Petrovac and the following villages:

• Gložan (Slovak: Hložany)
• Kulpin (Slovak: Kulpín)
• Maglić

Note: for the places with Slovak majority, the names are also given in Slovak.

Demographics

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1948	13,814	—
1953	15,142	+1.85%
1961	16,865	+1.36%
1971	16,042	−0.50%
1981	16,095	+0.03%
1991	15,662	−0.27%
2002	14,681	−0.59%
2011	13,418	−0.99%
2022	11,512	−1.38%
Source: [6][3]

According to the 2022 census results, the municipality has 11,512 inhabitants.^[3]

Ethnic groups

The ethnic Slovaks form a majority of the population in the municipality. Settlements with Slovak majorities are: Bački Petrovac (Slovak: Báčsky Petrovec), Gložan (Slovak: Hložany), and Kulpin (Slovak: Kulpín). There is one settlement with a Serb majority: Maglić. The town is located in southern Bačka (hence the name), some 25 km northwest of Novi Sad, the capital of Vojvodina. It is the cultural center of Slovaks in the province, and other places in the eponymous municipalities are also inhabited by many Slovaks.

The ethnic composition of the municipality:^[3]

Ethnic group	Population	%
Slovaks	6,975	60.59%
Serbs	3,227	28.03%
Roma	119	1.04%
Yugoslavs	91	0.79%
Hungarians	75	0.65%
Croats	71	0.62%
Albanians	24	0.21%
Others	930	8.08%
Total	11,512

Economy

Agriculture is the most important economic activity based on the production of field crops (wheat, corn, broom weed, sugar beet, hop), cattle, breeding dud ponetry and vegetable crops. Besides agriculture there is also some industry manufacture, metal and chemical. Manufacture of wood civil engineering, printing activities, etc.

The following table gives a preview of total number of employed people per their core activity (as of 2017):^[7]

Activity	Total
Agriculture, forestry and fishing	390
Mining	1
Processing industry	1,862
Distribution of power, gas and water	5
Distribution of water and water waste management	54
Construction	138
Wholesale and retail, repair	451
Traffic, storage and communication	82
Hotels and restaurants	159
Media and telecommunications	36
Finance and insurance	17
Property stock and charter	11
Professional, scientific, innovative and technical activities	216
Administrative and other services	101
Administration and social assurance	140
Education	215
Healthcare and social work	154
Art, leisure and recreation	14
Other services	42
Total	4,090

Cultural Monuments

The Slovak Evangelical Church in Bački Petrovac was errected in 1783, and enlarged and refurbished in 1822. Next to the church is a one-story parish house, with two rows of windows, decorated with plant and geometric motifs. The complex is protected as a cultural monument of great importance.^[8]

The oldest house in Bački Petrovac dates back from the late 18th century.^[9] It contains typical ethnographic objects from this area and is a part of the traditional architecture complex of the Museum of Vojvodina Slovaks.^[10]

Gallery

• 
  The "Oldest house in Bački Petrovac" built in 1799
• 
  The Evangelist Church in Bački Petrovac
• 
  The building of the Ján Kollár Gymnasium and Students' Home in Bački Petrovac, first half of the 20th century
• 
  WW2-era poster from Bački Petrovac in Hungarian and Serbian, threatening twentyfold reprisal for the killing of soldiers by partisans
• 
  Matica slovenská in Bački Petrovac
• 
  The Slovak Vojvodina Theatre in Bački Petrovac
• 
  Workers building a road in Bački Petrovac
• 
  Gallery of Zuzka Medveďová in Bački Petrovac
• 
  The Catholic Church in Bački Petrovac

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Serbia

Twin towns — Sister cities

Bački Petrovac is twinned with:

• Babušnica, Serbia
• Martin, Slovakia
• Nitra, Slovakia
• Ružomberok, Slovakia
• Stará Ľubovňa, Slovakia
• Vukovar, Croatia
• Kirchheim unter Teck, Germany

See also

• List of places in Serbia
• List of cities, towns and villages in Vojvodina

References

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

1. "Statut Opštine Bački Petrovac" [Municipality of Bački Petrovac Statute] (PDF) (in Serbian). Municipality of Bački Petrovac. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
2. "2022 Census of Population, Households and Dwellings: Ethnicity (data by municipalities and cities)" (PDF). Statistical Office of Republic Of Serbia, Belgrade. April 2023. ISBN 978-86-6161-228-2. Retrieved 2023-04-30.
3. "2022 Census of Population, Households and Dwellings" (PDF). Retrieved 2023-12-07.
4. "Istorija". www.backipetrovac.rs. Retrieved 2024-10-27.
5. "Slovaci u Srbiji". Zavod za kulturu vojvođanskih Slovaka (in Serbian). Retrieved 2024-10-27.
6. "2011 Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in the Republic of Serbia" (PDF). stat.gov.rs. Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
7. ОПШТИНЕ И РЕГИОНИ У РЕПУБЛИЦИ СРБИЈИ, 2018. (PDF). stat.gov.rs (in Serbian). Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
8. "Споменици културе у Србији, Словачка евангелистичка црква". spomenicikulture.mi.sanu.ac.rs. Retrieved 2024-12-12.
9. "Споменици културе у Србији, Кућа у Бачком Петровцу". spomenicikulture.mi.sanu.ac.rs. Retrieved 2024-12-13.
10. "Нajстарија кућа у Петровцу - Múzeum vojvodinských Slovákov". Múzeum vojvodinských Slovákov • Музеј војвођанских Словака (in Serbian). Retrieved 2024-12-12.

External links

• Official website
• Ján Kollár Grammar School (in Slovak and English)
• Petrovec Online community (in Slovak)
• Matica slovenská v Srbsku (in Slovak)
• Vladimír Hurban Vladimírov Theatre (in Slovak)
• Hlas Ľudu weekly magazine (in Slovak)