Belišće () ( sr-Cyrl, Белишће, ) is a town in

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, located in the region of

Slavonia Slavonia (; ) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria County, Istria, one of the four Regions of Croatia, historical regions of Croatia. Located in the Pannonian Plain and taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with f ...

Osijek-Baranja County Osijek-Baranja County (, , ) is a Counties of Croatia, county in Croatia, located in northeastern Slavonia and Baranya (region), Baranja which is defined part of the Pannonian Plain. Its center is Osijek. Other towns include Đakovo, Našice, Val ...

, at the altitude of 93 m. The population of the town is 6,518 (2011), with 10,825 in the municipality. In 2011 census, the majority were

Croats The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

. This industrial town upon the

Drava The Drava or Drave (, ; ; ; ; ), historically known as the Dravis or Dravus, is a river in southern Central Europe.

river lies near the border with

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

north from here. Chief occupations are

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

and

wood processing Wood processing is an engineering discipline in the wood industry comprising the production of forest products, such as pulp and paper, construction materials, and tall oil. Paper engineering is a subfield of wood processing. The major wo ...

, (

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

, chemical and mechanical wood processing),

corrugated fiberboard Corrugated fiberboard, corrugated cardboard, or corrugated is a type of packaging material consisting of a fluted corrugated sheet and one or two flat linerboards. It is made on "flute lamination machines" or "corrugators" and is used for maki ...

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

chemicals A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combin ...

and synthetic material processing. The influential Gutmann family made a significant impact on the Belišće region in the 19th and 20th centuries. Once vast

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

forests were mostly replaced with farmland, and a section of the working-class quarters of Salamon H. Gutmann from 1884 became part of the present-day Belišće. Major recreational activities include

angling Angling (from Old English ''angol'', meaning "hook") is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated with a fishing rod, although rodless te ...

, rowing kayak and canoe on the

Drava The Drava or Drave (, ; ; ; ; ), historically known as the Dravis or Dravus, is a river in southern Central Europe.

river and its backwaters and

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

in the broader surroundings. The settlements in the administrative area are: * Belišće, population 6,518 * Bistrinci, population 1,598 * Bocanjevci, population 457 * Gat, population 705 * Gorica Valpovačka, population 165 * Kitišanci, population 150 * Tiborjanci, population 291 * Veliškovci, population 685 * Vinogradci, population 256

Politics

Minority councils

Directly elected minority councils and representatives are tasked with consulting the local or regional authorities to advocate for minority rights and interests, integration into public life and participation in the management of local affairs. At the

2023 Croatian national minorities councils and representatives elections The 2023 Croatian national minorities councils and representatives elections () were held on 7 May in certain regional (counties) and local administrative units (municipalities and towns & cities). Background Elections were announced in Nar ...

Roma and

Serbs of Croatia The Serbs of Croatia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Срби у Хрватској, Srbi u Hrvatskoj) or Croatian Serbs ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Хрватски Срби, Hrvatski Srbi) constitute the largest national minority in C ...

each fulfilled legal requirements to elect 15 members minority councils of the Town of Belišće but the elections for Serb council were not held due to the lack of candidates.

Notable people

* Edmund Gutmann * Viktor Gutmann * Branko Mikasinovich

References

External links

Official site
Slavonia Cities and towns in Croatia Populated places in Osijek-Baranja County 1884 establishments in Croatia {{OsijekBaranja-geo-stub