Veliki Bečkerek

Zrenjanin Град Зрењанин Petrovgrad
City
City of Zrenjanin
City Hall and monument to King Peter I of Serbia
Coat of arms
Location of Zrenjanin within Serbia
Coordinates: 45°23′0″N 20°22′54″E / 45.38333°N 20.38167°E / 45.38333; 20.38167Coordinates: 45°23′0″N 20°22′54″E / 45.38333°N 20.38167°E / 45.38333; 20.38167
Country	Serbia
Province	Vojvodina
District	Central Banat
Settled by Roxolani	3rd century AD
Founded	10 July 1326
City status	6 June 1769
Government
• Mayor	Čedomir Janjić (SNS)
Area
• Administrative	1,324.0 km2 (511.19 sq mi)
Area rank	3rd
Elevation	76 m (249 ft)
Population (2011)
• Administrative	120,709
• Rank	10th
• Density	93.2/km2 (241/sq mi)
• Urban	76,511
Demonym(s)	Zrenjaninci  (sr)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	23000
Area code(s)	+381(0)23
Car plates	ZR
Website	www.zrenjanin.rs

Zrenjanin (Serbian Cyrillic: Зрењанин, pronounced [zrɛ̌ɲanin]; Hungarian: Nagybecskerek; Slovak: Zreňanin) is a city and the administrative center of the Central Banat District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The city urban area has a population of 76,511 inhabitants, while the city administrative area has 123,362 inhabitants (2011 census data).

Zrenjanin is the largest city in the Serbian part of the Banat geographical region, and the third largest city in Vojvodina (after Novi Sad and Subotica).

The city was named after Žarko Zrenjanin (1902–1942) in honour and remembrance of his name in 1946. He was one of the leaders of the Vojvodina Partisans. During World War II, he was imprisoned and released after being tortured by the Nazis for months. Later he was killed while trying to avoid being recaptured. The former Serbian name of the city was Bečkerek (Бечкерек) or Veliki Bečkerek (Велики Бечкерек). In 1935 the city was renamed to Petrovgrad (Петровград) in honor of king Peter I of Serbia. It was called Petrovgrad from 1935 to 1946.

In Hungarian, the city is known as Nagybecskerek, in German as Großbetschkerek or Betschkerek, in Romanian as Becicherecul Mare or Zrenianin, in Slovak as Zreňanin, in Rusin as Зрењанин, in Croatian as Zrenjanin, and in Turkish as Beşkelek (meaning five melons) or Beçkerek.