Bačka Palanka

Bačka Palanka Бачка Паланка
Town and municipality
A library in the city center
Coat of arms
Location of the municipality of Bačka Palanka within Serbia
Coordinates: 45°15′N 19°24′E / 45.250°N 19.400°E / 45.250; 19.400Coordinates: 45°15′N 19°24′E / 45.250°N 19.400°E / 45.250; 19.400
Country	Serbia
Province	Vojvodina
District	South Bačka
Settlements	14
Area
• Municipality	579 km2 (224 sq mi)
Population (2011 census)
• Town	28,239
• Municipality	55,528
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	21400
Area code	+381 21
Car plates	BP
Website	www.backapalanka.rs

Bačka Palanka (Serbian: Бачка Паланка, pronounced [bâːtʃkaː pǎlaːnka]) is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It is situated on the left bank of the Danube. In 2011 the town had a total population of 28,239, while Bačka Palanka municipality had 55,528 inhabitants.

In Serbian, the town is known as Бачка Паланка or Bačka Palanka, in Slovak as Báčska Palanka, in Croatian as Bačka Palanka, in Hungarian as Bácspalánka, in German as Plankenburg and in Turkish as Küçük Hisar.

Its name means "a town in Bačka" in Serbian. The word "palanka" itself originates from Turkish language and means "town". This word was also adopted by Serbs and it is used in the Serbian language with the same meaning. Older Serbian names for this town were Palanka (Паланка), Stara Palanka (Стара Паланка), Nova Palanka (Нова Паланка) and Nemačka Palanka (Немачка Паланка).

Archeologists have proved that people have lived in the area for centuries. There are many archaeological objects from the Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman period.

In the 11th century, this area was populated by Hungarians and Serbs. Bačka Palanka is first mentioned as a settlement in 1486, as a suburb of Ilok called Iločka. Until the 16th century, this area was administered by the Kingdom of Hungary.