Bihać
| Bihać | ||
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| — Municipality and town — | ||
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 Bihać
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| Coordinates: 44°49′N 15°52′E / 44.817°N 15.867°E | ||
| Country |  Bosnia and Herzegovina |
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| Government | ||
| • Municipality president | Albin Muslić (SDP) | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 900 km2 (300 sq mi) | |
| Population (est. 2012)<ref?World Gazetteer</ref> | ||
| • Total | 37,511 | |
| • Density | 42/km2 (110/sq mi) | |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | |
| ZIP code | 77000 | |
| Area code(s) | +387 37 | |
| Website | Official website | |
Bihać (Cyrillic: Бихаћ) (pronounced [bǐxaːt͡ɕ]) is a city and municipality on the river Una in the north-western part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the Bosanska Krajina region. Bihać is located in the Una-Sana Canton (Canton I) in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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History[edit]
The area of Bihać was populated by the tribe of Iapydes (Japodes) as early as the 8th century B.C. The Iapydes left many remains that testify about their presence in this area.
During the 2nd century B.C. this area was populated by Romans. It's in this period that the river Una was given its name by a Roman soldier (Latin: una- one, unique). The only important remains left behind the Romans are roads. In the 6th century this area is populated by Slavs, an Indo-European group of people.
The name of Bihać was first mentioned as early as 1260 as property of a church in Topusko, Croatia in a document by the Hungarian-Croatian king Béla IV, and became a free city in 1262. Bihać was the temporary capital of the Croatian Kingdom. It lost its civic status in the 14th century following dynastic struggles in the kingdom, and became a property of the Frankopan nobles. In the 16th century it passed under direct royal rule, when battles with the Ottoman Empire had begun. The town of Bihać, in the region of the same name, withstood the Ottoman attacks until it fell with the Bosnia sanjak (in 1592).
The Bihać fort would become the westernmost fort taken by the Ottoman army over a hundred years later, in 1592 under the Bosnian vizier Hasan-pasha Predojević. The city was initially made the center of the Bihać sanjak, part of the Bosnian pashaluk. It was demoted in 1699 to become part of the sanjak of Bosnia, during the period of intense border wars between the Habsburg monarchy and the Ottoman Empire. In 1865 it became the center of its own sanjak, but this lasted only until 1878, when all of Bosnia was occupied by Austria-Hungary.
A period of peace followed, marked by the 1888 bringing down of the fortress walls that separated the inner city from the outskirts. The new government had several schools and civic facilities built, which boosted the city's growth. It remained prosperous after the establishment of Yugoslavia, the center of the western Bosnian region, though its growth was impaired by the Great Depression in the 1930s.
During World War II, Bihać, along with the rest of Bosnia, was a part of the Independent State of Croatia. During July 1941, the Croatian Ustaša regime murdered more than 12,000 Serbian, Jewish and Roma children, women and men from Bihać at Garavice. In 1942, the Partisans liberated Bihać. The city served as headquarters for the partisan army of Josip Broz Tito, the seat of the first AVNOJ session in 1942 and the center of the anti-fascist resistance. As such, it became a target of the occupying powers and the Germans retook it in 1943 and held it until 1945 and their final defeat.
Bosnian war for independence[edit]
Bihać suffered the destruction of many buildings during the Bosnian War for Independence, when the area around the city was under siege by joint forces composing of Bosnian Serb, Croatian Serb, and Serbian-backed Bosniaks for over three years, until the summer of 1995 when the siege was broken in the beginning of the Operation Storm conjoined with Croatian foces under Zvonimir Červenko and Bosniak forces under General Atif Dudaković.
Features[edit]
The city and the region are now becoming a viable tourist destination for its natural beauty.[1] The Una river valley where Bihać is situated provides the best route from Zagreb to Dalmatia so the traffic position is also favorable.
There's also a yearly regatta held on the Una, as well as the Bihać Summer theatrical event.
Regional location[edit]
Border crossings with Croatia are located nearby at Izačić to the west of the city (with the Croatian border post at Ličko Petrovo Selo), and Ripac to the south of Bihać (with the Croatian border post at Užljebić). Bihać is located on the shortest route between Zagreb and the southern part of Croatia's Dalmatian coast.
Education[edit]
The University of Bihać was opened in 1997 and it has seven faculties: technical, economics, law school, biotechnical, pedagogical, medical college, Islamic pedagogical academy.
