Tuzla

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Tuzla
Тузла

Flag
Coat of arms
Location of Tuzla within Bosnia and Herzegovina (dark blue)
Country  Bosnia and Herzegovina
Canton Tuzla Canton
Government
 • Municipality President Jasmin Imamović (SDP)
Area
 • City 302 km2 (117 sq mi)
Elevation 245 m (804 ft)
Population (2011)
 • City 120,000
 • Density 540/km2 (1,400/sq mi)
 • Urban 200,000
 • Metro 499,221 [1]
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Area code(s) +387 35
Website Official website

Tuzla is a city and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Tuzla is the economic, scientific, cultural, educational, health and tourist centre of northeast Bosnia.[2] Tuzla is the seat of the Tuzla Canton and Tuzla Municipality. As of 2011, the city proper has an estimated population of 120,000 inhabitants, while the municipality has around 200,000, and the Tuzla Canton 499,221.[3] After Sarajevo, and Banja Luka, Tuzla is the third largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Tuzla is an educational center and is home to two universities. It is also the main industrial machine and one of the leading economic strongholds of Bosnia with a wide and varied industrial sector including an expanding service sector thanks to tourism to its salt lakes. The city of Tuzla is home to Europe's only salt lake as part of its central park and has more than 100,000 people visiting its shores every year.[4] The history of the city goes back to the 9th century; modern Tuzla dates back to 1510 when it became an important garrison town in the Ottoman Empire.[5]

In Bosnia and Herzegovina Tuzla is also regarded as one of the most multicultural cites in the country and has managed to keep the pluralist character of the city throughout the Bosnian war for independence and after, with Bosniaks, Serbs, Croats and a small minority of Bosnian Jews residing in the city.[6]

Contents

Etymology[edit]

The name "Tuzla" is the Ottoman Turkish word for salt mine, طوزله tuzla, and refers to the extensive salt deposits found underneath the city.

History[edit]

Prehistory[edit]

There is enough archaeological evidence to suggest that Tuzla was a rich Neolithic settlement, and hence inhabited continuously for more than 6,000 years which likely makes Tuzla one of the oldest European settlements with sustained living.

Middle Ages to 20th century[edit]

The city was first mentioned in 950 by Constantine Porphyrogenitus in his De Administrando Imperio as a fort named Salines (Greek: Σαλήνες). The name Soli was used in the Middle Ages. It means "salts" in Bosnian and the city's present name means "place of salt" in Ottoman Turkish.[7] During the Middle Ages it belonged mostly to the medieval Kingdom of Bosnia.

After the fall of the kingdom to the Ottoman Empire in 1463, the region was controlled by the House of Berislavić before the Ottomans occupied the villages of "Gornje Soli" and "Donje Soli" around 1512, and took control of the entire Usora in the 1530s.[8]

It remained under Ottoman rule for nearly 400 years, where it was administered as part of the Sanjak of Zvornik.

In 1878 it was annexed by Austria-Hungary. After the dissolution of Monarchy it became the part of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

On 2 October 1943, Tuzla became the largest liberated town in Europe at the time.[citation needed] In December 1944, the city was unsuccessfully attacked by Chetnik forces of Draža Mihailović along with the Serbian Assault Corps.[9][10] After the war it developed into a major industrial and cultural centre during the Communist period in the former Yugoslavia.

Bosnian War[edit]

Main article: Tuzla massacre
Tuzla massacre memorial

In the 1990 elections the Reformists won control of the municipality being the only municipality in Bosnia where non-nationalists won. During the Bosnian war for independence between 1992-1995 the town was the only municipality not governed by nationalist authorities. After Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence and got recognized by the United Nations the city was besieged by nationalist Serbian forces. A few days later Serbian forces attacked Tuzla. The town was not spared the atrocities of the Bosnian war.

On 25 May 1995, an attack by Serb forces on Tuzla killed 71 people and injured 200 persons in what is referred to as the Tuzla massacre, when a shell hit the central street and its promenade. The youngest civilian who died in that massacre was only two years old.

Following the Dayton Peace Accords, Tuzla was the headquarters of the U.S. forces for the Multinational Division (MND) during Operation Joint Endeavour IFOR and subsequent SFOR.

Culture[edit]

Arts[edit]

Statues of Meša Selimović and Ismet Mujezinović
Statue dedicated to the participants of the miners rebellion

One of the most influential writers in the Balkans, Meša Selimović hails from Tuzla, and Tuzla hosts the annual Meša Selimović book festival in July, where an award for the best novel written in the languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro is presented.

The first professional theatre in Tuzla, Narodno Pozorište u Tuzli (The National Theatre of Tuzla), was founded by the brothers Mihajlo and Živko Crnogorčević in 1898 during Austro-Hungarian rule, and is the oldest theatre in the country. The theatre is working continuously since 1944.

The Portrait Gallery has continuous exhibitions of work by local and international artists.

