Potisje () is the name of the Tisa river basin parts located in Serbia. The river Tisa flows between the Banat and BaÃÂka regions.
Municipalities in BaÃÂka:
Municipalities in Banat:
In the 1st century, ancient author Plinius used the name Pathissus to describe the surroundings of the river Tisa. Because of the similarity of this name with the modern Slavic name Potisje (meaning approximately "a land around the river Tisa" in Slavic), which is a typical Slavic name used for surroundings of rivers (like Podunavlje, Pomoravlje, etc.), the name mentioned by Plinius might indicate an early Slavic presence in the area.
Between 1702 and 1751, the western part of Potisje (in the region of BaÃÂka) belonged to the Tisa-Mureà(Potisje-Pomorià ¡je) section of the Habsburg Military Frontier. The Potisje segment of the Frontier included towns near the river Tisa: BeÃÂej, Ada, Senta and Kanjià ¾a (in present-day Serbia), Szeged (in present-day Hungary), as well as other places in BaÃÂka, including Subotica, Sombor and Sentomaà ¡ (Srbobran). After the abolishment of this part of the Frontier in 1751, many Serbs that lived in the region emigrated to Russia (notably to New Serbia and Slavo-Serbia). To prevent this emigration, the Habsburg authorities formed the autonomous District of Potisje with its seat in BeÃÂej. The District of Potisje existed between 1751 and 1848. The three privileges were given to the district in 1759, 1774, and 1800. The first privilege of the District defined its autonomous status, while the second one allowed ethnic Hungarians to settle in the district. In the following period many Hungarians settled in Potisje and they replaced Serbs as the dominant ethnic group in parts of the region.
The municipalities with ethnic Serb majority are: Titel (85%), à ½abalj (82%), Kikinda (76%), Zrenjanin (76%), Novi BeÃÂej (68%), and Novi Kneà ¾evac (58%). In BeÃÂej Serbs make up a relative majority of population (42%).
The municipalities with ethnic Hungarian majority are: Kanjià ¾a (83%), Senta (75%), Ada (72%). In ÃÂoka Hungarians make up a relative majority of population (45%).