Brčko (city)
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Brčko ( sr-cyrl, Брчко, ) is a city and the administrative seat of
Brčko District Brčko District ( bs, Brčko Distrikt; hr, Brčko Distrikt; sr, Брчко Дистрикт, ), officially the Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( bs, Brčko Distrikt Bosne i Hercegovine; hr, Brčko Distrikt Bosne i Hercegovine; ), i ...
, in northern
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
. It lies on the banks of
Sava river The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally t ...
across from
Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...
. As of 2013, it has a population of 39,893 inhabitants. De jure, the Brčko District belongs to both entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities within the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Republika Srpska. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists ...
and
Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, lit=Serb Republic, also known as Republic of Srpska, ) is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Feder ...
) but in practice it is not governed by either; practically, Brčko is a self-governing free city.


Name

Its name is very likely linked to the ''
Breuci This is a list of ancient tribes in the ancient territory of Illyria ( grc-gre, Ἰλλυρία; la, Illyria). The name ''Illyrians'' seems to be the name of a single Illyrian tribe that was the first to come into contact with the ancient Greek ...
'' (Greek Βρεῦκοι), a subtribe of Pannonian tribes of the
Illyrians The Illyrians ( grc, Ἰλλυριοί, ''Illyrioi''; la, Illyrii) were a group of Indo-European languages, Indo-European-speaking peoples who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo ...
who migrated to the vicinity of today's Brčko from the territories of the
Yamnaya culture The Yamnaya culture or the Yamna culture (russian: Ямная культура, ua, Ямна культура literal translation, lit. 'culture of pits'), also known as the Pit Grave culture or Ochre Grave culture, was a late Copper Age to ea ...
in the 3rd millennium BC. Breuci greatly resisted the
Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
but were conquered in 1st century BC and many were sold as
slaves Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
after their defeat. They started receiving Roman citizenship during Trajan's rule. A number of Breuci migrated and settled in
Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus r ...
, where a town called Bereck or Brețcu, a river ( Brețcu River) and a mountain Munții Brețcului in today's
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
were named after them.


Geography

The city is on the north, riparian border of Bosnia, across the
Sava River The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally t ...
from the village of 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 Principal Deputy High Representative who is also ''
ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...
'' the Brčko International Supervisor. This international supervision was frozen since 23 May 2012.


History

Brčko was a geographic point of contention in 1996 when the U.S.-led
Implementation Force The Implementation Force (IFOR) was a NATO-led multinational peace enforcement force in Bosnia and Herzegovina under a one-year mandate from 20 December 1995 to 20 December 1996 under the codename ''Operation Joint Endeavour''. Background NATO ...
(IFOR) built Camp McGovern on the outskirts of the city. 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 No man's land is waste or unowned land or an uninhabited or desolate area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out of fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dump ...
, 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 The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as the Dayton Agreement or the Dayton Accords (Croatian language, Croatian: ''Daytonski sporazum'', Serbian language, Serbian and Bosnian language, Bosnian: ''Dejto ...
. After several weeks of intensive negotiation, the issue of Brčko was to be decided by international arbitration. Brčko Arbitration ruled in May 1997 that Brčko would be a special district managed by an ambassadorial representative from the international community. The first Ambassador to Brčko was an American with support staff from the UK, Sweden, Denmark & France. The first international organization to open office in Brčko at that time was the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...
(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.


Demographics


Transport


Rail

A railway station is near the city centre on the line from
Vinkovci Vinkovci () is a city in Slavonia, in the Vukovar-Syrmia County in eastern Croatia. The city's registered population was 28,247 in the 2021 census, the total population of the city was 31,057, making it the largest town of the county. Surrounde ...
to
Tuzla Tuzla (, ) is the third-largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the administrative center of Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 110,979 inhabitants. Tuzla is the economic, cultural, ed ...
. However, no passenger trains operate to Brčko anymore. The closest operating railway station is in
Gunja, Croatia Gunja ( hu, Gúnya, bs, Gunja) is a village and municipality in Croatia. In the 2011 census, the population was 3,732, with 60.13% declaring themselves Croats, 29.69% as Bosniaks, and 3.32% as Serbs. The village lies directly across the Sava r ...
; just on the other side of the border.


Water

Brčko has the largest
river port An inland port is a port on an inland waterway, such as a river, lake, or canal, which may or may not be connected to the sea. The term "inland port" is also used to refer to a dry port. Examples The United States Army Corps of Engineers publ ...
in Bosnia, on the
Sava The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally th ...
river.


