Slavonia

Slavonia (; Croatian: Slavonija) is one of the four historical regions of Croatia, along with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria. Located in the Pannonian Plain and taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with five Croatian counties: Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baranja, Požega-Slavonia, Virovitica-Podravina, and Vukovar-Syrmia, although the territory of the counties includes Baranya, and the definition of the western extent of Slavonia as a region varies. The counties cover 12,556 square kilometres (4,848 square miles) or 22.2% of Croatia, inhabited by 806,192—18.8% of Croatia's population. The largest city in the region is Osijek, followed by Slavonski Brod and Vinkovci. Slavonia is located in the Pannonian Basin, largely bordered by the Danube, Drava, and Sava rivers. In the west, the region consists of the Sava and Drava valleys and the mountains surrounding the Požega Valley, and plains in the east. Slavonia enjoys a moderate continental climate with relatively low precipitation. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, which ruled the area of modern-day Slavonia until the 5th century, Ostrogoths and Lombards controlled the area before the arrival of Avars and Slavs. The Slavs in Lower Pannonia established a principality in the 7th century, which was later incorporated into the Kingdom of Croatia; after its decline, the kingdom was ruled through a personal union with Hungary. In the Kingdom of Hungary, the Ban of Slavonia was the King's governor of these lands, at various times distinct from the Ban of Croatia. The Ottoman conquest of Slavonia took place in the 16th century. At the turn of the 18th century, after the Great Turkish War of 1683–1699, the Treaty of Karlowitz transferred Kingdom of Slavonia to the Habsburgs. After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, Slavonia became part of the Hungarian part of the realm, and a year later it became part...