The area of present-day Vojvodina had been inhabited since the
Paleolithic period.
Indo-European peoples moved into this area during three migration waves, which are dated in 4200 BC, 3300 BC, and 2800 BC, respectively. Before the
Roman conquest in the 1st century BC, Indo-European peoples of
Illyrian,
Thracian, and
Celtic origin inhabited the region. During the Roman administration (which extended to
Syrmia and
Banat), the original inhabitants were heavily
romanized, and would later be known as
Vlachs. The region of
Bačka, which did not belong to the Roman Empire, was populated by Iranian
Sarmatians (
Iazyges). After the end of Roman rule, the romanized inhabitants of the area escaped to the
Balkan Mountains (where they mixed with
South Slavs) as well as the
Romanian Carpathians (later known as
Romanians). The terriotroy of present-day Vojvodina was invaded by the Turanic nomads such as the
Huns and
Avars, as well as by the Germanic
Goths,
Gepids, and
Lombards, but after their military defeat, they were quickly absorbed by the local (Slavic) population, without leaving much ethnic traces in the region's population. During the early medieval migrations,
Slavs (
Severans,
Abodrites,
Braničevci,
Timočani, and
Serbs) settled in the territory of present-day Vojvodina in the 6th and 7th centuries. Until the Hungarian conquest in the 10th century, the region had a dominant Slavic population. Image:Indo Europeans Vojvodina map.png|Indo-Europeans in Vojvodina, antiquity Image:Slavs Vojvodina01 map.png|Slavs in Vojvodina, 6th century Image:Slav-7-8-obrez.png|Slavs in Vojvodina, 7th–8th century Image:Slavs Vojvodina02 map.png|Slavs in Vojvodina, 9th century The region was conquered by the
Principality of Hungary in the 10th century, and
Hungarians started to settle in the area. Hungarians mainly settled in the northern part of the region, where they lived mixed with Slavs. Until the late 12th and early 13th century, the region was mainly populated by Slavs, after which the proportions changed in favor of Hungarians. The larger number of Hungarians began settling in the region from the 13th century. The presence of Slavs in the area increased again in the 14th century with the arrival of Serbs from the south. During the Hungarian administration, much of the native local Slavs were
Magyarization. Initially, the Hungarian language was spoken only by the knights and nobility of the
Kingdom of Hungary, but it was later adopted also by the rest of the population. Although Serbs were part of the aboriginal Slavic population in the territory of present-day Vojvodina, especially in Syrmia, an increasing number of Serbsbegan settling from the 14th century onwards. Because of the presence of the large Serb population, many historical records and maps from the 15th to the 18th century refer to the territory of present-day Vojvodina as
Raška. The
Ottoman Empire took control of Vojvodina in the 16th century, and this caused a massive depopulation of the region. Most of the Hungarians and many local Slavs fled from the region and escaped to the north. The majority of those who left in the region were Serbs, mainly now engaging either in farming or in Ottoman military service. Under Ottoman policy, many Serbs were newly settled in the region. During the Ottoman administration, Serbs comprised an absolute majority of region's population. Villages were populated exclusively by Serbs, while towns were populated by various ethnic and religious groups, including mainly
Muslims, but also some Serbs, Cincars, Greeks, Jews, and Roma. The
Habsburg monarchy took control of Vojvodina by the
Treaty of Karlowitz (1699) and
Treaty of Passarowitz (1718). Following the establishment of the Habsburg administration, the Muslim population fled from the region. Some of these Muslim refugees were resettled in
Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the Habsburg administration, many new Serb settlers from the Ottoman Empire immigrated to the region. In 1687, the northern parts of the region were settled by ethnic
Bunjevci. Many other non-Serb settlers were also settled in the territory of present-day Vojvodina during the 18th and 19th century. These settlers were mainly
Germans and Hungarians, but also included
Rusyns,
Slovaks,
Romanians, and others. Because of this immigration, Serbs were no longer the absolute ethnic majority in the region, and Vojvodina became one of the most ethnically diverse regions of Europe. Nevertheless, Serbs remained the largest ethnic group in the region. According to the 1910 census, Serbs comprised 33.8% of the population in the territory of present-day Vojvodina. After Serbs, the most numerous ethnic groups were Hungarians (comprising 28.1%) and Germans (comprising 21.4%). In 1918, Vojvodina became part of the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes and new Serb settlers came to the region. As a consequence of the
World War II, most Vojvodina Germans (about 200,000) left Vojvodina together with the defeated
German Army. Those who remained in the region were confined to prison camps until 1948, when the camps were dissolved and Yugoslav citizenship was returned to the Germans. Despite this, the remaining German population would leave Yugoslavia for economic reasons, moving to Germany, other European countries, or the United States. In their place, new South Slavic (Serb, Montenegrin, Macedonian, Croat, etc.) colonists would settle in the region. Serbs regained the absolute majority in Vojvodina with 51% of the population in 1948, rising to 68% nowadays. Image:Backa ethnic map 1715.png|Ethnic map of Bačka, 1715 Image:Backa ethnic map 1720.png|Ethnic map of Bačka, 1720 Image:Banatul la 1743.jpg|Ethnic map of Banat, 1743 Image:Banatul la 1774.jpg|Ethnic map of Banat, 1774 ==Principality of Hungary/Kingdom of Hungary==