Zrenjanin

Zrenjanin (Serbian Cyrillic: Зрењанин, .mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}pronounced [zrɛ̌ɲanin]; Hungarian: Nagybecskerek; Romanian: Becicherecu Mare; Slovak: Zreňanin; German: Großbetschkerek) 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 67,129 inhabitants, while the city administrative area has 105,722 inhabitants (2022 census data). The old name for Zrenjanin is Veliki Bečkerek or Nagybecskerek as it was known under Austria-Hungary up until 1918. A thousand Catalans founded on 1735 New Barcelona in a place which is now the suburb of Dolja within Zrenjanin, exiled from the War of the Spanish Succession. After World War I and the liberation of Veliki Bečkerek the new name of the city was Petrovgrad, in honor of His Majesty King Peter I the Great Liberator, the King of Serbia and the King of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Zrenjanin is the 2nd largest city in the Serbian part of the Banat geographical region, and the fourth largest city in Vojvodina (after Novi Sad, Subotica and Pančevo). The city was designated European city of sport. The city was named after Žarko Zrenjanin (1902–1942) in 1946 in honour and remembrance of his name. One of the leaders of the Vojvodina communist Partisans during World War II, he was imprisoned and released after being tortured by the Nazis for months, and later killed while trying to avoid recapture.[citation needed] 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 1935–46. 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.