Krajina
Krajina (pronounced [krâjina]) is a Slavic toponym, meaning 'frontier' or 'march'. The term is related with kraj or krai, originally meaning "edge"[1] and today denoting a region or province, usually distant from the metropole.
Etymology[edit]
The Serbo-Croatian word krajina derives from Proto-Slavic *krajina, derived from *krajь, meaning "edge", related to *krojiti, "to cut";[1][2] the original meaning of krajina thus seems to have been "place at an edge, fringe, borderland", as reflected in the meanings of Church Slavonic краина, kraina,[2] and Old East Slavic окраина, okraina.[3]
In some South Slavic languages, including Serbo-Croatian and Slovene, the word krajina or its cognate still refers primarily to a border, fringe, or borderland of a country (sometimes with an established military defense), and secondarily to a region, area, or landscape.[2][4] The word kraj can today mean an end or extremity, or region or area. Archaically extrapolated, it could mean "army" or "war";[4] this meaning developed from the earlier meaning of "borderland" in a manner analogous to the French word campagne.[2] The term is equal to German Mark and French marche.[5]
In other Slavic languages (including the Chakavian and Kajkavian dialects of Serbo-Croatian), the term has other meanings, either a territorial name (cf. Krajna in Poland, from Old Polish kraina, meaning region, borderland, extremity[2]) or word with meaning "a land, landscape" (e.g. in Slovak, Czech or Sorbian).
Geographical regions[edit]
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bosanska Krajina, around Banja Luka and encompassing a larger area, also on older maps called Turkish Croatia; westwards from Vrbas river, on the NW from Završje (on older maps, Završje is a part of Croazia Turca, Türkisch Kroatien, Török Horvátország [6])
- Cazinska Krajina, borderland of Bosnia towards Croatia around the city of Cazin. Today its considered as Una-Sana Canton.
- Croatia
- Krayna vu Otoce: medieval Glagolitic name of Gacka valley in Lika highlands
- Cetinska krajina, area along the valley of river Cetina in the southern Croatia, in Zagora, to the east from Herzegovina (Bosnia and Herzegovina), mostly containing Sinjsko polje
- Drniška krajina, area around the city of Drniš in southern Croatia, in Zagora, to west from Cetinska krajina
- Imotska krajina, area around the city of Imotski, in southern Croatia, in Zagora mostly containing Imotsko polje, to east from Cetinska and Omiška krajina, to west from Vrgoračka krajina; also the name of the soccer club from Imotski
- Istarska krajina, historical region in western Croatia, central area of peninsula of Istria [7]
- Kninska Krajina, region around Knin in southern Croatia, to north from Drniška krajina and northeast from Cetinska krajina
- Neretvanska krajina, historical area westwards from river of Neretva, southwest from župa Imota [7][8]
- Omiška krajina, region in hinterland of city of Omiš, in Croatian south, in Zagora; to east from Cetinska krajina, to west from Cetinska krajina
- municipality of Krajina, a municipality in southern Croatia, located between Split and Imotski, existed from 1912–1945 [9]
- Sinjska krajina, area in Zagora, in southern Croatia, around the city of Sinj, west from Livanjski kraj, southeast from Vrlička krajina (sometimes considered as part of Cetinska krajina)
- Vrgoračka krajina, area in Zagora, in southern Croatia, around the city of Vrgorac, southwest from Herzegovina and west from Neretva valley, to east from Imotska krajina
- Vrlička krajina, area in Zagora, in southern Croatia, around the city of Vrlika, west from Livanjski kraj, northwest from Cetinska krajina (sometimes considered as part of Cetinska krajina)
- Krajina is also a Croat surname
- a part of peri-littoral area near Makarska in Croatia is called Krajina (see reference)
- Montenegro
- Skadarska Krajina, region north from Bar and Ulcinj, across the mountain. It borders Skadar Lake on its northern edge.
- Poland
- Krajna, on the border of provinces Greater Poland and Pomerania
- Serbia
- Timočka Krajina, borderland of Serbia towards Bulgaria around Timok River
- Negotinska Krajina, a part of Timočka Krajina around the city of Negotin
- Koča's krajina, an area liberated during eighth Austrian-Turkish war
- Timočka Krajina, borderland of Serbia towards Bulgaria around Timok River
- Slovenia
- Bela krajina, borderland of Slovenia towards Croatia
Political regions[edit]
Subdivisions of Austria-Hungary:
- Military Krajina (Military Frontier, Militärgrenze), borderland of Austrian Empire against the Ottoman Empire. It was further divided into:
- Banat Krajina (on the Serbian-Romanian border)
- Croatian Krajina (on the border of western Croatia and Bosnia)
- Slavonian Krajina (on the border of Serbia and eastern Croatia towards Bosnia)
Political units formed by rebel Serbs during the Croatian War of Independence in the 1990s:
- Republic of Serbian Krajina
- SAO Krajina
- SAO Kninska Krajina, Kninska Krajina since the Yugoslav wars is used by some to signify two regions Knin and its surroundings, and to a larger extend Krajina proper (referring to main portion of Republic of Serb Krajina).
- SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Srem, sometimes called Podunavska Krajina
Political unit formed during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s:
Where the term "Serbian Krajina" or "Krajina" alone is used, it probably refers to the former Republic of Serbian Krajina.
In Russia:
- "krai" or "kray" is the word for the territories of Russia, a second-level subdivision
In Slovakia:
- "kraj" is used for the regions of Slovakia, a first-level subdivision
In Czech Republic:
- "kraj" is used for the regions of the Czech Republic, a first-level subdivision
In Ukraine:
- Krajina or країна - means country, land in Ukrainian. Ukrajina is Ukrainian ethnonym for Ukraine. See also: Name of Ukraine.
People[edit]
- Krajina Belojević, a 9th-century Serbian Duke in the Principality of Serbia
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Rick Derksen (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Brill: Leiden-Boston, page 244
- ^ a b c d e “*krajina” in Oleg Trubačóv (ed.) (1974–), Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages], Moscow: Nauka, volume 12, pages 87-88
- ^ Max Vasmer (1986), Etimologičeskij slovarʹ russkogo jazyka [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language], in 4 vols (second edition), Moscow: Progress — Translated from German and supplemented by O. N. Trubačóv
- ^ a b Group of authors (1969). "Кра̏јина". Речник српскохрватскога књижевног језика, vol. 3 (in Serbo-Croatian). Novi Sad/Zagreb: Matica srpska/Matica hrvatska. p. 30.
- ^ Group of authors (1972). "Krajina". In colonel-general Nikola Gažević. Vojna enciklopedija, vol. 4 (in Serbo-Croatian). Belgrade. p. 681.
- ^ Pándi Lajos - Köztes Európa 1756-1997
- ^ a b Croatia in 1073
- ^ (Croatian) Excerpt from the book I. Marinović, B. Šutić, M. Viskić: Baćina: Prošlost Baćine, Udruga Pagania, Ploče, 2005, ISBN 953-95132-0-0
- ^ (Croatian) Povijest
- Karlo Jurišić, Lepantska pobjeda i makarska Krajina, Adriatica maritima, sv. I, (Lepantska bitka, Udio hrvatskih pomoraca u Lepantskoj bitki 1571. godine), Institut JAZU u Zadru, Zadar, 1974., str. 217., 222., (reference from Morsko prase)