Sport

Brčko has three
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
clubs (
FK Jedinstvo Brčko Fudbalski klub Jedinstvo Brčko (Serbian Cyrillic: Фудбалски клуб Јединство Бpчкo) is a professional association football club from the city of Brčko that is situated in the Brčko District, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The clu ...
, FK Lokomotiva Brčko, FK Izbor Brčko, FK Dizdaruša Brčko and the youngest club FK Ilićka 01). They all play in the
Second League of Republika Srpska The Second League of the Republika Srpska ( sr, Друга лига Републике Српске / Druga liga Republike Srpske) is a third level football league competition in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is divided into two leagues, based on geog ...
. The city is home to some of the most successful
volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
teams in the country Mladost and Jedinstvo.


Education

The city is home to an
economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...
school of the
University of East Sarajevo The University of East Sarajevo ( sr, Универзитет у Источном Сарајеву, Univerzitet u Istočnom Sarajevu, abbr. UES) is a public university located in Lukavica, East Sarajevo, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. A ...
and a local
theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
festival.


Gallery

File:Brčko-panorama.jpg, Panorama of Brčko File:Brčko noću.jpg, Brčko at night File:Fontana - simbol grada.jpg, Fountain - the symbol of the city


Twin towns – sister cities

Brčko is twinned with: *
Samsun Samsun, historically known as Sampsounta ( gr, Σαμψούντα) and Amisos (Ancient Greek: Αμισός), is a List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, city on the north coast of Turkey and is a major Black Sea port. In 2021, Samsun reco ...
, Turkey *
Smederevska Palanka Smederevska Palanka ( sr-cyr, Смедеревска Паланка, ) is a town and municipality located in the Podunavlje District and the geographical region of Šumadija. According to the 2011 census, the town has 23,601, while the municipality ...
, Serbia *
St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
, United States


Notable people

*
Edo Maajka Edin Osmić (born 22 December 1978), better known by his stage name Edo Maajka, is a Bosnian rapper, record producer and songwriter. His popularity brought his group Disciplinska Komisija to the mainstream. He lives in Zagreb, Croatia, with his w ...
, rapper *
Lepa Brena Fahreta Živojinović (; ; born 20 October 1960), known by her stage name Lepa Brena (), is a folk singer, actress, and businesswoman. She is the best-selling female recording artist from the former Yugoslavia. Lepa Brena grew up in Brčko, Bosni ...
, singer * Edvin Kanka Ćudić, human rights activist *
Mladen Petrić Mladen Petrić (; born 1 January 1981) is a retired Croatian professional footballer who played as a forward or striker. During his career, he played for Grasshopper, Basel, Borussia Dortmund, Hamburger SV, Fulham, West Ham United and Pana ...
, Croatian footballer *
Vesna Pisarović Vesna Pisarović (born 9 April 1978) is a Croatian pop and jazz singer. Life and career 1978–1999: Early life Pisarović was born in Brčko (city), Brčko, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia and grew up in Požega, Croatia, Požega, SR ...
, singer * Dženana Šehanović, pianist *
Anton Maglica Anton Maglica (born 11 November 1991) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a striker. Club career Osijek Born in Brčko, Maglica started his career playing at youth level for Orašje. After he moved to Osijek to attend high sch ...
, Croatian footballer *
Jasmin Imamović Jasmin Imamović (born 8 October 1957) is a Bosnian writer and politician who is a member of the national House of Representatives. He previously served as the 31st mayor of Tuzla from 2001 to 2022. Imamović is a member of the Social Democratic ...
, politician *
Nataša Vojnović Nataša Vojnović () (Serbian Cyrillic: Наташа Војновић) is a Bosnian Serb model, who participated in the Elite Model Look of 1996. Early life Nataša was born on 28 August 1979 in Brčko, SFR Yugoslavia. At the age of 12, she fl ...
, Serbian fashion model *
Mato Tadić Mato Tadić (born 15 August 1952 in Vuksic, Brčko) is a former judge of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He declared ethnic affiliation as a Bosnian Croat. Biography Tadić graduated from the Sarajevo Law School and began his ...
, judge *
Brankica Mihajlović Brankica Mihajlović ( sr-cyrl, Бранкица Михајловић; born 13 April 1991) is a Serbian professional volleyball player. She plays for the Serbia women's national volleyball team where she won a silver medal at the 2016 Summer Oly ...
, Serbian volleyball player, World and European champion, silver medalist at the
2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...
*
Ines Janković Ines Janković ( sr-cyr, Инез Јанковић; born 1983) is a Serbian fashion designer based in Belgrade. She is known for her wedding dresses, sportswear separates, leather jackets and jewelry line. Her style has been described as classic ...
, Serbian fashion designer * Nikola Kovač, Professional Counter Strike Global Offensive player


See also

*
Brčko bridge massacre The Brčko bridge massacre was a massacre of approximately 100 civilians of Croat and Bosniak nationalities which took place during the morning of 30 April 1992. Many of the victims were workers crossing from Croatia to Brčko to celebrate the La ...


References


External links

*
Brčanski Informativni portal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brcko Brčko District Bosnia and Herzegovina–Croatia border crossings