page_title: Banat
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Banat / Geography
caption_attribution_description: English: Two bikers leaving Gârnic (Gerník), Caraș-Severin County, Romania (road to Sopotu Nou). Scanned on a cheap scanner, in case you would need a better resolution let me know.
context_page_description: The Banat is a geographical and historical region straddling between Central and Eastern Europe that is currently divided among three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania; the western part in northeastern Serbia; and a small northern part lies within southeastern Hungary.
  The region's historical ethnic diversity was severely affected by the events of World War II, and today Banat is overwhelmingly populated by ethnic Romanians, Serbs and Hungarians but small populations of other ethnic groups also live in the region and nearly all are citizens of either Serbia, Romania or Hungary.
context_section_description: The Banat is defined as the part of the Pannonian Basin bordered by the River Danube to the south, the River Tisa to the west, the River Mureș to the north, and the Southern Carpathian Mountains to the east. The total area of the region is 28,526 km² (11,014 sq mi). Its historical capital was Timișoara, now in Timiș County in Romania.
  The territory of the Banat is presently part of the Romanian counties Timiș, Caraș-Severin, Arad and Mehedinți; the Serbian autonomous province of Vojvodina and Belgrade City District; and the Hungarian Csongrád-Csanád County.
  The Romanian Banat, with an area of 18,966 km² (7,323 sq mi), is mountainous in the south and southeast, while in the north, west and south-west it is flat and in some places marshy. The climate, except in the marshy parts, is generally healthy. Wheat, barley, oats, rye, maize, flax, hemp and tobacco are grown in large quantities, and the products of the vineyards are of a good quality. Game is plentiful and the rivers swarm with fish. The mineral wealth is great, including copper, tin, lead, zinc, iron and especially coal. Amongst its numerous mineral springs, the most important are those of Mehadia, with sulphurous waters, which were already known in the Roman period as the Termae Herculis (Băile Herculane). The present "Banat Region" of Romania includes some areas that are mountainous and were not part of the historical Banat or of the Pannonian plain.
  In Serbia, the Banat is mostly plains. Wheat, barley, oats, rye, maize, hemp and sunflower are grown, and mineral wealth consists of oil and natural gas. A popular tourist destination in the Banat is Deliblatska Peščara. There are also several ethnic minorities in the region, including Hungarians (10.21% of the population), Romanians, Slovaks, Bulgarians, Macedonians, Roma people, and others.
caption: Countryside view of rural areas of Romanian Banat, 2001
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