Pannonian Basin - Terminology

Terminology

In English, the terms "Pannonian Basin" and "Carpathian Basin" are used synonymously. The name "Pannonian" is taken from that of Pannonia, a province of the Roman Empire. The historical province overlapped but was not coterminous with the geographical plain or basin. The term Pannonian Plain refers to the lowland parts of the Pannonian Basin as well as those of some adjoining regions like Lower Austria, Moravia, Bosnia. The lands adjoining the plain proper are sometimes also called peri-Pannonian.

The term Carpathian Basin is used in Hungarian literature, while the South Slavic languages, Slovak, Romanian and German use Pannonian: In Hungarian, the basin is known as Kárpát-medence, in Serbian and Bosnian as Панонски басен/ Panonski basen and Panonska nizija, in Croatian as Panonska nizina, in Slovak as Panónska kotlina, in Slovenian as Panonska kotlina and in German as Pannonisches Becken, in Romanian as Câmpia Panonică or Bazinul Panonic.

In Hungarian geographical literature various subdivisions of the Carpathian Mountains (Inner Western Carpathians, Inner Eastern Carpathians, Southern Carpathians, Western Carpathians and Transylvanian Plateau) are also considered parts of the Carpathian Basin on the basis of traditional geopolitical divisions.