The Ismet Mujezinović Gallery is mainly dedicated to the late Ismet Mujezinović, a famous painter from Tuzla.

The Eastern Bosnia Museum exhibits archaeological, ethnological, historical and artistic pieces and artifacts from the whole region.

An open-air museum at Solni Trg, opened in 2004, tells the story of salt production in Tuzla.

Religion[edit]

Apart from Tuzla's many mosques, there is also an Orthodox church that went untouched throughout the war.[11] The Franciscan monastery in town is still very active and there is a sizeable Catholic community in Tuzla.[11] Just out of town, in the village of Breska is a 200 year-old Catholic church.[11] Tuzla is also home to an old Jewish cemetery which recently underwent renovations, organized by the OPEN Organization of Tuzla and the Jewish Municipality of Tuzla.[12]

Sports[edit]

Several sports teams from Tuzla have participated in international competitions. Almost all of Tuzla's sports teams are named Sloboda, meaning freedom. The most popular sports in Tuzla include football (FK Sloboda); basketball (KK Sloboda), karate (KBS Tuzla-Sinbra) and many others. The women's basketball team Jedinstvo Aida were European club champions in the late 1980s, with the most famous sportswoman from Tuzla in their midst - Razija Mujanović. The first and oldest sport in Tuzla is gymnastics.

Miscellaneous[edit]

On 1 September 2007, 6980 couples kissed for 10 seconds in Tuzla, Bosnia erasing the previous Guinness World kissing Records of the Philippines and Hungary (for synchronised osculation in 2004 with 5327 Filipino couples, overtaken by Hungary in 2005 with 5875 couples; Filipinos came back in February 2010 with 6124 couples but the Hungarians responded in June 2010 with 6613 couples). The record now awaits official certification.[13]

On 26 September 2008, Tuzla began offering free wireless internet access in the city center.[14]

Geography[edit]

Panoramic view of Tuzla

Tuzla is located in the northeastern part of Bosnia, settled just underneath the Majevica mountain range, on the Jala River. The central zone lies in an east-west oriented plain, with residential areas in the north and south of the city located on the Ilinčica, Kicelj and Gradina Hills. It is 237 metres above sea level. The climate is moderate continental. There are abundant coal deposits in the region around Tuzla. 6 coal mines continue to operate around the city. Much of the coal mined in the area is used to power the Tuzla Power Plant, which is the largest power plant in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Salt deposits[edit]

Extractions of the city's salt deposits, particularly in the 20th century, have caused sections of the city center to sink. Structures in the "sinking area" either collapsed or were demolished, and there are few structures in the city that predate the 20th century, despite the fact that the city was founded over 1000 years ago.

Pannonian Lakes[edit]

Tuzla is the only city in Europe that has not one salt lake, but three in the city centre alone, with a wide range of entertainment and beach facilities. Owing to the plentiful knowledge about the Pannonian Sea, the water within the lake has been brought back to stable surface levels by researchers and scientists, forming the main salt lake called the Pannonian Lake, which was opened in 2003.

A second lake that includes artificial waterfalls was inaugurated in 2008. This lake added tourist interest sites such as the Archaeological Park and Neolithic Lake Dwellings - all unique to the Balkan region. The reason for the interesting add was because the lakes reminisce many different cultures who left their material and spiritual mark. This inter-cultural heritage turns the regions into an important tourist destination at international level.[15]

A third lake is under construction and is scheduled to be opened in August 2012. Construction of the third lake will cost around 2 million KM (ca. 1 million euros).[16]

Transport[edit]

Tuzla has an international airport located at Dubrave (IATA code: TZL), and an effective and well-developed public bus network. There are plans to introduce a trolleybus network in the city soon.

The airport was opened to civilian aircraft only recently. The airport had comprised a portion of "Eagle Base", an American military base that has been home to NATO troops serving in SFOR, Bosnia's stabilization force.

Administration[edit]

Tuzla is the seat of the Tuzla Canton, which is a canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as of Tuzla Municipality, which is one of the 13 municipalities that together constitute the Tuzla Canton. Administratively, Tuzla is divided into 39 mjesne zajednice (local districts).

Apart from Tuzla, the municipality incorporates several other adjacent settlements, including the town of Gornja Tuzla (Upper Tuzla), as well as the villages of Husino, Par Selo, Simin Han, Obodnica, Kamenjaši, Plane, Šići and others.

The Mayor of Tuzla Municipality is Jasmin Imamović, a writer and lawyer born in 1957, of the Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was reelected to a third term in 2008.

The City council of Tuzla has 30 members, of the following parties:

The Chairwoman of the City Council, Nada Mladina, is a member of the SDP.

