Bunjevci
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (Unknown; those in Serbia declaring themselves either as Bunjevci or Croats) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Serbia | 16,706 (2011 census) |
| Hungary | about 1,500 (2001 census) |
| Languages | |
| Serbo-Croatian (Bunjevac dialect) | |
| Religion | |
| Roman Catholicism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| other South Slavs | |
Bunjevci (Serbo-Croatian pronunciation: [bǔɲeːʋtsi] or [bǔːɲeːʋtsi]) are ethnic group living mostly in the Bačka region of Serbia (province of Vojvodina) and southern Hungary (Bács-Kiskun county, particularly in the Baja region). They presumably originate from western Herzegovina, from where they migrated to Dalmatia, and from there to Lika and Bačka in the 16th and 17th century. Bunjevci who remained in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as those in modern Croatia, today maintain that designation chiefly as an ethno-regional identity, and often declare themselves as Croats.
Bunjevci are Roman Catholic, and speak a Serbo-Croatian dialect with Ikavian pronunciation and with certain archaic characteristics. During the 18th and 19th century, they formed a sizable part of the population of northern Bačka, but many of them were gradually assimilated into Hungarians.
In Serbia, Bunjevci live in Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, mostly in the northern part of Bačka region. The community, however, has been divided around the issue of the ethnic affiliation: in the 2011 census, in terms of ethnicity, 16,706 inhabitants of Vojvodina self-declared as Bunjevci and 47,033 as Croats. Not all of the Croats in Vojvodina have Bunjevac roots; the other big group are Šokci.
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