Brčko

Coordinates: 44°52′38″N 18°48′40″E / 44.87722°N 18.81111°E / 44.87722; 18.81111
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Brčko
Брчко
Mayor
Zijad Nišić (SBiH)
 • President of the District AssemblySiniša Milić (SNSD)
Area
 • Total402 km2 (155 sq mi)
 • Land493 km2 (190 sq mi)
Elevation
92 m (302 ft)
Population
 (2013)
 • Total39,893
 • Density99/km2 (260/sq mi)
 • Brčko District
83,516
Postcode
76100 (Pošte Srpske
)
76120 (BH Pošta)
Area code+387 049
Websitewww.bdcentral.net

Brčko (Serbian Cyrillic: Брчко, pronounced [br̩̂tʃkoː]) is a city and the administrative seat of Brčko District, in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina. It lies on the banks of Sava river across from Croatia. As of 2013, it has a population of 39,893 inhabitants.[1]

De jure, the Brčko District belongs to both entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska) but in practice it is not governed by either; practically, Brčko is a self-governing free city.[2]

Name

Its name is very likely linked to the

slaves after their defeat. They started receiving Roman citizenship during Trajan's
rule.

A number of Breuci migrated and settled in

Brețcu River) and a mountain Munții Brețcului in today's Romania were named after them.[3]

Geography

Brčko District and Brčko town

The city is on the north, riparian border of Bosnia, across the

Gunja
in Croatia.

Brčko is the seat of the Brčko District, an independent unit of local self-government created on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina following an arbitration process. The local administration was formerly supervised by an international supervisory regime headed by

ex officio the Brčko International Supervisor. This international supervision was frozen since 23 May 2012.[4]

History

During the 1862 exodus of Muslims from Serbia, some Belgrade Muslims who were expelled by the Serbian government settled in the town.[5]

In the Bosnian War, Brčko was the location of the Brčko bridge massacre on 30 April 1992. Later, it was the narrowest point of the Brčko corridor that connected two parts of Republika Srpska.

Brčko was a geographic point of contention in 1996 when the U.S.-led Implementation Force (IFOR) built Camp McGovern between the villages of Brod and Brka. Camp McGovern under the overwatch of 3-5 CAV 1/BDE/1AR Division (US) commanded by LTC Anthony Cucolo was constructed from a war torn farming cooperative structure in the Zone of Separation (ZOS) for the purpose of establishing peacekeeping operations. The mission was to separate the forming warring factions. The ZOS was one kilometer wide of no man's land, where special permission was required for Serbian or Bosnian forces to enter. Various checkpoints and observation points (OP's) were established to control the separation.

Although Brčko was a focal point for tension in the late 1990s, considerable progress in multi-ethnic integration in Brčko has since occurred including integration of secondary schooling. Reconstruction efforts and the Property Law Implementation Plan have improved the situation regarding property and return. Today, Brčko has returned to a strategic transshipment point along the Sava River. The population of Brčko has not returned to its pre-war ethnic mix of Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats. Brčko sits at the east–west apex of Republika Srpska, the ethnic Serb portion of Bosnia & Herzegovina, and as such is critical to the RS for its economic future.

Brčko was one of the main points discussed in the

Dayton Peace Accords. After several weeks of intensive negotiation, the issue of Brčko was to be decided by international arbitration. Brčko Arbitration ruled in Feb 1997 that Brčko would be managed by an ambassadorial representative from the international community.[6] The first Ambassador to Brčko was an American with support staff from the UK, Sweden, Denmark & France. Brčko Arbitration in March 1998 suggested the Brcko area could be a special district,[7] which they finally decided likewise in March 1999.[8]

The first international organization to open office in Brčko at that time was the

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) headed by Randolph Hampton.

Following PIC meeting on 23 May 2012, it was decided to suspend, not terminate, the mandate of Brčko International Supervisor. Brčko Arbitral Tribunal, together with the suspended Brčko Supervision, will still continue to exist.[4]

Demographics

Ethnic composition
2013[9] 1991[9] 1981 1971 1961
Total 39,893 (100.0%) 41,406 (100.0%) 31,437 (100.0%) 25,337 (100.0%) 17,949 (100,0%)
Serbs 19,420 (48.68%) 8,253 (19.93%) 5,532 (17.60%) 5,481 (21.63%) 5,260 (29.31%)
Bosniaks 17,489 (43.84%) 22,994 (55.53%) 16,725 (53.20%) 15,651 (61.77%) 5,431 (30.26%)
Croats 1,457 (3.652%) 2,894 (6.989%) 2,157 (6.861%) 2,663 (10.51%) 2,472 (13.77%)
Others 996 (2.497%) 2,054 (4.961%) 468 (1.489%) 327 (1.291%) 78 (0.435%)
Roma 333 (0.835%) 5 (0.016%) 6 (0.024%) 4 (0.022%)
Albanians 77 (0.193%) 86 (0.274%) 115 (0.454%) 65 (0.362%)
Yugoslavs 60 (0.150%) 5,211 (12.59%) 6,351 (20.20%) 952 (3.757%) 4,250 (23.68%)
Montenegrins 31 (0.078%) 65 (0.207%) 82 (0.324%) 278 (1.549%)
Macedonians 24 (0.060%) 16 (0.051%) 19 (0.075%) 35 (0.195%)
Slovenes
 4 (0.010%) 19 (0.060%) 25 (0.099%) 55 (0.306%)
Turks 2 (0.005%)
Hungarians 13 (0.041%) 16 (0.063%) 21 (0.117%)

Transport

Rail

A railway station is near the city centre on the line from Vinkovci to Tuzla. However, no passenger trains operate to Brčko anymore. The closest operating railway station is in Gunja, Croatia; just on the other side of the border.

Water

Brčko has the largest

river port in Bosnia, on the Sava
river.

Sport

Brčko has three

Second League of Republika Srpska
. The city is home to some of the most successful volleyball teams in the country Mladost and Jedinstvo.

Education

The city is home to an economics school of the University of East Sarajevo and a local theatre festival.

Gallery

  • Panorama of Brčko
    Panorama of Brčko
  • Brčko at night
    Brčko at night
  • Fountain - the symbol of the city
    Fountain - the symbol of the city

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Brčko is twinned with:

Notable people

References

  1. ^ "Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in Bosnia and Herzegovina" (PDF). 2019. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  2. ^ Welcome to Brčko, Europe’s only free city and a law unto itself.
  3. ISBN 963 05 1490 7
    103. oldal Bereck-szócikk
  4. ^
    Office of the High Representative. 2012-05-23. Archived from the original
    on 2013-12-02. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  5. ^ Özkan, Ayşe. "The Expulsion of Muslims from Serbia after the International Conference in Kanlıca and Withdrawal of the Ottoman Empire from Serbia (1862-1867)". Akademik Bakış.
  6. Office of the High Representative
    . 1997-02-14. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  7. Office of the High Representative
    . 1998-03-15. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  8. Office of the High Representative. 1999-03-05. Archived
    from the original on 2023-10-25. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  9. ^ a b "Popis 2013 u BiH – Brčko District". statistika.ba.
  10. ^ "Успјешно организован турнир млађих категорија у фудбалу". radiobrcko.ba (in Bosnian). Radio Brčko. 2014-08-29. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  11. ^ "Sister Cities". stlpartnership.com. St. Louis Economic Development Partnership. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Brčko.

External links

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