Climate[edit]

Climate data for Tuzla
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 2.7
(36.9)		 5.9
(42.6)		 10.4
(50.7)		 15.1
(59.2)		 20.3
(68.5)		 23.1
(73.6)		 25.5
(77.9)		 25.7
(78.3)		 22.0
(71.6)		 16.5
(61.7)		 9.7
(49.5)		 3.5
(38.3)		 15.03
(59.07)
Average low °C (°F) −4.4
(24.1)		 −2.3
(27.9)		 0.7
(33.3)		 4.4
(39.9)		 8.5
(47.3)		 11.4
(52.5)		 12.8
(55)		 12.6
(54.7)		 9.7
(49.5)		 5.7
(42.3)		 1.6
(34.9)		 −2.8
(27)		 4.83
(40.7)
Precipitation mm (inches) 71
(2.8)		 67
(2.64)		 70
(2.76)		 74
(2.91)		 82
(3.23)		 91
(3.58)		 79
(3.11)		 71
(2.8)		 70
(2.76)		 77
(3.03)		 94
(3.7)		 85
(3.35)		 931
(36.67)
Avg. precipitation days 10 9 10 11 11 11 9 8 8 8 10 11 116
Source: World Meteorological Organisation (UN)[17]

Demographics[edit]

Demographics in Tuzla municipality:

1971 census[edit]

total: 107,293

1981 census[edit]

total: 121,717

  • 52,400 (43.05%) - Bosniaks
  • 24,811 (20.38%) - Croats
  • 20,261 (16.64%) - Serbs
  • 19,059 (15.65%) - Yugoslavs
  • 5,186 (4.26%) - others and unknown

1991 census[edit]

Retired citizens playing chess, a favorite pastime, in the western residential area of Slatina

total: 131,618

  • 62,669 (47.61%) - Bosniaks
  • 21,995 (16.71%) - Yugoslavs
  • 20,398 (15.49%) - Croats
  • 20,271 (15.40%) - Serbs
  • 6,285 (4,77%) - others and unknown
Power plant Tuzla

Town of Tuzla, itself: total: 83,770

Education[edit]

Tuzla is home to the University of Tuzla, with 16,500 students,[18] and also the American University in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Universities[edit]

Schools[edit]

Notable people[edit]

Twin cities[edit]

Gallery[edit]

  • Old town Tuzla

  • Part of old town

  • Pedestrian street

  • Public fontain and city mosque

  • WWII memorial

  • Arch of Tuzla

References[edit]

  1. ^ www.fzs.ba/saopcenja/2011/14.2.1.pdf
  2. ^ http://www.bhtourism.ba/eng/tuzla.wbsp
  3. ^ Tuzlarije
  4. ^ [1]
  5. ^ [2]
  6. ^ http://www.beyondintractability.org/resources/tolerance
  7. ^ http://books.google.se/books?id=TqIEAAAAQAAJ
  8. ^ Pavo Živković, Marija Brandić (May 2007). "Usora i Soli u prva dva stoljeća turske prevlasti". Povijesni zbornik: godišnjak za kulturu i povijesno nasljeđe (in Croatian) (Faculty of Philosophy, University of Osijek) 1 (1-2): 53; 58. ISSN 1846-3819. Retrieved 2012-09-02. "Nakon što je tridesetih godina XVI. stoljeća Usora pala pod tursku vlast, nestankom posljednjeg Berislavića [...] u jednom pismu bosanskog sandžak-bega Mustafe-bega Juriševića, napisanoga izmedu 13. i 22. lipnja 1515. godine, spominje oslobađanje 10 laika samostana u Yukari Tuzla (Gornja TuzIa) od placanja avarizi-divaniye. [...] Taj izvor najstariji je spomen Gornjotuzlanske nahije, što upućuje na zaključak da je TuzIa pod tursku vlast pala 1512. godine, kao i cijela župa Soli, pa i čitava Srebrenička banovina." 
  9. ^ Dimitrije Ljotić and his ZBOR at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ In honour of 17 September 1944, the second and final liberation of Tuzla
  11. ^ a b c http://www.bhtourism.ba/eng/whattoseeanddo.wbsp?wbf_mjesto=;3;
  12. ^ Akcija uređenja jevrejskog groblja u Tuzli [Renovation of the Jewish Cemetery in Tuzla] (YouTube) (in Bosnian). Tuzlarije.net. 2010. Retrieved 19 August 2012. 
  13. ^ SMH, Record breakers: Ready, set - now pucker up for Bosnia
  14. ^ http://www.bit.ba/BITCenterTuzla/ENG/AboutUs/TWC/index.htm
  15. ^ http://www.adriaticoinfiore.eu/english/partners/tuzla.html INFIORE
  16. ^ http://www.ekapija.ba/website/bih/page/544594_en ekapija.ba
  17. ^ "World Weather Information Service – Tuzla". United Nations. Retrieved 20 January 2011. 
  18. ^ http://www.untz.ba/about/o_univerzitetu.htm

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tuzla
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Dolnja Tuzla.
Municipalities of the Tuzla Canton
Flag of Tuzla Canton
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Capital
Municipalities of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Municipalities and cities of Republika Srpska

Coordinates: 44°32′17″N 18°40′34″E / 44.53806°N 18.67611°E / 44.53806; 18.67611

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