Sombor, West Bačka District, Vojvodina Autonomous Province, Serbia

Name | History | Settlements | Demographics | Culture | Sport | Media : Print : Television : Radio | Internet media | Transport : Bus : Rail : Air

🇷🇸 Sombor is a city and the administrative centre of the West Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia.

Name In Serbian, the city is known as Sombor (Сомбор), in Hungarian as Zombor, in Rusyn as Zombor (Зомбор).

The older Hungarian name for the city was Czoborszentmihály. The name originates from the Czobor family, who were the owners of this area in the 14th century. (The family name came from the Slavic name Cibor.) The Serbian name for the city (Sombor) also came from the family name Czobor, and was first recorded in 1543, although the city was mentioned in historical documents under several more names, such as Samobor, Sambor, Sambir, Sonbor, Sanbur, Zibor, and Zombar.

An unofficial name for the city is Ravangrad (Раванград), which literally means "flat town" in Serbian.

History The first historical record relating to the city is from 1340. The city was administered by the Kingdom of Hungary until the 16th century, when it became part of the Ottoman Empire. During the establishment of Ottoman authority, the local Hungarian population left the region. As a result, the city became populated mostly by ethnic Serbs. It was called "Sonbor" during Ottoman administration and was a kaza centre in the Sanjak of Segedin at first in Budin Province until 1596, and then in Eğri Province between 1596 and 1687.

In 1665, a well-known traveller, Evliya Çelebi, visited Sombor and wrote: "All the folk (in the city) are not Hungarian, but Wallachian-Christian (Serb). These places are something special; they do not belong to Hungary, but are a part of Bačka and Wallachia. Most of the inhabitants are traders, and all of them wear frontiersmen clothes; they are very polite and brave people". According to Celebi, the city had 200 shops, 14 mosques and about 2,000 houses.

Since 12 September 1687, the city was under Habsburg administration, and was included into the Habsburg Military Frontier. Ottomans attempted to recapture it during the Battle of Zenta on 11 September 1697. However their attack was repulsed. In 1717, the first Orthodox elementary school was opened. Five years later a Roman Catholic elementary school was opened as well. In 1745, Sombor was excluded from the Military Frontier and was included into Bacsensis County. In 1749, Sombor gained royal free city status. In 1786, the city became the seat of Bacsensis-Bodrogiensis County. According to 1786 data, the population of the city numbered 11,420 people, mostly Serbs.

According to the 1843 data, Sombor had 21,086 inhabitants, of whom 11,897 were Orthodox Christians, 9,082 Roman Catholics, 56 Jewish, and 51 Protestants. The main language spoken in the city at that time was Serbian, and the second-largest language was German. In 1848/1849, Sombor was part of the Serbian Vojvodina, a Serb autonomous region within Austrian Empire, while between 1849 and 1860, it was part of the Voivodeship of Serbia and Temes Banat, a separate Austrian crown land. Sombor was a seat of the district within voivodship. After the abolishment of this crown land, Sombor again became the seat of the Bacsensis-Bodrogiensis (Bács-Bodrog, Bačka-Bodrog) County.

According to the 1910 census, the population of Sombor was 30,593 people, of whom 11,881 spoke Serbian, 10,078 spoke Hungarian, 6,289 spoke Bunjevac, and 2,181 spoke German.

In 1918, Sombor became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia). Between 1918 and 1922 it was part of Bačka County, between 1922 and 1929 part of Bačka Oblast, and between 1929 and 1941 part of Danube Banovina.

In 1941, the city was occupied by the Axis powers and annexed by Hungary. Many prominent citizens from the Serb community were interned and later executed. In 1944, the Yugoslav Partisans and Soviet Red Army expelled the Axis forces from the city. Since 1944, Sombor was part of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina of the new Socialist Yugoslavia and (since 1945) socialist Serbia. Today, Sombor is the seat of the West Bačka District in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in the Republic of Serbia.

Settlements The city administrative area of Sombor includes following villages: • Aleksa Šantić • Bački Breg • Bački Monoštor • Bezdan • Gakovo • Doroslovo • Kljajićevo • Kolut • Rastina • Riđica • Svetozar Miletić • Stanišić • Stapar • Telečka • Čonoplja; Smaller and suburban settlements, "Salaši" include • Bukovački Salaši • Rančevo • Kruševlje • Bilić • Lugomerci • Žarkovac • Šaponje • Obzir • Milčići • Gradina • Lenija • Nenadić • Radojevići

Demographics According to the last official census done in 2011, the city of Sombor has 85,903 inhabitants.

