Pannonian Basin

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Image:Carpathian Basin-Pannonian Basin.jpg

Topographic map

The Pannonian Basin or Carpathian Basin is a large basin in Central Europe. The basin forms a topographically discrete unit set in the European landscape, surrounded by imposing geographic boundaries that have created a fairly unified cultural area that looks more towards the south and east than to the north and west. The river Danube divides the basin roughly in half.

The geomorphological term Pannonian Plain is more widely used for roughly the same region though with a somewhat different sense (meaning only the lowlands).

For the geographical characteristics and history of the region, see: Pannonian Plain

Terminology

The term Carpathian Basin (named like this because of the long Carpathian border) has been translated from Hungarian literature, while the South Slavic languages (Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Slovenian and Macedonian), as well as Slovak and German, use the corresponding terms of Pannonian Basin.^[1] In English, both names can be used.

In Hungarian, the basin is known as Kárpát-medence, in Serbian, Bosnian and Croatian as Panonski basen, Панонски басен, in Slovak as Panónska kotlina, in Slovenian as Panonska kotlina and in German as Pannonisches Becken.

In the English language Pannonian Basin or Carpathian Basin are generally not used as geographical terms. Instead, the term Pannonian Plain is used in most sources, which refers to the lowland parts of the Pannonian Basin as well as those of some adjoining regions like Lower Austria, Moravia, Bosnia.

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.