- Veliki Gaj
Veliki Gaj (Велики Гај) is a
village located in thePlandište municipality , in theSouth Banat District ofSerbia . It is situated in the Autonomous Province ofVojvodina . According to the 2002 census, the population of the village was 790 people, of whom 670 were ethnicSerbs .Name
In Serbian, the village is known as "Veliki Gaj" or Велики Гај, in German as "Groß Gaj", in Hungarian as "Nagygáj", and in Croatian as "Veliki Gaj".
Geography
Veliki Gaj is located about 70 km NE of
Belgrade and about 1 km SE of theRomania n border.History
The village was first mentioned in 1355 under name Gaj. In the 17th century, the name of the village was changed to Veliki Gaj. During the Ottoman rule (16th-17th century), the village was mostly populated by ethnic
Serbs .Since 1716, the village was part of the
Habsburg Monarchy , which encouraged the settlement of German-speaking Donauschwaben (Danube Swabians) and others. In 1910, the population of the village numbered 2,930 inhabitants, including 1,456Serbs , 743 Hungarians, and 620Germans .After the
First World War , the village became part of theKingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (renamed toYugoslavia in 1929). During theSecond World War (1941-1944), the village was under Axis occupation, and was part of the autonomousBanat region within German-occupiedSerbia .After the war, the village was part of the new socialist Yugoslavia, within the Socialist Autonomous Province of
Vojvodina and Socialist Republic ofSerbia . In 1991, the village had 897 inhabitants, including 883Serbs , and 14 ethnicHungarians .Since 1992, the village was part of the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia , that in 2003 was transformed into the State Union ofSerbia and Montenegro . Since the dissolution of this state in June 2006, the village became part of an independentSerbia .Historical population
*1869: 2,761
*1910: 2,926
*1931: 3,213
*1961: 1,532
*1971: 1,308
*1981: 1,039
*1991: 898
*2002: 790References
*Slobodan Ćurčić, Broj stanovnika Vojvodine, Novi Sad, 1996.
ee also
*
List of places in Serbia
*List of cities, towns and villages in Vojvodina External links
* [http://www.velikigaj.net/kontakt.html Web page about Veliki Gaj]
* [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/YI/2/Veliki_Gaj.html Veliki Gaj]
* [http://www.plandiste.co.yu/Page10091/Gaj/gaj.htm About Veliki Gaj] (in Serbian)
* [http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/ESE/banat_g.htm#grossgaj_ Gross Gaj]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.