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The 'Pannonian Basin' or 'Carpathian Basin' is a large basin in Central Europe that remained when the Pliocene ''Pannonian Sea'' dried out.
The river Danube divides the basin roughly in half. The Pannonian Basin is a geomorphological subsystem of the Alps-Himalaya system.

Contents

Name

Characteristics

History

Pannonian Sea

History of the basin

Countries

Division

Regions

See also

Name

The term ''Carpathian Basin'' (named like this because of the long Carpathian border) has been translated from Hungarian literature, while the South Slavic languages (Serbian, Croatian, Slovenian and Macedonian), as well as Slovak and German, use the term ''Pannonian Basin''. [1] In English, both names are used.
In Hungarian, the basin is known as ''Kárpát-medence'', in Serbian and Croatian as ''Panonski basen'', Панонски басен, in Slovak as ''Panónska panva'', in Slovenian as ''Panonska nižina'' and in German as ''Pannonisches Becken''.
The Pannonian Basin is also known as ''Pannonian Plain'' in some sources, although this name is also used for Great Hungarian Plain, which is a part of the Pannonian Basin.

Characteristics

The basin is roughly bounded by the Carpathian mountains, the Alps, the Dinaric Alps and the Balkan mountains. The basin consists mainly of the Great Hungarian Plain (in the south and east) and the Little Alföld (in the northwest).
The basin forms a topographically discrete unit set in the European landscape, surrounded by imposing geographic boundaries that have created a fairly unified cultural area that looks more towards the south and east than to the north and west.
Although rain is not plentiful, it usually falls when necessary and the basin is a major agricultural area; it is sometimes said that these fields of rich loamy loess soil could feed the whole of Europe. For its early settlers, the basin offered few sources of metals or stone. Thus when archaeologists come upon objects of obsidian or chert, copper or gold, they have almost unparalleled opportunities to interpret ancient pathways of trade.

History

Pannonian Sea

:''Main article: Pannonian Sea''
The precursor to the present basin was a shallow sea that reached its greatest extent during the Pliocene, when three to four kilometres of sediments were deposited.

History of the basin

The basin was named after the Pannonians, a northern Illyrian tribe. Various different peoples inhabited the basin during the history. In the first century BC, the eastern parts of the basin belonged to Dacian state, and in the first century AD its western parts were included into Roman Empire. The Roman province named Pannonia was established in the area, and the city of Sirmium became one of the four capital cities of Roman Empire in the 3rd century.
In the Age of Migrations and the early Middle Ages, the region belonged to several realms such as the Hun Empire, the Kingdom of the Gepids, the Kingdom of the Ostrogoths, the Kingdom of the Lombards, the Avar Kingdom, the Slavic state of Samo, the Bulgarian Empire, the Frankish Empire, the Great Moravia, the Balaton Principality, and the Pannonian Croatia.
The Kingdom of Hungary established in 1000 by the Magyars was centered around the basin and included most of it (as did the former Avar Kingdom as well). After the Battle of Mohács in 1526 the central and eastern parts of the basin were included into Ottoman Empire, and the remains of the Kingdom of Hungary in the north-west joined the Habsburg Monarchy, where they were called Royal Hungary. The administrative units of the Ottoman Empire organized in the basin were the Eyalet of Budim, the Eyalet of Egri, the Eyalet of Sigetvar, and the Eyalet of Temeşvar. The eastern parts of the basin belonged to semi-independent Principality of Transylvania, which was under Ottoman suzereignty.
The Pannonian Basin became the scene of clash of the two empires. At the end of the 17th century the Habsburgs won against the Ottomans, and most of the basin became Habsburg possession. The administrative units of the Habsburg Monarchy organized in the basin were the Kingdom of Hungary, the Banat of Temeswar, the Military Frontier, the Kingdom of Croatia, and the Kingdom of Slavonia.
The Habsburg Monarchy was subsequently transformed into Austrian Empire (in 1804) and Austria-Hungary (in 1867). Most of the basin was located within the Hungarian part of Austria-Hungary, since most of the other Habsburg possessions in the basin were integrated into Kingdom of Hungary until 1882. The autonomous Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, which was one of the Lands of the Crown of St. Stephen, comprised the south-western parts of the basin.
Since 1918, the region was divided between Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Austria, and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (renamed to Yugoslavia in 1929).

Countries

Today the basin is divided among Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Serbia, and Ukraine. The ''peripannonian'' lands, areas around this basin but not elevated like the surrounding mountains, also spread into Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Division

The Pannonian Basin is divided into two parts along the Transdanubian Medium Mountains (Hungarian: ''Dunántúli-középhegység''). The northwestern part is called ''Western Pannonian basin'' (or ''province'') and the southeastern part ''Eastern Pannonian basin'' (or ''province''). They are comprised of the following sections:

★ Western Pannonian Basin (province):

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★ Viennese Basin

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★ Little Alföld

★ Eastern Pannonian Basin (province):

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★ Great Hungarian Plain (Great Alföld, Pannonian Plain)

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★ Pannonian Island Mountains (Serbian: ''Panonske ostrvske planine'', Панонске острвске планине)

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★ Transdanubian Hills (Hungarian: ''Dunántúli-dombság'')
Note: The Transylvanian Plateau and the Lučenec-Košice Depression (both parts of the Carpathians) and some other lowlands are sometimes also considered part of the Pannonian Basin in non-geomorphological or older divisions.

Regions

Relatively large or distinctive areas of the basin that do not necessarily correspond to national borders include:

★ Bačka/Bácska (Serbia, Hungary)

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★ Šajkaška (Serbia)

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★ Telečka (Serbia)

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★ Gornji Breg (Serbia)

★ Banat (Romania, Serbia, Hungary)

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★ Pančevački Rit (Serbia)

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★ Veliki Rit (Serbia)

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★ Gornje Livade (Serbia)

★ Baranya/Baranja (Hungary, Croatia)

★ Burgenland (Neusiedler Basin), Austria

★ Crişana (Romania)

★ Jászság (Hungary)

★ Kunság (Hungary)

★ Little Alföld/Malá dunajská kotlina (Hungary, Slovakia)

★ Mačva (Serbia)

★ Međimurje (Croatia)

★ Moravia (part), Czech Republic

★ Moslavina (Croatia)

★ Podravina (Croatia, Hungary, around Drava river)

★ Podunavlje (Serbia, Croatia, around Danube river)

★ Pokuplje (Croatia, around Kupa river)

★ Pomoravlje (part), Serbia, around Morava river

★ Pomorišje (Romania, Hungary, Serbia, around Mureş river)

★ Posavina (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, around Sava river)

★ Potisje (Serbia, around Tisa river)

★ Prekmurje (Slovenia)

★ Semberija (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

★ Slavonia (Croatia)

★
★ Palača (Croatia)

★ Srem/Srijem (Serbia, Croatia)

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★ Podlužje (Serbia)

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★ Šokadija (Croatia)

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★ Spačva (Croatia)

★ Transdanubia (Hungary)

★ Vojvodina (Serbia)

★ ''several more inside Hungary, see: Counties of Hungary, Regions of Hungary''

★ ''several more inside Slovakia, see: Traditional regions of Slovakia, Regions of Slovakia''

See also

★ Geography of Europe

★ Central Europe

★ Pannonian Sea