Tuzla
Tuzla (
Cyrillic:
Тузла) is a city in
Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the time of the
1991 census, it had 131,000 inhabitants. Taking the influx of refugees into account, the city is currently estimated to have 160,000 inhabitants. After
Sarajevo and
Banja Luka, Tuzla is the third largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the seat of the
Tuzla Canton and Tuzla Municipality.
Tuzla is located in the northeastern part of Bosnia, settled just underneath the Majevica mountain, 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. The climate is moderate
continental.
First mentioned in
950 as a county under
Hungarian rule, the town was later referred to by historians as Soli.
Soli means "
salts" in the
Bosnian,
Croatian or
Serbian language and the city's present name means "place of salt" in
Turkish. However, there is enough archaeologic evidence to suggest that Tuzla was a rich
neolithic settlement, and hence inhabited continuously for more than 6,000 years which makes Tuzla one of the oldest
European settlements with sustained living. An open-air museum at
Solni Trg, opened in
2004, tells the story of salt production in Tuzla.
On
October 2,
1943, Tuzla became the largest liberated town in Europe to the time. It developed into a major industrial and cultural centre during the
communist period in former
Yugoslavia. 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,
1992-
1995 the town was the only municipality not governed by nationalist authorities, and was besieged by Serb nationalist forces. The town was not spared the atrocities of war. On
May 25,
1995, a Serb mortar shell killed 71 youngsters in
Tuzla massacre, the single most deadly incident of the war. [
1],[
2]
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The glass façade of a post-war business complex in Tuzla |
In the early stages of the war in Bosnia, many
Croats left for
Croatia and many Serbs for
Republika Srpska or
Serbia while a significant number remained in Tuzla and joined the multiethnic territorial defense forces defending the city against ultra-nationalist Serb forces under the direction of Slobodan Milosevic.
The demographics of Tuzla after minor displacings:1991 Census in %.
*47.6% - Bosniaks
*15.6% - Serbs
*15.5% - Croats
*21.3% - Mixed
1998 Census in %.
*62.7% - Bosniaks
*8.6% - Serbs
*14.7% - Croats
*14.0% - Mixed
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Retired tuzlaci playing chess, a favorite pastime, in the western residential area of Slatina |
The city has Europe's only salt lake as part of its central park; more than 100,000 people visit its shores every year. One of the most influential writers in the Balkans,
Meša Selimović hails from Tuzla. In addition, 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, and
Serbia and Montenegro is presented. The first professional theatre in Tuzla,
Narodno Pozorište u Tuzli, was founded by the brothers Mihajlo and Živko Crnogorčević in 1944.
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, 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 second term in 2004.
The City council of Tuzla has 30 members, of the following parties:
*
Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina (SDP) - 14 members
*
Party of Democratic Action (SDA) - 6 members
*
Bosnian party (BOSS) - 4 members
*
Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina (SBiH) - 2 members
*
Party of Betterment by Working (Radom za boljitak) - 2 members
*
Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HDZ) - 2 members.
The Chairwoman of the City Council, Nada Mladina, is a member of the SDP. Tuzla is twinned with
Bologna in Italy,
L'Hospitalet de Llobregat in Spain,
Pécs in Hungary and
Osijek in Croatia, as well as with
Ravenna province in Italy.
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.
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-Dita), karate (
KBS Tuzla-Sinalco) and many others. The women's basketball team
KK Jedinstvo-Aida were European club champions in the late eighties, with the most famous sportswoman from Tuzla in their midst - Razija (Raza) Mujanović. First and oldset sport in Tuzla is gymnastics.
Tuzla is home to the University of Tuzla, with more than 10,000 students.
Also existing in Tuzla is the Cardiovascular Clinic, a part of the Clinical Center and the top institution for cardiology and cardiac surgery in the country.
The Speech of Mayor of Tuzla Mr. Selim Beslagic, Tuzla May 25th 1995. Gentlemen, On May 25th a terrifying crime happened in Tuzla at 20,55 p.m. Karadzic's fascists hit the centre of the town where the youth of Tuzla are gathering and killed over 65 girls, boys and children. More than a hundred are wounded. The final number of the victims, has been increasing from hour to hour. Do not expect that I address you in a diplomatic language in this the most painful moment in the history of this town. Tonight parents of Tuzla were collecting parts of their children's bodies on the streets of Tuzla. Their children had left their homes a few hours earlier, with the belief in better future. You should know, that at this moment when the pain is all over Tuzla, there is not any dilemma any more - UN who should be the protector of the world peace and basic human values participated, with their non-acting, in this crime. To tolerate the crime in Bosnia for the last three years is nothing else but ignorant watching of our dying. If you(UN), after this terrible crime, stay silent again, if you(UN) after this do not act by using military force as the only legal force left to protect innocent people from Karadzic Serbs crimes - than without any doubt you were, are and stay on the side of the evil, darkness and fascism. You declared Tuzla and other besieged cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Safe Areas. You have worn out all diplomatic means. Innocent children and people are being killed continuously. For the sake of God and humanity use the force finally. - The Mayor of Tuzla Selim Beslagic.
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Webpage on both historical and present-day Tuzla *
Gymnastics club Tuzla *
Official City Hall Webpage *
Radio Slon, with a website on Tuzla An unofficial website }