*Ethnic groups * Settlements with Serb ethnic majority (as of 2002) are: Sombor, Aleksa Šantić, Gakovo, Kljajićevo, Kolut, Rastina, Riđica, Stanišić, Stapar, and Čonoplja. Settlements with Croat/Šokac ethnic majority (as of 2002) are: Bački Breg and Bački Monoštor. Settlements with Hungarian ethnic majority (in 2002) are: Bezdan, Doroslovo, and Telečka. Ethnically mixed settlement with relative Hungarian majority is Svetozar Miletić.

Culture Sombor is famous for its greenery, cultural life and beautiful 18th and 19th century center. The most important cultural institutions are the National Theater, the Regional Museum, the Modern Art Gallery, the Milan Konjović Art Gallery, the Teacher's College, the Serbian Reading House, and the Sombor Gymnasium. Teacher's College, founded in 1778, is the oldest college in Serbia and the region.

There are two monasteries in this city: • Sombor Orthodox Monastery, founded in 1928–1933 • Carmelite Catholic monastery, founded in 1904.

Sport Radnički Sombor is the main football club from the city competing in Vojvodina League North.

Sombor is the hometown of two-time NBA MVP, NBA Champion and Finals MVP Nikola Jokić. The local basketball club where he began his playing career renamed itself KK Joker in 2017 after his English-language nickname, and was promoted to the top-level Basketball League of Serbia at the end of the 2022–23 season.

Media: Print • Somborske novine

Media: Television • K-54 • Spektar • RTV Sreće

Media: Radio • Radio Marija (95.7) • Radio Sombor (97.5) • Radio Fortuna (106.6)

Internet media • Novi Radio Sombor http://www.noviradiosombor.com/ • SOinfo.org.

Transport: Bus Buses offer direct connections to major Serbian cities including Belgrade, Novi Sad and Subotica, as well as many regional towns. Among the companies operating in the area is Severtrans.

Transport: Rail Sombor is linked by direct rail links to Novi Sad and Subotica, among others.

Transport: Air The city houses Sombor Airport.

Novi Sad, South Bačka District, Vojvodina, Serbia 
Novi Sad, South Bačka District, Vojvodina, Serbia
Image: Adobe Stock BGStock72 #111608975

Sombor has a population of over 47,623 people. Sombor also forms the centre of the wider West Bačka District which has a population of over 188,087 people. It is also a part of the larger Vojvodina Province.

To set up a UBI Lab for Sombor see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork

Twin Towns, Sister Cities Sombor has links with:

🇭🇺 Baja, Hungary 🇭🇺 Kispest, Hungary 🇷🇸 Novi Pazar, Serbia 🇭🇷 Osijek, Croatia 🇭🇺 Taksony, Hungary 🇧🇦 Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina 🇲🇰 Veles, North Macedonia 🇭🇷 Vukovar, Croatia
Text Atribution: Wikipedia Text under CC-BY-SA license

Antipodal to Sombor is: -160.883,-45.783

Locations Near: Sombor 19.1167,45.7833

🇭🇷 Vukovar 19,45.352 d: 48.8  

🇭🇷 Osijek 18.681,45.552 d: 42.5  

🇷🇸 Vrbas 19.65,45.567 d: 47.9  

🇭🇷 Vinkovci 18.807,45.289 d: 60  

🇷🇸 Bačka Palanka 19.4,45.25 d: 63.3  

🇷🇸 Subotica 19.65,46.1 d: 54.2  

🇭🇺 Szekszárd 18.716,46.351 d: 70.3  

🇭🇺 Paks 18.856,46.622 d: 95.4  

🇷🇸 Novi Sad 19.833,45.25 d: 81.4  

🇭🇺 Pécs 18.231,46.075 d: 75.8  

Antipodal to: Sombor -160.883,-45.783

🇹🇴 Nuku'alofa -175.216,-21.136 d: 16979.9  

🇵🇫 Papeete -149.566,-17.537 d: 16704.4  

🇦🇸 Pago Pago -170.701,-14.279 d: 16393.1  

🇼🇸 Apia -171.76,-13.833 d: 16318.5  

🇺🇸 Hilo -155.089,19.725 d: 12707.4  

🇺🇸 Maui -156.446,20.72 d: 12606.7  

🇺🇸 Maui County -156.617,20.868 d: 12591.3  

🇺🇸 Wailuku -156.505,20.894 d: 12587.7  

🇺🇸 Kahului -156.466,20.891 d: 12587.8  

🇺🇸 Honolulu -157.85,21.3 d: 12549.5  

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