The Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania (the counties of Timiş, Caraş-Severin, Arad south of the Mureş, and Mehedinţi), the western part in northeastern Serbia (the Serbian Banat, mostly included in Vojvodina, except for a small part included in Belgrade Region), and a small northern part in southeastern Hungary (Csongrád county). It is populated by Romanians, Serbs, Hungarians, Roma, Germans, Krashovans, Ukrainians, Slovaks, Czechs, Croats and other ethnicities.

The Banat is a part of the Pannonian plain bordered by the River Danube to the south, the River Tisza to the west, the River Mureş to the north, and the Southern Carpathian Mountains to the east. Its historical capital was Timişoara, now in Timiş County in Romania.

The term "banat" or "banate" designated a frontier province led by a military governor or ban.

The word "ban" is probably of Slavic origin, meaning lord or governor.^{[citation needed]} Others state "Ban" as translated from the Old Hungarian "King's Warden".^{[citation needed]} Thus, Banat may be translated loosely as "province" or "Royal Lands", respectively.

Nancy Nabil Ajram (Arabic: نانسي نبيل عجرم‎), (born May 16, 1983) is a multi-platinum recording artist and Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. With the support of her father, Nancy began performing as a child and released her first studio album by the age of 15. Her breakthrough occurred with the start of her collaboration with well-known producer Jiji Lamara, when she released her smash-hit "Akhasmak Ah" and 3rd studio album, Ya Salam. In 2004, she released her second international best-seller "Ah w Noss", which spawned several smash-hits, "Ah w Noss", "Lawn Ouyounak", and "Inta Eih" at which point Nancy had established pop icon status in the Middle East.

Her 2008 album "Bitfakkar Fi Eih" spawned seven singles and won Nancy's first World Music Award as Best-selling Middle Eastern Artist, the youngest Arab WMA winner to date. She has released seven studio albums to date and numerous other chart-topping singles such as "Sehr Ouyouno", "Atabtab", "Moegaba", "Ehsas Jdeed", "El Donya Helwa", "Mashi Haddi", and "Fi Hagat".