Where Are The Pannonian Countries Of Europe?

The Pannonian basin is located in Central Europe and the countries located in the basin are known as the Pannonian countries. The basin is located mainly in the middle of Hungary, but it also covers parts of other countries which include Western Ukraine, Western Slovakia, Western Romania, South-eastern Poland, Northeast Croatia’s tip, northern Serbia, Eastern Austria, and North-eastern Slovenia. The name Pannonian is derived from Pannonia, a Roman Empire province, though the basin is also known as Carpathian basin.

Pannonian Basin

The Pannonian plain is divided into two sides. On one side is the western Pannonian plain which comprises Little Hungarian Plain and Vienna Basin. The other side has the Eastern Pannonian Plain which comprises Pannonian Island Mountains, Drava-Mura Lowlands, Transdanubian Mountains, and the great Hungarian Plain.

History Of The Pannonian Basin

The Pannonian basin was once occupied by the Pannonian Sea which was in existence for around 9 million years before it transformed into a lake and then disappeared altogether. The Islands that were part of the sea are the current Pannonian Island Mountains. Different people settled in the plains through history. The Western parts of the plains were part of the Roman Empire during the first century AD, and Pannonia province covered the area. Several other kingdoms settled in the plains during the early middle ages, they include the Kingdom of the Gepids, Hun Empire, the Kingdom of the Lombards, the Bulgarian Empire, Great Moravia, the Frankish Empire, the Kingdom of Syrmia, and the Balaton Principality. The Principality of Hungary was established in the center of the plain, and by the 11th century the empire had taken over the whole of the plains. The Ottoman wars led to the division of the Pannonian basin between several political groups. At the end of the battle of Mohacs in 1526 the Ottoman Empire and Habsburg monarchy, which later became Royal Hungary, occupied different parts of the plains.

Habsburg And Ottoman Empires

Since two empires were always in conflict over the plains, the Habsburg monarchy won the battle against the Ottoman Empire at the end of the 17th century, and they took over the plains. During the Habsburg rule, the plains were divided into the Banat of Temeswar which is present-day Banat in Hungary, Kingdom of Hungary, Kingdom of Croatia, the Military Frontier, Voivodeship of Serbia and Temes Banat, the Kingdom of Croatia, and the Kingdom of Slavonia. In 1804, the Habsburg monarchy was taken into the Austrian empire which in 1867 became Austria-Hungary. Most of the plain was part of Hungary as most of the Habsburg Empire was merged into the kingdom of Hungary. After World War one, Austria-Hungary was disbanded, and the plains region was divided between Romania, Hungary, Austria, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia.

Cities Located In The Pannonian Basin

Some of the major cities in the Pannonian basin include Budapest, Kecskemet, Debrecen, Miskolc, Gyor, Szeged, and Nyiregyhaza in Hungary, Novi Sad, Belgrade, and Subotica in Serbia. Other cities include Bratislava and Kosice in Slovakia, Timisoara, Oradea, Arad, and Satu Mare in Romania, Graz in Austria and Uzzhorod in Ukraine. The named are urban centers having a population of more than 100,000 people.