Ruski Krstur Руски Крстур Руски Керестур
Country	Serbia
Province	Vojvodina
Municipality	Kula
Population  (2002)
• Total	5,213
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)

Ruski Krstur (Serbian Cyrillic: Руски Крстур, Rusyn: Руски Керестур) is a village in Vojvodina, Serbia. It is located in the municipality of Kula, West Bačka District. The village has a Rusyn ethnic majority. Its population numbered 5,214 in the 2002 census. Ruski Krstur is the cultural centre of the Rusyns in Serbia. The number of Rusyns in Ruski Krstur is in constant decline as many of them have moved out to Canada concentrating in the town of North Battleford, Saskatchewan .^[1]

Name

Its name means "the Rusyn Krstur" (There is also the village of Srpski Krstur in Vojvodina, meaning "the Serb Krstur").

The name "Krstur" itself derived from Slavic word krst (крст) ("cross" in English). The Hungarian name for the village, derived from the Hungarian word "kereszt", which also means "cross" in English. The first written record of Ruski Krstur was made during the administration of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1410 and then in 1452, mentioning it under name Kerezthwr.

In Hungarian the village is known as Bácskeresztúr; in Slovak as Ruský Krstur; and in Croatian as Ruski Krstur.

Ethnic groups

1971

According to the 1971 census, ethnic Rusyns comprised 99.46% of population of the village.

2002

According to the 2002 census, the population of the village include:

• Rusyns = 4,483 (86.00%)
• Serbs = 263 (5.05%)
• others.

Historical population

• 1948: 5,874
• 1953: 6,115
• 1961: 5,873
• 1971: 5,960
• 1981: 5,826
• 1991: 5,636
• 2002: 5,223

Politics

There is an initiative among inhabitants of Ruski Krstur that this settlement become its own municipality completely separate from Kula.

See also

• List of places in Serbia
• List of cities, towns and villages in Vojvodina
• List of Rusyn communities in Vojvodina

References

• Slobodan Ćurčić, Broj stanovnika Vojvodine, Novi Sad, 1996.

External links

• Ruski Krstur - Web page about the village
• Welcome to First Internet Web Presentation of Ruski Kerestur
• Rusyns in Serbia
• Vodica in Ruski Krstur
• “A Home for Town Planning Kula-Odzaci” Kula
• Castle, Ruski Krstur
• Rusyn On The Internet

45°34′N 19°25′E / 45.567°N 19.417°E / 45.567; 19.417