Culture[edit]
• Bihaćko ljeto - Bihać Summer Festival (Arts & Theater) - June
• Ulicom Bišća - Streets of Bihać (Culture & Arts) - November
• Dani rijeke Une - Days of Una river (Culture & Arts) - May
• Festival zabavne muzike Bihać – Pop music festival - October
• Festival narodne muzike Bihać - Folk music festival - August
• Sevdah fest Bihać – Sevdah music fest - August
Sport[edit]
The local football club is NK Jedinstvo, who compete in the Bosnian First League.
Economy[edit]
In present day Bosnia and Herzegovina Bihać is a mid-size city with close economic ties to Croatia. Bihać is home to one of the largest breweries in Bosnia and Herzegovina, producing the award winning Preminger beer which is exported to Croatia, Serbia, Austria and Slovenia.[2] Much of Bihać's present day economy is based on tourism to the Una river and its beautiful surroundings. The Una rafting offer is regarded as being one of the best in the region. Beside the service sector, Bihać also has a varied agricultural sector thanks to the fertile fields around the city.
Notable people[edit]
- Irfan Ljubijankić, facial surgeon, classical music composer, politician and diplomat of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- Zele Lipovača, leading member of the Bosnian hard rock band Divlje jagode
- Alen Islamović, Bosnian singer, the vocalist of the bands Divlje jagode and Bijelo dugme
- Zlatko Dedič, Slovenian football player
- Dinko Mulić, Bosnian and Croatian Olympic slalom canoer
Demographics[edit]
| Population of Bihać municipality | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year of census | Bosniaks | Serbs | Croats | Yugoslavs | Others or unknown | Total |
| 1971 | 37,325 (64.14%) | 12,096 (20.78%) | 6,824 (11.72%) | 1,133 (1.94%) | 807 (1.38%) | 58,185 |
| 1981 | 40,041 (61.09%) | 11,093 (16.92%) | 5,855 (8.93%) | 7,364 (11.23%) | 1,191 (1.81%) | 65,544 |
| 1991 | 46,737 (66.07%) | 12,689 (17.93%) | 5,580 (7.88%) | 4,356 (6.15%) | 1,370 (1.93%) | 70,732 |
Settlements[edit]
Bihać
Total: 45,553
- 27,418 - 60.18% Bosniaks
- 8,218 - 18.04% Serbs
- 4,805 - 10.54% Croats
- 4,020 - 8.82% Yugoslavs
- 1,092 - 2.42% others and unknown
Orašac
Total: 2,574
- 2,498 - 97.04% Bosniaks
- 49 - 1.90% Serbs
- 1 - 0.03% Croats
- 11 - 0.42% Yugoslavs
- 15 - 0,58% others and unknown
Brekovica
Total: 1,833
- 1,779 - 97.05% Bosniaks
- 1 - 0.05% Croats
- 1 - 0.05% Serbs
- 4 - 0.21% Yugoslavs
- 48 - 2.61% others and unknown
Ripač
Total: 1,724
- 1,297 - 75.23% Bosniaks
- 339 - 19.66% Serbs
- 12 - 0.69% Croats
- 70 - 4.06% Yugoslavs
- 6 - 0.34% others and unknown
• Bajrići • Baljevac • Bihać • Brekovica • Bugar • Ćukovi • Doljani • Donja Gata • Dubovsko • Golubić • Gorjevac • Grabež • Grmuša • Hrgar • Izačić • Jankovac • Jezero • Kalati • Klisa • Klokot • Kula • Kulen Vakuf • Lipa • Lohovo • Lohovska Brda • Mala Peća • Mali Skočaj • Međudražje • Muslići • Orašac • Ostrovica • Papari • Praščijak • Pritoka • Prnjavor • Račić • Rajinovci • Ripač • Spahići • Srbljani • Teočak • Turija • Velika Gata • Veliki Skočaj • Veliki Stjenjani • Vikići • Vrsta • Zavalje i Zlopoljac.
Notes[edit]
- ^ Arnautovic, Marija (21 September 2012), Bosnian Town Preserves Coexistence Legacy: Bihać is one of the few places where conflict failed to drive a wedge between communities, TRI Issue 757, Institute for War and Peace Reporting
- ^ "Preminger Pivo (Preminger Beer)". Preminger.
References[edit]
- Official results from the book: Ethnic composition of Bosnia-Herzegovina population, by municipalities and settlements, 1991. census, Zavod za statistiku Bosne i Hercegovine - Bilten no.234, Sarajevo 1991.
External links[edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bihać |
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